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Some people think that 30 minutes is too long to wait for a charge
- Thread starter nolngrgrsngslde
- Start date
paulkva
part of the supercharge.info dev team
The saddest thing to me about that photo is most of those cars are likely running/idling, and therefore wasting gas while waiting for gas, not to mention incrementally polluting the area. I also have to wonder if they're wasting enough gas (and time) to warrant going to another station down the road for 5-10 cents more per gallon.
I really enjoy answering the questions "where do the charging stations around here and how long does it take?" with "I don't pay much attention to where local chargers are, I just plug in at night and wake up every morning with as full of a battery as I want."
One "downside" I've found to not visiting gas stations: I haven't had as many opportunities to clean my windshield, and it's not yet something I consistently remember to do in my garage.
I really enjoy answering the questions "where do the charging stations around here and how long does it take?" with "I don't pay much attention to where local chargers are, I just plug in at night and wake up every morning with as full of a battery as I want."
One "downside" I've found to not visiting gas stations: I haven't had as many opportunities to clean my windshield, and it's not yet something I consistently remember to do in my garage.
paulkva
part of the supercharge.info dev team
Rough calculations:
8 cars waiting per lane, takes 5 minutes to fill every 2 cars = 8x5/2 = 20 minutes wait time, plus 5 minutes fuel time is 25 minutes.
Yeah, 30 minutes is WAY too long to charge...
If you value your time at the US minimum wage of $7.25/hr, then 20 minutes extra ~= $2.42, so if you have a 20-gallon tank you're better off going to a station with no wait if it's less than 12 cents per gallon more expensive. 15-gallon tank = 16 cents per gallon buffer. I know the calculation and decision are not always that clear-cut, but it boggles my mind the extent to which people drive out of their way and/or wait in long lines for incrementally cheaper gas. And yet I used to do it too.
8 cars waiting per lane, takes 5 minutes to fill every 2 cars = 8x5/2 = 20 minutes wait time, plus 5 minutes fuel time is 25 minutes.
Yeah, 30 minutes is WAY too long to charge...
If you value your time at the US minimum wage of $7.25/hr, then 20 minutes extra ~= $2.42, so if you have a 20-gallon tank you're better off going to a station with no wait if it's less than 12 cents per gallon more expensive. 15-gallon tank = 16 cents per gallon buffer. I know the calculation and decision are not always that clear-cut, but it boggles my mind the extent to which people drive out of their way and/or wait in long lines for incrementally cheaper gas. And yet I used to do it too.
AMPd
Well-Known Member
Personally for me ill only be supercharging during road trips, after 2+ hours of driving I wouldn't mind a 30 minute break.
Considering Tesla is placing these superchargers in locations with plenty of things to do 30 minutes will fly by really fast.
And the best part IT'S FREE. My parents recently took a trip from Sacramento to San Diego in their Lexus RX, they spent 200+ on fuel
yeah I would rather wait 30 minutes (3 stops= 1.5 hours extra, not bad at all) and keep the 200 bucks
Considering Tesla is placing these superchargers in locations with plenty of things to do 30 minutes will fly by really fast.
And the best part IT'S FREE. My parents recently took a trip from Sacramento to San Diego in their Lexus RX, they spent 200+ on fuel
yeah I would rather wait 30 minutes (3 stops= 1.5 hours extra, not bad at all) and keep the 200 bucks
pilotSteve
Active Member
Not all of us can charge from home. Imagine if each car in that pic took 30 mins to charge? That's 2.30hrs before that brown Prius can roll out back onto the road.
As they move down into the mainstream with the MX and ME, Tesla are going to have to keep working hard growing the SC network to stop this from happening in ANY market they operate in.
As they move down into the mainstream with the MX and ME, Tesla are going to have to keep working hard growing the SC network to stop this from happening in ANY market they operate in.
Mario Kadastik
Active Member
Well I'm already missing having a Model S. I had to take a road trip in my ICE to another town to give a talk and returned in the evening with an almost empty tank. The next morning I wanted to go to racing with my sleddogs, but the ~120km round trip required me to refuel. The straightest possible path that I wanted to take didn't have a gas station so I had to take a detour just to fill up. Grr... with an MS I'd have had a fresh and full battery with no issues. Can't wait for the car to arrive fast enough...
That's probably the first thing that comes out of peoples mouth. I tell them the superchargers, you stop, grab a cup of coffee, and 20 minutes (or less) you ready to roll. Oh and the best part, no credit card required--FREE. Stopping for gas probably takes 5-8 minutes, so for almost the same amount of time, you can get free 'gas' why not.
At home my 14-50 worked like a champ, since I may drive 5-10 miles a day, I only charge maybe once-twice per week. Simply, just check the iPhone app, and bingo you're done.
At home my 14-50 worked like a champ, since I may drive 5-10 miles a day, I only charge maybe once-twice per week. Simply, just check the iPhone app, and bingo you're done.
I believe the problem here is that people don't time how long they usually stop so they don't really have a good frame of reference. Because they are doing something (holding the pump, checking the oil, cleaning the windows) there isn't any perceived waiting time. Kind of like how five minutes of computer time is 30 minutes of wall-clock time.
One other thing, many times you don't need a full 30 min at SC, just 10 min and you're rolling. Just depends on your travel.
My wait time at home is really zero, because I just plug and forget at night.
Not stopping at a gas station a few times a week is worth it to me!
We typically only spend about 20 minutes at a sc, and we do that by going inside the rest area and taking our time. Not ideal, but not the end of the world.
Photo in the OP is not the norm though -- at least around here, that pretty much never happens. Unless I stop at a station near the highway on a Sunday morning, a fillup is under 5 minutes.
Photo in the OP is not the norm though -- at least around here, that pretty much never happens. Unless I stop at a station near the highway on a Sunday morning, a fillup is under 5 minutes.
Agreed, the photo is not the norm. You also have to keep in mind that people will say anything so they don't admit they are not ready to spend 90k on a car. What gets me is how they turn it into a bad idea and start laughing, as opposed to saying, "wish i had the money".
This picture is sad in many ways:
1) Vampire ICE load, (Borrowed from previous poster).
2) Pollution.
3) People submit to the wait in order to save 20 cents a gallon, where a "Leaf" would help them save $2.50 per gallon (approximately). Assuming the Tesla is more then they can afford.
4) If today they wait 30 minutes to spend $3.10 a gallon, tomorrow they will wait 30 minutes to spend $4.00 a gallon at the same station, also thinking they are saving 20 cents a gallon. Gas prices go up and the people Just PAY.
5) Even if there was no line, hypothetically speaking, if all the pumps slowed down so that it takes 30 minutes to fill up, people will comply.
It would be bad enough to pay $x for something when you have to. But when you must waste half of that something simply utilizing it, that is a sad situation. I always tell people that, when they drive an ICE car up to 60 miles an hour, they have two choices, A) die, B) Toss away the energy they used to get to 60 m/h. Then I remember, a lot of people don't know what energy or momentum is much less to understand that you can recoup it. That is also sad.
This picture is sad in many ways:
1) Vampire ICE load, (Borrowed from previous poster).
2) Pollution.
3) People submit to the wait in order to save 20 cents a gallon, where a "Leaf" would help them save $2.50 per gallon (approximately). Assuming the Tesla is more then they can afford.
4) If today they wait 30 minutes to spend $3.10 a gallon, tomorrow they will wait 30 minutes to spend $4.00 a gallon at the same station, also thinking they are saving 20 cents a gallon. Gas prices go up and the people Just PAY.
5) Even if there was no line, hypothetically speaking, if all the pumps slowed down so that it takes 30 minutes to fill up, people will comply.
It would be bad enough to pay $x for something when you have to. But when you must waste half of that something simply utilizing it, that is a sad situation. I always tell people that, when they drive an ICE car up to 60 miles an hour, they have two choices, A) die, B) Toss away the energy they used to get to 60 m/h. Then I remember, a lot of people don't know what energy or momentum is much less to understand that you can recoup it. That is also sad.
In our area, Costco - which the OP was showing, is always the cheapest gas and typically the lines are that long at our local one in Concord, CA. One problem is that you can't put your car in line for 20 or 30 minutes and go in and shop. In many years of filling up my ICE there, I don't know if there ever was a time when I pulled right up to an empty pump. There were often times when the entire area was filled and there was a line of cars waiting to get into the area photographed. I would never want to wait that long and went to the more expensive ARCO station a block away, and I would often still have to wait because it was cheaper than other stations.
I'm as much a Tesla fan as anyone, but in my experience 30 min is still too long at a SuperCharger, esp on a San Diego to San Francisco drive where you have to hit a bunch of 'em. The Model S requires twice as many stops as an ICE, and on some occasions the wait is longer than 30 min (I've done 2 hrs at Hawthorne). Do I wanna go back to ICE? No. Do I plan to take advantage of battery swapping? No. Do I plan to trade my S in for the first Tesla that can do 400-500 mile ranges? You better believe it.
TeslaSinHR
Member
When I am giving demonstrations of my car to friends (and strangers) I always ask - "Where can you get free gas"? Answer is no where - nobody gives out free gasoline. But there are plenty of places (at least around the Pacific Northwest) where you can get free electricity and Superchargers are just one of them.
People will go through all sorts of contortions to get free stuff (or cheap stuff) - like that lineup in Costco. I've even heard stories of Tesla owners driving many miles out of their way to charge for free at a Supercharger or Tesla showroom.
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This is the big one IMO. Plugging in when you get home is easy to work into a routine, and it doesn't feel like a trip to the gas station. Even if I forget (which I've done many times): #1 I can just go out to my garage and do it #2 I'd likely have enough range for daily use the next day anyway.
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