Tesla is working like crazy right now to fix wait times and charge times.
Two big problems are these:
1. Infrastructure availability and wait times
2. Power & compatibility. What I mean by that is that the bigger charging stations might push out 100 - 150kW, but the cars can only suck in about 25kW at one time. Longer charge times.
They are working on this. The newer cars will be able to take in all 150kW and cut that charge time down to 30 minutes or less.
All of this takes time to build/design.
If you are ever needing to drive on a 5 hour plus trip, I highly recommend mapping out and ensuring the charging stations you plan on using are in service. I would never recommend doing this on your first EV rodeo.
Having driven them for 6 years I know what to expect and where to go. I have driven my Nissan Leaf from Atlanta to Charlotte once. It took me an extra hour an a half due to charge times, but I had a fast charger on my car. Most people don’t have thouse.
Another thing to remember is that Tesla connectors are unique and not compatible with the standard industry connectors. You need to get an adapter to make those work. Friend of mine rented a Tesla for a drive from N GA to Savannah and he forgot to get one from the rental car company (Enterprise). His trip was a disaster.
I prefer to get a gasoline fueled car and drive where ever my whims may lead me, knowing there will be gasoline anywhere.
As the technology is at this time, it does not fit the transportation requirements I set for myself. Fairly frequently, I set out on long distances and often this can include remote regions and crazy weather.
I require a truck for this, which inherently gives lower energy usage efficiency that's compensated for by greater onboard storage. Truck EVs seem to be close to to commercialization but this won't solve my “must have” requirements as far as I can tell. I'm not willing to change my lifestyle any at this time or the near future.
I live in GA but frequently travel out west to mountains and desert. Fuel availability can be 60-100 miles distant. Fuel consumption off road can be 2-3 greater than pavement usage. EVs just don't have the range. Perhaps fuel cell engines can be better?
I think it will take a different technology path for my kind of usage though unless EV battery capability were to take a radical leap forward. I think this will be very difficult because what I'm talking about is energy density, which is already extremely tight in existing technology. Improvements in recharge rate will not necessarily correlate with increased storage density.
So, towards the end of the month I'll take a road trip to OK to spend a month at the lake. Then I'll circle back to GA for a couple of months before heading back to the lake for a few weeks then return west to Northern New Mexico high country for a month or two of camping off grid.
Cheers...
The Tesla 3 is cable of drawing ~250KWH at the new version supercharges. The S and X models built after the Tesla 3 was introduced are also capable. The charge rate starts to drop off the battery is at 50% or so. It doesn't make sense to charge past 80% unless you really need the range. The problem is the version 3 superchargers are rare outside of big metro areas.
The model 3 charging is limited at the older supercharging station to the charging rate at the station which I believe is ~140KWH under ideal conditions. If the charging station is full, then you are sharing power with car next to you.