And to TF’s point above, this is only for long trips. For the vast majority of people, for the vast majority of the time, an EV frees them from ever having to go to a gas station again. Even off a 110V wall outlet, an EV can add 5 miles range/hour of charging. So, if you get home from work at, say, 7pm, and leave the next morning at 6am, you’ll have added about 55 miles range.
The US Census Bureau says that - in 2019 - the average round trip commute was 39 miles, so that’s pretty functional for a lot of people. Moreso, if you’re ok with eating into a little of your “principle” and don’t have to be at 100% every time you leave home (actually 80% is the max charge recommended for the current battery technology to avoid accelerated degradation, but the next generation of batteries will happily go from 100% to 0% and back again).
A small investment in a 240V outlet (like that for your dryer) more than doubles the charging speed without the need for a dedicated wall charger. The “investment” is the cost of having an electrician run the wires. Realistically, no one’s commute is beyond the range of an EV with a 240V charging outlet and at-home overnight charging only.
Don’t you have to stand at the pump the whole time it’s charging to make sure the nozzle doesn’t come out and the electricity spill all over the asphalt?
Tesla’s new 4680 battery solves a number of problems, including reducing heat while improving performance, being more environmentally friendly to produce and eliminating cobalt (which is a sketchy mineral due to labor practices in Congo).
The additional performance will allow Tesla to increase their already industry-leading range and/or reduce the battery pack size to get the same range while making the cars lighter. They’re being deployed in the hideous Cyber truck first and also the Model Y, but will rollout to the entire model lineup eventually.
The range improvement is estimated at 16%, which would boost a long-range Model Y’s range from 350 to over 400 miles.
In other news, Elon Musk remains an arrogant, oversized man-child, fuckface prick.
Just put a deposit (refundable) on a Rivian R1S SUV that should be delivered in Spring 2022.
One of my coworkers I just flew with gets hers in January (she has a Tesla Model 3 as well) and she’s been researching/delving into the company, their vehicles, etc. I now find myself doing the same as a future EV owner and it’s an interesting rabbit hole…
Rivian has some serious backers; it’s not a fly-by-night operation.
I was excited about the pick-up, but I think the SUV would be more suitable to my needs. Of course, once I came to that realization, I cannot see why I would pay the extra to get a Rivian over a Tesla Model Y.
My one concern was the winter weather performance of the Tesla, but I have been reassured by multiple YouTube testers putting it through its paces in the snow. The only remaining thing that might push me back towards the Rivian is ground clearance. If I head out to the ski slopes, I don’t want to be stranded by a fresh dump of snow that’s too deep for the Tesla.
Not necessarily. If you have an outdoor plug, the level1 inverter that comes with the car (+/- an extension cord) would be enough for night time charging. That’s what many EV owners who have not put in home level 2 chargers do (including me and my neighbor).
If you don’t have the home supercharger, you can probably run the cable under the garage door and still leave the car outside. Although I still will never understand why people will park $70,000 of vehicle outside because of $5,000 of shit in the garage.
