Posted on 12/14/2013 3:59:04 PM PST by chiller
Engineering breakthroughs like the Tesla Model S may be burning up the electric car market (figuratively and literally), but they’re leaving drivers cold and under-powered in the face of Old Man Winter.
Cold temperatures have adverse effects on batteries, slowing down the incoming and outgoing flow of energy and inevitably losing some in the process. The 250-mile average range of an electric car in normal climate conditions can see its performance reduced by 70-miles on a single charge in average winter conditions. The colder it gets, the shorter than range.
Not only that, the average winter driver tends to turn up the heat — a function that also puts a draw on the battery uncommon during other seasons.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailycaller.com ...
The Tesla, like most electric cars, is a rich person’s toy.
As for the Tesla being attractive and fast, there are a lot of beautiful and fast sedans once that $100,000 neighborhood is reached. The Porsche Panamera is about the same size and price.
You take a coil of bare wire (like a small spring) and run electricity through it, it gets red hot.
You blow air over it to extract the heat.
I suppose they could always carry a gasolene heater
with them of course a wood stove would be greener.
pallet of hand warmers....? They’d weigh too much, drain the battery.
I own an 85 kwh Tesla Model S.
I can get up to 300 miles of range.
20% reduction if it is really cold if you preheat the car while it is plugged in.
Worst case scenario is 230 miles of range if it below freezing and you have to warm the car on the road.
Norway has the highest per capital Tesla ownership in the world.
Money to fuel my car does not bolster the international price of oil and get filtered to Iran, Russia, Venezuela, and Al Qaeda.
I'm not defending electric vehicles, but this line is bull. The average summer driver tends to turn up the air conditioning - a function that also puts a draw on the battery uncommon during other seasons.
Until the late 1930’s, most cars did not have a factory-installed heater unit. Those that did have any kind of “heating” for the driver and passengers relied upon a sleeve that wrapped around the exhaust manifold, and directed a flow of this heated air into the cabin. It would either asphyxiate the occupants (through leaking carbon monoxide from a failing exhaust gasket), or scorch them pretty thoroughly, as there was not much modulation of the heat levels delivered. Mostly, you wrapped in a steerhide robe and put a warming stone beside your feet, or you stayed home when it was cold.
It was probably only about 1935 or so that a small version of a radiator, that was attached as an aftermarket accessory, with a shroud having doors that could be opened and closed, and a fan, became readily available.
I believe this was sold under the trade name “South Wind”.
Even as late as 1950, the most inexpensive Ford line still had a heater as “optional equipment”. The more expensive lines had the heater as “standard equipment”.
Thanks for the explanation. I never knew....never thought about it actually. And never knew that’s called resistance heating.
>> “Why would a vehicle which is 10-15% battery, run-down so fast?” <<
.
Electric resistance heating, the only source of heat in an electric car, is the most inefficient use of energy there is.
Electric cars are a solution in search of a problem, and introduce 100s of problems of their own.
Cold drains batteries. The Pope is Catholic. Bears crap in the woods.
My guess is that a Tesla wouldn't have done nearly as well.
True, Yo-Yo, but cold weather drain is considerably worse than summer.
If drivers can carefully plan their charge times and stops, the problem can largely be avoided.
It only means that instead of getting into your car and driving to the store where you need to buy a certain item, you need to fire up your computer first, start Google Earth, and schedule your trip in great detail. You have to check the temperature along the route, and all possible detours that you may be forced to take, and all possible traffic problems (current or future.) You must also account for the time of the day because headlights need power too. The state of the road surface also matters - is it dry, wet, icy, or has snow on it. Finally, you need to calculate the temperature of the battery pack along the route; specifically, account for the time that you spend at the store because the car will cool down. (Make sure there are no lines to the cash registers.)
This can't possibly take more than an hour or two of your time. But certainly "Saving the Planet" is worth it. Once you are armed with all that knowledge you can then figure out if your luxury car can make it there or not. If it can't, stay at home. Tell yourself that you didn't really want to go anyway. If it can, go to your destination, and hope that nothing ever goes wrong. Have a phone number of a friendly towing service at hand.
The Model S starts at $70k while the Panamera starts at $78K.
Models S made in America while Panamera in Germany.
Model S runs on American natural gas, coal, nuclear, solar, hydro,and wind electricity whose price is determined by American supply and demand.
Half of America’s oil is imported. The price of oil is determined by international supply and demand. And marginal international supply is largely determined by the Saudis which means they have an oversized influence on price.
And a large amount of the international flow of petro dollars goes from Western Countries to the enemies of the West.
Summer driving in hot states will produce similar results.
Air conditioners will drain the batteries & hot batteries can explode.
During the 50's my family once went down to Florida during the winter.We had a Ford rental (I remember that well) that didn't have a heater.We hit at least a bit of unusually cold weather while there and I remember my mother complaining bitterly about no heat in the car.
Which strip of California are you ?
The specialized wire has a high electrical resistance to the passage of electrons...like a light bulb filament.
Really? So, what fuels the electric power generators where you live?
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