Wow, this gal and friend had a tough first road trip in Model S. "So, in summary... We hit a lot of obstacles. The cold being a huge factor, which no one can help. It was unbearable to drive without heat, the heat stole a lot of the energy, charging was not as fast in the cold and we were losing electrons it seemed at every corner. Not to mention it made walking and functioning quite uncomfortable." musings on the strait and narrow.: The Not-So EV Life: "Gallons of Sunshine" Run Empty in Mid-January
Yep, sounds pretty disastrous. The infrastructure in the Midwest is far behind that on the coasts. I am looking forward to getting superchargers in this part of the country. I am sure he will be more careful next time when he plans his trip to make sure the camp sites have the correct power outlets. Also a hard way to learn of the limitations and variability of many of the public chargers out there. Shame he didn't call me or any of the dozens of other Model S owners in the metro area, many of us would have been happy to give him a charge.
Tesla Motors Club also has thread on this blog with more info. Too lazy to look up again, but easy find w/ google
How do you figure? Sounds like she called up the RV park ahead of time, but got caught by rookie mistakes (i.e. different style plugs). I think this lady's story is legit and points out the headaches that can occur trying to find decent charging equipment on the road. She doesn't say where started her trip, but I think Chicago.
Oh, I am sure it is legit. Until better infrastructure is deployed, lots of are and planning needs to be done for trips beyond the car's range. The failure here was the infrastructure. If they had been more specific about their needs when talking to RV parks, or had gotten employees that gave them the correct information they would have been much better off.
i agree it's legit. i just think someone committed to an $80,000.+ alternative power car, would be aware of the potential pitfalls of a trip like this. i admire her courage, but she could have planned and prepared much better. or not taken the trip at all. perhaps i'm not much brighter, just more cautious.
I'll go with the tow truck driver and say they would be better off with a phev for a trip like this. ZEV seems like more of a religion than a good goal with limited infrastructure off the beaten path. This especially is true in the vary cold, where 120 VAC is too little to even keep the pack warm. That was a new item for me. The author picked the wrong car. More infrastructure will make it easier, but as good as the Tesla S is, a volt or prius phv or c-max energy would have been better long distance in the cold.
