TESLA Electric Truck?

[ultrarunner]

They are putting chargers in at the malls and grocery stores... some larger businesses are providing them too.

California just approved banning Natural Gas for homes and some industry so the demand for electric will continue... just hope the grid can keep up.

But... if industry continues to leave maybe the grid power can go to electric vehicles?

Two new Teslas this month at work... OR tech and a nurse... they are well received here for a daily commuter vehicle.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Soon one will read about bad manners and leaving your already charged EV in place at the charging station. I mean, you could unplug it (could you?) but the vehicle would still be in the way.

 

[Grumpycat]

At the hotel we stopped at, I was surprised there was about 2 or 3 Teslas charging. I can't remember how many stations they had, maybe 8. I was surprised at the place in Rifle Colorado that had them, it was a Subway or Arbys type fast food place. If you stop for lunch and maybe once more during the day, that actually makes the Tesla viable as long as there are enough charging stations.

Residence Inn Glenwood Springs has (6) 120 kW Superchargers.

No Superchargers in Rifle, Plugshare shows J1772 EVSEs at the County Admin building and another at the college. (6) Superchargers at Mesa Mall in Grand Junction. And (8) at "Inn at Aspen".

Supercharger data is available on Tesla in-car navigation systems and here online: Find Us | Tesla

PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You has data on all known EV charging sites.

supercharge.info is especially good for spotting Superchargers in process of being built. The map is especially nice, allows construction of route via Superchargers including pretty darn good estimates of power use and charge time to get to the next Supercharger. Currently 75 locations in the USA have dirt moved, another 53 are known to have construction permits but work has not started. 736 sites are open for business.

 

[Grumpycat]

Soon one will read about bad manners and leaving your already charged EV in place at the charging station. I mean, you could unplug it (could you?) but the vehicle would still be in the way.

Newbie. Such complaints have been circulating for 6 years that I know of.

Tesla charges more for idle time at a Supercharger than they charge for power.

No, if the car is locked the umbilical will not detach. This prevents theft of the EVSE if one is plugged into an outlet such as a NEMA 14-50 at an RV park.

Oh, and the Supercharger umbilical is too short to reach another vehicle. Is short enough one has to park just right for it to reach.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Don't get me wrong. I love EVs from what I know of them. But I do hate any more reliance on things outside of my control. Not a fan of lines in any way, shape or form.

 

[California]

Are there any situations where a HV extension cord with Supercharger ends would be useful?

 

[Grumpycat]

Don't get me wrong. I love EVs from what I know of them. But I do hate any more reliance on things outside of my control. Not a fan of lines in any way, shape or form.

All the more the reason for an EV. No lines to charge at home. For $15k you could install PV solar and sever dependency on your electric utility, make your own fuel. Use of a Supercharger is a rare event, not routine. The over congestion situation in California is rare in most of the rest of the country.

Gave serious consideration in home brewing my own biodiesel about 11 years ago. About $10k investment. Lots of labor, consumable supplies, and hazardous waste. PV power is simple as a nail in comparison. No supplies. No waste.

 

[Jstpssng]

By golly, isn't it great that gas stations never fail during power outages!

The difference is that a Tesla indicates on-screen the current status of the Supercharger you are headed to and will re-route if the site is down (which is about as rare as a gas station being down.) Yes, the gas stations could have backup generators but didn't. And batteries on the phone systems didn't last many hours.

Tornados if April 2011 left me without power for 7 days. We could get gas 30 miles away but both wire and cell service were also out until hundreds of generators on trailers were brought in.

So what’s your point? Are you saying that it’s pointless to plan for that possibility? It doesn’t matter what that fancy Tesla screen says, if the power is out you aren’t getting charged. That little generator which IT suggested might seem like a good idea at that point.
Gas stations around here seldom run out of power; they have backup generators for that purpose. They also don’t close due to poor weather conditions... too many plow truck operators need fuel, coffee, et.al.

 

[ultrarunner]

With power out the gas stations were all closed without exception.

I do think if California continues to have PSPS there will be more for back up power... it is just something that has not been needed.

Even the Post Office closed when the power was shut-off...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

That looks like carp