The Tesla and other Electric vehicle thread.....

[D M C]

I bought the stock just before the split and have already nearly doubled my investment.

 

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I'm up 1,090.84% since October 2018. Wow. Sinking more in when I get the chance.

 

[Alkali Ike]

Continued from here: Coolest Older ICE Cars

It's not feasible. I live in a city where almost everyone parks on the street. Is the city going to install outlets at every parking space?

Does every parking space have a gas pump to refill your tank every day? No because it's not needed. You refill your gas tank when needed at a gas station. This works because normally people fill up at random times and not all at once.

A lot of EV owners won't be able to charge at home. Street parking, apartment dwellers, etc. They'll go to a DC Fast Charging station to "fill up". If you drive an average of 200 miles a week, and your EV gets 250 miles to a charge, you "fill up" once a week at a fast charging station.

Tesla has been super aggressive about building out their Supercharger network. Other companies like Electrify America are continually adding new fast charging stations around the country. It will take years for this to be built out but it's happening.

Clearly we're not there yet, but that's the direction we're going. You need to be able to adjust to it for it to work. If you won't or can't adjust, or live in the sticks where EV chargers will be last to be installed, no worries because ICE willl not be going away soon.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

Continued from here: Coolest Older ICE Cars



Does every parking space have a gas pump to refill your tank every day? No because it's not needed. You refill your gas tank when needed at a gas station. This works because normally people fill up at random times and not all at once.

A lot of EV owners won't be able to charge at home. Street parking, apartment dwellers, etc. They'll go to a DC Fast Charging station to "fill up". If you drive an average of 200 miles a week, and your EV gets 250 miles to a charge, you "fill up" once a week at a fast charging station.

Tesla has been super aggressive about building out their Supercharger network. Other companies like Electrify America are continually adding new fast charging stations around the country. It will take years for this to be built out but it's happening.

Clearly we're not there yet, but that's the direction we're going. You need to be able to adjust to it for it to work. If you won't or can't adjust, or live in the sticks where EV chargers will be last to be installed, no worries because ICE willl not be going away soon.

But a tank of gas gets you much further than an EV charge.

 

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But a tank of gas gets you much further than an EV charge.

True for the moment, but that will change in the next few years. I'll take the >8x reduction in running costs over the moderate loss of range anyway.

 

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because ICE willl not be going away soon.

Worries, because if that's true, we'll all be dead in 30 years.

 

[Alkali Ike]

But a tank of gas gets you much further than an EV charge.

That's slowly becoming less of an issue. EVs are quickly catching up.

1. Mustang Mach E - 305 miles
2. Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD - 353 miles
3. VW ID.4 - 250 miles

For an EV to be my sole vehicle, it needs to have AWD and a range of at least 300 miles. Why 300 miles? Because that will get me from Eugene to Bend with no charging stops and range to spare. Now Bend is only about 140 miles away. But you have to climb from 450 ft elevation to over 5000 ft crossing the Cascades. That elevation change eats up a lot of energy.

A friend has a Gen 1 Chevy Bolt. I think its range is like 239 miles. He's afraid to try driving it from here to Bend because of that elevation change. He'd probably need to recharge somewhere along the way.

EV range and all the real-world issues that affect it is almost a topic of its own. I speak as someone who owned an e-Golf for a year and a half. Its official range was 125 miles. I can tell you a lot about how that actually works out.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

That's slowly becoming less of an issue. EVs are quickly catching up.

1. Mustang Mach E - 305 miles
2. Tesla Model 3 Long Range AWD - 353 miles
3. VW ID.4 - 250 miles

For an EV to be my sole vehicle, it needs to have AWD and a range of at least 300 miles. Why 300 miles? Because that will get me from Eugene to Bend with no charging stops and range to spare. Now Bend is only about 140 miles away. But you have to climb from 450 ft elevation to over 5000 ft crossing the Cascades. That elevation change eats up a lot of energy.

A friend has a Gen 1 Chevy Bolt. I think its range is like 239 miles. He's afraid to try driving it from here to Bend because of that elevation change. He'd probably need to recharge somewhere along the way.

EV range and all the real-world issues that affect it is almost a topic of its own. I speak as someone who owned an e-Golf for a year and a half. It's official range was 125 miles. I can tell you a lot about how that actually works out.

It's a major issue.

 

[Stewie26]

At this point in time, IMO it is best to have at least on ICE vehicle and one E-vehicle in the fleet. That is what we have done so we have all the bases covered. Just sayin.

 

[Alkali Ike]

It's a major issue.
View attachment 4221806

I'm assuming they mean 3 recharge stops for the entire round trip, not each way.

I can see where this would be an issue for some people. If your job requires you to drive all the time, well time is money and the extra time to recharge could be costing you something. If it's just the issue of spending more time recharging that you can't accept, there's not much to rebut that except to suggest adapting to the new. Gotta keep moving forward.

For me personally, I'm retired so time is not money. I couldn't care less about having to spend a little more time recharging on a long trip. Also I haven't driven a round trip longer than 300 miles in probably 25 years.

 

[48thStreetCustom]

I'm assuming they mean 3 recharge stops for the entire round trip, not each way.

I can see where this would be an issue for some people. If your job requires you to drive all the time, well time is money and the extra time to recharge could be costing you something. If it's just the issue of spending more time recharging that you can't accept, there's not much to rebut that except to suggest adapting to the new. Gotta keep moving forward.

For me personally, I'm retired so time is not money. I couldn't care less about having to spend a little more time recharging on a long trip. Also I haven't driven a round trip longer than 300 miles in probably 25 years.

I would say that a car that is inconvenient for me to refuel because of logistics and takes 40% longer to get to my destination is not a better mousetrap. I'll stick with my vintage Porsche.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I would say that a car that is inconvenient for me to refuel because of logistics and takes 40% longer to get to my destination is not a better mousetrap. I'll stick with my vintage Porsche.

All I can say is my current Audi Q5 plug-in hybrid doesn’t take any extra time to reach any destination. Most of my trips are local and I can do them in electric mode exclusively. If I run out of juice or need to go long distance I do it on gasoline. I have a Level 2 charger at home so that’s where I charge most of the time. I can also charge for free at the downtown city parking lot so that’s a bonus if I’m in that area for some reason.

Combining all my trips on both electricity and gasoline, I average 60+ gas MPG so there’s that. And if I press it hard like passing someone I have a LOT of combined electric and gas power to get me through.

Everyone’s situation is different though.

 

[woodyng2]

I’m semi-retired myself (maybe next year!) but have really been enjoying my i3 Rex for the usual short commutes/town driving,as well as taking it on longer trips of 150-250 miles each way.
I kind of hate driving or being in a car for any longer than that.

 

[Alkali Ike]

I should probably point out that the plug-in Q5 is a placeholder until someone other than Tesla makes an AWD SUV-ish model EV with a range >300 miles. I was seriously disappointed that the ID.4 came in at 250 miles and that's not AWD (actually dual motor). I've test-driven one though and it's a pretty sweet EV. I just need AWD and more range.

 

[Pilgrim]

But a tank of gas gets you much further than an EV charge.

And that is much more of an issue if you live in the western US. It's not only the range, it's the need to find a charging station AND the wait if there is someone, or two or three people, in front of you.

I’m semi-retired myself (maybe next year!) but have really been enjoying my i3 Rex for the usual short commutes/town driving,as well as taking it on longer trips of 150-250 miles each way.
I kind of hate driving or being in a car for any longer than that.

Those are longer trips? My long trips are usually 400-500 miles per day, and usually at least two days one way.

 

[woodyng2]

Those are longer trips? My long trips are usually 400-500 miles per day, and usually at least two days one way.

I can do those,but prefer to take a plane.....

 

[Alkali Ike]

But a tank of gas gets you much further than an EV charge.

This statement begs for a deeper dive. Anyone?

@48thStreetCustom Just out of curiosity, what’s the range of your ICE Porsche on a tank of gas?

 

[48thStreetCustom]

This statement begs for a deeper dive. Anyone?

@48thStreetCustom Just out of curiosity, what’s the range of your ICE Porsche on a tank of gas?

490 miles

 

[SgtHulka]

I'm a pretty active investor in the EV space so I read and see a lot about EV related tech.

The lower mileage distance is closing fast. There are already many prototypes and companies close to production on longer running EV's - 500 mile range or more. And battery tech is also changing fast.

"Filling up" at a charging station I predict wil be as ubiquitous in 20 years as filling up for gas is now. But there are so many ideas. One is battery swaps. You may never have to "sit" while your vehicle charges.

Anyway, the real investing powerplay here is the pick and shovel approach - lithium.

 

[S-Bigbottom]

It's a major issue.

I have a diesel VW that gets over 700 miles a tank, with this 523 mile each way example I would not need to stop for a fuel up in between.

BUT...
I am Not going to go the straight trip, there will be stops to eat at a place to sit down with the meal and bathroom breaks that will be longer than just letting out liquid. These stops would balance out for me, and I assume the general public as the same as traveling with a Tesla.

Not everyone wants to do a 500+ mile trip in one blast.

This statement begs for a deeper dive. Anyone?

@48thStreetCustom Just out of curiosity, what’s the range of your ICE Porsche on a tank of gas?

My brother just went from Portland Oregon down to San Francisco Ca, there to Los Angeles, and over to Phoenix Arizona in his Tesla 3 all wheel dual motor.
He charged 6 times for 30 minutes each stop for that 1,300 trip.

With my diesel I could do that trip only needing to fill up once in the middle and at or near the end of the destination.

BUT... Again. I would not do that trip in one blast and many probably would not, so with a stop to eat and just rest every few hours, I would be stopping just as much as if I traveled with his car.

For me and probable a lot of people this all balances out. I am no longer doing cannon ball runs.
A stop for 30 minutes every 3-4 hours of driving is a healthy thing to prevent fatigue and crashes.