IF YOU LIVE IN THE NORTHERN CLIMES, FORGET ABOUT OWNING A LEAF OR A TELSA
https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/173256-why-do-electric-cars-suck-in-cold-weather

Electric cars and Minnesota winters don't mix. Up to 40% range reduction just because batteries don't work as well in the cold. I'm betting THAT little gem is not in the Telsa sales brochure.

 

Yea, but you get 40% MORE range if you charge them with a generator powered by unicorn flatulence, so it balances out.

 

Windmills only work when the wind blows
Solar panels only work when the sun shines
The only way to run an electric motor is to power it directly from the grid or with a petro fueled internal combustion engine.

The Telsa is a beautiful sedan with elegant styling and high end finish. But parked powerless on the side of the road it is nothing more than an expensive road hazard. It might as well be a Ford or worse, a Jaguar.

 

Hmmm...I'm going to buy a new car and one of the options was TESLA

 

 

When electric cars can go 400 miles and recharge in 30 minutes, I'll start thinking about buying one.

 

My boss at work drives an S model daily here in MN. I have driven the car in summer and been a passenger this winter. We have had weeks of sub zero temps this season. His commute is 25 miles each way. He had zero problems. I would say from 0 to 80mph the Tesla is slightly faster than my modded srt6, but with much better hook up due to the awd. After 80 it loses steam fast. This is just my seat of pants impression. We were going to race but I put my car away for winter before we got a chance. In winter conditions the awd was very impressive. I hated the idea of electric cars but now I'm warming up to it.

 

The Facts aren't fake.

Sitting in the parking lot at work under 10 Degrees C better hope the drive home is short.

 

Even with the battery limitation when cold, the range will still suffice for most peoples round trip drive to and from work. I can still agree that as of right now for those of us in northern climates there is still room for improvement, but a Bolt, Leaf or Model 3 would be a fantastic 2nd car for a family. Having been involved in Lithium battery and electrical storage technology for the past 9 years on a professional level, the leaps and bounds of innovation, capacity, and C rating has been very impressive to me. Especially since i saw it evolve from the Hobby RC industry when i was a kid.

Tesla just announced their V2 superchargers, and anyone who can understand the amount of current/charging wattage going on here with these things, its highly impressive. 145 kW charge rate is some serious **** IMO, and having batteries that can handle those insane C ratings, while also having peak mah capacity per cell, and some sustainable cycle life there is some serious chemical engineering and design going on. I find if funny how people freak out over lithium battery fires lately, the batteries are leaps and bounds safer then they were a decade ago. Heck back in the early 2000's if you just sneezed beside a charging lipo pack, the dam thing would burn your house down in spite lol.

Its not just about the cars IMO. the storage tech is the big deal that a lot of people overlook. Any company can make a car like tesla with the range and performance ratings that they are delivering, the limiting factor is the battery storage tech & energy density. Those AC motors are nothing super special, yea the power electronics have been developing as higher current rated IGBT's and thermal performance have improved over the past 10 years. If the EV1 has lithums instead of dinosaur Lead Acids, it would of been the "paradigm shift" in transportation, but due to shitty lead acids, it tainted the market and customer perception for a decade. The science of efficient "electricity" storage is a big deal, and will eventually affect all aspects of our day to day life. The ability to safely and efficiently store electrical energy opens up alot of big doors for sustainability down the road. Especially when folks want "sacrifice free" off grid fully sustainable home electrical systems. Its a big deal up here, especially in cottage country where the hydro utility will charge 50-75k just to bring hydro onto your lot. With alot of land space, a large solar system tied with a wind generator system and proper battery storage system for around 60-75K, you will never have to pay another hydro bill. And things get better the more south you go.


What really burns my *** is how "hydrogen" cars are still touted and appear out of the blue moon still, even recently. Hydrogen fuel cells have their applications, but putting them in a car is by far one of the most "mentally defective" ideals out there. The tech will never reduce in price and cells will always be $300+k and oh look, -0c, it wont work!. And trying to put that tech into a "low cost" application and into a market that cannot support a $200,000 "economy" commuter car. All for what, faster "fill up times" compared to a battery electric, another few years and we will have cells capable of full charges in under 30 min.
Dont for one second believe that hydrogen cars are the future. From an engineering and packaging standpoint they are purely a horse and pony show, you thought electric car fires were fun.. lol