Elon driving cross-country

[twinklejet]

I'm confused, his tweet said he spent only 9 hours charging, which is past tense. So I took it as he already did it, but the article and you guys are acting like he hasnt yet......?

Since nobody seems to have answered you..

In that tweet with that sentence structure, it's not past tense, it's called future perfect tense (an english grammer rule)...

So he did not say that "he spent only 9 hours charging" (past tense)

He said "Just finalized the LA to NY family road trip route in Model S. 6 day, 3200 mile journey with only 9 hrs spent charging." (future perfect tense)

Let me know if you need more help with this, you can also post in the grammer thread which I think the mod will move our two posts over anytime now...

 

[AndyM]

In that tweet with that sentence structure, it's not past tense, it's called future perfect tense (an english [BOLD]grammer[/BOLD] rule)...
...
(future perfect tense)
...
Let me know if you need more help with this, you can also post in the [BOLD]grammer[/BOLD] thread..,

The cognitive dissonance generated by this post is enough to keep all of us OCD sufferers visiting our therapists.

 

[twinklejet]

The cognitive dissonance generated by this post is enough to keep all of us OCD sufferers visiting our therapists.

Whoops! I meant grammar!

 

[brianman]

The cognitive dissonance generated by this post is enough to keep all of us OCD sufferers visiting our therapists.

Mismatched spelling and grammar proficiencies aren't a sign of cognitive dissonance. IMO.

 

[Mayhemm]

I must be way off as MOST of my road trips are planned 6+ months out. With kids and work schedules i have to plan.

Elon first mentioned his coast-to-coast trip with the family a LONG time ago. I'm sure he (or his PR people at Tesla) had the route planned out before the supercharger map even went live. The only variable is WHEN it will occur.

 

[AndyM]

Mismatched spelling and grammar proficiencies aren't a sign of cognitive dissonance. IMO.

I didn't think it was. The dissonance was in my own head.

 

[Beavis]

My big question is why did Tesla put the big jog (I call it the Mt Rushmore Detour) into the route. If they had just put in Superchargers down I-76 east out of Denver and then followed I-80 to Chicago, the route would have been a lot shorter and a few Superchargers fewer.

Why is the justification for the Mt Rushmore Detour? I don't think its to look at four U.S. Presidents cast in stone. :biggrin:

I think he is recreating the road trip he and his brother took many years ago.

 

[Mayhemm]

A month later, any news on the trip?

 

[Cottonwood]

A month later, any news on the trip?

Take a look at the Farmington, NM Supercharger thread. I think this provides a nice clue.

Put Farmington, NM together with the Xcel Energy (local utility) representative letting slip at the Silverthorne, CO ribbon cutting that the next Colorado Supercharger opening would be in Grand Junction, CO, and the 2015 Supercharger map on the Tesla site, here is my theory on the route through the Southwest. Look at this annotated map.

The orange lines are my guess at Elon's route. The purple circles are Farmington, NM (from the announcement above) and Grand Junction (from Xcel at Silverthorne). The blue circle is Ridgeway, CO; Ridgeway is my guess at a good spot to break up the 220 mile run from Farmington to Grand Junction. The Farmington to Grand Junction section could be done on one charge, but given the time needed to Range charge in Farmington, and the possible range anxiety from driving a loaded car in cold weather, I doubt that Elon will do that. Alternatives to Ridgeway include a Supercharger in Montrose, or an overnight charge in Telluride. Come to think of it, an overnight in Telluride would be my choice... :biggrin: Let's assume an overnight in Telluride, with maybe a few hours skiing with the family before heading to Boulder to visit his brother. Here is the map with an overnight in Telluride.

To make this work, the Gallup, NM and Heber-Overgaard, AZ sites will have to come on-line this winter instead of waiting until 2015. This is an easy stretch given Tesla's examples of out of order roll outs. Just like the Mt Rushmore detour, I had wondered why there was a Supercharger in Heber-Overgaard, AZ. Now its obvious; this is another part of the Supercharger network that is not a bad spot, but supports Elon's recreation of the trip with his brother. It also means that the LA to Phoenix Superchargers need to be installed, but that is part of the plan anyway, so no big deal.

If we put all of this together, then here are the first few days, all supported with announced, or PR slipped Supercharger locations:

1. Hawthorne to Phoenix — 371 miles, via Indio, CA and Blythe, CA. Scottsdale would actually be a great place to spend the night! — Hawthorne, CA to Avondale, AZ - Google Maps
2. Phoenix to Telluride — 556 miles via Heber-Overgaard, AZ, Gallup, NM, and Farmington, NM — Avondale, AZ to Telluride, CO - Google Maps
3. Telluride to Boulder — 383 miles via Grand Junction, CO, Glenwood Springs, CO, and Silverthorne, CO to spend the night with his brother in Boulder — Telluride, CO to Boulder, CO - Google Maps

All of this puts Elon a little behind schedule for a 6 day cross country trip, but it is a great start! Besides, crossing the great plains and mid-west at a faster pace than the beautiful mountain southwest would be a great trade-off for me; an easy first day, visit a world class ski area, and an overnight with family all seem to fit into the family road trip!

 

[Cottonwood]

With a lot of information and strong rumor coming together at Arizona Superchargers - Page 10, and with the Farmington, NM Supercharger info coming out, here is my best, intelligent guess for the start of Elon's trip: Hawthorne, CA to Farmington, NM

The big question is how does Farmington, NM gets connected to Grand Junction, CO to get back on the I-70 route to Glenwood Spring, CO and Silverthorne, CO...

 

[Mayhemm]

Elon's trip may happen soon....

Just checked the Supercharger map on Tesla's website:

Looks like the coast-to-coast corridor is only 1 or 2 locations away from being complete!

Depending on the state of supercharger construction in West Virginia and Pennsylvania, they may actually complete it by year's end!

 

[RobStark]

Looks like the large contingent of Tesla owners in Austin TX are being quarantined to a 400 mile radius!

 

[772]

There are at least 10 more SCs that need to be completed for this to work... thankfully most are under construction and near completion; the few that aren't will start after the current set are done. They'll definitely be up before spring

 

[Mayhemm]

There are at least 10 more SCs that need to be completed for this to work... thankfully most are under construction and near completion; the few that aren't will start after the current set are done. They'll definitely be up before spring

How do you figure? That little eastern gap could easily be filled by a single Supercharger. The route may not be optimal, but it would be complete.

- - - Updated - - -

Looks like the large contingent of Tesla owners in Austin TX are being quarantined to a 400 mile radius!

Since their government banned the sale of Model S in the state, they should be happy they got what they did.

 

[772]

How do you figure? That little eastern gap could easily be filled by a single Supercharger. The route may not be optimal, but it would be complete.

The Western half isn't completed yet. The overlapping range circles are deceiving. For example, the distance between Quartzsite, AZ and Gallup, NM is 407 miles, and the distance from Gallup to Glenwood Springs, CO is 446 miles. So, although the radiuses of the range circles overlap, the trip can't be completed in a single charge. In order for 60s to make the trip, the SCs have to be ~150 mi apart, and ideally about 100-130 miles apart. But SCs at most of these necessary locations are already well underway.

 

[Mayhemm]

Ah, that makes sense now that I look closer. Thanks.

 

[Cottonwood]

The Western half isn't completed yet. The overlapping range circles are deceiving. For example, the distance between Quartzsite, AZ and Gallup, NM is 407 miles, and the distance from Gallup to Glenwood Springs, CO is 446 miles. So, although the radiuses of the range circles overlap, the trip can't be completed in a single charge. In order for 60s to make the trip, the SCs have to be ~150 mi apart, and ideally about 100-130 miles apart. But SCs at most of these necessary locations are already well underway.

The circles on the Tesla page are very optimistic. If they touch, it means that if you do a range charge at the boundary on some other source, you can make it to the next supercharger. A more conservative approach is to look at Teslawiki Superchargers. If you set the range to kWh of the car for an MS (85 or 60), and the circles overlap, you can probably make it comfortably between Superchargers.

 

[Mayhemm]

It's still pretty close.

If you hide the ones listed as "under construction" there's still only 2 small gaps that need to be filled.

 

[donauker]

One thing to remember is that Elon has stated that they will be charging exclusively at Superchargers with only 9 hours of total charging or 1.5 hours per day. This allows almost no time for charging after tapering starts so he will need to either drive a car with a modified charge profile or the spacing of the superchargers will need to be much closer then total range limits.

 

[Cottonwood]

One thing to remember is that Elon has stated that they will be charging exclusively at Superchargers with only 9 hours of total charging or 1.5 hours per day. This allows almost no time for charging after tapering starts so he will need to drive a car with a modified charge profile or the spacing of the superchargers will need to much closer then total range limits.

Exactly! That's why I recommend setting the range radius on Teslawiki Superchargers to equal the kWh capacity of the MS (85/60) or a little less. Then look for gaps; those are the places most likely to put you in the taper zone.