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Range Anxiety Study

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Tesla just announced their "Perpetual Connector" on their Facebook page this past Friday, April 1st: It apparently solves ALL Range Anxiety issues.:wink:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=10150163680612801&id=18790602800&aid=305788

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Range anxiety, unfortunately it is real.

I am now the happy owner of a Tesla, in the NE corner of Tennessee. Knoxville at 112 miles away is the home of our local EV club and many active clean air proponents I like to support when possible. But to drive there and back at 224 miles I found can be challenging. My first trip down I had great weather and made it there averaging less than 230 w/mile so no real problem getting back.

The second trip I took my wife (not that much extra weight) for an Earth Fest event and the weather was terrible. There was a lot of rain and a good headwind on the way down and even though I drove a steady 50 mph I used 290 w/mile. My wife was very anxious about getting back. I was able to charge (110V) while at the event but the charge rate is VERY slow.

Heading back I had to run the lights and heat and we barely made it back. The low battery light was on and I was in reduced power. The bottom line I found that many things outside of my control can affect performance on a long trip. I am eagerly awaiting the J1772 adapter so I can carge at a reasonable rate when in Knoxville.

So even with 245 (ideal) miles i found I had range anxiety when the conditions were far from ideal.
 
224 miles is a stretch at highway speeds. The J1772 adapter will pretty much solve your problem since you can at least find a 30A charger there I'm sure. Can't wait until it finally comes out.
 
You just need to understand the real world limits of your vehicle, and never count on ideal range numbers, since the world is rarely ideal. You should probably consider the Roadster to have a 200 mile range to be safe and allow for detours and unforeseen circumstances.
 
There is definitely a component of unfamiliarity that fuels range anxiety. The funny thing for me is that after my last move I drove a Boxster for two months before getting the Tesla — and experienced far more range anxiety with the ICE! I'd forget that I was low the day before and leave the house wi enough time to get to work, but not enough time to take a detour for gas. I've also driven the same stretch years ago and there's no gas for 10+ miles of windy mountain road on which there are frequent mud slides and wrecks. I've run an ICE nearly dry on that road more than once having to idle in traffic for half an hour I hadn't planned on.

... but now I leave the house every single day with a full (standard) charge. It's incredibly freeing.