Any reason to buy anything else but a Model 3?

Ask yourself this question:

Charging Is Our Priority | Tesla

"...to better serve the needs of owners who are traveling or those who don’t have access to reliable home charging, we will continue to aggressively expand our public charging networks."

The question is, if only 1% aren't served by the existing charging network, why "aggressively expand" it?

The answer is simple and obvious - because a lot more than 1% aren't sufficiently served by the existing network.

 

I think the answer may be simpler than that. the 1% to 5% that are not yet served by superchargers, are the ones that are least likely to make use of them. I say least likely to use them, because either they are in such a sparsely populated area, or maybe simply too poor to even afford a car. Stats show less and less young people are even buying cars anyway. So filling in with greater density for the 95%-99% that will use the infrastructure have to be given priority, because the demographics show that's where the buyers are. It just makes logical sense, to first get superchargers at least within reachable distances to most areas, then add stations in between those, and then start working towards the minority outliers.
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just took a screenshot of all the DC quick Chargers around your area;



so I'm not quite sure what you mean by saying you don't live in a place where you can charge. maybe you're saying you can't charge at home? .... as opposed to traveling to & fro ... ? if your Tesla has over 300 miles range, that would mean you'd only need to charge once a week, and still be able to easily drive over 12000 miles/year

 

I have always owned an EV for local travel, and always charged at my apartment.
public charging in Wisconsin is a joke,
5 cities have usable public charging, the same number as a decade ago.

The rest, usually not or L1 at a Kwik Trip.

Many locations listed on plug share are down or “private “ but listed as public.

Wisconsin is approaching triple digit numbers of EV public charging stalls but is that enough for the 9 million cars here?
If many are L1 does that help intralata travel?

In my case I have to have either 2 cars or a PHEV to be able to drive year round to the places I go.

Trip into the UP, forget about it, just because there is a single charger 50 miles out of my way doesn’t mean I can reasonably use it for my off the grid destinations.

So is EV viable here?

Absolutely but only for local driving or between close cities, much further is an immense pain. Winter day trips are questionable even with 300 summer miles on tap.

On my trip to Yellowstone I was able to charge twice, both L1.
I purposefully stopped at “L2 “ stations on the way, one was down, the other in the park was private for guests of a specific establishment. (But was mentioned as moving Yellowstone into a new age but you can’t use it)

I think those of you in carb states don’t appreciate what 20 years behind means for those of us in the Midwest republican controlled rural states.

EV works great for folks that literally never leave the county or have multiple cars but it’s still not reasonable to expect making day trips into overnight ones pending charging that may not be available.

If VW builds out charging infrastructure in the next 10 years outside of the 5 cities in Wisconsin, yes but today it’s still not reasonable to expect a large shift to only EVs.

It’s simply unworkable.

In WisConSin There is no limit to what we can’t do.

 

Yeah. I’m from San Francisco so even though those cities look close to me. In traffic, it could take me up to an hour to get to these locations.

 

oh come on now, you guys make great cheese!

And I don't think the staunchest Ev person feels it's necessary to eradicate all piston-driven cars from the road, as that's not the goal. It's multi fold though. Cleaner air, reducing dependency on/from foreign enemy countries, even National Security interests are helped, we we manufacture our own renewable energy sources. Which reminds me of the last one, eventually stuff runs out that's not renewable. I guess that's only important if we have any consideration for kids and grandkids etc.
As for plugshare, that accuracy turns on user input. If no one complains that something's down, it might sit for a while. As for the map that I pasted, that was about 70% superchargers. Most of those stalls will run between a dozen to as high as 40 in the US. China is building one that has 50 stalls! What a shame that what was once a 3rd world country, has passed us in so many areas, Tech, Hydro power, solar panels, probably soon all electric cars ... what next - satellites? space? ok some of it is undoubtedly stolen, but still.
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They are also far ahead of us in public transportation. Which is really the only way to have a functioning society in the future.

 

mass is a carb state, and i doubt our charging infrastructure is any better than wiscahnsin.

 

Good man! It's so rare that we get to catch you in a faux pas

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To each his own.
There is certainly a desire for the development of a self driving vehicle. And vehicles with self driving like safety features are already here, in consumable mass.
I'm certainly not going to be able to stop the future in this regard.

And I'll probably be dead before it's too much of an issue. But I think a future where we simply get into "pods" or containers, whether they look like automobiles or not, and get automatically transported to our destinations seems detached and lifeless.
I'll bypass the debate today. I'm assuming eventually most of the bugs get worked out. I'm assuming it is INFINITELY safer in a world where automation has removed the very fallible direct human aspect to driving.

For me personally however, I'm not sure it would be a better world, even if safer.

What I think is a truth, is in any advancement in technology, there can be, and often is great gain. But whether we realize it or not, there is also a cost paid.

The Horseless Carriage, divorced us from "The Horse"....
Sure, it's a "better" world...but The Horse was the best Hybrid ever....ran on Oats and Sweat. Emissions were scooped up with a shovel. If you wanted to get from point A to B? You had to have a relationship with a great animal, know how to ride. You had to balance personal resources with the ability to know where streams and stables were.
The electric light bulb vanquished the mystery and serenity of pure night. Made us a 24/7 culture, of sleep deprived people, who enjoy Nacho's from the convience mart at 1:00 AM.

There is always a cost.
For me?
I think I've enjoyed living in the age of the Owner/Operator automobile. Even with the real dangers, and some times very tragic outcomes that manifest from a huge population of varying driving skills taking to the open road daily.

I'm not against "Self Driving " technology, I just don't seek it out. And hopefully if it ever becomes the majority "norm"...I'm way past it mattering to me.

 

What if driving becomes too hard (or unsafe) for you due to eyesight, reflexes, or a variety of other age related issues? Do you still want freedom of mobility without relying on someone else to drive you around? I sure will once I'm old enough or life handicaps me in some way physically.

 

Driving without insurance was a worse offense than DUI in NJ.

A car's lifetime is around 10 years and/or 150k miles. During that time, a defficiency of some sort can became an issue for any car. Going on a family trip, or moving a lot of stuff, most people do fine renting a minivan or truck for those few times. Enterprise isn't going to slam the door on you if they see you pull up in a BEV.

Buying a car on that 5% or less chance of some 'need' just ends up being costly. People pay extra for AWD or 4WD car, and continue paying for it in increased fuel use, on the off chance they'll need the ability at some point.

For people in which a BEV doesn't honestly work, there will still be traditional cars and hybrids, with or without a plug, to choose from.

For many households, replacing one car with a BEV will work without issue. Many just assume it won't or will be a hassle without giving it much thought, though.

The statistics I've seen take into account whether the households can charge or not, along with the BEV range.

Can you publish your work?

Or the 99% are sufficiently being served, and Tesla wants to make charging locations even more convenient for them, or they are expanding to meet future demand has more cars get delivered.

 

And yet, the average age of cars registered in the US is 11.6 years. And, yes, I know the difference between average and median, but I can't find a median number.

To say that's a monumental hassle is an understatement, especially if it's 5-10 times a year.

After trying this, one thing I found is that my local Enterprise doesn't allow you to leave your car in their lot for a week.

 

A new Whole Foods was put up not too far from me. EV charging? Nope.

 

Assuming PC means PriusChat, is it slated to be fixed any time soon?

 

ROTFLMAO!

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I'm not arguing that there wouldn't be tangible benefits to fully automated driving.
And it's regrettable, often times sad, even dangerous when peoples driving skills or ability to drive deteriorates. I had a fiercely proud and independent Aunt that suffered a stroke and losing her ability to drive was devastating to her.

But at this point?
I don't think we are primarily talking about self driving cars as the benefit to the disabled, handicapped, aged, even though they would be a benefit.
Because IMO self driving cars will not become a widespread part of our operating reality based ONLY on those things. Those will be automatic peripheral, important possible advantages, but they will not be the direct impetus for development.

I would also speculate that we are in Prius Chat, so none...or precious few of us are lobbying for self driving cars based on the fact we feel we can no longer safely drive.

Yes, if "self driving" vehicles become a widespread, common possibility? It will be a great thing for the handicapped, providing access is not based on a high cost.

In the meantime? Whether it is a carefully orchestrated computer system or somebody else driving you around, the results are similar.
You don't like the Bus Driver? Pretend he's a robot.

 

He's not?!?!

 

I've never seen EV chargers or "Prius parking" spots at Whole Foods.

However, I've seen EV chargers at Kohl's stores. I'd post a photo I have of the chargers at the Downers Grove, IL store, but Google Photos isn't cooperating at the moment.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.