Hi,
I only know of one guy who has a Tesla. Used to see him just about every day trying to talk up someone at a local coffee shop about how great a car it is. One could eavesdrop his conversations from across the room even with a 50% hearing loss, so the story of driving from down here to Grant's Pass, OR caught my ear one day. A buddy does that trip a couple of times a year, and he says it can be done in a little over 12 hours, though 14 makes a much more relaxed trip. MapQuest backs up the 12 hr figure, then says it's 788 miles. That means an overall average 65 mph plus, which means there's a lot of running WELL over the speed limit involved in order to simply make up for gas stops and other slowdowns. Tesla guy was claiming he made it in 17. I kinda think they're both being rather optimistic with their numbers. Even if the Tesla could be charged in an hour, he's got a minimum 5 hours involved just charging.
That kind of trip would become "unfun" for me about the second time I had to stop for a recharge. 15 minutes for gas is fine. A minimum hour, at the 1/2 tank mark, would have me convinced this isn't the best of ideas. At least not for now.
As for all the studies showing "Mine's cleaner than yours!" figures, I saw one done on the Prius only a few years into its current life when it was still pretty much the lone alternative to gasoline/diesel, and it was determined to be far "dirtier" than even a big V-8 SUV, when one considered the total "cradle to grave" cost in pollution to manufacture, run and retire the vehicles. Simply moving the pollution source from Point A to Point B isn't the answer.
Rick C
