After Killing Tesla Model Y SR, Musk Says New Normal Range Is 300 Miles

[reynirb]

Agree. Range is effectively only important because of charging rates. When was the last time an ICE car talked about a 50 mile range difference? If charging were a few minutes, would 300 miles sell significantly more than a cheaper 250 miles?

Imo this is about production constraints and profit margin imo. Dedicate the supply chain to the trims that bring in the most revenue- which for Tesla are the more premium EVs.

Does this range requirement help delineate Tesla’s brand, or feed into ICE companies range anxiety narrative?

It seems more defensive than offensive. It could help Tesla maintain dominance over what is a relatively small market for EVs by using the ICE companies range narrative against ICE manufacturer EV offerings. But the difference between notional 250 vs 300 isn’t removing the sensationalized range “problem” or tangibly helping growing the EV market. It validates it. That’s a win for ICE.

I think we have to also face the reality that some people will always find a "problem" with electric cars. If it isn't the range, it is the battery lifespan. If it is not battery lifespan, it is they are too quiet. Or too heavy. Or something else.

Those same people would have said a century ago that the cars will never take off, as he have plenty of horses and there is grass everywhere. Who wants to buy gasoline in a jar at your local pharmacy so you can go somewhere?

And what's the point of the Kitty Hawk in 1903? That plane can't carry 400 people and fly NY to London nonstop.

I see people complaining that cars don't have 500 miles of range and don't take 5 minutes to charge, ignoring the fact that they drive 20 miles to work round trip, and no one sane wants to drive 500 miles non stop and refuel in 5 minutes anyways.

Which again explains why every single rest area in my state is packed, every single day, with ICE cars filling up the parking lot...

 

[Saturday]

As the market saturates, the answer will be more DC fast chargers in more places. Not less. Think about the spacing of gas stations and the logistics it takes to keep one running.

Underrated comment.

IMO this whole issue with range from increased mass to increased cost to waiting for the technology to make these strides... all of this would be nice, will happen eventually, but is ultimately not necessary. It's not even about charging speed. The primary fear behind range anxiety isn't waiting 20 minutes. It's being totally dead on the side of the road. Even if, due to physics, we were stuck at the current energy density, EVs would be fine because there's a simple solution-

Build more superchargers.

Imagine a world where superchargers (doesn't necessarily have to be Tesla's) are as ubiquitous as gas stations. Imagine a world where you don't even have to look at a digital map to find the nearest one because you know that simple driving down a main street will yield one. In that world, range anxiety is basically eliminated. No increased range needed. This scenario is sufficient to be game changer. To especially illustrate this, imagine a world where gas stations were as rare as superchargers. All of a sudden, everybody driving an ICE car will have range anxiety and any conversations about gas tank size seem to be missing the point.

 

[ElectricIAC]

Underrated comment.

IMO this whole issue with range from increased mass to increased cost to waiting for the technology to make these strides... all of this would be nice, will happen eventually, but is ultimately not necessary. It's not even about charging speed. The primary fear behind range anxiety isn't waiting 20 minutes. It's being totally dead on the side of the road. Even if, due to physics, we were stuck at the current energy density, EVs would be fine because there's a simple solution-

Build more superchargers.

Imagine a world where superchargers (doesn't necessarily have to be Tesla's) are as ubiquitous as gas stations. Imagine a world where you don't even have to look at a digital map to find the nearest one because you know that simple driving down a main street will yield one. In that world, range anxiety is basically eliminated. No increased range needed. This scenario is sufficient to be game changer. To especially illustrate this, imagine a world where gas stations were as rare as superchargers. All of a sudden, everybody driving an ICE car will have range anxiety and any conversations about gas tank size seem to be missing the point.

I believe Norway is as close as it comes to this..