Thread: Personal EV journey.

Originally Posted by doug3030

Chris you are probably right. I suspect that the owner of the car is well connected to someone who has too much influence over the situation. All the more reason for my friend NOT to take matters into his own hands.

But the whole point of raising this issue in this post was to point out that the manufacturer and seller of this car are either unwilling or unable to support their product.

Unfortunately you can't even make that assumption as there are many reasons warranty is denied and it happens every day. Owners are sometimes their own worst enemy always threatening to take legal action and it rarely goes beyond that.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

Unfortunately you can't even make that assumption as there are many reasons warranty is denied and it happens every day. Owners are sometimes their own worst enemy always threatening to take legal action and it rarely goes beyond that.

Originally Posted by Chris Parks

Call me sceptical but I think there may be more to the story than has been told here. A set of go jacks and a rope would have it somewhere else in short order and any flat top driver does this stuff routinely these days with electronic hand brakes in modern cars.

My thinking as well.

Originally Posted by BobL

My first country trip looks like being in about 2 weeks to the Wyalkatchem Mens shed for wood dust consult. It will be interesting to see how it goes.

BobL,
as you say getting to and from Wyalkatchem will be interesting ...

200+km and on 275/35 tyres -- 35 is a very low profile with not much air between any potholes and the wheel's rim.

Let us know how the trip goes.
Do you think you can get to Wyalkatchem and back on a single charge?
or will you deliberately plan a return route that gives you options for one or two rapid charges?

Originally Posted by doug3030

You helped!

Originally Posted by ian

BobL,
as you say getting to and from Wyalkatchem will be interesting ...

200+km and on 275/35 tyres -- 35 is a very low profile with not much air between any potholes and the wheel's rim.

Distance is 192 km from my place.
Word is that the road is very good.

Let us know how the trip goes.
Do you think you can get to Wyalkatchem and back on a single charge?
or will you deliberately plan a return route that gives you options for one or two rapid charges?

My brother reckons I will make it without charging provided I stick to speed limits which I have no intention of violating.
However just to be sure, while I'm at the Wyalkatchem shed for about 3 hours or so I will plug into one of their 15A sockets using my mobile charger.
This will pump 9kW (62km) back into the battery. If they had a 3P outlet this would give n=me 145km in that time.

I just checked out Plugshare, an App that shows the location an specification of chargers, To get the Wyakatchem along the Toodyay Rd (shortest route) there are chargers every 60 km or so at Toodyay and Goomaling. Only 3P slow ones but good enough for emergencies which I do not envisage.

How cool.

I'd imagine the car dash has a tool in it to find the nearest charger, with various ranges and options?

"I am low, take me here.... NOW!"

Plugshare is great for finding EV chargers...not so useful for finding out whether they are in use. I have always logged in on Plugshare on the rare occasion I use public chargers, but you'll find that probably only about 10% of EV owners do so. There's a very good chance that the charger will show as available, but you get there and find all stations in use with others in line to use them.

I'm afraid the EV community has already fallen prey to the self-entitled attitude that prevails these days; "I'm alright, stuff everyone else". Never mind ICE cars parked in EV charging spots, now you'll find EVs taking up charging stations even though they are not using them. Amongst the EV community this is referred to as "wireless charging" .

Originally Posted by BobL

I just checked out Plugshare, an App that shows the location an specification of chargers, To get the Wyakatchem along the Toodyay Rd (shortest route) there are chargers every 60 km or so at Toodyay and Goomaling. Only 3P slow ones but good enough for emergencies which I do not envisage.

That will depend on whether you use the "Warp Factor 9" capability of your new rocket ship

One annoying thing about EVs (exactly the opposite to ICE cars) is that efficiency drops off for 110km/h cruising on the freeway. I see a big difference in kW/km even between 90km/h and 110 - more wind resistance, and no regen from braking.

Originally Posted by woodPixel

How cool.

I'd imagine the car dash has a tool in it to find the nearest charger, with various ranges and options?

"I am low, take me here.... NOW!"

Correct

When you plan your trip in the Teslas navigator it automatically shows you the nearest (but not all) chargers.
The voice activated nav system enables you to just say things like "navigate to nearest charger.
However, Plugshare is the way to go to cover as it covers all possible charger charging methods but as Mr Brush says you could be on THE end of a long queue.

Other issues include
- cables stolen for their copper
- damaged plugs - I'm told vandals like to swing them on the end of the cable around their heads and smash the plugs into the tarmac or against walls.
- cable and plug might not supplied at all - ie you need to bring your own
- The cables and plugs you have brought with you don't fit!
- software not working
- someone has turned it off somewhere further back in the electrical system
- some multiple charge sites share power so if all the stations are occupied you might be better off finding a 10A socket somewhere!

For country driving my brother recommends carrying
1) a mobile charger with 10A and 15A adapter tails, plus a 3P adapter tail. The first two are what would be most likely at a motel or friends home etc although some motels also have destination chargers which is like a wall mounted home charge with up to 11kW if they have 3P otherwise 7.2kW
2) a Type 2 to Type 2 EV Charging Cable in cases where cables are not provided.

My brother also has a bewildering number of other plug adapters for unusual plugs but he said so far he has never had to use them.

There are some community minded individuals (call them EV nerds) that regularly cruise past all the charging stations (eg once a week) in their area and report missing/damaged cables etc. The Tesla clubs in each state have people that also do this. They also provide free loaner cables and spare tires etc for Tesla club members doing occasional road trips.

This reminds me a little of the first petrol cars. I read book a few years back about a Portuguese bloke who buys a car at the beginning of the 20th century and decided to drive to the mountains. He didnt think that there would be no petrol stations outside teh city and was forced to buy 1L glass bottles of petrol from pharmacists at exorbitant prices along the way. However it'snowhere near as bad if all else fails and you can usually find a 10A power point where you can usually get enough juice to get to the next charging station.

Meanwhile we can dream of this sort of things.
Norway
NorwegianCharging.jpg
Portland USA airport
Portland.jpg
A chinese charging station
china.jpg

Bob

Our son resides in Norway and is involved (heavily) in a mobile camper business. He tells me that by 2025 ICE's will no longer be sold and already they have both hydrogen and electric vehicles in abundance. All his new vehicles are electric. Australia really needs to catch up with the rest of the world as far EVs are concerned. having said that, little ol' Norway is streets ahead of the rest of the world.

They had hydro while the rest of the world was still using water for washing and drinking.

Regards
Paul

Originally Posted by BobL

My brother reckons I will make it without charging provided I stick to speed limits which I have no intention of violating.
However just to be sure, while I'm at the Wyalkatchem shed for about 3 hours or so I will plug into one of their 15A sockets using my mobile charger.
This will pump 9kW (62km) back into the battery. If they had a 3P outlet this would give me 145km in that time.

I was more thinking of all the shed blokes who will like to get a "test drive" in your Tesla.


Personally, I'd plan a return route that passes one or two rapid chargers.

Originally Posted by ian

I was more thinking of all the shed blokes who will like to get a "test drive" in your Tesla.

So far only my son, brothers and a couple of trustworthy mates have a had test "drive". A couple of best mates that came for a test "ride" and were offered a drive declined. No one else is getting a drive.

Personally, I'd plan a return route that passes one or two rapid chargers.

Unfortunately there are no rapid chargers along the way once I leave Perth.