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What do you do if you run out of juice?

Rocky_H

Well-Known Member
Feb 19, 2015
5,848
6,684
Boise, ID
What if it's an emergency and it's outside business hours, can I just show up and hook up the car?
Oh, I kind of forgot to answer this other part. Call ahead is obviously good, but it seems like a lot of places are pretty casual for after hours if they have empty spaces. They will usually have some little envelopes and a drop box or slot in the door of the building for after hours. You can just put a check or cash in the envelope, mark what spot you used and drop it in the box. So that may be a possibility for a lot of places.
 

Oz Will

Member
Aug 12, 2016
89
71
Melbourne Australia
I have heard you can tow the Tesla and put it in D to use recuperation, thus charging the battery somewhat. Have not tried it.


Be careful!
Living in Australia, where the distances are large and population relatively sparse (area not far off the US48 states, but less than 25m people and most of them near the coast, the idea of being towed with regenerative breaking charging the batteries has a lot going for it as it doesn't need a power source waiting at the end of the tow. With a mix of ICE and EVs, a group could do a road trip in places off grid (eg camping in national parks) beyond normal EV range - and we have some very big national parks, etc).

Has anyone actually done this? Would it damage either the motors or the batteries (it is kind of like driving down from a mountain range, so seems possible)? Would it void the warranty?
 

Rossy

Member
Aug 1, 2017
209
134
Hillsboro,Oregon
Nope. That's why you plan your trips. With the range of a Tesla, most trips will not be an issue. But for trips close to your full range, you plan where you are going to plug in. If you run out, you get a tow to a charger.
My neighbor just upgraded from Model S to X. We are both pilots. It's against Federal Aviation guidelines to run out of gas while flying. You are always supposed to land with 30 min of fuel in good weather, and enough to make it to an alternate landing site +45 minutes if you are on instrument flight (bad weather). We discussed how trip planning is just something we do out of habit. So the transition from airplanes to long EV trips isn't so different for pilots. I don't have a Tesla yet. I'll post if/when I run out. I'm planning on towing a trailer with an X.
 

Rossy

Member
Aug 1, 2017
209
134
Hillsboro,Oregon
Bjorn Nyland has a recent video where at 14km showing remaining his X ran out of juice. The tow mode was not working. Appears to be a SW bug. That was posted yesterday 8/23/17.
So..what you do is put the X in tow mode and tow to a charging station.
 

Rocky_H

Well-Known Member
Feb 19, 2015
5,848
6,684
Boise, ID
Can the Tesla be flat towed to charge through regenerative braking as if it was going downhill?
If you are only very low on charge, then yes, the car could still operate normally, and it can't tell any difference between going downhill or being pulled, and that would work fine. But if it has actually run down enough that it has gone fully into shutdown, I don't think the car will let you put it into Drive, so you couldn't get it into a situation where it could use regen to recharge itself. I think it requires actual recharging through the charge port to get it out of that shutdown mode.
 

KarenRei

ᴉǝɹuǝɹɐʞ
Jul 18, 2017
9,619
103,828
Iceland
Bjorn Nyland has a recent video where at 14km showing remaining his X ran out of juice. The tow mode was not working. Appears to be a SW bug. That was posted yesterday 8/23/17.
So..what you do is put the X in tow mode and tow to a charging station.

Yeah, I felt bad for him (although to be fair, he does deliberately push his car to the limit!). Two bugs at once. And one was just a GUI bug with an easy workaround - but you have to know the workaround. :Þ

Moral of the story re: the 14km-out-of-charge: even though you don't want to do it every day, it pays to sometimes run low / charge high so that the BMS can be properly calibrated. And trust power reduction more than you trust range estimates.
 

cgiGuy

Active Member
Jul 9, 2013
1,500
1,082
Everywhere, Nowhere
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?

7b0bdab237fea4ef5df4e13d1dc0344b.gif
 

hill

Active Member
Apr 21, 2015
1,305
647
Lake Forest, CA
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?
As long as your trailered gen set has plenty of gas - you're good to go - regardless how far you drive towards the ends of the earth.

687474703a2f2f7777772e65766e75742e636f6d2f696d616765732f726176342f7261765f6c6f6e6772616e6765722f7261765f6c6f6e6772616e67657230312e6a7067


Our inverter quality Honda (6.5kW @ 100% duty cycle) is light enough to get loaded onto one of these bad boys - no trailer necessary.
;)

honda-element6.jpg


it's not that hard, to think outside the (trailer hitch) box.
.
 

FlyF4

Son of a MX
Mar 21, 2017
823
548
moved to San Diego
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. :)

Well there is an easier solution in progress with a California company I am consulting with. They are getting funding to create mobile battery banks with adapters for all EVs on the road. Thus, think of it as a AAA service that drives up to your car and gives you enough charge over a period of 30 min to an hour to get you to nearest charger. Two things I don't like so far is the business model and the problem that will occur with some EVs if the owner COMPLETELY drains the battery. This venture is at least 2 years away and other ventures may beat them to it.
 

mrkisskiss

Member
Jan 26, 2017
227
280
London
Well there is an easier solution in progress with a California company I am consulting with. They are getting funding to create mobile battery banks with adapters for all EVs on the road. Thus, think of it as a AAA service that drives up to your car and gives you enough charge over a period of 30 min to an hour to get you to nearest charger. Two things I don't like so far is the business model and the problem that will occur with some EVs if the owner COMPLETELY drains the battery. This venture is at least 2 years away and other ventures may beat them to it.

I always wonder with stuff like this... why does it take 2 years?! This is a pretty cool business idea though. I guess you set the business up then sell it as an additional service to AAA et al (so in other words, their customer is AAA, not the individual)

..also... whilst you're online... can you enlighten us as to why we don't see cars in other lanes on AP2, and why there's no rain sensing wipers?! :)
 

MorrisonHiker

S 100D 2021.4.12
Mar 8, 2015
9,203
8,338
Colorado
Well there is an easier solution in progress with a California company I am consulting with. They are getting funding to create mobile battery banks with adapters for all EVs on the road. Thus, think of it as a AAA service that drives up to your car and gives you enough charge over a period of 30 min to an hour to get you to nearest charger. Two things I don't like so far is the business model and the problem that will occur with some EVs if the owner COMPLETELY drains the battery. This venture is at least 2 years away and other ventures may beat them to it.
I think someone beat them to it years ago (at least the idea)...but don't know if they ever really rolled it out: AAA Unveils North America's First Roadside Assistance Truck Capable of Charging Electric Vehicles | AAA NewsRoom
 

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