Elon "About to end range anxiety"

[Johan]

Guys, I've read the entire thread. Some very good speculation going on (entertaining) but let's get back down to earth.

Elon is going to "end range anxiety". All the theories about better efficiency by torque sleeping, more power from the battery by using a wider voltage range, tires that charge the car while driving, higher SC rate, later SC taper etc. are wrong. Here's why: Range anxiety will always be a relative thing. People are going to keep pushing the limits of the car all the time. Now it goes 400 miles? Great, so at 380 miles driven you have anxiety.

The only way to "end" anxiety is have the software be THAT GOOD at predicting range, range remaining, etc. so that you will NEVER be surprised if you run out of power along the side of the road.

 

[tomas]

Guys, I've read the entire thread. Some very good speculation going on (entertaining) but let's get back down to earth.

Elon is going to "end range anxiety". All the theories about better efficiency by torque sleeping, more power from the battery by using a wider voltage range, tires that charge the car while driving, higher SC rate, later SC taper etc. are wrong. Here's why: Range anxiety will always be a relative thing. People are going to keep pushing the limits of the car all the time. Now it goes 400 miles? Great, so at 380 miles driven you have anxiety.

The only way to "end" anxiety is have the software be THAT GOOD at predicting range, range remaining, etc. so that you will NEVER be surprised if you run out of power along the side of the road.

Hate to bump a suggestion, but we've got to get this to 100 pages by Thursday!

OR, it could still be: continuous laser induction charging from SpaceX satellites. That would end range anxiety!

 

[krisg81]

Whatever "feature" that will be applied via OTA update doesn't really matter. It could be several months or over a year away. Just like his "P85D/P85 inverter update that increases performance" he tweeted once and nothing since. I swear he has a day dream or comes up with an idea and 5 seconds later can't wait to send a tweet. Then when it can't be executed you don't hear about it ever again, and if it can- it's many months away (or more).

- - - Updated - - -

Agreed 10000%

im sure a Plug Share integration that routes you to any nearby charger (even public chargers) can be said to "end range anxiety" and I'm sure a spin of this will ensure they can promote the sales of Chademo adapters.

Guys, I've read the entire thread. Some very good speculation going on (entertaining) but let's get back down to earth.

Elon is going to "end range anxiety". All the theories about better efficiency by torque sleeping, more power from the battery by using a wider voltage range, tires that charge the car while driving, higher SC rate, later SC taper etc. are wrong. Here's why: Range anxiety will always be a relative thing. People are going to keep pushing the limits of the car all the time. Now it goes 400 miles? Great, so at 380 miles driven you have anxiety.

The only way to "end" anxiety is have the software be THAT GOOD at predicting range, range remaining, etc. so that you will NEVER be surprised if you run out of power along the side of the road.

 

[Lloyd]

This is the definition of range anxiety!

 

[AprilDelivery??]

Tesla will put an App like Plugshare on the new software update that definitely helps alleviate range stress.

 

[omarsultan]

The only way to "end" anxiety is have the software be THAT GOOD at predicting range, range remaining, etc. so that you will NEVER be surprised if you run out of power along the side of the road.

That type of update does not seem press conference worthy. If you own a Tesla, than at some point you have made peace with range anxiety already, so he would be preaching to the choir with this kind of update and he is acknowledging/highlighting EV detractors' talking points. On the other hand, if he can say something like Tesla is introducing an "eco" mode that gives everyone 30% more effective range, that is the kind of thing that will further shake up the market and neuters the detractors' talking point.

 

[Coiled]

Improved trip planning does help but by itself doesn't eliminate range anxiety. Some form of crisis management is needed for when the planning wasn't good enough (weather changed, side trip, bad plan, whatever). My guess is some combination of these features:

1. When you get low on range, nearby charging stations of any kind pop up on the map (via a deal with PlugShare). You can select any of them as a waypoint/destination. When you're getting close to being out of range of any known charging stations, warnings pop up. Your home is included by default as a charging station (only for you). Superchargers and your home are the preferred options for charging. The first warning happens when you're running out of preferred options.
2. Eco mode is available as an option with seriously limited acceleration and climate control.
3. When you get low on range, eco mode kicks in progressively and automatically to extend range as nav tries to route you to a charger.
4. Some integration of eco mode with autopilot to make sure you get to your destination (only for autopilot cars).
5. A deal with AAA to rescue stranded drivers using portable generators. (OK, that may be a pipe dream.)
6. Trip planning with charger waypoints to avoid a crisis in the first place.

 

[Fanatic]

Can't believe that there isn't anyone that have been talking about a better inverter algoritm.. Would maybe shave off the 0.1 ac time and be much more effective when driving.

 

[dhanson865]

This may disappoint many, but I think that Tesla is simply going to update the navigation system to program in Tesla Charging Partners as currently being displayed on the Find Us web page. I see it as a new "Charging Partner" tab similar to the Superchargers tab. It will be a useful improvement and it will assist Tesla in selling the Destination Charging Program to host locations. Tesla can tell a prospective host location that even if the owner of the Model S doesn't know about your location, the car does and it will take the owner to your hotel, resort, etc.

Larry

huh, scratching my head, I just went to the find us page on my PC in Firefox and IE and I don't see a Tesla Charging Partners tab.

Is that an in car browser only tab?

 

[Larry Chanin]

That could certainly be the case for an upcoming software release, but that alone is hardly worthy of a press conference.

Excellent point.

The optimist in me hopes that the press conference will announce a Supercharger partnership with manufacturers such as GM or Ford who claim to be pursuing long distance (200+ mile) EVs soon.

However, the realist in me asks when was the last time that any of the mainstream automobile industry have demonstrated vision recently?

Larry

 

[AmpedRealtor]

im sure a Plug Share integration that routes you to any nearby charger (even public chargers) can be said to "end range anxiety" and I'm sure a spin of this will ensure they can promote the sales of Chademo adapters.

I don't think Tesla would trust a database maintained by Plugshare. The information on Plughshare is crowdsourced and not 100% reliable. Many charging locations appear where there are no chargers, addresses are not always correct, etc. My HPWC is posted, but without a specific address because I don't want anyone to know where I live. Why integrate a database when you know that a nice chunk of that data is unusable or will send your customers on a wild goose chase?

If we do see non-Tesla charge points, I believe it will be through a direct partnership with those companies.

 

[Dwdnjck]

I am thinking that the roadster trip from San Francisco to LA may have been accomplished without resorting to a larger battery.

 

[AudubonB]

A lot - not all, but a very large fraction - of the entries from USA posters are providing possibilities that affect SOLELY United States or, at best, US+Canadian vehicles. The tweet said the entire fleet.​

 

[Thud]

My prediction:

This will be the very same software update that Elon previously referred to, which will reduce the P85D's 0-60 time to 3.1s. He also said it will speed up P85's. What he's probably not saying is that it speeds up S85 and S60 cars too.

The key is that the new inverter algorithm is more efficient, in that the cars will be slightly quicker while not increasing the battery power requirements. The increase in efficiency will apply to the entire fleet. More range, AND better 0-60 times, for all model S cars, although the P85D will see the biggest increase in speed.

Updates to the NAV system aren't worthy of a press conference.
But if Elon comes out and says that the entire fleet of Model S cars will magically become quicker AND have better range, literally overnight due to a software update, HOLY SH**. :scared:

 

[dhanson865]

Hate to bump a suggestion, but we've got to get this to 100 pages by Thursday!

OR, it could still be: continuous laser induction charging from SpaceX satellites. That would end range anxiety!

just an FYI I'm showing twice as many posts per page so to me this is an 8 page thread right now. You'll only be to 50 pages for me if you get to 100 on your view. :tongue:

 

[Todd Burch]

OK, great--so then we all agree: Elon's probably blowing this out of proportion a little bit.

 

[donv]

I bet that's exactly what it is. That would be perfectly in line with Elon's past practice of hyping something which turns out to be, for most of us, not a big deal at all.

Battery swap.

OTA is the SW component required to enable/allow battery swapping. Think of the SW needed to enable super charging.

 

[point1]

I bet that's exactly what it is. That would be perfectly in line with Elon's past practice of hyping something which turns out to be, for most of us, not a big deal at all.

I what way would a battery swap eliminate range anxiety? Would there be a lot more places to change batteries than there are superchargers?

 

[anticitizen13.7]

I bet that's exactly what it is. That would be perfectly in line with Elon's past practice of hyping something which turns out to be, for most of us, not a big deal at all.

As far as I know, there's only 1 battery swap station. It seems pointless to announce a software update for battery swap, when the overwhelming majority of Model S drivers would not be able to take advantage of the feature anytime soon.

 

[Cosmacelf]

Press conferences aren't meant for current owners. An email to all owners would suffice for that. Press conferences are a marketing tool meant to reach potential new customers. So this press conference will tout Tesla's advanced trip planning features and how by relying on the advanced nav energy calculation software, you'll never have to worry about running out of charge.

If that's a meh for us here on this forum, that's because the press conference isn't meant for us.