Tesla Model S P100D driven 1,000km on single charge

[HEXUS]

Tesla Owners Club Italia clocked up 1,078km, the previous record was just over 901km.

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[Gerrard]

The high temperatures being experienced in southern Europe last weekend would have helped to make the cells more efficient.

[Bagpuss]

25mph!...I bet they were popular on busy roads.

[lumireleon]

My only problem with electric cars is when the batteries get old and they have to be replaced, this is more like the nuclear power problem, nice for a couple of years but radioactive waste just like old batteries needs to be dealt with. And another boring aspect is with the new battery technology which get advertised every year on tech sites but those technologies never make it to the light, call it the OPEC of battery tech. ANOTHER important issue: Countries all over the globe only generate 5 to 10% extra electricity (like UK), what will happen if there is a 100% increase of electric cars every year?

[chj]

Out of interest are EV inlet ports all the same standard and are all electric stations compatible with the different makes?

[cheesemp]

Out of interest are EV inlet ports all the same standard and are all electric stations compatible with the different makes?

No - See http://www.mobilityhouse.com/en/char...nd-plug-types/

This is a big problem...

[outwar6010]

My only problem with electric cars is when the batteries get old and they have to be replaced, this is more like the nuclear power problem, nice for a couple of years but radioactive waste just like old batteries needs to be dealt with. And another boring aspect is with the new battery technology which get advertised every year on tech sites but those technologies never make it to the light, call it the OPEC of battery tech. ANOTHER important issue: Countries all over the globe only generate 5 to 10% extra electricity (like UK), what will happen if there is a 100% increase of electric cars every year?

The batteries last for decades and even when they get high degradation(Not very likely for a long time. here is a taxi firm that have clocked over a 100k and only suffered like 2% degradation) they are good for static storage.

Tbh its only that moron clarkson that keeps spreading misinformation about electric cars.
http://techland.time.com/2011/08/09/is-top-gear-really-out-to-kill-the-electric-car/2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIdUdhJxIt0 This is definitely worth a watch as the host talks to the women who bought the nissan leaf that top gear said would need a battery change after three years.

[Ttaskmaster]

This is a big problem...

Oh, I'm reliably informed that problems like these are easily resolved with a minor change in regulation and legislation...

Tbh its only that moron clarkson that keeps spreading misinformation about electric cars.

How is that a factor?
"But can Top Gear kill consumer desire for the electric car? It’s unlikely they’d be able to, and there’s no data to suggest that the show—despite its massive audience—has any hold over the buying patterns of its audience the way Oprah would with her book club".

Clarkson has said a lot of things.
A few idiots get wound up about it and write strongly worded letters of complaint, but that's all that happens - I don't recall large segments of the population going out and stringing wires across the road to decapitate motorcyclists, or anything...

[DanceswithUnix]

Clarkson has said a lot of things.

It amazes me how many people don't realise that Top Gear is firstly an entertainment show and that stuff on there is staged, but I think generally it just provokes discussion.

I often get asked by people whether I have seen the Top Gear episode with the Stratos replica farcically spinning around the test track. It seems despite their best efforts to make the car look bad, the show generated a lot of calls to Hawk Cars and hopefully some sales.

However, as someone that drives an Alfa as an everyday car I hear the Clarkson "you aren't a petrol head unless you have owned an Alfa" quote an awful lot so people do listen to what he says even when it is complete nonsense.

[Ttaskmaster]

It amazes me how many people don't realise that Top Gear is firstly an entertainment show and that stuff on there is staged, but I think generally it just provokes discussion.

I think they do, especially these days. Wasn't there an outtakes video to that effect somewhere?

Clarkson definitely puts the act on. Most people have that suspicion, but having 'worked' with him off camera a couple of times, he's definitely not like that in real life. I'd go so far as to say he's an absolute gentleman.
Hammond, on the other hand... complete arrogant waste of space. I didn't get the pleasure (?) of James May, but hear he's in the Hammond camp, too.

It seems despite their best efforts to make the car look bad, the show generated a lot of calls to Hawk Cars and hopefully some sales.

So by decrying the EVs as utter rubbish, Top Gear has actually helped them become popular...

However, as someone that drives an Alfa as an everyday car I hear the Clarkson "you aren't a petrol head unless you have owned an Alfa" quote an awful lot so people do listen to what he says even when it is complete nonsense.

People quote him, yes.
People quote Alec Guinness at me fair amount too, but I'm still not using The Force... letting go... trusting my feelings...

How many people own a V8 Diesel Audi A8 and are driving it conservatively enough to get to Edinburgh and back on a single tank?

[SylvanSagacious]

The batteries last for decades and even when they get high degradation(Not very likely for a long time. here is a taxi firm that have clocked over a 100k and only suffered like 2% degradation) they are good for static storage.

Tbh its only that moron clarkson that keeps spreading misinformation about electric cars.
http://techland.time.com/2011/08/09/...lectric-car/2/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIdUdhJxIt0 This is definitely worth a watch as the host talks to the women who bought the nissan leaf that top gear said would need a battery change after three years.

The first link is a clickbait article with zero substance. The youtube video is decent enough I guess, I like Rob Llewellyn and he made decent points, however his show didn't mention that the Leaf in particular tends to have leased batteries with rolling contracts, whereby if the battery efficiency/capacity drops below 75% they get replaced.

Consider also that Tesla owners were going to get shafted with a 25k bill to replace the batteries themselves in case of failure, after the rage Musk conceded and offered an 8 year warranty. For new car buyers thats a big attraction, but for the used car buyers it's going to make Tesla's something to avoid.

Both of these points suggest that the manufacturers know they don't last forever, in particular with Tesla, however they now last much longer than people expected. So Clarkson got something wrong, why does that make him the anti-christ?

Eventually EV will be the standard, but a lot needs to happen between then and now;more advanced energy storage, charging (both speed and availability) and national power production to meet such a massive upscale. All while people feel smug about being green and ignoring the environmental cost of all of this.

[lumireleon]

I actually like EVs, in the past 15 years we have seen phenomenal technological advancements in EV development, in the late 90s who would have thought one day a 5 seater affordable EV like the Bolt or Model-S would garner +250 miles on a 90min plug-in charge?

[Percy1983]

I am personally looking into getting a leaf once the trusty focus dies, once you consider in reality most of our usage falls within its range even once degraded.

Past that the few times we go further we check for charging stations on route and if a no go rent another car, with that all this is based on us keeping the smaller petrol car (C2).

It looks like one the get to 80% the degradation really slows down to which I am genuinely thinking of not leasing batteries as the cost of a whole battery replacement is dropping rapidly and batteries do keep getting better.

[hellig]

part of the debacle about the batteries is to get a critical mass produced, as elon musk has said in one of the ted talks, they are making a battery factory in usa and planning to make others in other countries, add in his wall battery and now solar cell roof,

Saying all that if you look at the electric car from Renault, part of the price is they come at add a plug at your house, which others can also use.

[EndlessWaves]

One of the biggest problems with owning an electric vehicle (EV) is 'range anxiety': worrying if you will run out of juice while away from your home or any location where you can charge up.

I'm not sure that's quite the right choice of words. It's certainly one of the biggest concerns of potential buyers but doesn't actually seem to be a big problem among owners.

Out of interest are EV inlet ports all the same standard and are all electric stations compatible with the different makes?

Sort of.

For AC charging they all use the same standard but for some bizarre reason we've ended up with a couple of different physical plugs for it. It's similar to the current USB situation. It's all cross compatible but a device might be using a Type A, Type Micro AB or Type C port. Luckily leads are available in most combinations, although if you install a home charging point you have to decide between the universal compatibility of a socket or the extra convenience/security of a built in cable.

There's no standard for high voltage DC charging though. Although the situation does have the side benefit that slow charging is better for the batteries.

[SylvanSagacious]

Hogging of charge stations, particularly the free ones, is an issue.

Getting more home charging installations would sort that out, but then it won't be free anymore. The biggest gripe, related to this, is the time it takes to charge a car. It's just so much easier to fill a tank of fuel and go, having to leave your car plugged in for even just half an hour will suck a bit.