patrick.net

I won’t take any long road trip in an EV

I sold a c5 z06 before the kids came along

Thrilling car that had absolutely awful build quality

ohomen171 says

At one point I had to go to a hotel charger and sit for 3.5 hours while the battery was charged to its capacity. If you have an electric vehicle, do some careful planning on chargers!

Don't buy an EV. That was the first mistake. Hybrids. All the way. Time is money and sitting for 3.5 hours is fucking ridiculous. Musk built a cool car that is not practical but fun to drive. I'll give him that. It's also not "green" so sorry to stomp on your feels good with regards to that.

By default I also don't drive sedans. Tesla SUV's look gay and can't tow a bike trailer. I like driving them, but it's a fad. There's no reason you cannot get 500+ miles off of one charge. They need a long range model. Musk also needs to untuck his dick and make something that can tow. Until then, I'm not a buyer. That's probably 1/5th of the country.

Well despite the problems it’s still a good story to tell.

I have a vast collection of AAA maps in my car, and Google maps uses Waze data to show traffic, speed traps, accidents, etc.

clambo says

I have a vast collection of AAA maps in my car

We do too.

How is everyone missing the easiest way to travel this route?

Obviously have Elena hike up that skirt above her knee, stick out the thumb, and wait for a trucker to stop. Elena giving gumjobs all the way to Sequoia will save you a helluva lot of time.

Brutal lol

WookieMan says

Don't buy an EV. That was the first mistake. Hybrids. All the way.

I mostly agree with this, but I'd splice it slightly differently... electrics with 100 miles range or less for commuter vehicles as a second vehicle in a 2-vehicle family could be a good way to have a low-cost, low-maintenance second vehicle. Those families could charge at home overnight on a 120 or 240v charger. Then, get a hybrid or conventional vehicle for longer-distance uses. There are plenty of conventional vehicles that get 40+ MPG on the highway if you're willing to give up 5000 LB weight and 300+ horsepower.

I'm taking the family up the coast for a road trip vacation in the Model Y next Wednesday.

Leaving San Diego with overnights in Paso Robles, San Francisco, Napa then down to Santa Cruz and Pismo Beach on the way back home.

We are only driving about 4 to 500 miles each day and according to the various route planners and Tesla navigator, I should only have to stop once midway for about a 10-15 minute charge to top off. The hotels we are staying at have destination chargers. Worse case and the hotel chargers are being used, there are Tesla Super Charger stations within a mile of each hotel where I would have to fill up for 20 minutes in the morning.

We'll see how it goes. If nothing else, I am going to save at least $400 in gas on this trip.

I just tested a Chevy Bolt for a week, as we are looking at them as possible taxis.

The Bolt is an awesome car - rides well, plenty of pep, great AC, very nice audio and room for 4-5 passengers, even with a 6ft 6in driver and a 5ft 10 person in the seat behind the driver. The Bolt EUV I tested also had a hatchback with split seats, and even with seats up the "trunk" area had decent space for cargo.

The problem with the Bolt is charging. It takes 2 hours on a Level 3 DC device to charge the car from empty to full because Chevrolet limited the charge power to 55kW. Teslas and Leafs can charge using twice that power, so obviously they charge must faster. Also, the EvGo and Chargepoint stations are nowhere near as common as the Tesla Superchargers, and the Bolt cannot use a Supercharger. With a 230-mile range, one must carefully plan any long trip. A trip 400 miles away would require a 2 hour stop midway, then a two hour stop at the destination before returning, then another 2 hour stop half way home. And that is if suitable Level 3 stations are located convenient to your route.

What the Bolt would be excellent for is regular home use. A Level 2 home charge could top off the car every night, at about 21 miles per hour charged. So if one drives only 100-200 miles a day charging would not be a problem. If one only drives about 40 miles round trip to work, a plain old 110v home charger would be enough for commuter use. But since Level 2 home chargers are cheap, just get one anyway.

We may get a few of these Bolts, as Chevrolet is offering us a steep discount in price. But the only drivers that can use the Bolt would be drivers who have a house they can install a Level 2 charger (or a 220 volt dryer socket, as the Bolt has an adaptor specifically for that) and do not take out-of-town trips. Without a home charger, the drivers are looking at 1-2 hours of charging at the EVGo site every day before starting work.

I think Chevy did that 55kW limit as an engineering/marketing decision to save the battery. Electric cars are designed to be charged ay Level 2 chargers routinely, with the Level 3 chargers only used during long trips. Constantly using Level 3 will degrade the battery. Therefore, I think Chevy did that 55kW limit to preserve the battery, figuring the Bolt users would overuse the Level 3 chargers. But that 55kW limit with its slow charge may have hurt sales, which may be why we are getting the discounted price.

Does Tesla include the vibrating sex toys, lube dispensers and large screen porn reception to use while on automatic pilot? Does it have enough room for Elena's strip tease?

Ceffer says

Does Tesla include the vibrating sex toys, lube dispensers and large screen porn reception

Why do you care? It is not as if you do not already have plenty of that stuff "on hand."