Messages to a group chat from a friend whose daughter is a high school athlete:
- So my daughter caught a ride today from NJ to Boston with a girl whose father had a Tesla
- took six hours to get here
- because they had to stop three times to charge his thing
- “we went to get sandwiches and the dad still sat in line waiting for the charger”
- “we had to drive sideways to some mall to the charger”
- “the GPS said 3h50m to get to Boston, it took us six”
- “I wanted to be funny so I asked the dad if he would recommend an electric car to us because we have old cars and it’s time to upgrade. He enthusiastically said yes”
This was not a weekend with exceptional travel demand. This was not a trip through a sparsely populated state. This was not a trip on back roads.
I’m still a Tesla fan because it is the only company with Dog Mode (see Car/Kennel from this blog in 2003). The latest Tesla 3 seems to have been restyled slightly. Here’s the 2019 version from Car and Driver:
This the latest version, perhaps available in the U.S. in 2024:
I hate to give up the space and sliding doors of the minivan, though, and I’m not sure how we would charge an electric car. We don’t keep our Honda Odyssey in the garage. We would need HOA approval to install a car charger on the exterior and I am not aware of any chargers that fit into a Spanish Colonial Revival style.
My charger is near the front of the garage. Not a problem to just have the cord go under the garage door and to the rear of the car if the car doesn’t make it into the garage. Just back it into the driveway and no problem.
A 24 hour trip to Florida in a gas car takes me 26 in a Tesla. Happy to help you understand what that guy did wrong.
Doesn’t need to be outside. Put charger inside and run cord under the door.
Once your wife or friend gets mugged or carjacked at a gas station a Tesla will make more sense.
“Once your wife or friend gets mugged or carjacked at a gas station a Tesla will make more sense.”
But wouldn’t a mugging or carjacking be even more risky sitting at a charger for an hour or two.
The houses big enough for a car charger start at $6 mil, but no-one charges at home anyway when they can sit at Target all day showing it off.
You don’t really need a special charger. My model Y will charge 2-3 miles per hour when hooked up to a normal 120v 15 amp (and draws all 15 amps)
For most folks that is plenty of range with overnight parking and daily milage use.
20-30 miles per day is enough to commute in heavy traffic from suburbia to a megapolis and back? Does Tesla loose charge in traffic or not?
Also, does using all 15 ampers affects other appliances?
What is the electric bill, how much those 20-30 miles cost?
How long Tesla lasts
These are real questions, I am being offered a discount and charging perks on a Tesla but in my calculation an economy gas car still beats t in both price and utility.
Also I see Teslas with under 30K miles at half of original price so I am skeptical
1. Yes it gets better efficiency in stop and go traffic because your average speed is lower and you can recover energy when stopping, so city traffic is good
2. At 11 cents per kwh a Tesla is about 33% the cost of a gas car in terms of fuel per mile.
3. Nobody really know how long the batteries last but it is probably more than 10 years
It is true that EVs are more expensive to purchase but they are generally cheaper to operate
Thanks. However “33% the cost of a gas car in terms of fuel per mile” seems optimistic.
Assuming you are charging for 10 hours to get 30 miles range you overall use 15 amps x 120 volts x 10 hours /1000 = 18 kWh. At 11 cents per kWh it is about $2, or greater than 50% of fuel cost for relatively fuel-efficient family car that gets overall 32 miles per gallon in mix driving. At US average in 2023 18 cents per kWh it $3.26 per 30 miles, almost matching gasoline-powered family/ commuter car which gets over $30 miles per gallon or about 70% of fuel costs for newer version of gas – powered SUVs.
You made an unwarranted jump to consumption figures, model Y consumes about 28 kwh per 100 miles or about 280 watts per mile (admittedly EPA numbers are optimistic). So 30 miles takes about 8.4 kWh or $0.924 at 11 cents per kwh
Quote from your comment: “My model Y will charge 2-3 miles per hour when hooked up to a normal 120v 15 amp (and draws all 15 amps)”. Optimistically I assumed upper boundary of your estimates, 3 miles per charge hour, or 30 miles per 10 hours. If Tesla consumes 8.4 kWh per 30 miles but needs to consume 18 kWh to gets charged 8.4 kWh it means that home charging is not efficient.
there is a discrepancy because 2-3 miles/hour added is a significant underestimate. charging at 120V 15A equates to adding about 6 miles/hour. 1800Wh/6 = 300Wh/mi, which is actually a bit worse than rated. 33% of the cost of gas for electricity costing 11c/kW.hour is about right.
also overnight charging on 120V adds about 60 miles, which is a pretty substantial daily commute.
Indeed “your mileage will vary”, I did underestimate the charging figures.
I think many users will see around 60% savings in fuel costs per mile. Some folk with expensive electricity, cheap gas, or gas cars that get 32 mpg in city driving (hybrids?) will see less savings.
The dorks who want EVs pretty much all have them now. As a result, EV sales are tanking.
https://www.businessinsider.com/auto-executives-coming-clean-evs-arent-working-2023-10
No the problem is that Tesla is beating all the other makers in the EV market.
Tesla’s sales are falling, their operating margins are crashing, and Elon is pissing off the very dorks who buy his cars.
“Dr” Phil now wants a Tesla?!?! I thought EVs were for those gross people who appreciate the environment, like near-infinite torque, app control of the vehicle, warming/cooling off the car in the garage, etc.
Oh, that’s right, Elon Musk has gone full anti-woke so now he is hailed as a conservative hero. Makes sense then that “Dr” Phil considers him a new godlike figure.
I wonder where you place him on your hero worship scale — above or below the orange man?
Not sure about environment. Checked used Teslas and did not see any with 100,000 + miles for sale, but plenty of used Teslas with 20,000 to 70,000 miles at steep discounts. For example, my Japanese CUV was worth more than I paid for it new when it had 20,000 miles on it. It was of course during special times but still… If Tesla needs to be junked and replaced at 80,000 it means than 3- 4 Teslas needs to be produced to replace one Japanese – made car. Can not be good for environment.
Mike you are a dumb dumb!
Mike dude you should start reading using your eyes, not your butt. Then perhaps your attempts at high brow humor amount to something …
Mike: I am not sure that other readers will interpret the original post as an example of hero worship. In any case, you might have missed some of my previous articles regarding electric cars and Tesla.
From 2008, a look at going all-electric: https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2008/05/27/cost-of-converting-entire-us-to-electric-cars-zero/
From 2020: https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2020/08/27/tesla-implements-my-kid-in-hot-car-alarm-17-years-later/
From 2016: https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2016/10/14/maybe-tesla-is-our-only-hope/
From 2013: https://philip.greenspun.com/blog/2013/07/28/tesla-success-shows-what-a-bad-investment-gmchrysler-bailout-was/
> I am not aware of any chargers that fit into a Spanish Colonial Revival style
That sounds like a nice untapped market. Make HOA approvable chargers for high-end neighbourhoods, in fibre glass casing in several styles. Make the tech bits hidden by default behind trap doors.
I suspect what would work best is a weather-proofed blank slate design that’s easily covered in the same stone or siding as the house, so it really fits in.