Tesla expands Supercharger Network in Europe | Hacker News Reader

Tesla expands Supercharger Network in Europe

ciol.com

52 pointslelf16 comments

Most people who live in Germany in cities don't have houses, only flats. How would you ever charge an electric car there? Driving to one of the superchargers each time would be pretty annoying and probably kill the battery.

I think that right now, the target market for the Tesla S is definitely rich enough to live in their own house where they can charge it. And in any case - there is already plenty of public charging points everywhere, and you can also park for free there, so in an unlikely situation that you buy a Tesla and live in a flat, you should be able to charge it while you are at work,from any of the public charging points.

That's quite insulting. The trend for Germans to rent and not buy is a choice, not due to being too poor to afford a house.

They don't share the homeownership fever prevalent in the UK and USA. Germans (and the French) rent due to cultural reasons, it's not looked down upon at all, it's a pragmatic alternative and puts the renter on a much more equal footing with the landlord than in other countries (like the UK).

Of course this is all quite obvious by glancing at the rental prices in nice neighbourhoods in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Paris...

Autobahn + Tesla car = pure dream. The batteries will be gone in minutes though.

I can remember a video (though I can't find it) where Top Gear (or a program like that) compares a Cayenne vs a diesel small car in a travel.

They had to travel from one city to another (using autobahns) and arriving as fast as they legally can and they will take cost, time and comfort considerations.

I won't spoil which one wins just in case you find the video =)

I think I can take a guess. I drove different cars in my life, but I've driven a Land Rover LR3 with a 4.4 V8 petrol engine on the German Autobahn, and most recently a Nissan Qashqai with a 1.6 diesel engine. At 100-120mph(160-200km/h) Land Rover was using less fuel per 100km. In the city or at lower speeds the Qashqai was using less.

It's all about the power - at high speeds that massive V8 engine was still very relaxed, at 200km/h it was doing 3500rpm, while the 1.6 diesel hits that at around 140km/h, so anything above that speed is super inefficient.

It's also about gearing. I used to own '99 and '01 Corvettes about 10 years ago; I could easily cruise at 80-100mph on Illinois interstates with the engine almost at idle because of the transmission's gear ratios (6-speed manual).

Those Corvettes have a 0.50 ratio for 6th, which is basically unheard of.

>It's also about gearing.

True, but gearing and power are two sides of the same coin. You can't have tall gears if the engine doesn't have enough power to move the vehicle or sustain speeds on the highway.

Well, Autobahns are designed to help you get from one place to another as quickly as possible. Stopping for charging every 250-300 km is not ideal.

Assuming you have the 85kwh battery, that's more like 240 to 300mi = ~390km to 480km, which while not as good as a gas engine is still pretty adequate. [1]

[1] http://www.teslamotors.com/goelectric

Does that range apply when cruising at 120mph? The website you link indicates 240miles at 70mph (which is not Autobahn speed).

Obviously you can go faster on the derestricted sections of Autobahn but you REALLY need to concentrate and plan well ahead at >150mph and that drinks fossil fuels too not just batteries.

Edit: A bit of extrapolation from the ranges on seems to show at a first aproximation you could do a little less than 110 miles at 120mph. Based on the datapoints in the parent's link a drop of 5mph gains you a range of about 8%.

Autobahn's still help you get from A to B quickly if the distance is <250km...

Autobahn + Tesla car = pure dream – dead inexperienced high-speed driver that caused a 10 mile traffic jam and killed 4 people.

While driving on the Autobahn I see plenty of people going 200km/h+ and yet Germany has one of the lowest accident rates in Europe. It's all about training and responsibility.

It should be + on the right-hand side, because otherwise your formula yields:

  Autobahn + Tesla car + dead inexperienced high-speed driver = pure dream

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