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Electric Vehicles

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Fast Eddie B said:
Nope. Tennessee.
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I took another look at the picture. The "single phase" spec say 208 or 230. These would be common values for US and Europe 3-phase systems respectively. there is also a 3-phase section below that has been blacked out.

My guess is that it was designed for commercial settings in a wide range of countries and can be wired in as full on 3 phase or to just one of the 3 phases in either Europe or the US.

It's probabaly not wired in strictly according to spec but I doubt there is any issue. The 230V line-neutral EU option is close enough to split phase line-line voltage you see in the US for residential use it would still work.
 
lomiller said:
Just a side note on 3-phase power, but while most homes get a single split phase there could be some big advantages to delivering 3-phase to houses if electric cars were popularized and the chargers supported it.

15A 208V 3-phase can supply a little over 9KW. Single phase 240V would draw 40A to do the same thing. 15A can use 14 gauge wire while 40A needs 8 gauge wire which is a whole lot thicker and stiffer.
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Three phase is grand but the infrastructure costs are considerable. Not only more wires, but more transformers. Around here, only a small part of our town is served by three phase, and I doubt very much this will ever change. Certainly not in the near future.
 
Shalamar said:
I hope you used a referral code?
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I shall! I have one from someone. Apparently, they ask for it when it's close to delivery time, now. This might be different from the past, where they might have asked for it right at ordering time.

I do feel like Telsas have transitioned from "the cool car that all the hip kids are getting" to "the car everyone is buying", now. But, perhaps that's a GOOD thing. That means it's a proven useful product, and not merely a snooty fad.
 
Wowbagger said:
I shall! I have one from someone. Apparently, they ask for it when it's close to delivery time, now. This might be different from the past, where they might have asked for it right at ordering time.

I do feel like Telsas have transitioned from "the cool car that all the hip kids are getting" to "the car everyone is buying", now. But, perhaps that's a GOOD thing. That means it's a proven useful product, and not merely a snooty fad.
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I know what you mean. A year ago, seeing a Tesla was an uncommon occurrence. Now they almost as common as any other car. At least in the Pacific Northwest. I suspect many people were waiting for the Model Y. We were.

The only downside to Teslas becoming more common are reports of long waits to use super chargers around major holidays for long trips. Though Tesla has said they’re still expanding the network.
 
Shalamar said:
I know what you mean. A year ago, seeing a Tesla was an uncommon occurrence. Now they almost as common as any other car. At least in the Pacific Northwest.
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I think it’s largely regional.

Much of our day to day driving is in the suburbs west of Knoxville, TN. On our local drives we’ll generally see a handful of Tesla’s.

But a few weeks ago I did a motorcycle trip to Buchanan, VA, mostly on I-40 and I-81. About 5 hours each way. Going up I saw two Tesla’s. Zero on the trip back. I think this may be attributed to the relative scarcity of charging stations in the rural south. It may not look terrible, but look at E TN below:

51294399844_c0e5f02664_z.jpg


Only 3, maybe 4 Superchargers in all of E TN. Kentucky looks pretty sparse as well, as do Arkansas and Missouri. Of course, these are just Tesla Superchargers, and things will only improve going forward. My point is just don’t look at Portland or San Francisco or Boston and think you’re getting a clear picture at the rate of acceptance. Our pure EV timeline is almost certainly at least 2 years off and our hope is by then a lot of the national gaps in coverage will start getting filled.
 
At that point, a more detailed kind of map would be needed, showing not just where they are, but how many devices each location has. If the number of places you can charge at doubles in the next few years and the number of electric vehicles in the area quadruples, your access to chargers is cut in half because you're twice as likely to get there and find somebody already using {it/them}.
 
Wowbagger said:
I shall! I have one from someone. Apparently, they ask for it when it's close to delivery time, now. This might be different from the past, where they might have asked for it right at ordering time.

I do feel like Telsas have transitioned from "the cool car that all the hip kids are getting" to "the car everyone is buying", now. But, perhaps that's a GOOD thing. That means it's a proven useful product, and not merely a snooty fad.
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I wouldn't really say "everyone is buying" it. It's still very much a car for people who buy new cars, which is a fairly expensive proposition out of reach for many.

An article claims that you can get the cheapest Tesla, a model 3, for about $25,000 if you max out all the available incentives and EV credits, and that's in California which is very aggressively subsidizing green technology.

Until we start seeing some serious turnover into the used market for reasonable prices (say 10k or less), it's hard to say that the Tesla is an everyman's commuter vehicle. Though if the downward trend of prices continues, perhaps that's in the future.

It doesn't help that Tesla is adopting a strict DRM business model approach to add-ons to their vehicles that cripple their resale appeal.

Tesla Remotely Removes Autopilot Features From Customer's Used Tesla Without Any Notice
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https://jalopnik.com/tesla-remotely-removes-autopilot-features-from-customer-1841472617?rev=1580941196331


Tesla treats their fancy add-ons, like self driving mode or higher performance modes, as non-transferrable.
 
Delvo said:
At that point, a more detailed kind of map would be needed, showing not just where they are, but how many devices each location has. If the number of places you can charge at doubles in the next few years and the number of electric vehicles in the area quadruples, your access to chargers is cut in half because you're twice as likely to get there and find somebody already using {it/them}.
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I use the Plugshare app which not only provides maps to charging locations, it can help you see if they are occupied or not (and whether they are easy to find or likely to be broken). The various networks also have their own apps.

The navigation system in my car and Google Maps on my phone will display charging stations along a route.
 
Wowbagger said:
Well, not literally everyone. But, it's no longer the "hip, trendy" thing to do. It's a standard, commodity option for things to do.
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A Tesla is by no means a commodity vehicle. The cheapest options remain low end luxury items. That's certainly an improvement to the much more expensive options that precede it, but it's still in the luxury car price range.
 
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Shalamar said:
Have you decided yet what you're going to name your new car? :D
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I just checked (how could I not?). Wowbagger's craft is not named. However, it is noted that it is built to last and equipped with a computer capable of handling all the data processing involved in keeping track of the entire population of the known universe and working out the horrifically complicated routes involved.

Sorry. Carry on.
 
Shalamar said:
Have you decided yet what you're going to name your new car? :D
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Almost. There are a few options I am mulling over. I will announce my final decision upon its delivery.


arthwollipot said:
I just checked (how could I not?). Wowbagger's craft is not named. However, it is noted that it is built to last and equipped with a computer capable of handling all the data processing involved in keeping track of the entire population of the known universe and working out the horrifically complicated routes involved.
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That's my other vehicle, though.

I should get a bumper sticker for my Tesla that says "My Other Car is a Spaceship".
 
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