USA Today

[favo]

The commenters are clearly better informed than the "journalists."

[goyogi]

"Musk got what he wanted: Acceleration in that speed band was improved 20%."

I wonder if that's going to make it to production or if that's for version 1.5

[adric22]

That statement seems a bit off. EVs tend to always have some kind of charger onboard, so basically no one installs a "charger" in their garage. An EVSE (safety interconnect) device is typically installed in a garage for any pure EV with a large pack.

Well, the thing is it is too difficult to explain to the general public. While I know very well what the difference is between a charger and an EVSE, when people ask me about our cars (We have a Leaf and a Volt) I call the EVSE a charger. The few times I've tried to make the distinction, people become confused and uninterested. The best comparison I can make is with laptop computers. Lots of people call the power adapter (power brick, transformer, etc.) a "charger" because in their mind it charges the laptop. However, the actual charger circuitry is inside the laptop. In the end it doesn't affect a person's ability to use the technology so I just don't get into it with people. It gets particularly confusing when you talk about public charging stations. By its very name, it sounds as if the public station is a "charger." And it gets even more confusing when you start trying to explain about the 480V DC chargers, because in this case the charger is not in the car, but rather in the charging station. It is really just too much fine detail for the average consumer to be expected to understand. It would be like expecting the average consumer to know the difference between a serpentine belt or a timing belt. 99% of drivers have no idea which does what, but it doesn't stop them from driving the car.

[TEG]

If more people use the correct terminology eventually it will become common knowledge and "everyone else" will get it.

Perpetuating the wrong terms does a disservice to those who are eager to learn about this stuff.

[Tommy]

And as more people find out that the "charger" they paid big $'s for is really just a connector there will be pressure to lower the cost of these devices. This is reason enough to use the correct terminology.

[jerry33]

And as more people find out that the "charger" they paid big $'s for is really just a connector there will be pressure to lower the cost of these devices. This is reason enough to use the correct terminology.

+1 Works for me.

[vfx]

I state that (the car) it can plug into any wall plug. If they seem taken aback (cause they are paying attention) I say "with an adapter".

This is a simple way of saying no charger needed.

[daniel]

I just viewed the link. I think he's partially right. But babying the car isn't the answer(IMHO). We don't know about the lifetime of the batteries overall. However Tesla is convinced (and I believe it) that battery longevity in terms of miles will be great. When I get my Model S, I intend to drive it as much as possible. I'm convinced I could drive up to 200kmiles in 8 years (with the 85kW-h pack, if I had the time and desire) without undue battery degradation. For me, the questions are "How much do the batteries degrade over time? Will the batteries die suddenly after 7 or 8 years? Has anyone done any long term testing on the shelf life of this chemistry?"

I just stumbled on this thread. Interesting that the USA Today article was pretty good overall, considering, but the comments were mostly idiotic, while the Bloomberg piece was idiotic, but the comments were pretty good (at least the few I read).

The batteries are indeed the biggest question mark. The chemistry is too new to have solid longevity data. I am optimistic, but until there is solid data, many consumers will be wary. But sudden battery death is extremely uncommon. There will be a few, because anything that can happen, will happen occasionally. But the major mode of battery failure will be a gradual decline in range until the car no longer goes far enough to meet your needs.

I drive my Roadster on a daily basis. I don't drive a lot of miles per year, and my annual nearly thousand mile summer hiking road trip up to Canada is in the Prius, so I put on only 3,600 miles in my first year. But that was ALL my driving, except for the summer trip, parking at the airport, and hauling recycling. HOWEVER, Tesla told me there are 4 other Roadsters in this area and I've never seen any of them except one on display once at the country fair. I wonder if the others drive theirs much. Some folks buy a nice car just because they want it, then take it out a few times a year. So there are both kinds.

I believe these batteries will last longer than anticipated. But nobody really knows. Three years on the road is just too short a time.