7 ms·

Seemed normal to me. I think my wife's BMW SUV thingie fits like 90 liters.

by lnanek2 13y ago

Swizec 13y ago
At 10 gallons per minute, that's still just 2 minutes pumping time. (23 gallons) Edit: I checked again, he pumps for 2.5 minutes and gets exactly 23 gallons. So I guess the pump isn't as fast as Elon says on stage. But it still surprised me because, well, that's about twice as long as what I'm used to :)
- lnanek2 13y ago
  Did you watch the video? Not all of the time at the gas station is spent pumping.
- calinet6 13y ago
  This is a ridiculous discussion. It takes about 3-5 minutes to fill up a large-tank performance car, similar in features and trim to the Model S. It takes about 2-4 minutes to fill up a smaller car. It takes less than 2 minutes to "fill up" a Model S. It takes about 10 minutes if you also use the restroom. Are we going to start factoring that into the comparison? If not, I'm out.
  - Swizec 13y ago
    Well it does seem that most of the time saved when filling up the Model S comes from not having to get out of the car in the first place. And I guess the credit card gets used from within the car?
  - calinet6 13y ago
    They have your serial number. I'm sure it's just billed directly to your card on file.
  - leoc 13y ago
    What's probably most relevant is that it would take roughly as long to half-fill the Audi as to replace the Tesla's battery. That's in many ways a fairer comparison, as the Model S has roughly half the driving range of an Audi, and (I think) most car gasoline fill-ups aren't from near-empty back to full.
    - brianbreslin 13y ago
      The model he fills up looks to be an A8. The A8 fuel economy is around 15-18MPG. So 20 gallon tank only gets 350 mile range on it.
      - leoc 13y ago
        Ok. That's a very guzzly car then, though; even other Audis like the A5 seem to do a lot better than that, especially on the highway.
        rayiner 13y ago
        Tesla's competition, from the perspective of performance and price, is very guzzly cars.
        leoc 13y ago
        But big $100,000 cars like this mid-range S-class Merc http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S550V http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S... seem to have 20+ gallon gas tanks (here's the S550's capacity http://autos.yahoo.com/mercedes-benz/s-class/2013/s550/specifications.html http://autos.yahoo.com/mercedes-benz/s-class/2013/s550/speci... ) and the ability to manage about 25MPG on the highway. That would place them at 500+ miles from a single fill. (They'll do a lot worse with city driving though: the S550 should only give 350 miles. I think these MPG numbers are the EPA's.)
      - rallison 13y ago
        Aside from the top end A8s with upgraded engines, they get 18MPG city and 28MPG highway. Simply saying that the A8 gets 15-18MPG is deceptive. So, if we are talking range, an A8 will get upwards of 560 miles on a tank.
- rayiner 13y ago
  Pumps vary dramatically in speed. My car has a 15.8 gallon tank, and it can easily take a couple of minutes to fill up (in Virginia).
  - sgdnogb2n 13y ago
    Not to mention random pumps that you can never get to pump at full speed because they seem to fail to detect that the nozzle is in your tank's hole, or that click and stop every 3 seconds because the gas backs up because it doesn't flow down the tube fast enough.
- rossjudson 13y ago
  As Musk points out, this is the fastest pump they could find in their area. Pumps vary tremendously in speed. Actually I'm curious about why the same pumps are sometimes fast, and sometimes very slow. Anybody know? Does tank level really matter that much?
  - kdsudac 13y ago
    Haha, well if Musk says so it must be true!
    - jlgreco 13y ago
      In the US, fuel pumps meant for regular sized cars (not trucks, boats, planes, etc) are limited to 10 gallons/minute. If that pump really was that fast, then it really was (among) the fastest legal pump(s) in the area. http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/ld-hwy/evap/spitback.txt http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/ld-hwy/evap/spitback.txt
  - prbuckley 13y ago
    I think it has to do with how much fuel is in the gas stations storage tanks. When the tanks get low they pump more slowly. I think it has to do with the pressure created by the weight of fuel pushing gas out of the bottom of the tank faster, there is more potential energy to push the gas faster in a full tank, mass x gravity x height equals potential energy.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]
smackfu 13y ago
Pssst, a BMW SUV is also a heavy luxury vehicle.

Seemed normal to me. I think my wife's BMW SUV thingie fits like 90 liters.

by lnanek2 13y ago

Seemed normal to me. I think my wife's BMW SUV thingie fits like 90 liters.

At 10 gallons per minute, that's still just 2 minutes pumping time. (23 gallons) Edit: I checked again, he pumps for 2.5 minutes and gets exactly 23 gallons. So I guess the pump isn't as fast as Elon says on stage. But it still surprised me because, well, that's about twice as long as what I'm used to :)

lnanek2 13y ago
Did you watch the video? Not all of the time at the gas station is spent pumping.
calinet6 13y ago
This is a ridiculous discussion. It takes about 3-5 minutes to fill up a large-tank performance car, similar in features and trim to the Model S. It takes about 2-4 minutes to fill up a smaller car. It takes less than 2 minutes to "fill up" a Model S. It takes about 10 minutes if you also use the restroom. Are we going to start factoring that into the comparison? If not, I'm out.
- Swizec 13y ago
  Well it does seem that most of the time saved when filling up the Model S comes from not having to get out of the car in the first place. And I guess the credit card gets used from within the car?
- calinet6 13y ago
  They have your serial number. I'm sure it's just billed directly to your card on file.
- leoc 13y ago
  What's probably most relevant is that it would take roughly as long to half-fill the Audi as to replace the Tesla's battery. That's in many ways a fairer comparison, as the Model S has roughly half the driving range of an Audi, and (I think) most car gasoline fill-ups aren't from near-empty back to full.
  - brianbreslin 13y ago
    The model he fills up looks to be an A8. The A8 fuel economy is around 15-18MPG. So 20 gallon tank only gets 350 mile range on it.
    - leoc 13y ago
      Ok. That's a very guzzly car then, though; even other Audis like the A5 seem to do a lot better than that, especially on the highway.
      - rayiner 13y ago
        Tesla's competition, from the perspective of performance and price, is very guzzly cars.
        leoc 13y ago
        But big $100,000 cars like this mid-range S-class Merc http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S550V http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/vehicles/model/class-S/model-S... seem to have 20+ gallon gas tanks (here's the S550's capacity http://autos.yahoo.com/mercedes-benz/s-class/2013/s550/specifications.html http://autos.yahoo.com/mercedes-benz/s-class/2013/s550/speci... ) and the ability to manage about 25MPG on the highway. That would place them at 500+ miles from a single fill. (They'll do a lot worse with city driving though: the S550 should only give 350 miles. I think these MPG numbers are the EPA's.)
    - rallison 13y ago
      Aside from the top end A8s with upgraded engines, they get 18MPG city and 28MPG highway. Simply saying that the A8 gets 15-18MPG is deceptive. So, if we are talking range, an A8 will get upwards of 560 miles on a tank.
rayiner 13y ago
Pumps vary dramatically in speed. My car has a 15.8 gallon tank, and it can easily take a couple of minutes to fill up (in Virginia).
- sgdnogb2n 13y ago
  Not to mention random pumps that you can never get to pump at full speed because they seem to fail to detect that the nozzle is in your tank's hole, or that click and stop every 3 seconds because the gas backs up because it doesn't flow down the tube fast enough.
rossjudson 13y ago
As Musk points out, this is the fastest pump they could find in their area. Pumps vary tremendously in speed. Actually I'm curious about why the same pumps are sometimes fast, and sometimes very slow. Anybody know? Does tank level really matter that much?
- kdsudac 13y ago
  Haha, well if Musk says so it must be true!
  - jlgreco 13y ago
    In the US, fuel pumps meant for regular sized cars (not trucks, boats, planes, etc) are limited to 10 gallons/minute. If that pump really was that fast, then it really was (among) the fastest legal pump(s) in the area. http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/ld-hwy/evap/spitback.txt http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/ld-hwy/evap/spitback.txt
- prbuckley 13y ago
  I think it has to do with how much fuel is in the gas stations storage tanks. When the tanks get low they pump more slowly. I think it has to do with the pressure created by the weight of fuel pushing gas out of the bottom of the tank faster, there is more potential energy to push the gas faster in a full tank, mass x gravity x height equals potential energy.
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

smackfu 13y ago

Pssst, a BMW SUV is also a heavy luxury vehicle.