# Tesla EV - 400 Mile Range



## jebatty (Jan 6, 2015)

Tesla has announced an upgrade that will provide a 400 mile range on a single charge for its Roadster EV. 





> Battery efficiencies that Tesla offers on its luxury cars today will be available to mainstream car buyers within a few years, at which point the argument for gas-powered vehicles will be very thin, even if oil prices stay low.


 CNN - Tesla Now, that's what will make an EV work for me.


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## maple1 (Jan 6, 2015)

That for sure - plus a lower price of admission.

Would really love to ditch one of our gas burners.


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## woodgeek (Jan 6, 2015)

Sure, but in a blizzard at -20°F, with snow tires on, you'd probably only get 200 miles.


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## begreen (Jan 6, 2015)

We'll never make it to grandma's house and back. This is why I drive a Volt.


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## woodgeek (Jan 6, 2015)

Fortunately, Grandma has a 240V outlet, and you can recharge your Roadster while you're having Sunday dinner.  

http://insideevs.com/tesla-announced-roadster-3-0-upgrade/


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## jebatty (Jan 7, 2015)

> Sure, but in a blizzard at -20°F, with snow tires on, you'd probably only get 200 miles.





> We'll never make it to grandma's house and back. This is why I drive a Volt.





> Fortunately, Grandma has a 240V outlet, and you can recharge your Roadster while you're having Sunday dinner.


Debbie Downer x 3.


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## begreen (Jan 7, 2015)

Problem is that if I want to head due east, say to Idaho I would be SOL with an all electric vehicle. The major cities and freeway corridors are getting charging stations, but not the heartland.

Thanks for the reminder woodgeek. I forgot grandma had a welder in her metal shop.


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## woodgeek (Jan 7, 2015)

Not much better out east.  On the 100 mile road between the two biggest cites on the east coast....NYC and Philly, there are exactly *2* (reliably working, non-Tesla) fast DC chargers.  And both of those are crummy 22 kW units (on a standard that allows up to 80 kW), and not easy-on easy off to the highway.  

And none between Philly and Baltimore/DC.  

Maryland and CT each have more than a dozen.


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## valuman (Jan 7, 2015)

I don't think I'd try to drive a Tesla Roadster in the snow, but maybe that's just me. A Model S on the other hand...


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## john193 (Jan 7, 2015)

I'm really looking forward to the model E that they are anticipating will hit the market around 2017.  I'm really interested in an all electric vehicle for my next car.  If they can meet the price point of about 35K with 200 mile real world range, i'm sold.


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## valuman (Jan 7, 2015)

john193 said:


> I'm really looking forward to the model E that they are anticipating will hit the market around 2017.  I'm really interested in an all electric vehicle for my next car.  If they can meet the price point of about 35K with 200 mile real world range, i'm sold.


I think $35k and 200 mile ranges are further out than that, at least for a vehicle that's drivable for me. I sat in Model S not too long ago and left a puddle of drool in the front seat. I'd be in at $50, or maybe even $55k for that car. Elon is an amazing man whose name will be long remembered.


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## woodgeek (Jan 7, 2015)

valuman said:


> Elon is an amazing man whose name will be long remembered.



Esp if he can stick his landing on Friday morning....
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astr...t_to_land_booster_on_a_floating_platform.html

Remember, building EVs is Elon's _hobby_, building a Mars base is his _passion_.


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## valuman (Jan 7, 2015)

woodgeek said:


> Esp if he can stick his landing on Friday morning....
> http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astr...t_to_land_booster_on_a_floating_platform.html
> 
> Remember, building EVs is Elon's _hobby_, building a Mars base is his _passion_.


That's a great read. I didn't realize they were already on their fifth resupply mission or that they are ready to try a first stage recovery. That's WAY cool.

I have to say though, he's not any less passionate about EVs than he is about Space travel and settlement. He's just passionate about changing the world.


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## woodgeek (Jan 7, 2015)

Step one: 'land' rocket stage on ocean...


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## valuman (Jan 9, 2015)

woodgeek said:


> Step one: 'land' rocket stage on ocean...



I knew they were doing wet landing recoveries, but didn't realize they were ready to try a dry landing already. This is a pretty good illustration of a major difference between public sector and privet sector thinking. Public sector = This is going to be expensive to do, let's find some more money and keep the program going. Private sector = This is too expensive, let's find a way to make the program more efficient and keep it going.


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## woodgeek (Jan 9, 2015)

Now delayed again to 4:47 a.m. ET tomorrow AM.


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## valuman (Jan 10, 2015)

The first stage missed the deck. "Close, but no cigar" was Elon's Tweet,


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## woodgeek (Jan 10, 2015)

Bummer.  But they are scheduled to launch again in 18 days....don't know if the drone ship will be ready.


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## EatenByLimestone (Jan 11, 2015)

What happens to that range should you turn a heater or air conditioner on the car?

On my last electric bill I paid .21 per kWh.  I don't see electric cars around here anytime soon.  Much of that cost is the $17 base charge, if I used more electricity the cost would be spread out over more kWh, but electricity is a killer up here.


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## jebatty (Jan 11, 2015)

Strikes me as somewhat odd that a full EV is judged by the same standards as a gasoline vehicle. I remember when cars did not have AC and heaters were fairly dismal in performance. I understand the desire for all the bells and whistles of modern vehicles, and likely that will be required to satisfy the whims and wants of today's traveling public. At the same time I heat the house with a wood stove in the living room, the shop with a wood gasification boiler, and these have no bells or whistles compared to today's LP or NG furnaces/boilers, and they both have all the inconveniences and labor of CSS wood, loading, ash removal, clean-up, along with the benefit of tremendous $$$ savings. "Suffering" some moderate inconvenience with a full EV, fueled by PV, would be a winner for me. A dependable 200 mile range probably would satisfy at least 75% of my driving, 400 mile range about 98% of my driving, leaving 2% for driving trip vacations. And for that 2% a spare gasoline powered vehicle left to age gracefully, or a rental vehicle, would be fully satisfactory. I expect our next car to be full EV.


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## EatenByLimestone (Jan 11, 2015)

The cost of electricity for me is now 6x the cost of natural gas per btu.  If people were smart enough to do the math and had a source of NG they would go NG long before electric.


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## EatenByLimestone (Jan 11, 2015)

As the infrastructure ages and the demand for electricity goes up, I can't see it getting any cheaper.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 11, 2015)

begreen said:


> We'll never make it to grandma's house and back. This is why I drive a Volt.


And im waiting to see those new specs for the 2016 model ,supposedly out at 9Pm Jan 11 2015.


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 11, 2015)

GM will be introducing a 200 Mile all electric any day now. Supposed to be around $30000


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## woodgeek (Jan 11, 2015)

Code Name: Chevy _Bolt  





_


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 12, 2015)

Specs are out for the new volt  50 All Electric Miles which would translate into 60 AER on a good day. 41 MPG once the battery is depleted. And 5 passenger seating.  LOve the concept but the car is just too small for my family and gear. Id be happy with 20-25 electric miles if they put it in an SUV or larger body type.


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## begreen (Jan 12, 2015)

I suspect an SUV version will be coming. They have shown a concept car. I like the changes in the 2016 Volt. They got rid of my pet peeve, the center touch console.


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## woodgeek (Jan 17, 2015)

valuman said:


> The first stage missed the deck. "Close, but no cigar" was Elon's Tweet,



Video is up: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/2015/20140116-falcon9-rapid-unscheduled-disassembly.html


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## Seasoned Oak (Jan 18, 2015)

So what do you guys think of the new BOLT  200 mile all electric range GM priced at $30000 . That kind of range should certainly satisfy the majority of drivers. BY the time gas goes through the roof again we should have a nice selection of alternatives out there.


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## woodgeek (Jan 18, 2015)

Right now, there are projected to be THREE '200 mile' BEVs on the road in a couple years or so...Tesla Model 3, Leaf Gen 2 (MY2017) and GM Bolt.

All have promised to be ~$30,000 (after $7500 Fed rebate) = 37500 MSRP stripped.

Whether any (or all) of them can realize these goals remains to be seen.

Consensus on the street: 
--Tesla will make 200 miles real range, but be delivered late and over budget
--Leaf will come in on schedule and budget (barely, Nissan might take a loss), but have at most 150 miles EPA real world range == 200 miles in LA city driving.
--Bolt is the most foggy....who knows?


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## woodgeek (Jan 18, 2015)

200 nominal miles will require a battery of about 50 kWh.  And price estimates are still $300-400/kWh, so that is $15-20k just for the battery in current tech.

I'm optimistic, but the cheap 200 mi BEV will be a stretch.


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