7 ms·

30 minutes for 150 miles of range from a near-empty battery. Approx 60 minutes for a full charge from empty. It does slow down as it gets closer to full, but th

by timdorr 14y ago

30 minutes for 150 miles of range from a near-empty battery. Approx 60 minutes for a full charge from empty. It does slow down as it gets closer to full, but the timeframe is measured in minutes instead of hours.

StavrosK 14y ago
That's good, so it's basically "stop a bit, have a cup of coffee while your car charges"? Still not compared to gasoline, but, hey, viable electric cars!
- timdorr 14y ago
  More like a lunch time meal and dinner, considering I've got 17 hours of driving in front of me at that point. That's about 3 meals, so most of my stops will be for longer periods of time anyways.
rtkwe 14y ago
So add on about 12% onto a time estimate to account for the extra charging time. I'm estimating about 2.5 hours for 150 miles which isn't unreasonable for freeway driving.
- timdorr 14y ago
  If you're going < 300 miles, then it's really a moot point anyways. At that range, you'll have enough in the battery before leaving to get you there without a charge along the way.
  - rtkwe 14y ago
    And that's awesome until yo need to go beyond that single charge range. Then charging might be a problem where ever you wind up still, though it is getting much better I admit.
brk 14y ago
So for a 1000 mile trip, that is going to be about 6 charging stops. 3 hours added to the trip - and probably more like 4 hours when you consider that the Supercharger stations are not going to be located right on the main roadways all the time. A 1000 mile trip in a gas vehicle would require 3, maybe 4 fuel ups. I've timed my fill-ups many times, 7 minutes from off the road to back on (assuming an en-route gas station) is about the average. So, figure 28 minutes lost to fueling, vs. 4 hours. The Tesla will take at least 3.5 hours longer to make the same trip. 1000 miles at an average of 50 mph (seems low, but I've driven 720 mile trips from NH to MI many times) is 20 hours if you drive straight through. 20.5 hours with gas, 24 hours with Superchargers. I love the Tesla cars, I've seriously considered the Model S, but I don't see how (for me) it is really a viable long-distance driver yet. Yes, you have a better chance of not getting stranded vs. maybe a Nissan Leaf, but it's a suboptimal alternative to gasoline still.
- calpaterson 14y ago
  To be fair, you're going to have to take rest stops of that kind of length for a 1000 mile drive.
  - pyre 14y ago
    True, but you may not want to leave your vehicle plugged in by itself for 30 ~ 60 minutes. I guess you could get food and eat it in/around the car while it charged...
    - chc 14y ago
      Why wouldn't you want to do that? I leave my car parked in places that I'm not all the time.
      - pyre 14y ago
        I don't leave my car unattended while fuelling it. I realize that you would leave your car unattended for other things.
klipt 14y ago
Why don't they rent (instead of selling) the batteries, and have stations to swap your battery for a full one before recharging the empty one at their leisure? That could take the "refuel" time down to a minute!
- nathos 14y ago
  The batteries are huge and, in the case of the Model S, are built into the chassis of the car. an image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AnwyDQUET2I/T6dyawydsqI/AAAAAAAAAG8/41j8JEeMjwU/s1600/Tesla_Model_S_Chassis_Battery.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AnwyDQUET2I/T6dyawydsqI/AAAAAAAAAG...
- Finster 14y ago
  The batteries weigh about half a ton. It's not like swapping the AA's in your Wiimote.
- goatforce5 14y ago
  There's a company based in Israel that's taking that exact approach: http://www.betterplace.com/How-it-Works http://www.betterplace.com/How-it-Works
  - whatusername 14y ago
    unfortunately - I'm not sure how much longer Better Place will be around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place "In early October 2012, Agassi resigned from his role as worldwide Better Place CEO, and was replaced by Evan Thornley, CEO of Better Place-Australia. Briefly, Agassi remained on the company board, but a week later he resigned from that position as well. A few days after Thornley's appointment, Better Place asked its investors for a round of emergency funding, totaling about $150 million.[8][9] On October 11, 2012, Haaretz reported that Better Place might lay off up to half its staff of several hundred employees.[10] On October 29, 2012, Ynet reported that Better Place would that week lay off 150 to 200 people out of its 400-person staff in Israel as it seeks financing to combat its cash-flow problems.[11] In late January 2013, Thornley resigned, and Dan Cohen was named acting CEO by the board.[12]"
danielweber 14y ago
How much strain does that place on the battery?

by timdorr 14y ago

StavrosK 14y ago

That's good, so it's basically "stop a bit, have a cup of coffee while your car charges"? Still not compared to gasoline, but, hey, viable electric cars!

timdorr 14y ago
More like a lunch time meal and dinner, considering I've got 17 hours of driving in front of me at that point. That's about 3 meals, so most of my stops will be for longer periods of time anyways.

rtkwe 14y ago

So add on about 12% onto a time estimate to account for the extra charging time. I'm estimating about 2.5 hours for 150 miles which isn't unreasonable for freeway driving.

timdorr 14y ago
If you're going < 300 miles, then it's really a moot point anyways. At that range, you'll have enough in the battery before leaving to get you there without a charge along the way.
- rtkwe 14y ago
  And that's awesome until yo need to go beyond that single charge range. Then charging might be a problem where ever you wind up still, though it is getting much better I admit.

brk 14y ago

So for a 1000 mile trip, that is going to be about 6 charging stops. 3 hours added to the trip - and probably more like 4 hours when you consider that the Supercharger stations are not going to be located right on the main roadways all the time. A 1000 mile trip in a gas vehicle would require 3, maybe 4 fuel ups. I've timed my fill-ups many times, 7 minutes from off the road to back on (assuming an en-route gas station) is about the average. So, figure 28 minutes lost to fueling, vs. 4 hours. The Tesla will take at least 3.5 hours longer to make the same trip. 1000 miles at an average of 50 mph (seems low, but I've driven 720 mile trips from NH to MI many times) is 20 hours if you drive straight through. 20.5 hours with gas, 24 hours with Superchargers. I love the Tesla cars, I've seriously considered the Model S, but I don't see how (for me) it is really a viable long-distance driver yet. Yes, you have a better chance of not getting stranded vs. maybe a Nissan Leaf, but it's a suboptimal alternative to gasoline still.

calpaterson 14y ago
To be fair, you're going to have to take rest stops of that kind of length for a 1000 mile drive.
- pyre 14y ago
  True, but you may not want to leave your vehicle plugged in by itself for 30 ~ 60 minutes. I guess you could get food and eat it in/around the car while it charged...
  - chc 14y ago
    Why wouldn't you want to do that? I leave my car parked in places that I'm not all the time.
    - pyre 14y ago
      I don't leave my car unattended while fuelling it. I realize that you would leave your car unattended for other things.

klipt 14y ago

Why don't they rent (instead of selling) the batteries, and have stations to swap your battery for a full one before recharging the empty one at their leisure? That could take the "refuel" time down to a minute!

nathos 14y ago
The batteries are huge and, in the case of the Model S, are built into the chassis of the car. an image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AnwyDQUET2I/T6dyawydsqI/AAAAAAAAAG8/41j8JEeMjwU/s1600/Tesla_Model_S_Chassis_Battery.jpg http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AnwyDQUET2I/T6dyawydsqI/AAAAAAAAAG...
Finster 14y ago
The batteries weigh about half a ton. It's not like swapping the AA's in your Wiimote.
goatforce5 14y ago
There's a company based in Israel that's taking that exact approach: http://www.betterplace.com/How-it-Works http://www.betterplace.com/How-it-Works
- whatusername 14y ago
  unfortunately - I'm not sure how much longer Better Place will be around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Better_Place "In early October 2012, Agassi resigned from his role as worldwide Better Place CEO, and was replaced by Evan Thornley, CEO of Better Place-Australia. Briefly, Agassi remained on the company board, but a week later he resigned from that position as well. A few days after Thornley's appointment, Better Place asked its investors for a round of emergency funding, totaling about $150 million.[8][9] On October 11, 2012, Haaretz reported that Better Place might lay off up to half its staff of several hundred employees.[10] On October 29, 2012, Ynet reported that Better Place would that week lay off 150 to 200 people out of its 400-person staff in Israel as it seeks financing to combat its cash-flow problems.[11] In late January 2013, Thornley resigned, and Dan Cohen was named acting CEO by the board.[12]"

danielweber 14y ago

How much strain does that place on the battery?