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Wattson
Member
Whew! I am so glad someone else thinks that Tesla's presentation execution is TERRIBLE. Between this hap hazard, unrehearsed announcement and the June 22 launch mess (late start, GeorgeB acting like Steve Balmer "WE DIT IT!!! WE DID IT!!!", and all around poor timing and again lack of rehearsal) will Tesla PLEASE hire someone who knows how to run launch events?
Now about the Supercharger, I'm thankful for some details around the Supercharger, and I look forward to more concrete details over the coming months.
Also, since the Supercharger page does not mention limiting your use of the Supercharger, then I would guess that there will either be some fine print somewhere about the effects, or hopefully, the fact that they are limiting it to only charge half the battery at a time preserves the life of the battery with no ill effect. Does that sound plausiblet to those with more knowledge on the subject?
dmckinstry
Model X 2019
Yeh. I'll have to use RV parks to get to California, but then it'll be clear sailing.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
dmckinstry
Model X 2019
Beavis
Model S Signature 991
Don't pay too much attention to the map. If you compare the two maps, some of the superchargers take 2-3 years to migrate a hundred miles or so.
Odenator
Member
And if they decide to lease the rights to their charging technology to other manufactures... look out! SAE DC & CHAdeMO will become the beta-max and divx of the EV world. But that begs the question if anyone here wants to wait behind a Leaf at a supercharger and does Elon want Ghosen to leech off of Tesla's hardwork?
kishdude
P #130
my 2 cents worth as a P#130 for a fully loaded performance due in November.
1) Have to do a better job with the presentation. Didn't have any issues with viewing on Safari, but why did it start 5 minutes late - maybe it's ustream's latency? Also, almost seemed like they winged it with not enough scripting. How hard is it to choreograph this 20 minute presentation and script every second of it especially given the enormity of the presentation? I love Elon and everything he is trying to do, but I don't think Steve Jobs would have approved of the presentation.
2) Having chargers already in place and working - nice. Shows that it's not just vaporware.
3) Making charges free - big mistake. I may not speak for everyone, but given the price of the car, I'd wouldn't mind paying for the charge (even if it was the same amount as a full tank of gas) especially if it means that there will be more supercharging stations available. Imagine if tesla offered any existing gas station/highway rest stops the ability to put these in at no cost and it would be subsidized by customers who use it. Remember only about 2% of your charges can be supercharger charges, so the real usefulness of the supercharger are when you want to go on an out of town trip. I'd gladly trade off free charging for pay charging if it meant more charging stations would be available. Even if it meant the electricity were straight off the grid without the solar, still the CO2 released would still be less than an ICE car. Isn't that the rational that we are all using when we are charging at home?
4) No matter - I can't wait to get my Tesla and will still be one of the strongest advocates. Just some constructive criticism.
1) Have to do a better job with the presentation. Didn't have any issues with viewing on Safari, but why did it start 5 minutes late - maybe it's ustream's latency? Also, almost seemed like they winged it with not enough scripting. How hard is it to choreograph this 20 minute presentation and script every second of it especially given the enormity of the presentation? I love Elon and everything he is trying to do, but I don't think Steve Jobs would have approved of the presentation.
2) Having chargers already in place and working - nice. Shows that it's not just vaporware.
3) Making charges free - big mistake. I may not speak for everyone, but given the price of the car, I'd wouldn't mind paying for the charge (even if it was the same amount as a full tank of gas) especially if it means that there will be more supercharging stations available. Imagine if tesla offered any existing gas station/highway rest stops the ability to put these in at no cost and it would be subsidized by customers who use it. Remember only about 2% of your charges can be supercharger charges, so the real usefulness of the supercharger are when you want to go on an out of town trip. I'd gladly trade off free charging for pay charging if it meant more charging stations would be available. Even if it meant the electricity were straight off the grid without the solar, still the CO2 released would still be less than an ICE car. Isn't that the rational that we are all using when we are charging at home?
4) No matter - I can't wait to get my Tesla and will still be one of the strongest advocates. Just some constructive criticism.
Don't forget that charging (money) for charging costs money - setting up payment systems, credit card readers, fees, hassle... This way they bypass all that. Your proprietary charger is your pre-paid ticket to the buffet. Genius.
Bardlebee
Member
I don't think I agree with your number 3. I think its fair to say that yes everyone wants more charging stations in the city, but I don't think Tesla could charge any amount to fill each city or even put a few in each city. It think making it free accomplishes a few things.
1) It's bold. So far Tesla has been about breaking the norm, showing the impossible is possible and making strives in technology. This is another goal set and done.
2) I don't know this for sure, but I bet you they have a deal with the nearby cities if this truly does go back into the grid. They may get paid strictly for putting energy back into the city. A long term pay back for the investment, but a slow trickle nonetheless.
3) It makes it accessible to the even biggest discriminators. I can see people say "Yeah but you have to pay X amount per Kwh, how is that different from the rising price of gas?" With free... free means free.
Just my two cents, your thoughts are just as viable though... it would be nice to see more chargers
1) It's bold. So far Tesla has been about breaking the norm, showing the impossible is possible and making strives in technology. This is another goal set and done.
2) I don't know this for sure, but I bet you they have a deal with the nearby cities if this truly does go back into the grid. They may get paid strictly for putting energy back into the city. A long term pay back for the investment, but a slow trickle nonetheless.
3) It makes it accessible to the even biggest discriminators. I can see people say "Yeah but you have to pay X amount per Kwh, how is that different from the rising price of gas?" With free... free means free.
Just my two cents, your thoughts are just as viable though... it would be nice to see more chargers
Citizen-T
Active Member
Got to disagree with you on the point about free charging. This is going to sell a ton of cars, period; and that is going to drive the installation of more charging stations of all shapes and sizes. The free refills is a huge positive differentiator between ICEs and Tesla. Something no other car company can compete with.
I think they made the right tactical move here. Really smart.
I think they made the right tactical move here. Really smart.
reresentation - it took apple awhile to get better at their presentations, which haven't all gone perfectly ... http://youtu.be/KsKKQNZG3rE etc
beforehand they kept mentioning a couple surprises in this announcement, what were they? that 6 are already running, its free for life?
resentation - it took apple awhile to get better at their presentations, which haven't all gone perfectly ... http://youtu.be/KsKKQNZG3rE etcbeforehand they kept mentioning a couple surprises in this announcement, what were they? that 6 are already running, its free for life?
One other thing (not sure if mentioned already) - there are both State and Federal incentives (i.e., rebates, tax breaks, etc.) for installing solar power as well as installing charging stations (the later through 2012 I believe). So, Tesla will recoup some of the costs very quickly through government incentives, assuming they take advantage of them (and why wouldn't they)?
So both a short-term and long-term shrewd move on Elon's part.
So both a short-term and long-term shrewd move on Elon's part.
bonnie
I play a nice person on twitter.
As I've said before, I appreciate hearing directly from the man behind the curtain ... and I don't want to ever see Tesla lose that nerd-chic they do so well. I'd be completely disappointed in Tesla if we had to deal with some talking-head type instead of Elon himself. Sure he could have rehearsed it all. But he's tired. And it's not about the presentation, it's about the content of the presentation. And we had content tonight. Isn't that what matters?
And totally disagree regarding your point that charging should not be free. Yes, I see that you have a fully loaded performance due in November, but have you driven any roadtrips in an EV? I've done a couple, all charging stations were free. And there are more and more popping up everyday. When I bought my Roadster, there was one (ONE) J1772 in downtown San Francisco. Now I can't even count all of 'em. And free. And more being put in every day. So while just one example, it's what we see everywhere.
Tonight's announcement was revolutionary. I wish I could have been in LA to be able to say I was there when it happened. (vs. a hotel room in Minnesota ...) I can't imagine what the real EV pioneers are feeling right now (and some of you are here on this forum or were in LA). You guys rock.
No, they're vertically integrated and they're going to use the Supercharger to protect their position as the practical luxury BEV maker. 30 minutes for 150 miles is still too slow to support a large volume.
I was the only person who didn't know this announcement was coming today. (I only read the Model S forum.) (blush)
Is this the "supercharging hurts the battery" issue? Considering most of us will plug in every night, that's 7 supercharges a year by my math, which is fine for what little road tripping I do. Or is my math off because I'm thinking "charging every night" counts? I mean most days I won't be charging much--it's a 50-mile round trip to work, so am I really effectively doing 52 charges a year (not 365), thus I can only supercharge once a year without hurting the battery? What if I only supercharge halfway (the 30-minute charge)...? ;-)
Is this the "supercharging hurts the battery" issue? Considering most of us will plug in every night, that's 7 supercharges a year by my math, which is fine for what little road tripping I do. Or is my math off because I'm thinking "charging every night" counts? I mean most days I won't be charging much--it's a 50-mile round trip to work, so am I really effectively doing 52 charges a year (not 365), thus I can only supercharge once a year without hurting the battery? What if I only supercharge halfway (the 30-minute charge)...? ;-)
JakeP
S P4996 ==> P02547
So this morning I drove a Perf in Santana Row, and made my final decisions on color selections. I was planning to finalize my fully loaded P85 order tomorrow morning after flying home to Pittsburgh, provided the Supercharger announcement was good news. Unfortunately this news leaves me utterly dejected. Even if the red dot stations were live tomorrow, they are almost unusable for all of my required inter-city trips out of Pittsburgh, to eastern PA, upstate NY, and west to Indianapolis (this is the only one that might work, depending on which side of Columbus gets the SC). Looks like instead of finalizing tomorrow, I will be delaying indefinitely, maybe even canceling and reconsidering options come 2015, when there really is a network. I am so utterly disappointed...was really hoping for a "every Walmart in the US will have an SC by end of 2013" type announcement. Perhaps I was being overly optimistic, but I need to travel between cities for work, rather than a daily commuter.
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