What do you do if you run out of juice?

[Joelc]

You made that clear, someone always needs to show they are smarter than you. Don't sweat it.
Like the charger box for a battery jump I can see in the future someone coming up with a power jump box. Maybe gives a charge enough for 20 miles or so. Some smart entrepreneur in a few years will figure it out , sell 'em like hot cakes then sell the company for a billion

Remember that idea Tesla had awhile ago where battery packs could be swapped out in about 90 seconds?
Tesla Unveils 90 Second Swap-Out Battery

 

[Rocky_H]

You'd think it would be even more "stupid" that someone driving an ICE would run out of fuel given the plethora of gas stations to choose from, yet it DOES happen on a daily basis. So saying it's a "stupid question" really isn't fair at all. And your comparison to an airline pilot really isn't a valid one. They have been extensively trained to plan ahead because the alternative is most likely death. I don't recall hours and hours of training on how to plan for a trip and how to refuel my car when I attended driver's ed...

The OP is clearly new to the EV world and has posted a valid question.

This is a decent point. I made sure to avoid the term "stupid", because that's rude, but it was worthwhile to point out that the question kind of starts out from a bad assumption of just suddenly, miraculously, "finding yourself" in that situation. No, you got there somehow.

But the comparison to a plane is still kind of good, because it's the other end of the spectrum from gas cars, and electric falls somewhere in the middle. With gas cars, filling locations are so prevalent and consequences or running out are so minor that our society has gotten REALLY cavalier and lazy about not caring and not paying attention to it or planning for it at all. An airplane is more life and death if it goes wrong, so you absolutely must plan well. With an electric car, it's not life or death, but it's worth pointing out that it will be pretty annoying if you run out, so pay some attention and don't do it.

 

[vandacca]

Honda sells (in very limited quantities it seems) a Power Exporter 9000 that takes power from an EV and makes it available to a home (eg. during a power outage). I don't see why it couldn't be re-directed to another Tesla.

Of course, a more direct DC-to-DC solution would be more efficient, smaller & cheaper. Maybe Tesla will one day offer such a "cable". Maybe I'll send them another feature request Email...

 

[Tozla]

It can happen.

 

[Screwbal]

Honda sells (in very limited quantities it seems) a Power Exporter 9000 that takes power from an EV and makes it available to a home (eg. during a power outage). I don't see why it couldn't be re-directed to another Tesla.

Of course, a more direct DC-to-DC solution would be more efficient, smaller & cheaper. Maybe Tesla will one day offer such a "cable". Maybe I'll send them another feature request Email...

My guess they and afraid people would super charge for free then run their home for a few days and repeat.

 

[vandacca]

My guess they and afraid people would super charge for free then run their home for a few days and repeat.

There is always that risk, and I wouldn't be surprised if a few people tried this (although, it would be time-consuming and a serious pain to do). I can't imagine too many would try this and with new SuperCharging limits for all new customers, fewer people will have that option.

I have heard that there are a few California taxi services that totally abuse SuperCharging in their business plan, so who knows.

 

[Tozla]

My guess they and afraid people would super charge for free then run their home for a few days and repeat.

That's an expensive portable battery.

 

[daniel]

Maybe that's why they ended the free supercharging for life.

 

[hill]

Ok I'm pretty new to the world of EVs so this might sound like a stupid question so please forgive a novice.

What do you do if you find yourself in the position where you've run out of juice and are no where near an outlet or charger? Sure you can get a tow but are there options like filling a can with gas?

here's another hypothetical. What would you do if you're crossing the desert & you see a sign that says no more gas stations for 70 miles. And you're about to pass the last station but you only have another 20 miles of driving left in your gas tank. Now you're going to end up in the middle of the desert with no station because you just kept driving anyway, or you never bothered to check. What would you do? (HINT; You'll do the same thing as when you're in the model X - you will pay the consequences.) Oh - similarly, if you're driving 3X over the limit drunk & speeding & have a high speed crash & you're now unconscious & the gas burner explodes - on fire because of the gas ...... does it really matter whether or not it was lithium batteries or gasoline that exploded? Or .... does it matter that the operator was irresponsible & now has to pay consequences (true story back east just a few days ago) . See, it really doesn't matter if the lithium pack is 40X less likely to burst into flames & kills you because either way - you still have to pay the consequences ... just like running out of fuel.

We need someone to come up with a Mobile PowerWall-2 (MPW) service. Basically, a bank of MPWs that can be easily inserted into and out of a vehicle, which drives around and gives people just enough power to reach the next charging location.

Maybe once Tesla starts manufacturing their transport trucks, it'll be an easy implementation.

there are a few Triple-A (CA auto club) trucks in SoCal that already have Chargers on board - best to check your area if you are that prone to running dry..
.

 

[Tyl]

Supercharger Indio; page 25 posts 495 & 498. Double plan!

 

[goneskiian]

It can happen.

Except that it didn't.

 

[Yinn]

Ok I'm pretty new to the world of EVs so this might sound like a stupid question so please forgive a novice.

What do you do if you find yourself in the position where you've run out of juice and are no where near an outlet or charger? Sure you can get a tow but are there options like filling a can with gas?

Directly answering your question...realistically, if you've run out of juice with no outlet or charger, you do the same thing you would do with an ICE. You call roadside assistance. Instead of a can of gas, you would get a tow to a charger or SC. It's really that simple and not many other options.

There's an article on this as well:
Running Out of Battery Power in a Tesla Model S

Now to get to that point, you have to be really pushing it. (I've been down to 4mi range) Just like an ICE, you most likely would have been looking for a fill up station already. But if it does happen, yes it will suck but it will probably be only slightly more inconvenience over a gas car. Most people don't carry a spare gas can, and some states have car abandonment laws (includes walking a little to the nearest gas station) So your options are to call roadside assistance anyway.

 

[goneskiian]

Directly answering your question...realistically, if you've run out of juice with no outlet or charger, you do the same thing you would do with an ICE. You call roadside assistance. Instead of a can of gas, you would get a tow to a charger or SC. It's really that simple and not many other options.

There's an article on this as well:
Running Out of Battery Power in a Tesla Model S

Now to get to that point, you have to be really pushing it. (I've been down to 4mi range) Just like an ICE, you most likely would have been looking for a fill up station already. But if it does happen, yes it will suck but it will probably be only slightly more inconvenience over a gas car. Most people don't carry a spare gas can, and some states have car abandonment laws (includes walking a little to the nearest gas station) So your options are to call roadside assistance anyway.

Good post.

I've pushed it pretty close too. I got down to 2 miles left, and had to drive for many miles on a pretty high speed section of freeway at about 50mph looking for a semi or big RV to draft. Of course there were none when there are usually a number of them. It was not fun. This was across Eastern Washington state between Moses Lake and the Ritzville Supercharger. Long story short, I made a number of small blunders, the first of which, like in the above video, was not charging enough. Second was driving too fast. Third not using the nav before leaving the Supercharger in Ellensburg. Lesson learned!

 

[dark]

Even you plan out your road trips there could be unexpected situation. I give you one example, I went to the mountains that is 70 miles from my house. I left with a full charge,and should have no problem for a round trip. There was a land slide and road was closed, I had to drive a huge detour to get to the top.

By the time I got to the top I had 70miles range left. By night time, I had 60miles left due to cold climate.

On my way home, I was lucky that the road was cleaned up and reopen, but if I had to take the same detour I would not make it home. I got home with 10miles of range.

How can you plan ahead for this kind of situation?

 

[gavine]

Even you plan out your road trips there could be unexpected situation. I give you one example, I went to the mountains that is 70 miles from my house. I left with a full charge,and should have no problem for a round trip. There was a land slide and road was closed, I had to drive a huge detour to get to the top.

By the time I got to the top I had 70miles range left. By night time, I had 60miles left due to cold climate.

On my way home, I was lucky that the road was cleaned up and reopen, but if I had to take the same detour I would not make it home. I got home with 10miles of range.

How can you plan ahead for this kind of situation?

There were no chargers along that 70 mile route? How about your destination? No place to plug-in overnight? I agree that these situations can be a problem if not planned-for, however, it is 2017 and there are charging stations almost everywhere, let alone power outlets. Which brings-up a question.....has anyone ever unplugged a Pepsi machine and plugged their car into its outlet? Those machines are usually not too far from the road and are omnipresent.

 

[Rocky_H]

Even you plan out your road trips there could be unexpected situation. I give you one example, I went to the mountains that is 70 miles from my house. I left with a full charge,and should have no problem for a round trip. There was a land slide and road was closed, I had to drive a huge detour to get to the top.

By the time I got to the top I had 70miles range left. By night time, I had 60miles left due to cold climate.

On my way home, I was lucky that the road was cleaned up and reopen, but if I had to take the same detour I would not make it home. I got home with 10miles of range.

How can you plan ahead for this kind of situation?

www.plugshare.com
www.allstays.com

This is one of those things that people new to electric cars don't think of. They think that electric cars have to be recharged at "electric car charging stations", and that those will be nowhere to be found in remote areas like the mountains. But you know what there are a lot of in remote areas in the mountains? Campgrounds. Those will have either TT-30 or 14-50 outlets or both. There are your best backup plans.

 

[gavine]

www.plugshare.com
www.allstays.com

This is one of those things that people new to electric cars don't think of. They think that electric cars have to be recharged at "electric car charging stations", and that those will be nowhere to be found in remote areas like the mountains. But you know what there are a lot of in remote areas in the mountains? Campgrounds. Those will have either TT-30 or 14-50 outlets or both. There are your best backup plans.

Right:

http://www.rvparky.com

They also have an app.

 

[krazineurons]

www.plugshare.com
www.allstays.com

This is one of those things that people new to electric cars don't think of. They think that electric cars have to be recharged at "electric car charging stations", and that those will be nowhere to be found in remote areas like the mountains. But you know what there are a lot of in remote areas in the mountains? Campgrounds. Those will have either TT-30 or 14-50 outlets or both. There are your best backup plans.

What are the etiquettes to charge at a campground or RV park, do I need a prior reservation? What if it's an emergency and it's outside business hours, can I just show up and hook up the car?

 

[Electroman]

What do you do if you find yourself in the position where you've run out of juice

Yes. It has happened to me a few times. Very frustrating if I find out after I sit for breakfast. I end up drinking water or run to nearby 24 hour Walmart and buy one of these.

 

[Rocky_H]

What are the etiquettes to charge at a campground or RV park, do I need a prior reservation? What if it's an emergency and it's outside business hours, can I just show up and hook up the car?

Good questions, and the answer is basically: it depends on each place. Some are independent, some are part of a bigger chain, and management at each place is kind of different. I can give you a few examples to show how some of it varies.

The ones listed on Plugshare are generally places where some intrepid EV driver has blazed the trail ahead of you so there has been some discussion of policy or agreement worked out. When I first got my Tesla in March of 2014, I went on a trip within a few weeks along an interstate that didn't have any Superchargers yet. I called Anderson Campground RV park, just east of Twin Falls Idaho (not on Plugshare yet at that time) and talked with them about my travel plan. I said that I was planning to go ahead and spend the night there and car camp, so I offered to just rent an RV spot at the usual rate overnight. But for the return trip, I would just need to charge for a few hours in the afternoon, so could I get a discounted partial rate. The person offered, "How about $12 for a 4 hour time?" That sounded pretty good, so I did it. I then created the entry for the place on Plugshare and listed the details of what they had offered for future use. If you look at the listing now, there have been several people later on that used it since it was nicely established. So that's an example if you need to call a new place to discuss usage. You might mention things like how you will not be needing to use their water hookup or waste dump station, so it saves them a bit of cost and might be worth a discount. For those short few hour stays sometimes they'll take 5 or 10 dollars, since it is truly just extra money for them in not taking up one of their overnight reservations.

For others that have been listed in Plugshare, it varies some. If you look up the two in Riggins Idaho, which is a destination for whitewater rafting, Big Eddy RV park says the owners are big supporters of EVs, so they will offer 14-50 outlets for free. The other one in town, Riverside RV park, says they would like $5 for an hour to hour and a half kind of time.

Make sure to call ahead to check policies or make a reservation. Some places may be full if it's in a busy destination, and I have heard a few stories of places that just have really stubborn or ignorant management that think an electric car is going to blow something up or start a fire if it tries to charge, so they just won't allow it at all.