Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Long Distance EV Trip

A Tesla Roadster drives the entire length of England in 36 hours, (without the benefit of DC fast charging).  894 miles total, with 6 charge stops along the way, about $30 in electricity.  More proof that battery swapping and Better Place are completely unnecessary.
Roadster trip

4 comments:

  1. Let's see now:
    1) 894 miles in 36 hours gives me 24.83 mph average speed. Not very impressive when you consider a good bicycle rider can do 20+mph and the least expensive gas powered car can make this trip in 12 hours or less
    2) Six stops for charging means seven segments, or, 894/7=127.7 miles per charge. Or, about half of what Tesla claims for the range of the Roadster. And this is over a carefully selected route (with charging stations) designed to impress the world with the Roadster's capabilities.
    Conclusion: Pretty pathetic for a $100,000+ "sports" car
    Zelaza

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nice math. As if anyone is going to make that trip in a single day in any vehicle. You might need to subtract time for sleep, food, and pee breaks, the same as you would in an ICE vehicle.

    ReplyDelete
  3. OK, make it a 450 mile trip which is perfectly reasonable to do in one day without stopping two or three times for more than a few minutes each. Your Tesla will take 18 hours while a cheap gas powered junker 7, 8, or 9 hours tops.
    You still haven't explained why the England trip averaged less than 130 miles per charge.
    My whole point is that Tesla's claims are excessive and easily exposed with a little number crunching.
    Zelaza

    ReplyDelete
  4. Normally I wouldn't drive 450 miles without at least a 30-45 minute stop for lunch, and all the numbers show is there are as of yet not any DC fast charge stations available. They averaged less than 130 miles per charge because they had to charge where they could, at limited power levels. If they skipped a charge station at 130 miles and the next one was 130 miles away that's outside the claimed range of 240 miles, which is for the LA4 cycle anyway, which is mixed driving, not highway.
    The obvious point, that you are missing completely, is that even this early on, with a limited charge network, that type of travel is possible. Is it as fast as an ICE vehicle, no of course not, but who cares? Few people will ever make such a trip, and it will be rare if it ever actually happens.

    ReplyDelete