CoElkHunter
AH ambassador
9. Don't charge in your garage. Especially when it's -20 and/or a blizzard. Charge your car in the driveway and you can alternate keeping the snow from piling up on it and running into the house to stay warm. And do this for 18 hours. LOLAs always, a very good point.
In an urban setting like Austin, the EVs can be practical so long as they don't become so numerous as to create over demand on the grid. The Tesla is popular here among the new urban Texas emigres. For a daily commute, trips to the shopping center, etc. they are a fine choice. Though even there, a Tesla S battery takes anywhere from 18 hours to days to fully charge off of house current (came as an unpleasant surprise to friends). If you can find a Tesla supercharger (480 volt), you can get approx 200 mile range with a 20 minute charge.
Again, that is probably fine for daily life in an urban setting. But for driving any distance, and lots of folks between the coasts in this country do, charging time seems a pretty negative consideration. As I type, I am trying to figure out how I would manage a bird hunting trip to King Ranch much less Marathon.
I do not get the truck concept at all. Again, in an urban setting in this country I suppose there is a fairly large consumer group that will drive a F-150 or similar vehicle as a "car" or perhaps open bed SUV. That was a larger consumer group back when John Travolta was the Urban Cowboy and lines formed every evening to get into Gilley's in Dallas. But obviously Ford feels that group can support such a vehicle. But for people who actually use trucks, the performance impact on load and towing capacity is a real issue.
The following EV (Tesla) driving/operating tips are published by Gruber Motor Company which specializes in the repair and maintenance of EV vehicles - especially the Tesla. A couple caught my attention.
Or I can take my F250 to the Diesel pump.
- Don’t charge all the way
- Avoid discharging completely
- Avoid Superchargers
- Alter your charging speed
- Set a charging schedule
- Switch over to percentage mode (for your in-car range display)
- Systematically measure output
- Don’t expose your battery to extreme temperatures