Driving EVs Out of Range

[mitch672]

Etch your VIN # on the UMC with a Dremel. Easy.

Maybe that's a service Tesla should be doing to each Mobile connector, if they are ALL etched with the VIN of the vehicle they are delivered with, word would get out quickly that they can easily be tracked, and are not worth stealing.

 

[Citizen-T]

We were just talking about how businesses will install charging stations to attract customers and lookie here: Charge Up at the Tallman Hotel

 

[NigelM]

Etch your VIN # on the UMC with a Dremel. Easy.

Maybe that's a service Tesla should be doing to each Mobile connector, if they are ALL etched with the VIN of the vehicle they are delivered with, word would get out quickly that they can easily be tracked, and are not worth stealing.

I got the idea when I purchased a new battery for my motorcycle and the dealer etched his initials and the date on it as a guarantee. I have a Dremel and it's really easy to mark the Roadster UMC, I'm guessing the Model S one will be just as easy.

 

[nrcooled]

Hi there. I took a ride at the LA test event and fell in love with this car. Fantastically designed vehicle. I wanted to buy it on the spot.

I keep coming back to a nagging problem though, and one that I think is going to haunt this industry for a while: the *unpredictability* of out-of-range charging.

A vehicle like the Tesla S is perfect for all drives that start and end with home. You have a guaranteed charging hub, and you can predict precisely how long your charging will take, and you have guaranteed access. Any trips within (maximum battery range - accessory usage / 2) are perfect for this vehicle.

However, when I try to rationalize trips with ranges beyond this -- pretty much any trip that requires charging either in the middle of the trip (san diego to san fran) or at the destination (san diego to santa barbara and back in 85kwh, or day trip from san diego to LA in a 60kwh car), I start to imagine all sorts of scenarios that make such trips roulette events, and thus not of acceptable risk for what's supposed to be a hassle-free trip.

The primary issue is that unless I control the environment at the other end (I own a parking spot with a charger, for example), I can have no 100% guarantee that I will be able to charge at the other end.

A website may show that 3 chargers are available in a destination parking garage (or even a hotel), but the list of things that could go wrong are large, and these risks actually grow with more EVs on the road (leafs,volts,teslas,etc):

- The chargers may all be in use. Maybe for the entire day (or night in the case of hotel).
- They may be broken, inactive.
- They may not interface properly with my car.
- Couldn't someone come along with 1% juice, and in their own panic disconnect my car, and charge theirs? Or do charging ports lock? Can a-hole kids disconnect my car just for fun? Or does key-in-range lock charge port in?
- Non-electric-cars may be parking in the spaces by the chargers
- The parking garage may close before my required charge is made
- Construction work, maintenance being done, other obstacles getting to the chargers.
- Etc

In short, if I am driving from San Diego to Santa Barbara for a weekend (215 miles), and I *NEED* to charge at the other end to be able to get home, then I have zero guarantee that I can charge with certainty in a time-predictable manner. It's like driving an ICE into a desert where you've heard there is a gas station or two that may possibly be open, but it all depends on how lucky you are. Chargers listed on a website are completely theoretical because they do not guarantee ME a charging time and spot. Maybe those chargers have "always been available" for Roadster users, but we're getting a lot more EVs on the roads now - more competition for charging spots.

Even as charging options expand and more EVs get on the roads (say, lots of parking garages in the area have chargers), can you imagine the hassle of trying to find one that DOES have a spot free, and then trying to work out how to get from parking-garage-with-an-available-spot to the location you actually wanted to get to?

Even hypothetical future super-charging stations have their issues. How long might a wait be at one of these? If it takes half an hour to super-charge a car to 50%, then we should assume that most cars will be there at least half an hour. Can you imagine the lines at a gas station where every car takes 30 minutes to fill up? Are there going to be 50 charging ports and 50 parking spots available at super-charging stations? Is there enough expensive real estate to PARK 50 cars in urban areas to super-charge them? And what precisely do all of these people do for 30 minutes while they charge? Can they theoretically get super-charging down to a 5-minute event? And if that ONE station is closed for maintenance or whatever, what then? In the early years at least, odds of there being 2 super-charge stations next door to each other will be low.

So, I'd love to hear people's thoughts on this issue. I often hear things like "super charging stations" will save us, or "more parking garages will have ports", but it all sounds like a logistical nightmare to me as a driver out-of-range who needs to charge and more importantly needs to be able to GUARANTEE that he/she can charge in a certain amount of time.

Don't get me wrong, I still want this car and intend on buying it, even if it means all trips are maxrange/2 in range. I do, however, have trouble differentiating driving out of range in a place where I do not have a guaranteed charge-location (with backup locations) from a gamble that may result in either (a) a lot of wasted time or (b) a visit from a tow-truck.


Thanks for your thoughts

I was in the same boat as you and I was pretty apprehensive about springing for such a pricey car that may not fit ALL my driving needs (it does meet 99% though). After I talked to a couple of friends and hanging out here on the forums a lot of my fears were put to ease. If you have an iPhone download the Recargo app. It is basically an app that will give you the network of chargers that are around you at all times there availability and if they are operational or not and it's FREE.

For most long trips I plan to use my wife's ICE vehicle but I plan to give it a shot of taking a road trip in the Tesla. Obviously, you will need to build time into the trip for potential detours and recharging but that's it.

Edit: I was surprised at how many charging locations were near me and along the routes that I frequent most for my longer journeys. In addition, most Nissan and Chevy dealerships have chargers to support the Volt and Leaf. So to summarize, plan your trip, find charging stations along the way using the app, budget charging time, and enjoy the quiet ride.

 

[smoothoperator]

Edit: I was surprised at how many charging locations were near me and along the routes that I frequent most for my longer journeys. In addition, most Nissan and Chevy dealerships have chargers to support the Volt and Leaf. So to summarize, plan your trip, find charging stations along the way using the app, budget charging time, and enjoy the quiet ride.

It is important to note a lot of Nissan & Chevrolet dealerships will not allow a non Nissan or Chevrolet vehicle to use their EVSE.

Also 30 amp charging is pretty slow, using a UMC at a RV Park will give you a quicker charge. I learned the hard way that Plan A should be the RV Park & Plan B a chargepoint or something else of this nature (unless you have a ton of time to kill).

 

[jerry33]

It is important to note a lot of Nissan & Chevrolet dealerships will not allow a non Nissan or Chevrolet vehicle to use their EVSE.

Also 30 amp charging is pretty slow, using a UMC at a RV Park will give you a quicker charge. I learned the hard way that Plan A should be the RV Park & Plan B a chargepoint or something else of this nature (unless you have a ton of time to kill).

The RV park certainly seems to be the way to go (assuming no superchargers). Anyway who wants to spend time at an automobile dealers? Avoiding dealers is one of the reasons for getting a Tesla.