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> supercharger network is continuing to be built out rapidly I'm pretty sure this has been the case for a while now, years perhaps, and yet the author seemed t

by wlll 8y ago

> supercharger network is continuing to be built out rapidly I'm pretty sure this has been the case for a while now, years perhaps, and yet the author seemed to have problems none the less. You say the reporting should be taken "with a grain of salt", but what did they do to make their lives harder than they could have been? > Or by using superchargers incorrectly such as by trying to fully top off at every charge I have a petrol car that I fill up completely whenever I am at a petrol station, why should someone not do this for an electric car? > or choosing shared stations when non-shared ones are open What does this mean? I read the article but couldn't see anything that to me sounded like it matched this statement, but that's likely just my lack of experience. I get that you might have more experience than me, or the author, but you've not really explained how this was the authors fault, and how the experience could have been made better. If I buy a Tesla then try to drive from the North of England to Seville, am I going to have the same issues the author had? What knowledge do you posses that would allow me to do the journey more easily than they did?

nicoboo 8y ago
In the Tesla, you have the time required till your next step on a long trip. So, you don't charge until you're fully loaded at 100% but if you're following the instructions, you'll get at your next stop with around 20% left for best charging conditions. You even get the info on your mobile as a notification so you can know you can go back on the road. I really mean it's a pleasure to drive.
- wlll 8y ago
  What do you do when you get to the supercharger/other brand station and it's not working and you're at 20%?
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    What do you do when you get to a petrol station and it's not working? I've had to use my breakdown assistance for this very reason.
    - wlll 8y ago
      Go to another, usually very close, petrol station. In the UK there are lots of them, they are not as someone else said of Tesla Superchargers spread "about half a charge apart".
smileysteve 8y ago
> I have a petrol car that I fill up completely whenever I am at a petrol station, why should someone not do this for an electric car? Because of the time requirements? Plenty of users don't always fill their petrol cars due to time or budget constraints. Importantly, ICE cars also have eccentricities not all users know about, such as running low on gas often prevents the fuel pump from adequate cooling. And the 80% rule is true of mobile phones as well.
- wlll 8y ago
  > Plenty of users don't always fill their petrol cars due to time or budget constraints. I don't think the "some people have time or budget constraints" is really a good reason for me to not fill up my car past 80% The answer to "Why should I not charge my car past 80%?" doesn't seem to be "users don't always fill their petrol cars due to time or budget constraints" > Importantly, ICE cars also have eccentricities not all users know about, such as running low on gas often prevents the fuel pump from adequate cooling. It's not something that ever seems to have been a problem in any of the cars I've owned. > And the 80% rule is true of mobile phones as well. I feel like this might have been the case a long time ago, but surely modern phones with their integrated battery electronics will handle this. Sure, when I charge/discharge my gigantic LIPO batteries (robotics stuff) I have to take levels into account, but I'd expect my iPhone to just work.
  - smileysteve 8y ago
    > I feel like this might have been the case a long time ago, but surely modern phones with their integrated battery electronics will handle this. Nope. This is still the case, chemistry hasn't changed; Quick Charge, Rapid charge both charge from 20-80% with much more power than 80%-100%. This is also why they don't advertise "fill up", but instead, go from 0-15% or get a half a days charge (from x%) in 15 minutes) Accubattery analytics also show that modern cell phones w/ a charge limit maintain more battery capacity over time. Better electronics and charge patterns DO make the top off (90-100%) better by fudging the numbers and trickle charging off an on.
    - 8y ago
airstrike 8y ago
> and yet the author seemed to have problems none the less. Based on what other commenters are saying, it sounds like the author purposefully ran into problems so they would have a story to write.
- wlll 8y ago
  My questioning was mostly to find out how the author could have made their life better. At the time of my response most comments were of the form "The author made her life harder" but didn't really include any details about how she could have made her life easier.
dkonofalski 8y ago
>what did they do to make their lives harder than they could have been? The big issue for me is not following the directions for charging in the manual and battery screen for the car. The navigation has an option to find Superchargers and yet the author used Google Maps to find chargers instead. This means that they got "destination chargers" instead of Superchargers. Additionally, the car tells you not to make quick charging stops and not to wait until the battery is low to charge as it handles all that automatically. The author could have made this trip in 2 stops that would have taken a total of 40 minutes of charging if they had just used the navigation built into the car. They went out of their way to make sure the "range anxiety" lasted for as long as possible.
- llampx 8y ago
  Why would a charger off the highway in the middle of nowhere be a destination charger? Also, isn't this a mode that could be configured, with the charger supplying more juice if requested? Even if its a destination charger I wouldn't be happy to hang out for 2 hours if I could be done in 30 minutes if its more than a few minutes walk to my apartment/hotel.
  - dkonofalski 8y ago
    Destination chargers are typically non-Tesla chargers that are available for use with an adapter that's included with the Tesla charger. A Supercharger can charge a vehicle to 100% of daily capacity in 20-25 minutes while a destination charger will typically take overnight to fully charge.
mlindner 8y ago
> I have a petrol car that I fill up completely whenever I am at a petrol station, why should someone not do this for an electric car? Because batteries asymptotically charge. The closer you are to 100% the slower they charge. The optimum way to drive is to stop frequently for short stops (5-10 minutes or so) and rapidly refill the battery while grabbing a snack or using your phone, and then continue.

by wlll 8y ago

nicoboo 8y ago

In the Tesla, you have the time required till your next step on a long trip. So, you don't charge until you're fully loaded at 100% but if you're following the instructions, you'll get at your next stop with around 20% left for best charging conditions. You even get the info on your mobile as a notification so you can know you can go back on the road. I really mean it's a pleasure to drive.

wlll 8y ago
What do you do when you get to the supercharger/other brand station and it's not working and you're at 20%?
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  What do you do when you get to a petrol station and it's not working? I've had to use my breakdown assistance for this very reason.
  - wlll 8y ago
    Go to another, usually very close, petrol station. In the UK there are lots of them, they are not as someone else said of Tesla Superchargers spread "about half a charge apart".

smileysteve 8y ago

> I have a petrol car that I fill up completely whenever I am at a petrol station, why should someone not do this for an electric car? Because of the time requirements? Plenty of users don't always fill their petrol cars due to time or budget constraints. Importantly, ICE cars also have eccentricities not all users know about, such as running low on gas often prevents the fuel pump from adequate cooling. And the 80% rule is true of mobile phones as well.

wlll 8y ago
> Plenty of users don't always fill their petrol cars due to time or budget constraints. I don't think the "some people have time or budget constraints" is really a good reason for me to not fill up my car past 80% The answer to "Why should I not charge my car past 80%?" doesn't seem to be "users don't always fill their petrol cars due to time or budget constraints" > Importantly, ICE cars also have eccentricities not all users know about, such as running low on gas often prevents the fuel pump from adequate cooling. It's not something that ever seems to have been a problem in any of the cars I've owned. > And the 80% rule is true of mobile phones as well. I feel like this might have been the case a long time ago, but surely modern phones with their integrated battery electronics will handle this. Sure, when I charge/discharge my gigantic LIPO batteries (robotics stuff) I have to take levels into account, but I'd expect my iPhone to just work.
- smileysteve 8y ago
  > I feel like this might have been the case a long time ago, but surely modern phones with their integrated battery electronics will handle this. Nope. This is still the case, chemistry hasn't changed; Quick Charge, Rapid charge both charge from 20-80% with much more power than 80%-100%. This is also why they don't advertise "fill up", but instead, go from 0-15% or get a half a days charge (from x%) in 15 minutes) Accubattery analytics also show that modern cell phones w/ a charge limit maintain more battery capacity over time. Better electronics and charge patterns DO make the top off (90-100%) better by fudging the numbers and trickle charging off an on.
  - 8y ago

airstrike 8y ago

> and yet the author seemed to have problems none the less. Based on what other commenters are saying, it sounds like the author purposefully ran into problems so they would have a story to write.

wlll 8y ago
My questioning was mostly to find out how the author could have made their life better. At the time of my response most comments were of the form "The author made her life harder" but didn't really include any details about how she could have made her life easier.

dkonofalski 8y ago

>what did they do to make their lives harder than they could have been? The big issue for me is not following the directions for charging in the manual and battery screen for the car. The navigation has an option to find Superchargers and yet the author used Google Maps to find chargers instead. This means that they got "destination chargers" instead of Superchargers. Additionally, the car tells you not to make quick charging stops and not to wait until the battery is low to charge as it handles all that automatically. The author could have made this trip in 2 stops that would have taken a total of 40 minutes of charging if they had just used the navigation built into the car. They went out of their way to make sure the "range anxiety" lasted for as long as possible.

llampx 8y ago
Why would a charger off the highway in the middle of nowhere be a destination charger? Also, isn't this a mode that could be configured, with the charger supplying more juice if requested? Even if its a destination charger I wouldn't be happy to hang out for 2 hours if I could be done in 30 minutes if its more than a few minutes walk to my apartment/hotel.
- dkonofalski 8y ago
  Destination chargers are typically non-Tesla chargers that are available for use with an adapter that's included with the Tesla charger. A Supercharger can charge a vehicle to 100% of daily capacity in 20-25 minutes while a destination charger will typically take overnight to fully charge.

mlindner 8y ago

> I have a petrol car that I fill up completely whenever I am at a petrol station, why should someone not do this for an electric car? Because batteries asymptotically charge. The closer you are to 100% the slower they charge. The optimum way to drive is to stop frequently for short stops (5-10 minutes or so) and rapidly refill the battery while grabbing a snack or using your phone, and then continue.