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Yosemite!

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The world needs to be running electric buses!


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Tesla Owner Recalls Trip to Yosemite Park, The Never Ending Search for a Charging Outlet - AllCarsElectric.com

Arnett's trip was undoubtedly glorious. The photos really do tell the story of his adventure. But his words tell a different story. Without a charging infrastructure, EVs can be downright impractical. His overall trek took him hundreds of miles out of his way to reach a destination only 200 plus miles from his homes. Accounting for the countless hours lost while charging and the extended driving times in search of charging areas, Arnett had little time to enjoy the destination of his drive, Yosemite.

For EVs to reach practicality, 15 minute quick charging stations need to be available not only in large west coast cities, but also in the countless other rural areas of this nation that we travel to and from all of the time.

For now, EV owners must faithfully plan ahead, but for EVs to reach stardom planning a road trip should require nothing more than a map.
 
We might want to hold back the push for Tesla chargers everywhere just now. They are still hoping to use J1772 connector someday soon (once they become available). I guess if the wait for J1772 is going to be too long they could put in the Tesla proprietary at first then change it later, but that would be more trips out there, and more cost spent on a temporary connector that would become obsolete.
 
It sounds to me as though somebody really ought to sponsor a 240 volt charging station at Yosemite.

billarnett has been working with a bunch of owners to take up a collection and put in a charger at the Ahwahnee.

We might want to hold back the push for Tesla chargers everywhere just now. They are still hoping to use J1772 connector someday soon (once they become available). I guess if the wait for J1772 is going to be too long they could put in the Tesla proprietary at first then change it later, but that would be more trips out there, and more cost spent on a temporary connector that would become obsolete.

This is a reasonable point, but I am not expecting the change from the Tesla specific connector to the J1772 connector to be that expensive or that big of a deal compared to the rest of the work. Dedicating the circuit and installing the HPC box itself (which should be the same according to Clipper Creek) is the hard/expensive part.

The connector being "wrong" should be easily rectifiable. The same owners will likely chip in for that work. Waiting until the powers that be finally agree on a standard and there being vehicles which can use that just means more waiting. None of the people who are donating money for the charger have a Roadster with a new connector but could make use of the old connector this summer if it existed.
 
Yes, if it would be used a bunch this summer then it could be worth it to get one in now even if it has to change later. And, yeah, the hard part is probably getting all the agreements in place and getting the circuit all hooked up, so changing the Roadster end connector would probably be the easy part. Also, I doubt all the existing Roadsters will change to J1772-2009 overnight, so there will probably be some adapters going both ways for a little while. I wonder if the J1772-2009 changeover would include retrofitting existing HPCs, MC240s, MC120s, etc...(?)
 
"What use, sir, is a newborn baby?"

As soon as I saw Doug's post on the Tesla blog of Bill trip my first thought was of "outsiders" using the charging scheme as a rallying cry for EVs not being ready.

Tesla took a bit of a risk putting the story out there/

But EVs aren't ready. So?

I see the state of the art as a little like aircraft after WW1, except that it's (hopefully) harder to get killed. We know that the basic technology works. There are issues of range and carrying capacity. There are a number of small manufacturers. There aren't many places to land.

My position in all this is of an interested observer. It's fun to watch the pioneers cope with the limitations. I'm willing to chip in for a windsock for the local flying field, or perhaps mow the grass. Maybe some day I'll get a joyride.

Maybe my next car will be an EV. I sincerely doubt I will have to wait 66 years.

Meanwhile, don't get defensive. Freely admit the limitations. Point out the coming improvements. Give joyrides. And maybe sponsor recharge stations here and there.
 
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I know roadster is not compatible with camping, but ...

Speaking from the perspective of a backpacker, the Roadster's trunk has plenty of volume to carry all the necessary gear to go camping. ToddLa and I have gone car camping in my 350Z - it was amusing to see the suprised looked from the campers around us when we showed up and set up camp. The 350Z has a bit more storage volume than the Roadster does, but we packed lots more in the Z than what was necessary.