[volt11]

I can appreciate that Tesla owners love phallic gadgets! However, other than that, it's unclear why anyone should take this seriously. I'm looking at the panels. How many kWh are they going to produce? Maybe 40 kWh on a good day. That's good for what, one charge? Half a charge? How about on a cloudy day? Better yet, how about a cloudy day in the winter in Oregon? Ba ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

You can pretend with a few. No big deal. If you start rolling out enough to matter then it's going to cost a bundle for even a limited number of charges.

They're calling BS on the charging stations not the car.

You may be right about the solar aspect; the panels on the stations themselves seem inadequate to make up for the potential usage from supercharging. Fortunately, the stations are connected to the grid so they don't rely on solar to operate. It will be interesting to see if they ever release specs to see just how much solar power they expect to generate. Of course Tesla can also build other solar farm type installations to keep their supercharger network "carbon-neutral". At least they have a strategy for muting the "coal powered car" dimwits, something GM seems unable to effectively combat.

 

[Zythryn]

Not to sound argumentative, but using the choices available to go out and purchase and take delivery as of the timestamp of this post there are the following options:
...

You have a 350 mile trip to take? You gonna do it in Telsa, you might not make the distance. Leaf? Not even close. Volt, prob can not only make it, but also have some gas left to create a few more electrons.

...When the day comes I can charge my car, get about 350-400 miles and charge it in 15-20 minutes and go another 350-400 miles, all electric is ready for the mainstream. Until then, we have what we have.

I agree with you completely, not argumentative at all. The Tesla, Leaf and Volt are all the best possible cars for people with the driving habits that each of those vehicles match.
You asked about what happens when you have a 350 mile trip. I would say you would drive your Volt by the sounds of it. For me, I NEVER have had, and don't ever expect to have a 350 mile trip. And the off chance I do, and have to drive myself, I will also take my Volt.
Each person buys the product that fits their needs. The Model S fits my needs perfectly. The Volt is a great backup in case I need to drive further, although if I get much further I would prefer to fly or take the train. I strongly suspect there is a sizable market share who's trips are within the limits of 265 miles. Time will tell.

My assumption is that this will be a benefit for early adopters. Basically, if you are one of the people who buy the first x1,000 Tesla S models, you will be given free access to the charge network. Anyone after that initial stage will have to pay for their usage.

I am curious how difficult it would be to make a J1772 adapter that would allow Volts to charge off that network. If the station were in a convenient location, it might be worth the time to stop.

Your assumption would be incorrect. Free supercharging is in effect for all 85kwh models.
Part of the reason it isn't even an option for the 40kwh Tesla's is it would fry that size battery pack or have to slow down to the point where you may as well be doing level 2 charging. And it that case why take up a spot when someone else can take advantage of the capabilities of the supercharger.

 

[Zythryn]

Tesla has something like a $600/year service fee. I think it ties in with maintaining the warranty. Nothing is free.

$475/year if you buy the service package. If you bump that to $600/year (both of these are 4 year contracts) you get unlimited 'ranger' service as well.
Both packages cover all consumables except for brakes/tires.
And no, you don't have to buy either service contract to maintain your warranty.
It is similar to any other car warrantee. You must have the vehicle properly taken car of. If you fail to put oil in a regular ICE for 3 years, warrantee won't cover it when it blows a rod

 

[Ladogaboy]

Your assumption would be incorrect. Free supercharging is in effect for all 85kwh models.
Part of the reason it isn't even an option for the 40kwh Tesla's is it would fry that size battery pack or have to slow down to the point where you may as well be doing level 2 charging. And it that case why take up a spot when someone else can take advantage of the capabilities of the supercharger.

I don't see how that makes my assumption incorrect. It is not financially feasible for Tesla to offer this long term. Possibly for this initial group of 85 kWh models, but I can't see it being a sustained program (unless, of course, they are charging a yearly fee, which makes it not free). Now, you might have understood me to say that after a certain period, these currently free-supercharging 85 kWh models will no longer be able to charge for free. That is not what I'm saying. I'm saying that next year, or the year after, Tesla will no longer be offering this service for new car buyers.

 

[DonC]

Just to flesh out the size of the solar array you'd need: In a good area in summer the total solar energy available would be about 1 kW/m^2. You should get that for about six hours, which means over the course of the day you'd have 6 kWh/m^2 available. That suggest you'd only need about 10 square meters to charge one Model S. However, solar arrays aren't very efficient. If you assume 10% efficiency then you'd need 100 square meters of solar arrays to charge ONE Model S. If you wanted to charge ten then you'd need 1000 square meters.

You could argue that the panels should be more efficient, but we're only looking at a 60 kWh charge, and any way you look at this it's a lot of square meters.

 

[Geoff]

Another article on chargers, plugs and standards.
http://www.wired.com/opinion/2012/09/ev-plug-wars/

 

[Excalibur]

I hope folks don't take my post as I'm so pro-Volt that I am anti-anything else. Zythryn is right, folks but stuff to meet their needs. I do appreciate all that Tesla has done to get us where we are today. Though admittedly I have a gas burning Suburban (I have an RV), I could in fact have gone the Tesla route and if I could have gotten that car for the lease price I picked up the Volt, maybe I'd have that in my drive. I think they did do a great job engineering that car as GM did with the Volt. Time will tell how Fords foray in to EV goes, I believe it will be successful. To all the Leaf owners, I'm just not convinced Nissan thought it out that well. Like Tesla, Ford and GM, I strongly agree that battery maintenance is a must. The Leaf is a very nice car, I have nothing against it, it's just my personal belief, right or wrong.

Back to topic, I believe with the new charging standard that was just ratified, it will pave the way for that universal connection to be able to charge even the most hearty battery back in a matter of minutes, not hours, so regardless of what Tesla does, it sounds like within the next 5 years, there will be significant electric charging infrastructure where perhaps the ICE will be a museum piece in my lifetime. Right now we all bleeding edge pioneers. We are paying far more for the cars, the chargers, and as time passes costs will go down, abilities will grow and we'll have a handful of folks to thank for getting off our petroleum addiction...Elon and Lutz for sure.

 

[artsci]

I agree with you completely, not argumentative at all. The Tesla, Leaf and Volt are all the best possible cars for people with the driving habits that each of those vehicles match.
You asked about what happens when you have a 350 mile trip. I would say you would drive your Volt by the sounds of it. For me, I NEVER have had, and don't ever expect to have a 350 mile trip. And the off chance I do, and have to drive myself, I will also take my Volt.
Each person buys the product that fits their needs. The Model S fits my needs perfectly. The Volt is a great backup in case I need to drive further, although if I get much further I would prefer to fly or take the train. I strongly suspect there is a sizable market share who's trips are within the limits of 265 miles. Time will tell.



Your assumption would be incorrect. Free supercharging is in effect for all 85kwh models.
Part of the reason it isn't even an option for the 40kwh Tesla's is it would fry that size battery pack or have to slow down to the point where you may as well be doing level 2 charging. And it that case why take up a spot when someone else can take advantage of the capabilities of the supercharger.

I make a 350 mile plus round trip once a year (about 420 miles actually), and that's to go on vacation in North Carolina. Next summer, when I make the trip again, I should have a choice of the Model S or the Volt (if I haven't sold it by then). I love the Volt and think it's a fabulous car but given the choice of driving straight through in one day and burning gas, or stopping for one night in a hotel and recharging the Model S, it's no contest. I hate burning gas and given my driving needs once I have the Tesla I'll never touch the stuff again. But if Tesla has superchargers installed along I-95 by then (a possibility but not likely until 2014) I can make the trip in day, stopping to supercharge midway while I have lunch.