Travel from Northeast to WDW via Electric Car

[Ms.Minnie]

The distance from my home to WDW is approximately 1,030 miles. How would that work traveling in an electric car? The best mileage I can see is on a Tesla model S that gets approximately 335 miles on a full charge. It looks like it takes between 30 minutes (partial charge) to 1 hour to fully charge the battery at a Tesla supercharging station. So how does this work? It seems to me that an electric car would make the trip much more difficult, wasting time along the way to get your car charged. I’m thinking electric cars are not designed for long distance travel.

Does anyone out there have an electric car that they have used on a long distance trip? How did it workout for you?

 

[TippyThomas]

I always thought that electric cars were geared more towards the commuter crowd, not long distance driving.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I always thought that electric cars were geared more towards the commuter crowd, not long distance driving.

Ok so if that’s true I guess if you wanted to do long distance travel you would need a second car?

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Ok so if that’s true I guess if you wanted to do long distance travel you would need a second car?

Or wait 10 years for a better battery, yeah.

Range is the big downfall of electric right now.

 

[VandVsmama]

Ok so if that’s true I guess if you wanted to do long distance travel you would need a second car?

Yes

 

[TDR32]

I have been a tesla fan for many years (still saving up to buy one). If you think about the time it will take you do drive 300 miles you could stop at lunch and supercharge while eating. Top up while getting a snack and then get a big charge at dinner. If you stop overnight there are many places that offer charging so the battery is full in the morning. It will take a little bit longer but it wouldn't add another day of travel.

There are very knowledgeable tesla fan forums that can give you a much better response than mine. I will note that I don't see the same type of charging network for other car brands yet. Also, if you only stopped for a really quick fill-up while driving then electric will not work right now.

 

[TDR32]

Or wait 10 years for a better battery, yeah.

Range is the big downfall of electric right now.

I think it is a chicken and egg issue. If you have a bigger battery than it will take longer to charge. If you can increase the charging speed to better match a fill-up with a similar range the scales can really start to tip.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Yes I can see that. I do think there are other issues such as cost of vehicles, cost of new battery if you should need to replace one. My DH still drives a 2001 F150, not an everyday driver but it comes in handy. We tend to keep our cars for a while, we don’t like car payments.

 

[bcla]

I think it is a chicken and egg issue. If you have a bigger battery than it will take longer to charge. If you can increase the charging speed to better match a fill-up with a similar range the scales can really start to tip.

Yeah - but the deal is that one runs into a daily limit on how far one can drive safely. So then it gets to the point where one can take a break and just charge up. Ideally it would be at a hotel parking lot or garage.

It wouldn't really be that hard to increase range with a bigger battery, but that would reduce usable space and then there's the aspect of using energy to move more weight around that would reduce efficiency. I think some of the talk about commercial tractors is that they might be the size of a typical sleeper cab tractor, but where that space consists of batteries.

And the one thing most people don't understand about charging stations is that they don't really consider them to be parking spots. There's supposed to be a limit to how long one can park at one once the vehicle is fully charged, and then they'll start charging extra for it. It's supposed to help with making charging stations available. I suppose it's possible for someone to just go there and disconnect while staying at the parking spot, but that's not considered good form.

 

[bcla]

Yes I can see that. I do think there are other issues such as cost of vehicles, cost of new battery if you should need to replace one. My DH still drives a 2001 F150, not an everyday driver but it comes in handy. We tend to keep our cars for a while, we don’t like car payments.

The price of batteries is going down. At least in my state the batteries are considered an emissions component so they have to be warrantied for 10 years and 150K miles. There's another thing about electric vehicles, which is that they barely need any maintenance. Electric motors tend to be extremely reliable and pretty much maintenance free. But if it does fail, then that's going to be pretty pricey to fix.

There's also the possibility of reducing the maximum charge in order to make the battery last longer. I've heard of some estimates that if the battery range is intentionally programmed to stop charging about 80% of maximum, the battery could last up to 20 years of normal driving. Rechargeable batteries last much longer if the extreme charge range is avoided. That might work for someone who is just using one as a daily driver. However, the charge limit can be programmed higher occasionally.

 

[bcla]

Ok so if that’s true I guess if you wanted to do long distance travel you would need a second car?

Well - the usual answer is to rent a car when you need it. But most people these days fly in and then rent a car at their destination. There are a lot of people who buy more car than they really need. Overall it makes sense to just rent a work pickup from U-Haul than it to buy one. I guess there's no accounting for pride of ownership though.

 

[mrsstats79]

We have an electric car. I would never consider taking it on a long trip. Not enough charging stations around. We did have a plug in which was gas and electric so we did not have to rely on charging. We took the car to Atlantic City. The casino we stayed at had 1 charging spot and the same care remained parked there for the 2 days we were there. Also, he have seen at Tanger Outlets where gas cars just park in the spots for the charging stations.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Well - the usual answer is to rent a car when you need it. But most people these days fly in and then rent a car at their destination. There are a lot of people who buy more car than they really need. Overall it makes sense to just rent a work pickup from U-Haul than it to buy one. I guess there's no accounting for pride of ownership though.

Thanks, I hadn’t thought about renting a car, that would make sense for some but I don’t think that would work for us. We go for at least 3 weeks now and take way more “stuff” then I would be able to take on a plane. At this point I’m over the whole flying thing unless of course I was going overseas.

Is there a cost to charging your car at the charging station?

 

[Ms.Minnie]

We have an electric car. I would never consider taking it on a long trip. Not enough charging stations around. We did have a plug in which was gas and electric so we did not have to rely on charging. We took the car to Atlantic City. The casino we stayed at had 1 charging spot and the same care remained parked there for the 2 days we were there. Also, he have seen at Tanger Outlets where gas cars just park in the spots for the charging stations.

Yes the electric/gas combo is another option and what appears may be the better option at this time for long distance car travel. May I ask what car you had? Did you have it long and were you happy with it?

 

[trivan]

Go to the tesla site and map out the route (assuming you have a tesla given you mentioned an Model S). Go Anywhere | Tesla
Given the time it takes for fully charge the battery verse filling up a gas tank, it will take you longer unless you planned on stopping in the evening to charge up verses driving straight through.

 

[bcla]

Thanks, I hadn’t thought about renting a car, that would make sense for some but I don’t think that would work for us. We go for at least 3 weeks now and take way more “stuff” then I would be able to take on a plane. At this point I’m over the whole flying thing unless of course I was going overseas.

Is there a cost to charging your car at the charging station?

I was thinking of renting a car for a trip. We have working cars, but my wife has insisted that we rent a car when driving to Southern California.

As for charging for energy - it depends, but usually yes. All of them communicate with the charging provider and you're supposed to have some sort of account (with a credit card on file) in order to use it. And there are several systems and each one will need an account.

Tesla had the great benefit when they initially came out with their charging stations. Charging is free if the Tesla vehicle was purchased before a certain date. They said it wasn't sustainable and may have encouraged wasteful use of resources. They also brought it back when some vehicles weren't selling. If a Tesla was sold with free charging included, it's included for life. Some might also buy a used vehicle that came with free charging when sold new, as the free charging plan transfers to the new owner.

https://electrek.co/2020/05/27/tesla-removes-free-supercharging-model-s-x/

Their charging stations aren't compatible with any other vehicles. I test drove a Tesla once, and the Tesla employee (they're not sales specifically) showed us the adapters they provide to use with other charging systems. Not sure what the price is now. They also have different charging speeds. I believe it's up to two charging connectors per station, and having both connected might slow it down with some of their setups. Also Tesla may charge by the kWh, but some of their systems charge by time connected.

I think it gets really complicated with Tesla. They have variable rates and not all their chargers are high speed Superchargers. I heard something about a limited amount of free charging if someone is on a trip away from home. Even if charging is free, I believe they will start charging money if it's connected and stopped charging for a certain period of time. They want the customer to remove it and move so that another vehicle can charge. This is similar with other charging systems.

I've heard of a few places that have maybe one or two hours of free charging subsidized by the host. An example would be some ChargePoint charging stations at Target parking lots where they provide two hours of free charging. I looked up one I've seen before (Fremont, CA Target store) with ChargePoint Level 2 chargers at 5 kW. After that it's $2 per hour. At that charging rate, a Nissan Leaf with a 40 kWh battery should take about 8 hours to fully charge, although most people will be traveling short distances and topping off. There are also faster chargers.

Hope I didn't bore you with all the useless information. It's actually quite complicated. However, Tesla has a great infrastructure with its charging stations - especially that they're faster than most other commercial charging setups.

 

[Ms.Minnie]

I was thinking of renting a car for a trip. We have working cars, but my wife has insisted that we rent a car when driving to Southern California.

As for charging for energy - it depends, but usually yes. All of them communicate with the charging provider and you're supposed to have some sort of account (with a credit card on file) in order to use it. And there are several systems and each one will need an account.

Tesla had the great benefit when they initially came out with their charging stations. Charging is free if the Tesla vehicle was purchased before a certain date. They said it wasn't sustainable and may have encouraged wasteful use of resources. They also brought it back when some vehicles weren't selling. If a Tesla was sold with free charging included, it's included for life. Some might also buy a used vehicle that came with free charging when sold new, as the free charging plan transfers to the new owner.

https://electrek.co/2020/05/27/tesla-removes-free-supercharging-model-s-x/

Their charging stations aren't compatible with any other vehicles. I test drove a Tesla once, and the Tesla employee (they're not sales specifically) showed us the adapters they provide to use with other charging systems. Not sure what the price is now. They also have different charging speeds. I believe it's up to two charging connectors per station, and having both connected might slow it down with some of their setups. Also Tesla may charge by the kWh, but some of their systems charge by time connected.

I think it gets really complicated with Tesla. They have variable rates and not all their chargers are high speed Superchargers. I heard something about a limited amount of free charging if someone is on a trip away from home. Even if charging is free, I believe they will start charging money if it's connected and stopped charging for a certain period of time. They want the customer to remove it and move so that another vehicle can charge. This is similar with other charging systems.

I've heard of a few places that have maybe one or two hours of free charging subsidized by the host. An example would be some ChargePoint charging stations at Target parking lots where they provide two hours of free charging. I looked up one I've seen before (Fremont, CA Target store) with ChargePoint Level 2 chargers at 5 kW. After that it's $2 per hour. At that charging rate, a Nissan Leaf with a 40 kWh battery should take about 8 hours to fully charge, although most people will be traveling short distances and topping off. There are also faster chargers.

Hope I didn't bore you with all the useless information. It's actually quite complicated. However, Tesla has a great infrastructure with its charging stations - especially that they're faster than most other commercial charging setups.

Thanks for all the information, I appreciate it. So it's not clear cut but appears to be much cheaper than gas, I guess that's the point. Of course when charging at home your utility bill will be affected. The utility company will need to use fossil fuel to generate the gas, if this is the case are we really using less fossil fuel?

I think if we are to convert to electric cars they should have a standard charging system so everyone can charge at every station. We can't have say 15 or more different types of charging stations, that would be a mess. It's like regular cars that have their gas tanks on either side of the car. IMHO it would be better if they were all on the side of the car. Years ago I was getting gas and pulled up to the pump so the side my tank was on was next to the pump. An older man pulled up facing me and got out of his car to yell at me saying “didn’t I know I was in America and I was on the wrong side of the pump?” It was pretty strange as I was driving an American made car...

 

[adkkev]

There are a number of YouTube videos describing long distance travel with electric car and how they dealt with the cars’ range, how they mapped out their route, and what they did while the car was charging. There are maps available on line that show you where all the charging stations are across the country. One of the results of the VW diesel fiasco was that VW had to invest a large amount of $$$ in creating and expanding the electric charging station network. So that is and will continue to help increase the number of charging stations across the country. (and help push sales of their i4 electric vehicle)

With regards to charging and the potential increase in the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation, a lot depends upon where you live. For example, in New York State, quite a bit of the electricity generation is from hydroelectric plants as well as nuclear, wind, solar, and natural gas.

And I don’t quite understand the fascination with Tesla cars. Several of the reviews I have seen indicate that the build quality of their cars is a bit subpar, especially for the price of the cars. But that’s something for each person to decide upon.

 

[kdonnel]

The utility company will need to use fossil fuel to generate the gas, if this is the case are we really using less fossil fuel?

Using less is not the benefit.

A few power plants that consolidate the emissions and allow for aggressive emission control is WAY better than millions of tail pipes all emitting at much higher rates than a modern power plant.

The conversion to electric lawn mowers is also extremely important for the same reason.

According to EPA statistics, 33 gasoline lawn mowers produce as much pollution as a car produces all year.

 

[starwart]

Electric cars are not convenient for long distance driving yet. Right now hybrid cars is still the way to go for longer distance driving. I’m still hoping and waiting for hydrogen fuel powered cars, which are far more cleaner and greener , to become mainstream.