Supercharger - Fort Stockton, Texas

[BerTX]

There was an episode of mythbusters that addressed drafting, and while they were using ICE vehicles at the time, the summary that I remember was basically that you have to get dangerously close to have a significant effect.

I do remember that they had a very hard time measuring fuel economy accurately enough so they had to find a significant effect just to pronounce anything. They also were not above erring on the side of safety if they felt they might be seen as condoning something of questionable safety.

And they didn't have TACC. I'll wager they could do the tests again with Teslas and get real results, where they could control following distance and measure instantaneous energy usage.

Personally, I prefer good planning to questionable catch-up tactics that you should have planned around. That said, I have had to draft on a couple of occasions -- once where there was a power blackout in the desert and I had to limp to the next SC, and once travelling between two destinations where I really didn't want to stop at an RV park to make it, so I was as frugal as possible from the outset. Both times TACC following set to 7 behind a truck going under the speed limit.

 

[TMC Bubba]

I recently tried drafting trucks using TACC level 1 on the Wichita Falls to Denton run. I found that I actually used more energy than if I simply slowed down (the truckers were driving the limit, I was doing 5 under before drafting). I concluded that I’d have to get a lot closer than what TACC would allow. There was a 20 mph crosswind at the time.

 

[S85D]

I recently tried drafting trucks using TACC level 1 on the Wichita Falls to Denton run. I found that I actually used more energy than if I simply slowed down (the truckers were driving the limit, I was doing 5 under before drafting). I concluded that I’d have to get a lot closer than what TACC would allow. There was a 20 mph crosswind at the time.

Crosswinds are not good for drafting. If you watch pro-cyclists, when there is a crosswind the will offset each other to the left or right depending on the direction of the wind. This is hard to do in a car because you would be blocking traffic on the left or being off the road on the right. Not a good idea.

I have drafted semi-trailer trucks 2 car lengths behind and it makes a huge difference. If you moved to 1 car length behind, that would decrease the Kwh even more. You do run the risk of stone chips, etc.

 

[Alphacrux]

That would be interesting. I personally have not noticed any trucks going that fast, I suspect the corporate trucks are speed monitored and get in trouble for exceeding the speed limit. I think some companies have their own maximum speed limit they allow drivers to go, since so many on that stretch of I-10 are going 70 or 75.

Not saying this is the case, but sometimes when you are driving 55 in an 80, everybody looks like they are going 100.

Very true. It also raised my awareness of how much ENERGY those non-aerodynamic semis and big pickups were expending at 80 to 90 mph as I was limping along at 55 mph in my 0.24 drag coefficient model s. When I used to drive ICE, I had never thought much about energy usage.

 

[LCR1]

I drove about 2,000 in the truck last week, Houston to jacksonville, south GA, and back home. Quit tracking MPG after the installing the Aux tank made it inaccurate for partial fill ups, but usually at 75 I'd get 1425 miles before empty. This time I kept the speed to 62-65 and made it 1455 miles and still had about 12-15 gallons left.

 

[Pricee2]

+1 @ What S85D said regarding drafting when there is a crosswind. I have an airspeed indicator I installed in my pickup that I tow my RV with. I can follow behind a big rig at 60 mph and see a 20 mph drop in airspeed vs not drafting even when following 3 to 4 seconds back. If there is much of a cross wind you have to get to close to get much benefit.

 

[LCR1]

I drove about 2,000 in the truck last week, Houston to jacksonville, south GA, and back home. Quit tracking MPG after the installing the Aux tank made it inaccurate for partial fill ups, but usually at 75 I'd get 1425 miles before empty. This time I kept the speed to 62-65 and made it 1455 miles and still had about 12-15 gallons left.

@Snerruc What is there to disagree with on this post

 

[MyJoule]

Ended up using Midland dogleg in lieu of trying to make it from Ozona - Van Horn. Worse part was driving near dusk on 2 lane roads in Deer country. Luckily, we only saw a few along side the road- one had been recently hit though. With the wind, we would not have made it from Ozona to Van Horn- As it was we used nearly 80 extra miles of range between Midland and Van Horn, even though we drove much of the way 60-65MPH. Wind was coming at us around 20MPH.

 

[Alphacrux]

It’s not much fun driving directly through at only 55 mph either...

It’s too late for Santa to bring us a Fort Stockton supercharger... But what about the Easter Bunny?

 

[Snerruc]

@Snerruc What is there to disagree with on this post

Didn’t mean to disagree. My finger must have hit the button by accident. My cousin used to drive a hood for blue. If he got to hurrying because he was running late, he would get a call to slow down. They have gps on the tractors and monitor position and speed. I believe he said that they considered 62-65 the sweet spot for minimizing mantainence .

 

[jstack6]

Ft Stockton is a key for East West winter travel. Tesla has had the permit for a long time. I wonder what is holding this site up?

 

[BerTX]

Ft Stockton is a key for East West winter travel. Tesla has had the permit for a long time. I wonder what is holding this site up?

No offence intended here, but this has been speculated on, hashed out, pondered and chewed to death on this thread. Why would you ask again? If we really knew, the answer would be here. If you have read this thread, then you know what we know.

I suppose, even if you haven't read the thread, you still know what we know...

 

[Electroman]

No offence intended here, but this has been speculated on, hashed out, pondered and chewed to death on this thread. Why would you ask again? If we really knew, the answer would be here. If you have read this thread, then you know what we know.

I suppose, even if you haven't read the thread, you still know what we know...

So what is holding this site, although Tesla has had a permit for a long time?

 

[Chuq]

I still think a group of locals need to raise hell about this. It seems to be some sort of "local business interests putting pressure on the local county government" into blocking it. It sounds a bit conspiracy-like, but there doesn't seem to be a better answer. Get a local newspaper to run a story, ask questions at a local county meeting, get Fred from Electrek to run a story...

 

[TexasEV]

Locals? The population of Fort Stockton is only about 8500 and the entire Pecos County is less than twice that. I can almost guarantee you that none of them own a Tesla, and few even know what they are. As for a newspaper, good luck with that, with auto dealerships being their largest advertisers.

 

[wabbit]

Tesla needs to get some true grit and find an alternative to the holdup. There are two truckstops (maybe not in Ft Stockton permit jurisdiction) Flying J and Loves. 380 days and counting is absurd. Someone has dropped the ball and should be replaced with someone with the ability to get this done.

 

[Chuq]

Locals? The population of Fort Stockton is only about 8500 and the entire Pecos County is less than twice that. I can almost guarantee you that none of them own a Tesla, and few even know what they are. As for a newspaper, good luck with that, with auto dealerships being their largest advertisers.

Locals as in more local than me Those with an interest in the route, including people in El Paso, San Antonio or Austin who travel the route frequently.

 

[charliepmayer]

Tesla website now shows 2018 for Fort Stockton.
Same thing for Pecos.
Both I-10 and I-20 blocked.

I smell a rat.

 

[BerTX]

Tesla needs to get some true grit and find an alternative to the holdup. There are two truckstops (maybe not in Ft Stockton permit jurisdiction) Flying J and Loves. 380 days and counting is absurd. Someone has dropped the ball and should be replaced with someone with the ability to get this done.

Both of those locations are immediately adjacent to the city limits. Often there are additional taxes involved in being in a city as well as additional regulation from city inspectors and other officials that might not be there in a county regulated area. It might be very advantageous for those businesses to be outside city domain.

All the city has to do is threaten to annex their property to exert the same influence over the property owners as if they were in the city.

 

[TexasEV]

Tesla website now shows 2018 for Fort Stockton.
Same thing for Pecos.
Both I-10 and I-20 blocked.

I smell a rat.

Every supercharger in the world that was planned for 2017 and not built yet now shows 2018. That’s nothing unique for Ft. Stockton or Pecos.