Driving 1 mile vs. powering a 1500W electric heater.

ElectricAvenue · Jul 12, 2014

I am trying to get an idea of what 300wh/mile means.

I have a few of those small electric heaters in the house that I use in the winter time, they are rated as 1500 watts.

My Model S says that I am averaging about 300wh/mile (watt hours per mile).

Does this mean that the Tesla can go 5 miles (5x 300wh = 1500wh) with the same amount of electicity that would be used running my 1500w heater for 1 hour?

Cottonwood · Jul 12, 2014

ElectricAvenue said:
I am trying to get an idea of what 300wh/mile means.

I have a few of those small electric heaters in the house that I use in the winter time, they are rated as 1500 watts.

My Model S says that I am averaging about 300wh/mile (watt hours per mile).

Does this mean that the Tesla can go 5 miles (5x 300wh = 1500wh) with the same amount of electicity that would be used running my 1500w heater for 1 hour?

Exactly!!! Aren't units wonderful! :biggrin:

1.5 kW of power for one hour is 1.5 kWh, equal to 1,500 Wh, and that is the same energy as 1,500 Joules per second (Watts) for 3,600 seconds (60 min times 60 sec/min) or 5.4 MegaJoules!

simonog · Jul 12, 2014

Cottonwood said:
Exactly!!! Aren't units wonderful! :biggrin:

1.5 kW of power for one hour is 1.5 kWh, equal to 1,500 Wh, and that is the same energy as 1,500 Joules per second (Watts) for 3,600 seconds (60 min times 60 sec/min) or 5.4 MegaJoules!

or 22.68 million calories.

there's a catch there: the calories we use when talking food are actually 1000 scientific calories so in food calories (strictly kilocalories) your amount is 22680 calories, which is a lot of chocolate

hiroshiy · Jul 12, 2014

simonog said:
or 22.68 million calories.

there's a catch there: the calories we use when talking food are actually 1000 scientific calories so in food calories (strictly kilocalories) your amount is 22680 calories, which is a lot of chocolate

So that equates to 22680 / 210 = 108 kitkats! Oh, that now looks very small!

dhrivnak · Jul 12, 2014

I think you are forgetting charging losses which run about 20%. So you may be closer to 4 miles. But you are thinking right.

simonog · Jul 12, 2014

dhrivnak said:
I think you are forgetting charging losses which run about 20%. So you may be closer to 4 miles. But you are thinking right.

In the same time as the Tesla consumes its calories? Even my more chocoholic daughter might struggle

ElSupreme · Jul 13, 2014

Cottonwood said:
Exactly!!! Aren't METRIC units wonderful! :biggrin:

Fixed that for you.

As an engineer that actually does heat, energy, and power equations often. It is so hard to explain to people why the metric system is so much better than imperial/customary. Sure a mile isn't any harder than a km, and 5280 feet isn't that hard over 1000. But when your start combining these units together it starts to get harry.

And I know metric has some issues with energy but it isn't anything compared to the imperial/customary system.

[::END RANT::]

Cottonwood · Jul 13, 2014

ElSupreme said:
Fixed that for you.

As an engineer that actually does heat, energy, and power equations often. It is so hard to explain to people why the metric system is so much better than imperial/customary. Sure a mile isn't any harder than a km, and 5280 feet isn't that hard over 1000. But when your start combining these units together it starts to get harry.

And I know metric has some issues with energy but it isn't anything compared to the imperial/customary system.

[::END RANT::]

ALL Units are wonderful. I love that fact that a rod (also pole or perch) is 5 1/2 yards, 4 rods make a chain (Gunter's Chain), 10 chains make a furlong, and 8 furlongs make a mile; don't even get me started on links, 1/100 of a chain or 7.92 inches. Area is really fun, 1 chain by 10 chains (10 square chains) are an acre, a square furlong is 10 acres, and a square mile is 640 acres. Come on, traditional English Units keep the mind nimble; you can get lazy with all those factors of 10...toss in some 2's and 3's for added fun.

jkliu47 · Jul 13, 2014

Sounds some of us are killing time waiting for the Cup Finals to start :biggrin:

jerjozwik · Jul 13, 2014

that 210 kitkats comment blew my mind.

jerry33 · Jul 13, 2014

Cottonwood said:
ALL Units are wonderful. I love that fact that a rod (also pole or perch) is 5 1/2 yards, 4 rods make a chain (Gunter's Chain), 10 chains make a furlong, and 8 furlongs make a mile; don't even get me started on links, 1/100 of a chain or 7.92 inches. Area is really fun, 1 chain by 10 chains (10 square chains) are an acre, a square furlong is 10 acres, and a square mile is 640 acres. Come on, traditional English Units keep the mind nimble; you can get lazy with all those factors of 10...toss in some 2's and 3's for added fun.

Of course, you can always do metric this way and keep the 2s and 3s:

厘 = 0.3 mm
寸 = 3.03 cm小尺 = 29.6 cm
尺 = 30.3 cm
尺 = 18 cm (alternate reading)
周尺 = 20 cm

京間 = 197 cm

Cottonwood · Jul 13, 2014

jerry33 said:
Of course, you can always do metric this way and keep the 2s and 3s:

厘 = 0.3 mm
寸 = 3.03 cm小尺 = 29.6 cm
尺 = 30.3 cm
尺 = 18 cm (alternate reading)
周尺 = 20 cm

京間 = 197 cm

If you want to have real fun with units, let's talk slugs and blobs...

araxara · Jul 13, 2014

ElSupreme said:
But when your start combining these units together it starts to get harry.

I guess "harry" is the metric equivalent of hairy (Urban Dictionary: Things are getting hairy)

Only Trons · Jul 13, 2014

Having spent a career in the US Navy, let me add to the plethora of measurement concepts: a nautical mile is 2000 yards; a fathom is 6 feet; a shot of chain (e.g. anchor chain length) is 90 feet (or 15 fathoms). So using 300 Wh/mi as an average figure, my MS can travel on a full charge: about 249 nautical miles; or about 249000 fathoms; or about the distance of 16600 shots of anchor chain length. It all depends on your frame of reference! I enjoy telling people that my MS can travel about 249K fathoms!!

dsm363 · Jul 13, 2014

jerjozwik said:
that 210 kitkats comment blew my mind.

Did that take into account the charging losses?

tga · Jul 13, 2014

Only Trons said:
a nautical mile is 2000 yards

Or one minute of latitude when you're working with charts, so you can travel just over 4 deg of latitude/charge.

hiroshiy · Jul 14, 2014

dsm363 said:
Did that take into account the charging losses?

Actually it's 108 kitkats and yes they include some melting losses.

jerry33 · Jul 14, 2014

hiroshiy said:
Actually it's 108 kitkats and yes they include some melting losses.

But it didn't include the energy required to clean up the chocolate mess

digitaltim · Jul 18, 2014

Cottonwood said:
If you want to have real fun with units, let's talk slugs and blobs...

I like firkins and kilderkins...

Driving 1 mile vs. powering a 1500W electric heater.

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