What Running Out of Power in a Tesla on the Side of a Highway Taught Me

[ZLoth]

From The Atlantic Cities:

What Running Out of Power in a Tesla on the Side of a Highway Taught Me About the Road Trip of Tomorrow

It's 209 miles from the parking lot of a Chili's in Barstow, California, where we are, to the parking lot of a Carl's Jr. in Kingman, Arizona, where we need to go. I'm in a rented Tesla Model S, a sleek, battery-powered electric vehicle, with a travel companion. We're just about fully charged, and the car estimates it can travel 247 miles before we need more juice. That's a buffer of 38 miles, which should be more than enough to reach Kingman. We'll soon realize it isn't.

The seemingly random parking lots I'm traveling between are sites of a new nationwide network of fast battery charging stations for drivers of Tesla's Model S. The company calls them "Superchargers" – direct-current battery charging stations of a proprietary design that can bring a nearly dead Model S battery to full charge in a little over an hour. That's much faster than the roughly 8 hours it would take by plugging into a wall outlet in your garage. Tesla's official reason for building this private network of battery charging infrastructure (currently up to 80 stations and counting) is to encourage Model S drivers to take road trips – a concept otherwise unthinkable in a car powered only by a battery. I'm testing it out on a weekend road trip from Los Angeles into Arizona and back.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[Brandon]

Which is exactly why the electric car was a sideshow from the start, and always will be.  We've had electric cars since the dawn of the auto age, and as nice as they seem, they will always be a niche product with very limited appeal.

[1995hoo]

This underscores the problem with EVs. The Tesla is a wonderful car, no question, but essentially it's practical only as a vehicle for commuting unless you can be absolutely certain you can reach those supercharging stations. But unless you're using all rural roads with no traffic, how can you ever be sure you'll use it in that way? In other words, of course the "miles to empty" gauge can only ever be an estimate because the car has no way to account for things like sudden traffic jams or road closures due to accidents or the like. The same thing applies to gas or diesel vehicles, of course–I can be cruising along at 70 mph averaging 31 mpg in sixth gear and have 100 miles to empty showing, but if I suddenly hit a mega traffic jam a long way between exits my fuel economy is going to drop big-time, and my range thus suffer, unless I turn off the car and open the windows (which may or may not be a viable option depending on weather and on whether everyone around me keeps their vehicles turned on belching exhaust). In addition, even if you can access the superchargers, you'll be stopping a lot more often than in a conventional car, and that may or may not be a palatable option for many drivers.

I don't think I'd take the chance on using a Tesla to drive to Charlottesville for a football trip unless I were staying overnight at the new Hyatt down there since it has an EV charging station out back. 240 miles roundtrip is just too dicey, especially through the rolling hills of Central Virginia.

So what that means is that if you buy a Tesla, you're essentially spending $100,000 for a commuter car....but the average person who can afford a $100,000 car solely for commuting purposes (meaning he would own at least one other car for other purposes) doesn't need to commute.


Edited to add: BTW, I forgot to mention that Car and Driver ran an interesting article recently where they raced a 2013 Tesla Model S against a 1915 Model T Ford from Detroit to Long Island (site of Nikola Tesla's old laboratory). There were no supercharger stations en route. The Tesla won by only 55 minutes.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/2013-tesla-model-s-vs-1915-ford-model-t-race-of-the-centuries-feature

[jeffandnicole]

In addition, even if you can access the superchargers, you'll be stopping a lot more often than in a conventional car, and that may or may not be a palatable option for many drivers.

And you are hoping you're the only one there, or the available chargers exceeds the number of cars using them, or a gasonline vehicle isn't taking the spot(s) near the machine, or the lot isn't closed, or the lot isn't inaccessible, or the charger isn't broken....

[oscar]

It sounds, from the article, that Tesla should've done a better job on how to make its vehicles easier to tow even when they're out of juice (which locks the parking brake).  Looking over the Tesla user guides, this problem was not completely unexpected, but the workarounds are complicated (the "jump start" mentioned in the article, supplying just enough juice to unlock the parking brake so the car could be pulled onto a flatbed), or require wheel dollies that some tow truck drivers might not have on hand.

It also wouldn't help if the user guides aren't in the rental Tesla's glove box in the first place.  Owner's manuals were often missing from the (non-Tesla) vehicles I've rented. 

Also, can Tesla find a place in Needles for a new charging station, to fill in the gap between Barstow and Kingman?  The map of Tesla's current and planned Supercharger locations does not show any plans to fill that gap, though some even longer gaps (like I-70 between Denver and western Pennsylvania, I-80 between Sacramento and Cheyenne, and I-15 between Beaver UT and the Canadian border) are being worked on.

[roadman]

So, you're driving a $100K car, and have to pull into a Carl Jr.'s to recharge.  Odd place for a charging station, unless they intentionally geared the charging stations to drivers on an average budget, realizing that they now eat at fast food places because, after making the car payment, that's all they can afford.

[leroys73]

 map of Tesla's current and planned Supercharger locations
[/quote]

Not a direct route from LA to NY either.
But maybe by the year 2100 they will be like gasoline stations. I can't wait.  I'll only be 151 years old. 

[TheKnightoftheInterstate]

map of Tesla's current and planned Supercharger locations

Not a direct route from LA to NY either.
But maybe by the year 2100 they will be like gasoline stations. I can't wait.  I'll only be 151 years old.
[/quote]

How about a road trip together? We can tell the youngsters about the gas guzzling days. 

[realjd]

This underscores the problem with EVs. The Tesla is a wonderful car, no question, but essentially it's practical only as a vehicle for commuting unless you can be absolutely certain you can reach those supercharging stations. But unless you're using all rural roads with no traffic, how can you ever be sure you'll use it in that way? In other words, of course the "miles to empty" gauge can only ever be an estimate because the car has no way to account for things like sudden traffic jams or road closures due to accidents or the like. The same thing applies to gas or diesel vehicles, of course–I can be cruising along at 70 mph averaging 31 mpg in sixth gear and have 100 miles to empty showing, but if I suddenly hit a mega traffic jam a long way between exits my fuel economy is going to drop big-time, and my range thus suffer, unless I turn off the car and open the windows (which may or may not be a viable option depending on weather and on whether everyone around me keeps their vehicles turned on belching exhaust). In addition, even if you can access the superchargers, you'll be stopping a lot more often than in a conventional car, and that may or may not be a palatable option for many drivers.

I don't think I'd take the chance on using a Tesla to drive to Charlottesville for a football trip unless I were staying overnight at the new Hyatt down there since it has an EV charging station out back. 240 miles roundtrip is just too dicey, especially through the rolling hills of Central Virginia.

So what that means is that if you buy a Tesla, you're essentially spending $100,000 for a commuter car....but the average person who can afford a $100,000 car solely for commuting purposes (meaning he would own at least one other car for other purposes) doesn't need to commute.

That's only a problem until charging stations are more ubiquitous.

Of course the other solution is to do like the Chevy Volt and throw in a small gasoline engine as a backup power source.

[corco]

Right, these are temporary problems not too different from when the car was first invented (use a ridiculously expensive gas powered car on a cross country trip? Are you nuts? A horse is much more reliable).

Electric cars will become cheaper, as they already have by a lot in the last decade. Charging technology will continue to improve, as it already has a lot in the last decade (the idea of a Tesla-type supercharger existing 10 years ago would have sounded like some crazy science fiction hogwash). In a gas powered car, you already have to hope that the gas pumps are working and things like that are functional. It's amazing how, even with all the gas stations we have, people still manage to run out of gas.

I don't know that electric cars are the future or if they even should be (you're still getting that electricity from an underlying "dirty" power grid, and then you lose power in the transfer from the grid to the car), but it's totally conceivable that they could be, and the progress made in the last decade or so should be pretty clear evidence of that.

[briantroutman]

Writing an article about how a Tesla came up short on a 200+ mile trip is like doing an exposé on how you tried to pull tree stumps out of your lawn with a Honda Fit but it failed at the task. Simply put: Long-distance drives are not what a Tesla is meant to do.

The Tesla is designed to take you from your opulent home in Atherton to the board meeting in Santa Clara and then the international terminal at SFO. Unless you're the one of the idle rich who won the trust fund lottery, who buying a six-figure car has the time to drive from Barstow to Kingman? For that matter, why would anyone in that income range even be in Barstow or Kingman.

I'm not in the Tesla tax bracket, but even I have determined that my time is too valuable for long-distance driving. I used to love driving from my native home in PA to my current home in CA, and I've clinched I-80 several times. But it's been a couple of years since I've made that drive, and now I'm starting to doubt whether I'll ever get the chance again. It's just not worth the opportunity cost–the money I could have made over those 14-hour driving days. Even going from SF to LA–which I do fairly regularly–I won't drive when I can get there in little more than an hour for under $100 on Southwest.

I don't know if Tesla makes any provision for alternate transportation, but here's where BMW has what I think is a good idea. For their upcoming i-Series electric cars, ownership will include loaners of gasoline-powered BMWs for long-distance trips.

But the bottom line–I don't think the answers to our energy and transportation problems lie in one single solution. We'll have inexpensive electric cars for commuters, Teslas for Silicon Valley vulture capitalists, Volt-like vehicles with range extenders, diesels cruising the Interstates, and traditional gasoline-powered vehicles in the mix.

[corco]

Writing an article about how a Tesla came up short on a 200+ mile trip is like doing an exposé on how you tried to pull tree stumps out of your lawn with a Honda Fit but it failed at the task. Simply put: Long-distance drives are not what a Tesla is meant to do.

Tesla does want you using Teslas for that purpose though, which might be silly, but if you read the article that's why they're putting superchargers along rural interstate highways across the country.

[briantroutman]

Writing an article about how a Tesla came up short on a 200+ mile trip is like doing an exposé on how you tried to pull tree stumps out of your lawn with a Honda Fit but it failed at the task. Simply put: Long-distance drives are not what a Tesla is meant to do.

Tesla does want you using Teslas for that purpose though, which might be silly, but if you read the article that's why they're putting superchargers along rural interstate highways across the country.

They're doing that as an attempt to quell criticisms about range, but in my opinion, that's a misguided attempt. Maybe it would make sense in relatively dense corridors like Boston-Washington or between two large cities like SF and LA, but I don't think it's practical in Winnemucca. Not until the battery technology advances to the point where you can get 500+ miles on a charge.

[oscar]

Maybe also to ease concerns like "what do I do with my Tesla if I move out of California?".  A 200+ mile range, plus a string of high-speed charging stations along Interstates, helps out with that concern.  Certainly that's better than for Nissan Leaf owners, who might as well plan on having their short-range EVs trucked for moves as short as from Washington to Atlanta, and even a move to the NYC area will probably require two recharging stops. 

But not until next year will there be Tesla charging stations between Tucson and San Antonio, for tech-sector executives moving from Silicon Valley to Texas.

[Brandon]

Right, these are temporary problems not too different from when the car was first invented (use a ridiculously expensive gas powered car on a cross country trip? Are you nuts? A horse is much more reliable).

Electric cars were here from the beginning as were gasoline cars.  The problem with the electric car always has been, how do you easily add extra fuel?  Liquid-fueled internal combustion engines, and even steam engines can have a power source brought to them or carried along with them.  People used to carry gasoline cans with them prior to having a gas station every 500 feet.  Steam engines can have wood or coal brought with them.  This is, and always has been a major handicap for the electric car.

[Alps]

The handicap for the electric car was the strength of the petroleum industry in the early 1900s. Electrics have come a remarkable way in 20 years compared to how long it took gas-powered cars to develop. Within 10 years, I think you'll find a) Electric vehicles with comparable ranges (350-400 miles), b) that are affordable (under $40K, maybe even under $30K), and c) that can be "filled up" in 15 minutes or less at a network with 50-mile max. spacing (100 miles in rural areas).

[vdeane]

Electric vehicles are not inherently inferior to gas vehicles.  The technology just isn't developed (you can blame World War II for the demise of the early electric cars) yet.  And it won't be if people don't give them a chance.  The person from GM that was quoted assumed that battery technology won't improve (it's also worth noting that GM has a vested interest in all-electric cars failing).

Also, electricity doesn't have to come from fossil fuels or even any particular source.  Gas does.  That will be a very important fact when the world runs out of oil.

The other point the article misses is that the author did just about everything wrong possible.  He didn't fully charge the car first.  He drove high speeds up steep inclines.  He could have stopped, charged the car on an ordinary power outlet for a while and charged for the three miles it would have taken to get to a charging station.  It's almost as if he wrote the piece first and then tailored his drive to ensure the car would run out of power ("car successfully arrives at destination" is not a good headline).

[oscar]

The other point the article misses is that the author did just about everything wrong possible.  He didn't fully charge the car first.  He drove high speeds up steep inclines.  He could have stopped, charged the car on an ordinary power outlet for a while and charged for the three miles it would have taken to get to a charging station.  It's almost as if he wrote the piece first and then tailored his drive to ensure the car would run out of power ("car successfully arrives at destination" is not a good headline).

Good luck finding an outdoor "ordinary power outlet", at a place where the car can park next to the outlet and the owner will let it park and slurp up electricity long enough to help extend the car's range.  This being the desert, you don't have outlets at parking places to power block heaters.   A quick check at http://www.evchargernews.com/regions/ch-sbo-all.htm suggests that there isn't even a non-Tesla EV charging station in Needles, the only significant community between Barstow and Kingman.

That part of I-40, you're stuck with the steep inclines, and you'll get run over (or at least hassled, as the author was) by speeding trucks if you can't keep up with the 70mph speed limit. 

[realjd]

Right, these are temporary problems not too different from when the car was first invented (use a ridiculously expensive gas powered car on a cross country trip? Are you nuts? A horse is much more reliable).

Electric cars were here from the beginning as were gasoline cars.  The problem with the electric car always has been, how do you easily add extra fuel?  Liquid-fueled internal combustion engines, and even steam engines can have a power source brought to them or carried along with them.  People used to carry gasoline cans with them prior to having a gas station every 500 feet.  Steam engines can have wood or coal brought with them.  This is, and always has been a major handicap for the electric car.

Tesla already has a somewhat convoluted battery swap scheme. As battery prices drop, replaceable/swappable batteries is one potential solution to the "bring the energy to the car" problem.

[Molandfreak]

Good luck finding an outdoor "ordinary power outlet", at a place where the car can park next to the outlet and the owner will let it park and slurp up electricity long enough to help extend the car's range.

[Duke87]

I think the article makes a very solid point when they say there could be a future in the market for plug-in hybrids (such as the Chevy Volt), which can run on battery power alone or gas/electric hybrid. Practically speaking this is a great compromise since it allows you to not worry about range because you can use gasoline, but it also allows you to supplement your fuel with electricity by plugging the car in whenever it is convenient to (such as in your garage), and gives you greater efficiency with gasoline because hey, it's a hybrid.

But that's not nearly as sexy as an electric car. Let's be honest: Teslas are designed to be expensive toys, not to be practical - that is what gets consumer's attention in the car world.

For the plug-in hybrid option, meanwhile, pricing will be the key obstacle to adoption. And whoever makes one needs to avoid the temptation to market it as an electric car, since that won't work.

[Brandon]

The handicap for the electric car was the strength of the petroleum industry in the early 1900s.

Not as much as you think.  Edison and Westinghouse were at their height at that time as well.  In fact, electrics often did better than gasoline-powered vehicles until the invention of the electric starter.  Prior to that, one needed to use a hand crank to start a gasoline-powered vehicle, and electrics were often much better at the ranges one could drive, usually in-town, at the time.

The gasoline-powered vehicles won on range and ease of use once better roads (courtesy of the bicycle good-roads movements) were built between towns.  It had nothing to do with the petroleum industry's power.  Quite frankly, until about 1910 or so, gasoline was viewed as mostly a waste product by that industry.  Their mainstay was kerosene for lighting, and they were losing that battle against the very powerful and up-and-coming electricity industry.

[Brandon]

Right, these are temporary problems not too different from when the car was first invented (use a ridiculously expensive gas powered car on a cross country trip? Are you nuts? A horse is much more reliable).

Electric cars were here from the beginning as were gasoline cars.  The problem with the electric car always has been, how do you easily add extra fuel?  Liquid-fueled internal combustion engines, and even steam engines can have a power source brought to them or carried along with them.  People used to carry gasoline cans with them prior to having a gas station every 500 feet.  Steam engines can have wood or coal brought with them.  This is, and always has been a major handicap for the electric car.

Tesla already has a somewhat convoluted battery swap scheme. As battery prices drop, replaceable/swappable batteries is one potential solution to the "bring the energy to the car" problem.

And you will wait and wait for the new battery along the side of I-40 when you could have hitched a ride, bought a 1 gallon fuel can, got back quickly, and added enough liquid fuel to the vehicle to make it back to said filling station to refuel the vehicle.

It's just not there yet, and I seriously doubt, after over 100 years of development, that it ever will be.

[agentsteel53]

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/2013-tesla-model-s-vs-1915-ford-model-t-race-of-the-centuries-feature

that is an awesome article.

Model Ts have a two-speed planetary transmission operated by the left-most of three foot ­pedals. Reverse gear is engaged with the center foot pedal, and some minimal braking force is applied through the right pedal. The throttle is operated by a lever mounted on the right side of the steering column.

and people have trouble driving stick with a modern three-pedal layout.  even I wouldn't know where to begin on the Model T!

[english si]

Not a direct route from LA to NY either.

Ah, but as we know from fictional highways, everyone wants to go to Yellowstone, so linking the two largest cities to the National Park was a priority.