Charging to get home

Trav said:
That may only be true if you live in la la land. In a big East coast city at peak traffic time the next super charger may be an hour traffic jam away.
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Astro14 said:
Unforeseen traffic jams happen all the time. It’s not only a possible scenario, it’s a very likely one.

Leave my house, heading to Richmond, Google says 96 minutes to destination. Hit the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel just after an accident, Google, updating just after I’ve experienced the slowdown, says 126 minutes due to a 30 minute slow down.

I’ve seen pop-up traffic delay for an hour or more. The in car route planning software cannot predict the future any better than anyone else, and there are no chargers on a bridge or in a tunnel.

You cut it close with an EV, in those circumstances, and you had better turn off the air conditioning, or you will not make it. Frankly, I can’t think of anything worse than sitting in 95° heat with 90+ percent humidity, stuck in the Hampton roads Bridge Tunnel, having to shut off the AC because you don’t have the juice.

“Charging just enough to get home” is foolish in many locations. Including mine.
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In which case, power consumption at idle is very low. The software is dynamic and will adjust based on traffic patterns, and will reroute you to a closer charger if you will not make it to the next charger. It will also provide guidance on how to adjust your driving habits to ensure that you will make it to the next charging stop.

Ultimately this is a bit of a mute point for most users - the vehicle should start each day with 80 or 90% charge - and it is very unlikely that one will "run out" if the route planning software is correctly utilized.

Have either of you driven one?
 
Trav said:
That may only be true if you live in la la land. In a big East coast city at peak traffic time the next super charger may be an hour traffic jam away.
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You're also not using much power if you're just sitting in traffic. Running the A/C stationary is quite a bit different than pushing your driving distance. The old adage of "I know my car" comes into play of people near running out of fuel is just irresponsible and reckless.
 
The Critic said:
The intent of supercharging (or any mobile charge) is to charge enough to reach your final destination for the day.....whether that is a hotel or your home.

It is mentality change when it comes to "refueling" an EV. The goal is not to fill up, the goal is to fill enough to get to your next (or final) destination. That is the best use of time.
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My puny brain would need to drop something else important in order to remember all these goals.

Before you make fun of me, remember Steve Jobs wore the same clothing every day - so he didn't have to invest any brain power in choosing what to wear.

I pull in to the most convenient gas station, swipe my card, and fill. End of thinking.
 
SC Maintenance said:
My puny brain would need to drop something else important in order to remember all these goals.

Before you make fun of me, remember Steve Jobs wore the same clothing every day - so he didn't have to invest any brain power in choosing what to wear.

I pull in to the most convenient gas station, swipe my card, and fill. End of thinking.
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Like any evolution, there are pros and cons. And the only constant is change.
 
JHZR2 said:
35 min remaining is a non starter when one could fill a gas tank in less than 5 and have full range in a HEV.

48 miles in 10 mins for $5 isn’t anything to write home about either. When we supercharged a rental, it was more per mile than driving our odyssey. That mileage and cost isn’t much better. 48 miles is less than one gallon of gas in my accord hybrid for $3.Xs whatever the price of gas is here today.

So I’m not seeing the point relative to economy of time or operation…
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My thread was not to make a point of any kind; just informative. But here's some numbers:
My Tundra would go about 15 miles on $5. My GS350 might go 22.
I was traveling from our home in Los Gatos (Silicon Valley) to our other house in Petaluma (wine country); 90 miles each way. I could have charged to 95% at home (solar) and not have stopped. I had about 90 miles remaining with about 80 miles to get home. I decided to stop for a quick charge and get a coffee. Well, I plugged in, checked email (and BOB) and about 7 minutes went by with plenty to get home. So I gave it another minute and stopped charging. No coffee, just back on the freeway flying home at 80+ much of the way...

The Tundra would cost about $60 for the trip. The GS would cost easily over $40. They are both great in their own ways. The Model 3 is great in its own way. My car is a Mid Range; if I had purchased the Long Range just charging to 80% at night at home would be more than enough for the round trip.

Given my use case, I doubt I will ever buy another ICE car. Teslas are such a kick to drive and if you can charge at home like I do, the time and $$ saving has to be experienced. It's great. I am still learning how to use this car; to get over range anxiety. A lifetime of driving gasoline vehicles with stations everywhere is a hard norm to think past. These cars are different; certainly not for everyone.
 
The Critic said:
In which case, power consumption at idle is very low. The software is dynamic and will adjust based on traffic patterns, and will reroute you to a closer charger if you will not make it to the next charger. It will also provide guidance on how to adjust your driving habits to ensure that you will make it to the next charging stop.

Ultimately this is a bit of a mute point for most users - the vehicle should start each day with 80 or 90% charge - and it is very unlikely that one will "run out" if the route planning software is correctly utilized.

Have either of you driven one?
Click to expand...
Yeah, two of my neighbors have Teslas. One a model Y and one a Model S. I've test driven one in Colorado and driven a couple locally. I get how they work. Point is - the software can't predict a future traffic jam. For @JeffKeryk who never has to run the heat, or the AC, and doesn't drive across long bridges, sure, get just enough of a charge to get home. Pad it by a couple miles. Good to go.

But that doesn't work in the real world.

We, the Tesla owners and I, have talked about this exact scenario - the trapped on a bridge scenario - they do not run the car anywhere as close as the OP in this thread. They've been stuck in the same unexpected traffic jams that I have - things look good, and bam, you're on a road, with no exits, for an extra hour.

What good is re-routing you to a charger, if that charger is inaccessible because you're on a bridge? Or stuck in a tunnel?

The software may be good, but it cannot predict the future. People got trapped on 95, just north of here, for over 12 hours, in the ice storm, remember? How did the software do predicting that? And re-routing Tesla owners to chargers? They got stuck, ran the battery to zero by using the heat, and had to get towed.

Throw in a couple of long bridge/tunnels and it becomes a real threat. A daily threat.

I've been on the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel (17 miles long) when there was a crash. Three hours stuck in one spot. Nearest charger was on the shore, over ten miles away, and you cannot turn around on the bridge.

Power consumption when not moving, though, is not zero if, as I described, it's a day like today - over 90 degrees, over 90% humidity. You need electricity to run the AC. Or heat as those stuck on 95 found out.

Besides, your statement that such a scenario is not really possible is simply untrue.
The Critic said:
Not really a possible scenario if you use the vehicle's in-car route planning software.
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It's not only possible, it is likely.

And Tesla owners around here account for that.
 
TumblrDucks said:
Is this super charger? Not bad at all
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I thought this was a 150 kW charger, but as you can see I was only using half that. There were 20 Superchargers... A few miles south there was a 250 kW location.
But it was in the back of a big shopping center, Costco, Target and a bunch of stores. Too far from Starbucks! It would have taken me more than 10 minutes to get coffee...
 
Barkleymut said:
honestly curious, what happens when it is 98 degrees out and you get caught in a nasty traffic jam? Do you sit in your EV and run the AC and pray that you will make it home or do you turn everything off and roll down the windows so that you can assure you make it home?
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You will use very little juice in that situation. Traffic jams is where EVs shine.
 
The Critic said:
The intent of supercharging (or any mobile charge) is to charge enough to reach your final destination for the day.....whether that is a hotel or your home.

It is mentality change when it comes to "refueling" an EV. The goal is not to fill up, the goal is to fill enough to get to your next (or final) destination. That is the best use of time.
Click to expand...
if you have a home charger.
 
Astro14 said:
Unforeseen traffic jams happen all the time. It’s not only a possible scenario, it’s a very likely one.

Leave my house, heading to Richmond, Google says 96 minutes to destination. Hit the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel just after an accident, Google, updating just after I’ve experienced the slowdown, says 126 minutes due to a 30 minute slow down.

I’ve seen pop-up traffic delay for an hour or more. The in car route planning software cannot predict the future any better than anyone else, and there are no chargers on a bridge or in a tunnel.

You cut it close with an EV, in those circumstances, and you had better turn off the air conditioning, or you will not make it. Frankly, I can’t think of anything worse than sitting in 95° heat with 90+ percent humidity, stuck in the Hampton roads Bridge Tunnel, having to shut off the AC because you don’t have the juice.

“Charging just enough to get home” is foolish in many locations. Including mine.
Click to expand...
The Model 3 could be a better vehicle in your scenario as it does not waste fuel idling.
I agree with not cutting it close; my range anxiety will not allow that. That's the reason I stopped to charge.

The GPS constantly recalculates based on traffic, state of charge, Supercharger locations, number of open chargers, etc.
It originally advised me to stop close to home, if necessary, but I decided to stop for other reasons, like coffee and the experience.

The "charge to destination" does not mean to arrive on fumes, at least in my case!
Hence, the title of my thread. Ha!
 
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Astro14 said:
Yeah, two of my neighbors have Teslas. One a model Y and one a Model S. I've test driven one in Colorado and driven a couple locally. I get how they work. Point is - the software can't predict a future traffic jam. For @JeffKeryk who never has to run the heat, or the AC, and doesn't drive across long bridges, sure, get just enough of a charge to get home. Pad it by a couple miles. Good to go.

But that doesn't work in the real world.

We, the Tesla owners and I, have talked about this exact scenario - the trapped on a bridge scenario - they do not run the car anywhere as close as the OP in this thread. They've been stuck in the same unexpected traffic jams that I have - things look good, and bam, you're on a road, with no exits, for an extra hour.

What good is re-routing you to a charger, if that charger is inaccessible because you're on a bridge? Or stuck in a tunnel?

The software may be good, but it cannot predict the future. People got trapped on 95, just north of here, for over 12 hours, in the ice storm, remember? How did the software do predicting that? And re-routing Tesla owners to chargers? They got stuck, ran the battery to zero by using the heat, and had to get towed.

Throw in a couple of long bridge/tunnels and it becomes a real threat. A daily threat.

I've been on the Chesapeake Bay bridge tunnel (17 miles long) when there was a crash. Three hours stuck in one spot. Nearest charger was on the shore, over ten miles away, and you cannot turn around on the bridge.

Power consumption when not moving, though, is not zero if, as I described, it's a day like today - over 90 degrees, over 90% humidity. You need electricity to run the AC. Or heat as those stuck on 95 found out.

Besides, your statement that such a scenario is not really possible is simply untrue.

It's not only possible, it is likely.

And Tesla owners around here account for that.
Click to expand...
It runs on Google Maps. If there's a happening situation, you'll know about it. Just as if you were using Android Auto in your vehicle.
 
Astro14 said:
Unforeseen traffic jams happen all the time. It’s not only a possible scenario, it’s a very likely one.

Leave my house, heading to Richmond, Google says 96 minutes to destination. Hit the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel just after an accident, Google, updating just after I’ve experienced the slowdown, says 126 minutes due to a 30 minute slow down.

I’ve seen pop-up traffic delay for an hour or more. The in car route planning software cannot predict the future any better than anyone else, and there are no chargers on a bridge or in a tunnel.

You cut it close with an EV, in those circumstances, and you had better turn off the air conditioning, or you will not make it. Frankly, I can’t think of anything worse than sitting in 95° heat with 90+ percent humidity, stuck in the Hampton roads Bridge Tunnel, having to shut off the AC because you don’t have the juice.

“Charging just enough to get home” is foolish in many locations. Including mine.
Click to expand...
I've been in that tunnel traffic because of an accident on a Harley. Me and two friends pulled off at the last exit before the tunnel. There was a pier with a restaurant/bar. We sat at the bar and could see when the traffic started moving. I had to ride back to NoVa and the other 2 had to ride to Waynesboro.
 
Trav said:
More like devolution, Ev's failed once and I am quite sure for reasons that cannot be posted here will fail again. The novelty will wear off quick.

https://cleantechnica.com/2018/02/25/38-percent-american-cars-electric-1900/
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Remember in 1900 there were few roads, no gas stations and only the very rich could afford cars.
In fact, it was Henry Ford's Highland Park plant, in 1910, that that dramatically changed.

If you think the novelty will wear off quick, perhaps tell all the major car companies who are spending billion$ in their EV endeavours.
 
Astro14 said:
“Charging just enough to get home” is foolish in many locations. Including mine.
Click to expand...
The "charging just enough" comment is thematically correct but a little exaggerated. I don't "fill up" my Tesla while en-route but I charge enough to get to my destination or next charging station with a 15% charge. [Seems the experts aim for 10%.] A 15% minimum charge is like never letting your fuel tank get below a quarter - which is also a good plan.

Sometimes when I've driven too fast or had a headwind or something like that I've arrived with only a 12 or 13% charge but have never felt I might run out of charge. With 12 or 13% charge to spare I would have plenty of juice to sit in traffic for a couple of hours with the AC or heater on. A 2021 or newer Tesla has a heat pump which actually makes it better than an ICE in that situation (and I've driven ICE vehicles my whole life, so I know about low on fuel anxiety).

The joy of all Tesla products is having access to the Supercharger network - which is fast and reliable. Though having said that I never use a Supercharger except on a long trip.
 
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