I was advised not to go to a Tesla dealer for a test drive until I was fully prepared to buy a Tesla that day. That’s pretty much how it worked out. I still get a little thrill out of firing up my Boxster, but honestly, it feels a little juvenile now. If there were a convertible sitckshift Tesla, that car would be history.
Not entirely, but birth rates have dropped, since rents are $1,500 and $12/hour doesn’t cut it.
You can go heavy on the seat heaters- it’s a more efficient use of juice for keeping you warm. But it’s still not too bad. Newer Teslas are getting double-pane windows, mostly for sound insulation, but will also reduce heater stress.
The dirty little secret is the volt does use the gas engine for propulsion assist under certain operating conditions.
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It’s not a secret. It is a fail safe condition. We’ve discussed this at least once before.
Not fail safe, performance enhancement. It kicks in under high speed operation. I recall prior discussions where some people were unaware of the connection to the power train. GM purposely downplayed it fearing it would be labeled a hybrid.
This is from Wikipedia, and is essentially where I remember we left it before:
The Volt operates as a pure battery electric vehicle until its battery capacity drops to a predetermined threshold from full charge. From there, its internal combustion engine powers an electric generator to extend the vehicle’s range as needed. When the engine is running it may be periodically mechanically linked (by a clutch) to a planetary gear set, and hence the output drive axle, to improve energy efficiency. The Volt’s regenerative braking also contributes to the on-board electricity generation.
Fail safe is probably the wrong phrase to describe it. While the ICE is a high power aide, it isn’t necessarily only during high power needs.
And here is another quote from the same wiki further down, straight from the horse’s mouth-
General Motors has avoided the use of the term “hybrid” when describing its Voltec designs, even after the carmaker revealed that in some cases the combustion engine provided some assist at high speeds or to improve performance. This contribution from the gas engine is only at high speeds. Normal driving there is no contribution and the car runs all electric.[17]
So now you need to carry a gas powered generator and wait an hour or so to charge your vehicle to get you to the next outlet. Why 6500 for a generator? You can go to Harbor Freight and get one for 1/10th the price that puts out 220 volts like this box. This particular Hummer will be an energy hog just like the gas powered version was a gas hog. Just proving that you can be energy inefficient and ostentatious and “green”.
Who said that? Those would only be for emergencies. Equivalent to you running out of gas. When was the last time you ran out of gas? Been a few decades for me.
Many families own more then one car. Use one of those vehicles for long commuting and long trips. Get a fully electric vehicle just for commuting. Many fully electric vehicles have a range of 200 miles…Do you commute more then 200 miles a day? Even if you take it on a long trip…plan ahead. Find out where charging stations are before you leave…this can easily be done.
The HF gen will be loud, probably won’t fit, and probably isn’t designed to run while driving. And it’s from Harbor Freight which means it will die the first time you really need it.
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The Blink generator ad which the OP posted was also NOT designed to run while driving. It charges at one mile per minute and is a “roadside” charger. You are carrying a gas generator in your car to be brought out at those emergencies when an outlet isn’t available. As to MikeInNH’s comment about using the electric for commuting. I would say the Hummer is definitely NOT being marketed as a commuter car and being off-road would make access to charging even more difficult. Until I can charge up in 10 mins, any long trip is impractical with electric.
While the Electric Hummer is probably very capable at off-roading - the vast majority of the people who buy off-roading vehicles have never taken them off of pavement. They are for show only.
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+1
And, just because the electric Hummer isn’t designed for commuting, that doesn’t mean that some folks won’t use them for that purpose.
That’s only true if you insist on remaining in an old way of thinking. In reality, all you need is a car that will run as long as you need it to. If they come out with a car that has a 600 mile range, then I’d only need to charge it at night because I decided a long time ago that unless it’s a severe emergency, I’m not driving more than 600 miles in a day, and I try to avoid doing even that. 10 hours of solid driving is way more than I have any interest in doing.
As it happens, one of the 300-400 mile range cars would also be fine, because I will be stopping for lunch at some point, and I’d just make sure to pick a place near a charger to get me a little more range.
A Tesla (which isn’t even the car I’d choose at this point) can charge to 80% in 40 minutes. So while I have a burger in a decent restaurant I get an extra 200-300 miles out of it which, depending on the model, means I could pretty easily cover 600 miles in a day.
The old thinking that “I need to have access to immediate 100% range all the time, everywhere” only came about because gas makes such thinking easy. But in reality, it’s simply not necessary with just a little forethought.
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Exactly. We have at least 5 in my parking lot. Not one has seen an inch off a paved road. They are nice comfortable vehicles and people feel safer driving them then their Camry’s.
Exactly. If a car can go 1000 miles on a charge you’d still get people complaining that it’s not practical because they can’t charge it in 10 minutes.
Fast charging is here but in limited areas. 20 minutes as opposed to hours.
Tesla is even working on a newer system for even faster charging.
This is an emerging market. I predict within 10 years you’ll find electric vehicles with range over 400 miles and able to charge in minutes. Look how far we’ve come in just the past 5 years. A lot of research going into new battery technology.
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+1. Get a meal, go for a 20 minute walk. Even using AC and the radio, you should have a range of at least 250 miles out of the optimistic 350 miles. That’s about 5 hours of driving.
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250 mile range at 65mph is less then 4 hours. When I drive back to NY it’s a little over 310 miles and it takes me under 5 hours.
"MikeInNH, A lot of research going into new battery technology.
Is anyone looking into solar charging while driving? Seem’s to me solar could work well in the sunny part’s of the country also is solar affected by hotter or colder temp’s even if it is sunny?