# Tesla S Electric car will charge free with solar power !



## Happyflowerlady

I just watched the video about the Tesla S electric car, designed by Elon Musk, owner of Space-X, and former owner of Paypal . This car is incredible, and I think that it will change the future of driving on this planet. 

It probably isn't going to happen in my future, but I can see that my grandsons might be using it eventually.
The idea is that the electric car will be able to have charging stations at places like truck stops, and the charging stations will be ran by solar power. 
You can drive for three hours at freeway speeds, and then charge up. The charge can be either a speed charge, which will cost, or a slower (20-40 min) free charge.
A person could drive literally from coast to coast for free, at least fuel wise, if you used the slower charge version.
Musk has already set this up in Norway, and is now putting the stations up in California , and then plans to start moving across the lower part of the US, with stations all over the United States and lower part of Canada in the next 5 years.

Right now, a $70k car is out of the price range of most Americans, but once the technology becomes more common, I am sure lower priced vehicles will be available. I remember that the first VCR players cost over $1400 when they first came out, and now, they are around $25 , if you even find one .

Anyway, here is the video showing the car and the solar charging stations .

http://youtu.be/wgk5-eB9oTY


----------



## Diwundrin

I think it's pretty far in our future down here other than for urban areas.  3 hours won't get you far here and pulling up for half an hour every 3 would make it a really loooong trip.  Once we get out 'bush'  filling stations are around 6 hours apart so there's going to be an awful lot of  never profitable infrastructure to build to phase it in as other than a niche solution.  It's a shame that all that sun goes to waste out in the centre but there's no one much around to use it so solar is too expensive to be viable.  Yet anyway. 

Warri will be along shortly to dance ecstatically about it though, she's an urban Greentech Pollyanna.

 



I must be of suspicious nature as I'm wondering what the going rate from the oil companies is for sabotaging those recharging stations.  Bwaaahaahahaha.  Could be a fuel war coming up??

Wouldn't be the first one. My Grandfather was a partner in a Shale oil mine back in the 30s.  One of the Yankee oil companies swanned in, bought the only refinery and promptly closed it down rendering the mines worthless and Granddad shirtless and back to working in the coal mines which killed him early.   
Good luck Tesla.


----------



## dbeyat45

Something from Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, Director of Copenhagen Consensus Center and Adjunct Professor at Copenhagen Business School:


> *Tesla gets $45,000 for each car it sells in state and federal subsidies*. The Tesla S starts at $69,000, so about 40% of its total cost is subsidies (Tesla isn’t making any big profits).  This is because the California Air Resources Board has mandated that zero emission vehicles should comprise 15% of new-car sales by 2025 — up from less than 1% now. This forces other car companies that can’t comply to pay for credits from Tesla.“At the end of the day, other carmakers are subsidizing Tesla,” says one analyst.
> Remember, the Tesla avoids perhaps 10 tons of CO2 (*more likely, with its large battery pack it avoids nothing or even *increases* total CO2 emissions*). That means Americans pay at least $5,000 per ton of CO2 avoided – about a thousand times more than the price in the European Trading System.


----------



## SifuPhil

1. I love the Tesla family of cars, especially their hot little sports car. I think they're great for urban driving but as Di mentioned they might (at this point) be problematic for long x-country drives.

2. That being said, technology is always running in fast-forward mode. If TPTB don't block it they could easily invest time and money into finding more efficient storage cells. Tesla also I believe sells spare battery packs so you could theoretically double your range before needing to recharge.

3. I find it very hard to believe that the slow charge will be offered for free. The development and maintenance costs alone would I think dictate charging a price equivalent to gasoline, at least at this point. 

4. I also think that the oil companies aren't going to go down without a fight - they have too many powerful leaders and lobbyists, and far too much money involved, to just walk away from the game. Same goes for the internal combustion boys - too much infrastructure to just stop doing what they do. 

5. I DO hope that this tech gets developed and accepted, but I don't think it will be in my lifetime - MAYBE my son's, but even there it might be pushing things. Americans in particular have this weird love affair with loud, powerful things whether they be muscle cars or wrestling stars. The women may take to these cars because they're sensible when it comes to transportation, but the guys are going to fight tooth and nail to keep their resource-wasting, atmosphere-polluting macho symbols for as long as possible.


----------



## That Guy




----------



## Diwundrin

Seems to be taking a while for them to corner the market then. :lofl:


----------



## SifuPhil




----------



## Happyflowerlady

SifuPhil said:


> 1. I love the Tesla family of cars, especially their hot little sports car. I think they're great for urban driving but as Di mentioned they might (at this point) be problematic for long x-country drives.
> I *think that Di was talking about in open areas without people or freeways. Musk has put these charging stops along well traveled hiways, and at places where there are restaurants, so travelers would be stopping for food or fuel anyway. Therefore, cross country would be possible, as long as you were on a major freeway.*
> 
> 2. That being said, technology is always running in fast-forward mode. If TPTB don't block it they could easily invest time and money into finding more efficient storage cells. Tesla also I believe sells spare battery packs so you could theoretically double your range before needing to recharge.
> 
> 3. I find it very hard to believe that the slow charge will be offered for free. The development and maintenance costs alone would I think dictate charging a price equivalent to gasoline, at least at this point. The article does say that at least some of the charging will be free.  Since  it is powered by solar panels, where possible, the cost of running the chargers should not be excessive, any more than having one of the solar powered floodlights out in the yard is.
> I think that eventually, there may be a charge, as other car makers sell cars that can use the Tesla charging station.
> 
> 4. I also think that the oil companies aren't going to go down without a fight - they have too many powerful leaders and lobbyists, and far too much money involved, to just walk away from the game. Same goes for the internal combustion boys - too much infrastructure to just stop doing what they do.
> *I totally agree with you on this !  Musk should be driving one of those armored Hummers, not a Tesla .*
> 
> 5. I DO hope that this tech gets developed and accepted, but I don't think it will be in my lifetime - MAYBE my son's, but even there it might be pushing things. Americans in particular have this weird love affair with loud, powerful things whether they be muscle cars or wrestling stars. The women may take to these cars because they're sensible when it comes to transportation, but the guys are going to fight tooth and nail to keep their resource-wasting, atmosphere-polluting macho symbols for as long as possible.




Here is another page from the Tesla website, and it shows how the charger works, and where the stations are projected to be in the future. It also says they will be free, at least for some of the charges.

http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger


----------



## SifuPhil

Happyflowerlady said:


> Here is another page from the Tesla website, and it shows how the charger works, and where the stations are projected to be in the future. It also says they will be free, at least for some of the charges.
> 
> http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger



I think what they are doing right now is sacrificing in the short-term for their long-term goals. 

A few things to consider: like any vehicle, the Tesla will require maintenance. Who's going to do it - ol' Joe at the corner garage? Hardly. You'll have to go to Tesla. 

Most higher-end car owners trade their cars in after 3-5 years. The free charges will certainly stop after you get rid of that first car, and I'm pretty sure they won't carry over to anyone purchasing a used model.

In the beginning, how many people will be driving these things? Not many. So the cost of the electric will be minimal.

Tesla is also planning on selling surplus electric to local utilities, because the "pumps" won't be utilized on a constant basis. 

And there will be other electric vehicles, possibly with adapters to allow them to recharge at a Tesla charger - for a price. In fact, in the future the big car companies might design their electric cars with Tesla charging in mind, since by then Tesla will have a lock on the national network of charging stations.

And after the entire network is built - their "across the country, 200 miles at a time" idea - after that is finally realized, I'd bet good money that that free charging is a thing of the past.

As I said, they're sacrificing short-term gain - offering a carrot - in order to build their empire. 

Because _nothing_ in life is free.


----------



## Diwundrin

> Because _nothing_ in life is free.



That axiom should form the basis of all considerations of every decision and opinion I can think of.


----------



## That Guy




----------



## Diwundrin

So where does the luggage go? :dunno::lofl:


----------



## That Guy

Diwundrin said:


> So where does the luggage go? :dunno::lofl:



There will be no luggage in the future . . . ?


----------



## SifuPhil

That Guy said:


> There will be no luggage in the future . . . ?



Everything you're packing to take away
Is in that pill you took today
Wo- oooooh

(apologies to Zager and Evans)


----------



## dbeyat45

Beam my luggage over Scotty.


----------



## That Guy

Oh . . . and to the point . . . charging free with solar power?  You KNOW "they" will find a way to make you pay.


----------

