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Comment by ceeplusplus | Hacker News Reader

A lot of ICE cars have much crappier range than a hybrid like a Prius. I know my old econobox only goes about 300-350 miles on a tank, which is comparable to a Tesla. Not everyone has 55 mpg cars that sip gas.

The refueling problem is big though. Maybe if they can cut it to 15 mins for a 15-90% charge it'll be good enough.

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If you cut down the charge time you damage the battery. It's a fundamental limitation of physics. The damage is caused by physical expansion of the battery (and later contraction). The expansion is uneven and eventually wears out the film that separates the anode and cathode and develops pin holes (short circuits and sparks). The membrane is designed to lose ionic conductivity at elevated temperature and that spot becomes inactive by design and doesn't conduct electricity to protect the battery to prevent fire. Larger pin holes vaporize electrolyte, blows up seals, and causes a fire. That's why they don't want you to pack lithium batteries in checked luggage.

Correct. But what you can do is to cut the time it will take for you to get the mileage you need.

By having a bigger battery, you can charge more cells at the same time. Say you need 100 miles to finish your trip. If your range is 160 miles you are going to spend about 30 minutes to get the mileage you need, and you are going to stress your battery. But if your total range is 400 miles? You can pump way more power, charge the 25% you need, in just a few minutes.

If you can charge at home this is generally not an issue. How often do you drive 400 or more miles in a day?

Generally I save WAY more time not going to gas stations, oil changes, smog checks, and related than I do occasionally hanging out for a 550 mile/hour charger to give me enough range to get home/next charger.

Most people think of the extra time at a charger as a weekly thing, in reality it's pretty rare for most. Often if you've been driving for 5 hours at 60 mph you are ready for a snack/bathroom break anyways.

I do wish that gas stations didn't waste so much time. What kind of gas? Oh did you want the weather? How about a car wash? Prepay for a drink inside? Donate to a charity? Oh, did you want to see another ad? What is your zip code? Oh, insert your credit card.

Tesla is literally grab the handle, push the button, and insert to charge in the car.

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