And a MUCH more challenging supercharger leap. 250 miles / 400km, trying to staying on speed limit as long as possible. I think it can be done. The challenge would be to not have a peepee break. To show that drivers do need this range and can't afford the time to do a quick supercharge.
24 months later and there is a Barstow and Las Vegas Supercharger and one in Primm is under construction and should be only a few weeks away. All of these can add ~150miles of range in a 20 min refreshment stop meaning this trip can now be done at whatever speed one desires with liberal A/C use. Would be nice to see Motortrend recreate the trip once the Primm supercharger is up and running showing the change in just 24 months.
And with the new P100 100Kw that is coming! They would probably be able to do it faster and with A/C on one charge with that new car + new algorithm in version 7 and up. Imagine what it will be in 5-10 years! lol 130-160 Kw battery pack (assuming 5% improvement per year as Elon Musk stated) and probably a lot lighter too!
Actually they want to kind of stop at 100 for a while. And I agree with them - getting the 3 out the door is more important than a 150 KWh battery pack in a $100K car.
Great on-screen chemistry between Frank and Jessi -- looks like they're having a blast. I'm so glad that they're making videos like this, sharing their experiences with us. Keep up the great work, MT
@@EDHBlvd Now the Model S Long Range has a range of 370 miles (EPA), so you can be blasting the AC and drive at the max. speed limit and still get there.
We're so glad you enjoyed it! Frank and I had a great time together and it's wonderful to know that energy came through on-camera. We'll be doing many more adventure-based videos and we hope you'll stay tuned! Jessi
Energy use isn't speed and elevation. You use the same amount of energy going up an elevation irrespective of your speed. The faster you want to go, the more Power you need. Also, more speed means more drag and more power means more resistive loss in the electrical system. That is why you want to drive slow.
Many thanks! We had a great time, despite the temperatures, and were so excited to be driving the Tesla to Vegas that road rage was an impossibility. Jessi
It's been many years ago. Nowadays the cars have longer ranges and chargers popped up all around the world. This trip is now 100% doable in your normal fashion.
+trevor philips That was an experiment! They reached their destination with a lot of juice to spare! The only thing you need is *ONE SINGLE* quick charging station between highly frequented destinations that are over 150 miles apart and you are good to go to 95% of destinations! And that's with current batteries/recharging technologies. Carbon Nanotubes batteries/capacitors are coming with much better capacity and much faster charge time. The day we can make 300-350 miles on a single charge and recharge from empty to 90% in 20-25 minutes is not far off. cleantechnica.com/2014/05/12/new-graphene-carbon-nanotube-supercapacitor/
Motor Trend's Editor-in-Chief, Ed Loh, did exactly that. Check out his story on the Motor Trend site by searching for the terms "Tesla" and "Vegas." The link is entitled, "Visiting Las Vegas in the Tesla Model S." Jessi
what about solar powered air conditioning so you can have AC without having to run it from the car's main batteries, thus you have a cool car AND good range.
This is unrealistic test (slowing down the traffic, 104 degree inside the car). You can not drive like this in real world. Totally worthless doing this test.
I'll tell you what. That car is actually really good looking too. I dont personally see that the electric car has a future because of the time it takes to charge, but it is nice to see refreshing ideas. Plus Frank and Jessi make it enjoyable to watch. It does help that Jessi is immensely pretty :)
Awesome proof that the range on one charge is more than enough for daily commuters who worry about range anxiety. No pollution, no lung diseases related to pollution, super clean breathing air, and FREE electricity? Man sign me up! Can't wait to buy my car. I have been saving for three years, ten thousand at a time.
Actually less fossil fuels will be used, because more solar cells and windmills and other alternative energy sources will be used, ie; hydro, geothermal and nuclear.
trevor philips Apart from the fact that the energy mix in america isn't 100% fossil fuel, but lets say it was; electrics are still better for the environment than a petrol car because the fuel needs to be transported 2000 km by an oil guzzling oil tanker, then another 200km in a diesel tanker.
trevor philips many super charging stations are solar powered. My car gets its juice from my 6kw solar panel array. No magic just pure physics, albeit most folks don't know the difference between hard science and alchemy.
+trevor philips Nuclear fusion of hydrogen is coming, eventually. At this point, it's more a matter of engineering/R&D/money than anything else. We will get Thorium reactor before that anyway. And before that, we can use fuel cells to generate electricity with H2o as a byproduct. We're now at over 55% conversion rate on the latest solar panel, which is amazing! Hydroelectricity is great. Wind power too. Geothermal would need more attention. Better, lighter batteries based on carbon nanotubes to store electric energy much faster and with more density are also coming. There a lot of renewable energy technologies to investigate. Electric is where it's at, time to wake up.
Would love to see more of the MT writing staff in these videos. Having the likes Loh,Febbo, Kiino, Evans etc. would be great for us long time subscribers. Seeing you guys in action adds a lot more to the print experience than you might think. Cheers & congrats on making it to Vegas on one charge!
This car is supposed to be so great because of how good it is for the environment. But then they slap a $75,000 price tag on it. My fuckin ass you care about the environment. If you cared so much you would make it affordable for your average income family to own. I could buy 2-3 reliable gas cars, fuel them, and maintain them for 10 years for the same price of 1 Tesla. I care about the environment too, but I also gotta eat.
Their first car was over $200k, this one is under $100k, and they have said they are going to make one for under $50k in the next couple of years. So although in the high end for the middle class budget, you don't have to put $20k of petrol in the thing over its life time making it a good investment. There is a strategy in this, if you want to make a good brand, you don't go budget but go high roller, that way people lust after it, so when the time comes around and they do go budget, people eat it up. Sadly our lizard brain has a lot to answer for.
TheFluffyDuck So here is your problem. The life of these batteries in the Tesla is 10 years. So we will compare that to 10 years in my gas car. My comfortable bells and whistles gas car cost $19,000 at 0% interest. It costs me around $100 a month to fuel it and about $100 per year for synthetic oil changes. Then maybe 1 transmission oil change every 5 years at $75 per change. And possibly 1 water pump and maybe a seal here or there at around $200. Add that all up and my car costs $32,350. That number is still $18,000 cheaper than the cheapest version you speak of. Not to mention I can get nearly 400 miles on one tank of gas doing 75 mph. I have no lust what-so-ever over this over-priced electric car. I will take my cheaper eco friendly gas car any day over a Tesla until the price becomes reasonable for everyone to own.
Zac Youngson I agree with you. How about solar? The panel manufacturing with chemicals is horrible. The way to go is using large wind and tide generator Those are the least impact to the environment. Geothermal is great to but a lot harder. The future for cars will be capacitor instead of batteries. Like they are doing in Formula 1.
I know this post is old but i'm replying anyways. blkgixxerslvr The batteries do not only last 10 years, I see that statistic everywhere but it is completely fictional and there's no evidence to back it up. The batteries are designed to withstand a minimum of 1000 full recharges, and the car's range is 240 on the low end, therefore the total mileage is well over 240,000, which represents over $20,000 in gas at the bare minimum. Regardless, the batteries have a lifetime warrantee, so even if it died every 10 years you could get it replaced, so your savings are theoretically infinite. The model 3 when it comes out has a target price of $35,000. Factor in fuel savings and tax incentives and the car drops below $20,000. Zac Youngson No tesla battery has every been disposed of outside of car crashes, and all batteries are designed and planned to be almost completely recyclable. On top of that, the carbon footprint for the production of an electric car is significant, but it's only twice that of any other car. The TOTAL carbon footprint for the cars(including production and driving), on the other hand, is ALWAYS smaller, even if you were to get %100 percent of your electricity from coal. In terms of chemical pollution, mining lithium is pretty benign, it's mostly gathered through filtration and electrolysis. Compare that to fracking. TL;DR: You're both completely wrong, and if you're gonna be skeptics, at least be good ones.
What a lot of people don't know about regenerative breaking, is it's not as efficient as just letting your car roll down a hill in neutral. When you convert your momentum back into electricity, it's not 100% efficient, so it's better to neutral down a hill, then use the regenerative breaking when you need to slow down gradually, and the breaks when you need to slow down quickly.
Thank you MotorTrend for making unique programming like this available! Unique, as in intelligent, fun, slightly crazy and enjoyable for any one who loves cars and driving.
Overwhelming likes vs dislikes and over 200,000 views says the two are not annoying. Great car, battery technology will improve over the coming years thus give it more range.
That's the best solution that I've heard so far. Ideally the same station that would change your battery would charge everyone a small fee so they could test and recertify the batteries as they come in to keep malfunctioning ones out of circulation. I think we just solved the industry's problem with electric vehicles.
I love these videos. Im an Amateur Reporter and hoping to one day make it big and report on cars and trends at this magazine one day. Or at least one like it....but MT will always be my favorite
I think this video highlight the problem with a purely electric car. With a petrol/diesel/hybrid you can keep going no matter how far you want to go. You don't need to drive at snails pace to try to stretch the range as much as possible. You drive like you want, and like you think you can afford. Its just a less painful way to get around.
different strokes for different folks. For those hoping the internal combustion days are numbered are clearly not car guys.There is something primal and exciting about a great combustion engine.The roar of the engine, build up of power delivery, exhaust sound screaming, and SOUL of the car ripping through canyons.I have noticed as some cars get more "digital" that their "analog" counter parts increase in value. For many of us driving is not about the best mpg. It's about taming the beast ;^)
As an Actual Las Vegan who's also on the Model S waiting list, this is a bit of a thrill. But I'd just as soon take a break en route and add a few electrons to the tank in order to be more free with the throttle and the A/C. That desert is brutal in summer.
For the record, they are Hypermiling-going slower then the speed limit in order to conserve power to go longer distances and save money. The car is nowhere near slow. And the A/C and all that was the same thing-energy conservation. They went out to prove that the goal was attainable and they completed it. Its a huge achievement for Electric cardom
Want to find out what happens when you drive back to LA with the cruise control set to 70mph and the air conditioning on? Motor Trend's Editor-in-Chief, Ed Loh, can tell you. Check out his story by visiting motortrend(dot com) and searching for the terms "Tesla" and "Vegas." The link is entitled, "Visiting Las Vegas in the Tesla Model S." (To guard against spam, UA-cam doesn't allow users to post links.) Jessi
There is a Tesla Supercharger halfway between L.A. and Vegas at Barstow. It can supply 150 miles of recharge in 30 minutes. You can drive the whole way at 80mph with the A/C on. Plus the recharge is free! Or you can crawl along in the boiling heat and stop at Baker instead...
i think this is amazing! i think if i did that trip, everytime i take a restop, i would of charged it, even if its for like a half hour or so. It is something. Keep up the great work! this is def. one of my fav cars
Mine Model S shows up next month! I cannot wait. This car/software platform is going to change the world. Break through battery life will make gasoline cars seem to have range issues in the future.
Nice to know I'm not an average person. :) 200+ miles is under 4 hours drive time. On a recent road trip with my family, I drove approximately 10-15+ hours a day before switching to let my dad drive, stopping only for gas, bathroom breaks, and to eat of course. For everyday use it's good, but long distance road trips, more than 300 miles, I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're driving alone, then it might be good, because it forces you to take breaks and nap while it charges. :)
Would be great if Motortrend reshot this video now that the Barstow Supercharger is installed. It was opened barely 1 month after the video was released. It allows over 200 miles of charge to be added per hour, giving you plenty of buffer to drive at 80 with the AC on the whole way with a 20 min charge and drink break.
Going high speed uphill does not take a whole lot more energy than going slow speed. The same engery has to be spent to lift the car up to a higher elevation. The extra loss is due to slightly higher engine and battery temperature, giving higer electric resistance in both, and the higher current to the engine increasing loss in cables. Both cables and battery/engine in this car are made for high performance, so the extra loss will be very low. Drag will increase, but not more than other terrain.
Great video guys! Great car too. Loved the banter between you two. Keep up the awesome videos. And don't worry, I think we all have those guilty pleasure songs... Haha!
Usually 10 seconds every evening at home and at the morning u have fully charged battery. But if u need to use Tesla charging station (only if you are going more than 200-300 miles), it will need 15-60 minutes (depending on current amount of missing energy in ur battery) to charge up.
i saw this car for the first time and i really like the way it looks. it doesn't look like a cheap looking car and also the finish quality was very high.
There actually was a Tesla charger available in Barstow. They could have stopped for half an hour charged and driven the whole way at 75 with the A.C. blasting. The car's range meter indicated that they could have driven 288 miles on that charge. When I get my Tesla model S, I'm going to put clear plastic covers on the rims and put on low resistance tires when I'm traveling, which won't be often. Otherwise, I'm going to put 20 in. Michelin Pilot Sport tires on it. They are lighter than the 21".
I did watch the whole thing. I don't believe I did it but its done now. The Mobil economy runs of the 1960's, when gas was 22 cents per gallon, made more sense. I built an electric using VW Van in the early 90's as a customer shuttle, parts chaser and to see how viable the technology was. I was also doing this with a group of engineering students from UC Berkeley.
The reality is no one will ever cut it this close, because running out of juice isn't remedied as simply as running out of gas. Running out of juice will inevitably involved a tow truck and an overnighter, and that's assuming you are in a populated area.
Note: in this test, they achieved a potential range of 288 miles. They could have used AC and driven at 65 instead of 55 and still made it. The effective range in the Model S when traveling is really actually about 240 I think. However, I think I'll put 20" Pilot Sport tires on mine because they are lighter. For traveling, which I don't do often, I'll put low resistance tires on it and clear plastic covers on the rims.
Using two converted golf cart motors and controllers running through the stock VW transaxle , a bank of 20 deep cycle batteries, we actually made a functioning vehicle. The original goal was to have the vehicle fulfill its basic duties of delivering customers and picking up car parts daily. We figured we needed a 40 mile of useful range, we did not have regenerative braking that would have made a huge range extender in the Berkeley hills.
No lights, no radio, no A/C. and no cold weather ...the range drops dramatically if you do anything. But it would be so much fun to sweat like a pig for the full 180-200 mile range.
While they were babying it, they got a 288 mile range. They should have pre-cooled and used some AC. They would have gotten a shorter range, but in comfort. The important thing is that they made it with a large margin, proving that the Tesla Model S can be successfully "roadtripped". I'd modify mine with clear plastic wheel covers and remove the child seats when taking trips which won't be often. I can't wait until I can afford mine!
i actually enjoyed this video because the insight of them driving isn't so rehearsed and its kinda fresh and well also you cant say a video (co) hosted by jessi lang is boring :P
Batteries are liquid cooled and heated. Cold weather has very little affect, I know a lot of Roadster owners in Canada and Norway that spend a good portion of the year driving at well under 20 degrees, and Model S is even better. As for the price, the $100k is for a completely decked out car. The base price for this range is $70k. The base price for the 40kWh pack is $50k. The company is very small, they are limited by how many cars they can build in a year, not by how many people want it.
The same applies with gas/diesel powered vehicles... momentum is lost, and energy is transferred through friction braking and converted to heat... and in order to return to a constant velocity more energy must be used than if you had not braked... With electric motors you have constant energy flow through a potentiometer that dictates the amount of current used to accelerate, idle, or brake. Since energy from decelerating doesn't flow back to the battery, energy is lost to heat
Thats awesome....I actually passed you guys on my way back to Vegas, I was wondering why you guys were going so slow and I saw the cameras as I passed you. Now I know why lol
Power is by definition energy divided by time. So if you use the same energy over a longer period of time you will deplete the battery slower. The extreme examples are drag cars (electric or gas) that go through a charge (or $400 worth of race fuel) over a few seconds. Same energy available (a tank of gas) but spent over a shorter period equals more power and ultimately more acceleration.
You forget that the Model S is still compatible with traditional chargers through the use of an included adapter. If you leave the car at an airport, you should definitely make use of an EV-reserved spot to keep the car topped off. The "bricking" issue is a known problem with lithium battery technology in general. Letting a lithium ion battery cell drop below 3 volts has a good chance of destroying the cell, and that chance increases as the voltage continues to drop.
They already said they would have done that IF there was charging station in between and they were willing to make a stop. Right now they show how to make the LA to Vegas trip on a single charge with range to spare.
I actually did this mission 3 times in 1 month... my car has had some hard times, that's why I try to give it the best of the best even if it just a crappy se.
That is a great idea. It would be very convenient. You would need to have a some pretty serious gear to move those batteries though. They're usually several hundred pounds. That's the only way to make electric cars practical for road trips.
This sounds like me in Leaf! lol! I used to weave in and out of traffic because people were driving too slow. Now it's the reverse weave to avoid faster cars behind me. lol!
You need to update this! Tesla P100 LA to Vegas, normal driving habits with AC. Can it be done?
It's time for a new run in a Model S 90D!
And a MUCH more challenging supercharger leap. 250 miles / 400km, trying to staying on speed limit as long as possible. I think it can be done.
The challenge would be to not have a peepee break. To show that drivers do need this range and can't afford the time to do a quick supercharge.
100D ;)
If you're sweating like a pig, ita a good idea to open the windows. drag isnt gonna reduce your range more than a couple of miles.
better still, why not drive at night ?!
lights
24 months later and there is a Barstow and Las Vegas Supercharger and one in Primm is under construction and should be only a few weeks away. All of these can add ~150miles of range in a 20 min refreshment stop meaning this trip can now be done at whatever speed one desires with liberal A/C use.
Would be nice to see Motortrend recreate the trip once the Primm supercharger is up and running showing the change in just 24 months.
And with the new P100 100Kw that is coming! They would probably be able to do it faster and with A/C on one charge with that new car + new algorithm in version 7 and up. Imagine what it will be in 5-10 years! lol 130-160 Kw battery pack (assuming 5% improvement per year as Elon Musk stated) and probably a lot lighter too!
Actually they want to kind of stop at 100 for a while. And I agree with them - getting the 3 out the door is more important than a 150 KWh battery pack in a $100K car.
charge
Even in a gas you have to stop eventually it's not really a good idea just to really sweat like crazy in a car.
Great on-screen chemistry between Frank and Jessi -- looks like they're having a blast. I'm so glad that they're making videos like this, sharing their experiences with us. Keep up the great work, MT
my 5 year old camry gets me there and back with one gas tank....thats $54
***** ummm let's see if the car needs to be charged then I'm sure it's not free..
***** I never said it was free....i even said it takes and brings us back with $54
$54 from LA to Vegas ?
And you can use your A/C. Screw this Tesla.
@@EDHBlvd Now the Model S Long Range has a range of 370 miles (EPA), so you can be blasting the AC and drive at the max. speed limit and still get there.
How awesome that is to hear-- thank you for making me smile! I really appreciate your feedback and am so glad to have you as a viewer!
Jessi
I didn't understand why they couldn't pull down the windows of the car instead of turning off the ac and closing the windows.
you r right ***** ... I realized it later... thanks for your explanation :)
+Srinivasan Rajappa Windows open=ventilation. Why not?
We're so glad you enjoyed it! Frank and I had a great time together and it's wonderful to know that energy came through on-camera. We'll be doing many more adventure-based videos and we hope you'll stay tuned!
Jessi
Energy use isn't speed and elevation. You use the same amount of energy going up an elevation irrespective of your speed. The faster you want to go, the more Power you need. Also, more speed means more drag and more power means more resistive loss in the electrical system. That is why you want to drive slow.
Many thanks! We had a great time, despite the temperatures, and were so excited to be driving the Tesla to Vegas that road rage was an impossibility.
Jessi
What a joke. I do the same drive with A/C blasting and going 75mph. Screw this sweating and slugging it up the slow lane.
You can now do that in a Long Range Tesla without having to stop.
Jessi every time I watch you in a video you brighten my day and make me smile! I'm happy for you and thanks for being so carefree and hilarious :)
Well if u gotta drive like a grandma and no ac it's worthless
It's been many years ago. Nowadays the cars have longer ranges and chargers popped up all around the world. This trip is now 100% doable in your normal fashion.
We're so grateful we could cheer you up a bit with our work. Thank you for watching, and we hope tomorrow is better!
why didnt they open window? would that make a huge diffrence?
Uuuh yes would make a big difference. Trust me
Stephan Gijzenberg even alittle would cause a huge diffrence in milage and wind resistance
Jessi you are a well needed asset at Motortrend. You really bought some life to motortrend.
you know whats even better than sweating your balls off at 104 going 20 mph and having range anxiety???using a fucking gas powered car
+trevor philips That was an experiment! They reached their destination with a lot of juice to spare!
The only thing you need is *ONE SINGLE* quick charging station between highly frequented destinations that are over 150 miles apart and you are good to go to 95% of destinations!
And that's with current batteries/recharging technologies. Carbon Nanotubes batteries/capacitors are coming with much better capacity and much faster charge time. The day we can make 300-350 miles on a single charge and recharge from empty to 90% in 20-25 minutes is not far off.
cleantechnica.com/2014/05/12/new-graphene-carbon-nanotube-supercapacitor/
Selfish Bruh...think about emission.
That's exactly what Trevor"Bodhi-driver""Tech-hater" Philips would say.
Motor Trend's Editor-in-Chief, Ed Loh, did exactly that. Check out his story on the Motor Trend site by searching for the terms "Tesla" and "Vegas." The link is entitled, "Visiting Las Vegas in the Tesla Model S."
Jessi
what about solar powered air conditioning so you can have AC without having to run it from the car's main batteries, thus you have a cool car AND good range.
+Xantec Tesla has already announced that future iterations of the Model S , Model X and Model 3 will integrate Solar City solar panels.
really? please do share
Nissan Leaf has that :)
So glad to hear it - thanks for letting us know!
Jessi
This is unrealistic test (slowing down the traffic, 104 degree inside the car). You can not drive like this in real world. Totally worthless doing this test.
Yeah, they said that at the beginning of the 'road trip'.
Did you miss that?
Also old comment but they started really far from LA in the inland empire and claimed it los angeles.
I'll tell you what. That car is actually really good looking too. I dont personally see that the electric car has a future because of the time it takes to charge, but it is nice to see refreshing ideas. Plus Frank and Jessi make it enjoyable to watch. It does help that Jessi is immensely pretty :)
So...why did you not open windows?
lol.. yeah
Drag but yeah they should've
lol it will slow you down. they had a test about that. one with windows closed one open. the open one was out of gas way back
+Xentanon It might take a little power but not 20-30 hp lol. maybe 3-4
We drove 55mph and decreased our speed down to 40-45mph on hills.
Jessi
Awesome proof that the range on one charge is more than enough for daily commuters who worry about range anxiety. No pollution, no lung diseases related to pollution, super clean breathing air, and FREE electricity? Man sign me up! Can't wait to buy my car. I have been saving for three years, ten thousand at a time.
you have this false thought in your head that the tesla is charged by magic but no its charged by dirty fossil fuels
Actually less fossil fuels will be used, because more solar cells and windmills and other alternative energy sources will be used, ie; hydro, geothermal and nuclear.
trevor philips Apart from the fact that the energy mix in america isn't 100% fossil fuel, but lets say it was; electrics are still better for the environment than a petrol car because the fuel needs to be transported 2000 km by an oil guzzling oil tanker, then another 200km in a diesel tanker.
trevor philips many super charging stations are solar powered. My car gets its juice from my 6kw solar panel array. No magic just pure physics, albeit most folks don't know the difference between hard science and alchemy.
+trevor philips Nuclear fusion of hydrogen is coming, eventually. At this point, it's more a matter of engineering/R&D/money than anything else. We will get Thorium reactor before that anyway. And before that, we can use fuel cells to generate electricity with H2o as a byproduct.
We're now at over 55% conversion rate on the latest solar panel, which is amazing! Hydroelectricity is great. Wind power too. Geothermal would need more attention. Better, lighter batteries based on carbon nanotubes to store electric energy much faster and with more density are also coming. There a lot of renewable energy technologies to investigate.
Electric is where it's at, time to wake up.
Would love to see more of the MT writing staff in these videos. Having the likes Loh,Febbo, Kiino, Evans etc. would be great for us long time subscribers. Seeing you guys in action adds a lot more to the print experience than you might think. Cheers & congrats on making it to Vegas on one charge!
U drive too slow lol everyones passing - get a horse-
Get a horse😂
We drove 55mph on flat roads and decreased our speed on uphill ascents.
Jessi
This car is supposed to be so great because of how good it is for the environment. But then they slap a $75,000 price tag on it. My fuckin ass you care about the environment. If you cared so much you would make it affordable for your average income family to own. I could buy 2-3 reliable gas cars, fuel them, and maintain them for 10 years for the same price of 1 Tesla. I care about the environment too, but I also gotta eat.
Tesla is in no way good for the environment the batteries are horrific to manufacture and dispose.
it is simply a fuel saver.
Their first car was over $200k, this one is under $100k, and they have said they are going to make one for under $50k in the next couple of years. So although in the high end for the middle class budget, you don't have to put $20k of petrol in the thing over its life time making it a good investment. There is a strategy in this, if you want to make a good brand, you don't go budget but go high roller, that way people lust after it, so when the time comes around and they do go budget, people eat it up. Sadly our lizard brain has a lot to answer for.
TheFluffyDuck So here is your problem. The life of these batteries in the Tesla is 10 years. So we will compare that to 10 years in my gas car. My comfortable bells and whistles gas car cost $19,000 at 0% interest. It costs me around $100 a month to fuel it and about $100 per year for synthetic oil changes. Then maybe 1 transmission oil change every 5 years at $75 per change. And possibly 1 water pump and maybe a seal here or there at around $200. Add that all up and my car costs $32,350.
That number is still $18,000 cheaper than the cheapest version you speak of. Not to mention I can get nearly 400 miles on one tank of gas doing 75 mph. I have no lust what-so-ever over this over-priced electric car. I will take my cheaper eco friendly gas car any day over a Tesla until the price becomes reasonable for everyone to own.
Zac Youngson I agree with you. How about solar? The panel manufacturing with chemicals is horrible. The way to go is using large wind and tide generator Those are the least impact to the environment. Geothermal is great to but a lot harder. The future for cars will be capacitor instead of batteries. Like they are doing in Formula 1.
I know this post is old but i'm replying anyways.
blkgixxerslvr The batteries do not only last 10 years, I see that statistic everywhere but it is completely fictional and there's no evidence to back it up. The batteries are designed to withstand a minimum of 1000 full recharges, and the car's range is 240 on the low end, therefore the total mileage is well over 240,000, which represents over $20,000 in gas at the bare minimum. Regardless, the batteries have a lifetime warrantee, so even if it died every 10 years you could get it replaced, so your savings are theoretically infinite. The model 3 when it comes out has a target price of $35,000. Factor in fuel savings and tax incentives and the car drops below $20,000.
Zac Youngson No tesla battery has every been disposed of outside of car crashes, and all batteries are designed and planned to be almost completely recyclable. On top of that, the carbon footprint for the production of an electric car is significant, but it's only twice that of any other car. The TOTAL carbon footprint for the cars(including production and driving), on the other hand, is ALWAYS smaller, even if you were to get %100 percent of your electricity from coal. In terms of chemical pollution, mining lithium is pretty benign, it's mostly gathered through filtration and electrolysis. Compare that to fracking.
TL;DR: You're both completely wrong, and if you're gonna be skeptics, at least be good ones.
I really liked Jesse singing ;-)
It's always more fun when tv presenters are not serious all the time :-)
What a lot of people don't know about regenerative breaking, is it's not as efficient as just letting your car roll down a hill in neutral. When you convert your momentum back into electricity, it's not 100% efficient, so it's better to neutral down a hill, then use the regenerative breaking when you need to slow down gradually, and the breaks when you need to slow down quickly.
Thank you MotorTrend for making unique programming like this available! Unique, as in intelligent, fun, slightly crazy and enjoyable for any one who loves cars and driving.
We're so glad you enjoyed it! There's much more adventure-based content to come and we hope you'll stay tuned and keep sending your feedback!
Jessi
Overwhelming likes vs dislikes and over 200,000 views says the two are not annoying. Great car, battery technology will improve over the coming years thus give it more range.
I'm watching this over 10 years later and my mind is still blown 🤯😂
Too cute, I love them! They seem like fun to go on a road trip with.
That's the best solution that I've heard so far. Ideally the same station that would change your battery would charge everyone a small fee so they could test and recertify the batteries as they come in to keep malfunctioning ones out of circulation. I think we just solved the industry's problem with electric vehicles.
Me to im sick and suffering from anxiety attacks the whole day and the video is funny and positive thanks.
I love these videos. Im an Amateur Reporter and hoping to one day make it big and report on cars and trends at this magazine one day. Or at least one like it....but MT will always be my favorite
Thanks for mentioning this video, Ed!
The car looks great, nice to see that it's practical, although super expensive.
I think this video highlight the problem with a purely electric car.
With a petrol/diesel/hybrid you can keep going no matter how far you want to go. You don't need to drive at snails pace to try to stretch the range as much as possible. You drive like you want, and like you think you can afford. Its just a less painful way to get around.
different strokes for different folks. For those hoping the internal combustion days are numbered are clearly not car guys.There is something primal and exciting about a great combustion engine.The roar of the engine, build up of power delivery, exhaust sound screaming, and SOUL of the car ripping through canyons.I have noticed as some cars get more "digital" that their "analog" counter parts increase in value. For many of us driving is not about the best mpg. It's about taming the beast ;^)
Congratulations guys! The time for electric cars to shine is becoming closer and closer!
As an Actual Las Vegan who's also on the Model S waiting list, this is a bit of a thrill. But I'd just as soon take a break en route and add a few electrons to the tank in order to be more free with the throttle and the A/C. That desert is brutal in summer.
finally, an electric car that looks great.
awesome video
For the record, they are Hypermiling-going slower then the speed limit in order to conserve power to go longer distances and save money. The car is nowhere near slow. And the A/C and all that was the same thing-energy conservation. They went out to prove that the goal was attainable and they completed it. Its a huge achievement for Electric cardom
I live in Vegas, I went this weekend to LA (Santa Monica) and came back with only 1 tank, 14.5 gallons, 41 MPG 587 miles round trip, Mazda 3 skyactiv
Want to find out what happens when you drive back to LA with the cruise control set to 70mph and the air conditioning on? Motor Trend's Editor-in-Chief, Ed Loh, can tell you. Check out his story by visiting motortrend(dot com) and searching for the terms "Tesla" and "Vegas." The link is entitled, "Visiting Las Vegas in the Tesla Model S." (To guard against spam, UA-cam doesn't allow users to post links.)
Jessi
There is a Tesla Supercharger halfway between L.A. and Vegas at Barstow. It can supply 150 miles of recharge in 30 minutes. You can drive the whole way at 80mph with the A/C on. Plus the recharge is free!
Or you can crawl along in the boiling heat and stop at Baker instead...
i think this is amazing! i think if i did that trip, everytime i take a restop, i would of charged it, even if its for like a half hour or so. It is something. Keep up the great work! this is def. one of my fav cars
@ 6:58 ..WHOA, I have NEVER seen this side of Frank LOL..... Awesome raod trip episode!
Having a pint of tea while discussing cars, yes the things. :)
To see you guys jam to Hammer was enough for me! Haha!
Mine Model S shows up next month! I cannot wait. This car/software platform is going to change the world. Break through battery life will make gasoline cars seem to have range issues in the future.
Awesome video... thanks for confirming that it can go that far
Nice to know I'm not an average person. :) 200+ miles is under 4 hours drive time. On a recent road trip with my family, I drove approximately 10-15+ hours a day before switching to let my dad drive, stopping only for gas, bathroom breaks, and to eat of course. For everyday use it's good, but long distance road trips, more than 300 miles, I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're driving alone, then it might be good, because it forces you to take breaks and nap while it charges. :)
Would be great if Motortrend reshot this video now that the Barstow Supercharger is installed. It was opened barely 1 month after the video was released. It allows over 200 miles of charge to be added per hour, giving you plenty of buffer to drive at 80 with the AC on the whole way with a 20 min charge and drink break.
Going high speed uphill does not take a whole lot more energy than going slow speed. The same engery has to be spent to lift the car up to a higher elevation. The extra loss is due to slightly higher engine and battery temperature, giving higer electric resistance in both, and the higher current to the engine increasing loss in cables. Both cables and battery/engine in this car are made for high performance, so the extra loss will be very low. Drag will increase, but not more than other terrain.
Great video guys! Great car too. Loved the banter between you two. Keep up the awesome videos.
And don't worry, I think we all have those guilty pleasure songs... Haha!
Usually 10 seconds every evening at home and at the morning u have fully charged battery. But if u need to use Tesla charging station (only if you are going more than 200-300 miles), it will need 15-60 minutes (depending on current amount of missing energy in ur battery) to charge up.
Damn, that car sounds better than an AMG GT S
i saw this car for the first time and i really like the way it looks. it doesn't look like a cheap looking car and also the finish quality was very high.
There actually was a Tesla charger available in Barstow. They could have stopped for half an hour charged and driven the whole way at 75 with the A.C. blasting. The car's range meter indicated that they could have driven 288 miles on that charge.
When I get my Tesla model S, I'm going to put clear plastic covers on the rims and put on low resistance tires when I'm traveling, which won't be often. Otherwise, I'm going to put 20 in. Michelin Pilot Sport tires on it. They are lighter than the 21".
This is pretty awesome. If my grandparents didn't just buy a new accord I would totally convince them to buy one of these
I did watch the whole thing. I don't believe I did it but its done now. The Mobil economy runs of the 1960's, when gas was 22 cents per gallon, made more sense. I built an electric using VW Van in the early 90's as a customer shuttle, parts chaser and to see how viable the technology was. I was also doing this with a group of engineering students from UC Berkeley.
The reality is no one will ever cut it this close, because running out of juice isn't remedied as simply as running out of gas. Running out of juice will inevitably involved a tow truck and an overnighter, and that's assuming you are in a populated area.
3:18 Piano Man. Awesome. I like your guys' taste in music
@5:12 We should get the fortune cookies out! Jessi is such a kid X-)
So it's ok to turn of the air conditioning, but they leave the radio playing, haha nice one MotorTrend
A sweaty Jessie Lang....that is one great road trip!!! Thanks Tesla
Note: in this test, they achieved a potential range of 288 miles. They could have used AC and driven at 65 instead of 55 and still made it. The effective range in the Model S when traveling is really actually about 240 I think. However, I think I'll put 20" Pilot Sport tires on mine because they are lighter. For traveling, which I don't do often, I'll put low resistance tires on it and clear plastic covers on the rims.
Using two converted golf cart motors and controllers running through the stock VW transaxle , a bank of 20 deep cycle batteries, we actually made a functioning vehicle. The original goal was to have the vehicle fulfill its basic duties of delivering customers and picking up car parts daily. We figured we needed a 40 mile of useful range, we did not have regenerative braking that would have made a huge range extender in the Berkeley hills.
Also, an episode idea: perhaps have Brian Vance & Julia LaPalme in a video giving tips on photographing cars :)
No lights, no radio, no A/C. and no cold weather ...the range drops dramatically if you do anything. But it would be so much fun to sweat like a pig for the full 180-200 mile range.
While they were babying it, they got a 288 mile range. They should have pre-cooled and used some AC. They would have gotten a shorter range, but in comfort.
The important thing is that they made it with a large margin, proving that the Tesla Model S can be successfully "roadtripped". I'd modify mine with clear plastic wheel covers and remove the child seats when taking trips which won't be often. I can't wait until I can afford mine!
i actually enjoyed this video because the insight of them driving isn't so rehearsed and its kinda fresh and well also you cant say a video (co) hosted by jessi lang is boring :P
Was a roof camera supposed to expand the range???
Do they know how much it spoils the aerodinamic?
this car is just awesome. Design is great, range is good and the overall package, IMO is worth the money.
Batteries are liquid cooled and heated. Cold weather has very little affect, I know a lot of Roadster owners in Canada and Norway that spend a good portion of the year driving at well under 20 degrees, and Model S is even better.
As for the price, the $100k is for a completely decked out car. The base price for this range is $70k. The base price for the 40kWh pack is $50k.
The company is very small, they are limited by how many cars they can build in a year, not by how many people want it.
The same applies with gas/diesel powered vehicles... momentum is lost, and energy is transferred through friction braking and converted to heat... and in order to return to a constant velocity more energy must be used than if you had not braked... With electric motors you have constant energy flow through a potentiometer that dictates the amount of current used to accelerate, idle, or brake. Since energy from decelerating doesn't flow back to the battery, energy is lost to heat
Thats awesome....I actually passed you guys on my way back to Vegas, I was wondering why you guys were going so slow and I saw the cameras as I passed you. Now I know why lol
Power is by definition energy divided by time. So if you use the same energy over a longer period of time you will deplete the battery slower. The extreme examples are drag cars (electric or gas) that go through a charge (or $400 worth of race fuel) over a few seconds. Same energy available (a tank of gas) but spent over a shorter period equals more power and ultimately more acceleration.
Making history! Looks like a fun trip. Viva Electrique!
Model S owners are driving between Washington and Boston this weekend to show the NYT how it's done.
I can imagine how well it tuns up if Top Gear UK comes up with an electric car challenge.
You forget that the Model S is still compatible with traditional chargers through the use of an included adapter. If you leave the car at an airport, you should definitely make use of an EV-reserved spot to keep the car topped off. The "bricking" issue is a known problem with lithium battery technology in general. Letting a lithium ion battery cell drop below 3 volts has a good chance of destroying the cell, and that chance increases as the voltage continues to drop.
They already said they would have done that IF there was charging station in between and they were willing to make a stop. Right now they show how to make the LA to Vegas trip on a single charge with range to spare.
I actually did this mission 3 times in 1 month... my car has had some hard times, that's why I try to give it the best of the best even if it just a crappy se.
That is a great idea. It would be very convenient. You would need to have a some pretty serious gear to move those batteries though. They're usually several hundred pounds. That's the only way to make electric cars practical for road trips.
Jesse Vegas and a Tesla sounds like the perfect day
And, for the record......I love this car!
But then that would defeat the whole concept that they came up with for this video.
Great job, Jessi
This sounds like me in Leaf! lol! I used to weave in and out of traffic because people were driving too slow. Now it's the reverse weave to avoid faster cars behind me. lol!
Amazing what the last 8 years has become with the Model S and it's technology
This is chillest vid you guys have made :) awesome
and you both seem to be really cool ppl to hang out with ;)
It's cool to see an electric car drove that far even without a/c, impressive!
Catch Jessi dancing at 2:25. Love it...