Re: Taycan Cross Country Road Trip

Porsche took a Taycan from NYC to LA and spent only 2 1/2 hours charging at a cost of $76.

While I don't doubt the numbers since everything had to be verified for Guinness World Records, it would be interesting to see all the numbers. I've read a few versions about this record but didn't see the $76 amount for total charging mentioned anywhere.

Gerdes has set a number of long distance records for fuel economy. So he has experience in how to drive with maximum efficiency, and as stated, spent time in planning the trip accordingly.

• ...According to the article on the Porsche website, Gerdes drove the Taycan from LA to New York. with prevailing winds normally west to east, that would give him a bit of a tail wind.
  [newsroom.porsche.com]
• ...He used hypermiling techniques
• ...Planned his route according to Electrify America so he had access to the most high speed charging stations along the way

Certainly an interesting promotion by Porsche. I still think there's a lot of work that has to be done to the charging infrastructure. If we had an equivalent charging infrastructure to gas stations and all cars were electric, it would take a lot longer to charge a car when you've got other cars lined up in front of you, waiting to charge.

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Guenter in Ontario
it would take a lot longer to charge a car when you've got other cars lined up in front of you, waiting to charge.

exactly.

there was an article in the news a while back here about a super-charger that had hours long waits.

i'll gladly drive electric when it presents no additional hassle than what i face today filling my tank.

--
MY 2000 S, Ocean Blue, Metropol Blue, Savanah Beige.
Bought June 2000 - Sold May 2010

I would not take it on a roadtrip. Keep my gas and/or hybrid for that, a pure EV for most of "local" driving.

The talk is that everyone will charge at home at night. Really?
There are places with brown outs during the summers due to AC usage.
Are we going to add cars to the grid too?

In my house, we currently have 4 drivers. I am certain, my home could not plausibly charge all four cars if they were electric. I doubt whether the neighborhood grid could support it either.

I have a LOT of concerns about electric cars. That said, I am resigned to the likelihood that we will be dealing with those issues in my lifetime. It is what it is.

All that said, electric cars in the USA is not going to fix global warming. It just isn't. How are we making al of this electricity? Presently it is is relatively dirty coal plants and nuclear. Both have issues.


Are we going to tell the developing world they cannot develop? Good luck with that. China, India, Brazil, Pakistan, Mexico and others are developing one the backbone of fossil fuels. We are not going to stop them.

I submit we need to figure out a way to remove the carbon in the atmosphere as well as develop other energy sources. Ultimately, there might need to be an a-ha moment or near miraculous discovery of a kind like the lightbulb or flight to fix the problems we are likely to face.
I hope it happens in the near future.

I'm old enought to remember the oil embargo in the 70s as a young driver and only being able to fill up on odd or even days based on the last number or letter of the plate. Even still, waiting 10-12 cars deep. Back then, all cars were gas guzzlers, so you had to plan in advance when out crusing on the weekends, particularly if you had an even number plate and the weekend was Friday, July 31 and Saturday, August 1. Ouch. Forget about weekend roadtrips on those months.

Electric vehicles are like horses, you have to feed them whether you use them or not. Where are the horses now? Where does the electricity come from? Mostly from burning fossil fuels.
Lots of resistance against solar arrays and wind farms.

We do what we can. We have a PV system and a solar / water collection system for hot water and heat. We heat mostly with wood but do have a rarely used propane furnace. Heating with wood does get you a lot of exercise, (a good thing). Some investment required: chain saw, wood splitter, axe, wedge, and a pick up.

Ed B (In central NH waiting for more snow)

Most people who have electric cars plug them in every night but only actually need to charge them occasionally. So you can have multiple electric vehicles and frequent brownouts with zero concerns.

As far as road trips are concerned, no doubt it is less convenient than gas but (using Tesla as an example) you can currently (pun intended) charge 200 miles in 15 minutes and that number will continue to improve. I'm ok with stretching my legs every 200 miles. Not perfect but not terrible.

Given that renewable energy is cheaper to produce than fossil fuel, the only excuse for us to not shift over is that the oil lobby is huge. The US should not be waiting for less advanced countries to lead in pollution reduction. That's like the tail wagging the dog.

I agree that efficient carbon capture would be great. It's a tricky problem.