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Tesla Model S owner here. By choosing spots and times strategically I've gotten nearly 400MPH charging at the existing stations and the difference it makes to c

Tesla Model S owner here. By choosing spots and times strategically I've gotten nearly 400MPH charging at the existing stations and the difference it makes to convenience is amazing. Super looking forward to 1000MPH! At that rate I can likely make it to Squamish BC, from Seattle, and back, with only one ~20 minute charge in between. That's still about 4x or 5x for the time I would spend filling an ICE car, but getting to around 20 minutes - instead of an hour - feels like an important threshold. I can chill out or catch up on e-mail or something for 20 minutes without feeling the need to go walk, or check out the weird strip mall or Jack in the Box that the charging station I use was planted beside. Also it's been clear since the Tesla Semi truck was announced that some major change in charging infrastructure would be necessary. This doesn't seem quite enough for /that/ though, I wonder if another rev is coming.

kylec 8y ago
You might need to get a Model 3/Y if you want to hit 1000mi/hr charging. The Model S likely won't be capable of it.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
Zanni 8y ago
Yeah, this is closing the gap in a significant way. It's still not "charge on the way to work" fast, but it wouldn't be a painful delay on the way home. More important, it's an improvement. I still switch back and forth between my Model S and an ICE car--I can't remember a time when the gas station experience ever got better.
- atq2119 8y ago
  One of the big benefits of electric in my view is that you can just let it charge overnight in your own garage. There's simply no need to charge on the way to work. (Yeah, this only works if you do have a garage, but that covers a lot of people.)
  - rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
    >There's simply no need to charge on the way to work Why not simply charge at work? It makes little sense to charge on route vs at destination; unless your commute is longer than your battery range, but you would probably not have purchased an EV.
    - tsukikage 8y ago
      You're guaranteed a hassle-free charging spot at home, but elsewhere it's very likely there are fewer charging spots than vehicles wanting to use them, and/or the charging spots and day-long parking places are separate and you have to go move the car once charged.
    - atq2119 8y ago
      Yeah, in many ways that would make more sense. For one thing, the sun is likelier to shine during the day, so PV electricity can go into your car. Unfortunately, the practical reality is that at home you're likely to have a garage where you can charge (though I'm of course aware that many people don't!) while at work your car is likely to be in a large parking lot without outlets. The logical conclusion is that we should invest in widespread outlet infrastructure in pretty much all parking lots. We're just not there yet, which is why I phrased my first comment in the way I did.
      - rypskar 8y ago
        Body panels made of solar-cells would be nice, combined with charging from stations or at home when there is not enough sun. Is probably not doable with current technology, but maybe some day
        clouddrover 8y ago
        Already done: https://electrek.co/2019/03/04/sono-sion-electric-car-solar-power-production-design/ https://electrek.co/2019/03/04/sono-sion-electric-car-solar-...
        8y ago
- zhoujianfu 8y ago
  When they added credit card readers to all the pumps?
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    My local Shell station recently switched from card readers to an app and QR codes. No thanks. If I'm really desperate I'll fill up there and go inside to pay (maybe 3 times in the past year), otherwise I now go out of my way to fill up elsewhere.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
    - 1stranger 8y ago
      At least your card can't get skimmed that way. Of course contactless would be the ideal.
- Ntrails 8y ago
  The difference between 90 seconds to fill up and 3 minutes to fill up is negligible. The appetite for improvement isn't there because the marginal is small. The difference between 3 minutes and 20 minutes is still enormous. Pretending for a minute that superchargers were as common as petrol stations, that there were never queues and you always started charging immediately. I would still not consider that a reasonable time to spend waiting around so I can finish a journey. I agree it's a huge improvement, but it doesn't get close to making the gap insignificant
  - vsl 8y ago
    It also depends on where and how you drive, park etc. To me, the difference between filling up on gas and 20 minutes on a Supercharger not only isn't enormous, but literally doesn't matter. But that's because I charge at home, usually drive only around the city and when I go on a trip where I need to supercharge, it's a few hours between chargers and by that time I need to take a ~20 mins break for coffee anyway. If I had to use them to charge, yep, 20 mins would be enormous.
lgregg 8y ago
I wonder if one day highways will have wireless power transfer that can meter you as you go.
- rzzzt 8y ago
  I would be happy with a pantograph-style sliding contact on the roof!
  - KJKingJ 8y ago
    So a trolleybus[0], but for personal vehicles? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus
- jve 8y ago
  Germany is building a wired one on A1 (5km length). Overhead contact line for trucks and looks ugly: http://www.thedrive.com/news/13448/germany-to-install-overhead-electric-vehicle-chargers-on-autobahn http://www.thedrive.com/news/13448/germany-to-install-overhe...
  - flixic 8y ago
    I'm getting a wall: No Access The web page you were trying to visit is not accessible in your country. Lithuania (Europe) here. Is this GDPR thing or something more?
    - heavenlyblue 8y ago
      I am in UK and it's all fine.
    - dotancohen 8y ago
      FWIW I can view the site in Israel. The article has this Youtube video embedded, which shows the overhead contact lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8l9ieoIazc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8l9ieoIazc
    - 8y ago
matahwoosh 8y ago
Tesla Semi has multiple packs that can be charged in parallel. The Megacharger will (likely) be 4 Superchargers combined. 1MW should be enough ;) re: announcement, I'm surprised not much has been said about the flagship cars (S/X). With their current battery architecture (using 18650 batteries), they're not capable of 250kW charge rates. I wonder if they have recently updated them to new 2170 battery packs or if they're going to do that soon.
- Reason077 8y ago
  Elon said specifically on the most recent Tesla conference call that there are no current plans for 2170-based packs on the Model S & X.
  - EngineerBetter 8y ago
    Folks are speculating that a Model S/X refresh will be announced at the end of the Model Y unveiling next week. It'd make sense, as both have had massive price drops recently, and haven't had a battery upgrade in two years.

kylec 8y ago

You might need to get a Model 3/Y if you want to hit 1000mi/hr charging. The Model S likely won't be capable of it.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

Zanni 8y ago

Yeah, this is closing the gap in a significant way. It's still not "charge on the way to work" fast, but it wouldn't be a painful delay on the way home. More important, it's an improvement. I still switch back and forth between my Model S and an ICE car--I can't remember a time when the gas station experience ever got better.

atq2119 8y ago
One of the big benefits of electric in my view is that you can just let it charge overnight in your own garage. There's simply no need to charge on the way to work. (Yeah, this only works if you do have a garage, but that covers a lot of people.)
- rcMgD2BwE72F 8y ago
  >There's simply no need to charge on the way to work Why not simply charge at work? It makes little sense to charge on route vs at destination; unless your commute is longer than your battery range, but you would probably not have purchased an EV.
  - tsukikage 8y ago
    You're guaranteed a hassle-free charging spot at home, but elsewhere it's very likely there are fewer charging spots than vehicles wanting to use them, and/or the charging spots and day-long parking places are separate and you have to go move the car once charged.
  - atq2119 8y ago
    Yeah, in many ways that would make more sense. For one thing, the sun is likelier to shine during the day, so PV electricity can go into your car. Unfortunately, the practical reality is that at home you're likely to have a garage where you can charge (though I'm of course aware that many people don't!) while at work your car is likely to be in a large parking lot without outlets. The logical conclusion is that we should invest in widespread outlet infrastructure in pretty much all parking lots. We're just not there yet, which is why I phrased my first comment in the way I did.
    - rypskar 8y ago
      Body panels made of solar-cells would be nice, combined with charging from stations or at home when there is not enough sun. Is probably not doable with current technology, but maybe some day
      - clouddrover 8y ago
        Already done: https://electrek.co/2019/03/04/sono-sion-electric-car-solar-power-production-design/ https://electrek.co/2019/03/04/sono-sion-electric-car-solar-...
      - 8y ago
zhoujianfu 8y ago
When they added credit card readers to all the pumps?
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  My local Shell station recently switched from card readers to an app and QR codes. No thanks. If I'm really desperate I'll fill up there and go inside to pay (maybe 3 times in the past year), otherwise I now go out of my way to fill up elsewhere.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - 1stranger 8y ago
    At least your card can't get skimmed that way. Of course contactless would be the ideal.
Ntrails 8y ago
The difference between 90 seconds to fill up and 3 minutes to fill up is negligible. The appetite for improvement isn't there because the marginal is small. The difference between 3 minutes and 20 minutes is still enormous. Pretending for a minute that superchargers were as common as petrol stations, that there were never queues and you always started charging immediately. I would still not consider that a reasonable time to spend waiting around so I can finish a journey. I agree it's a huge improvement, but it doesn't get close to making the gap insignificant
- vsl 8y ago
  It also depends on where and how you drive, park etc. To me, the difference between filling up on gas and 20 minutes on a Supercharger not only isn't enormous, but literally doesn't matter. But that's because I charge at home, usually drive only around the city and when I go on a trip where I need to supercharge, it's a few hours between chargers and by that time I need to take a ~20 mins break for coffee anyway. If I had to use them to charge, yep, 20 mins would be enormous.

lgregg 8y ago

I wonder if one day highways will have wireless power transfer that can meter you as you go.

rzzzt 8y ago
I would be happy with a pantograph-style sliding contact on the roof!
- KJKingJ 8y ago
  So a trolleybus[0], but for personal vehicles? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolleybus
jve 8y ago
Germany is building a wired one on A1 (5km length). Overhead contact line for trucks and looks ugly: http://www.thedrive.com/news/13448/germany-to-install-overhead-electric-vehicle-chargers-on-autobahn http://www.thedrive.com/news/13448/germany-to-install-overhe...
- flixic 8y ago
  I'm getting a wall: No Access The web page you were trying to visit is not accessible in your country. Lithuania (Europe) here. Is this GDPR thing or something more?
  - heavenlyblue 8y ago
    I am in UK and it's all fine.
  - dotancohen 8y ago
    FWIW I can view the site in Israel. The article has this Youtube video embedded, which shows the overhead contact lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8l9ieoIazc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8l9ieoIazc
  - 8y ago

matahwoosh 8y ago

Tesla Semi has multiple packs that can be charged in parallel. The Megacharger will (likely) be 4 Superchargers combined. 1MW should be enough ;) re: announcement, I'm surprised not much has been said about the flagship cars (S/X). With their current battery architecture (using 18650 batteries), they're not capable of 250kW charge rates. I wonder if they have recently updated them to new 2170 battery packs or if they're going to do that soon.

Reason077 8y ago
Elon said specifically on the most recent Tesla conference call that there are no current plans for 2170-based packs on the Model S & X.
- EngineerBetter 8y ago
  Folks are speculating that a Model S/X refresh will be announced at the end of the Model Y unveiling next week. It'd make sense, as both have had massive price drops recently, and haven't had a battery upgrade in two years.