Tesla Roadster takes 30 hours to charge from a standard wall socket
By Ryan Block 
posted July 7th 2008 1:21AM
posted July 7th 2008 1:21AM
If you've got the coin to roll deep enough to own a Tesla Roadster, we'd imagine that making sure the car gets its 8 (or fewer) hour charge from a 220v / 80A circuit (like what powers some larger home appliances) won't be a huge issue. But if not, think twice about your driving schedule with the all-electric sports car, because while you can technically power a Roadster from any standard wall outlet, the amount of draw a standard 110v / 15A plug delivers would mean a 30 hour wait to juice up your vehicle's thousand pound battery pack. Thankfully, Tesla owners have time to think over how to deal with these kinds of details, being that none of the customers who've pre-ordered a car have yet received theirs.[Via Autoblog Green]
charging it via USB is even worse
I guess a bigger thing to consider is that no paying customers have received their Teslas yet. There have been one or two deliveries to the company founders but not to the outside.
Additionally no one has confirmed the range or the recharge times yet. If you want to believe Tesla's stated figures, that's fine but real world testing from independent sources has not been done yet.
You don´t have to go to Europe to get a 220 volt outlet. We use those here in Latin America.
You mean to tell me that Ecuador, Columbia, Brazil and Bolivia aren't part of Latin America? Not to mention that *all* of Central America is 110v?
--Just yanking your chain . . .
You don´t have to go to Europe to get a 220 volt outlet. We use those here in Latin America.
It's all well and good that a new build house may have a good main circuit tested for 80A but in the UK it's not uncommon for people to be living in houses that have been around since WW2 (heck my house even has a stone larder and an outdoor toilet). A lot of people have fairly old electrical circuits that won't have experienced an 80A draw for any length of time. A good number UK circuit breakers will pop out at 100A (and there will be a reason why they're rated such).
Would you want to go to sleep in a house with potentially old wiring at near full capacity?
"Or you could plug it in to a regular outlet and come home 30 hours later.."
This car is not for cross-country driving. People who buy it will probably just take their private jet for that. Or stop by an RV park every 200 miles and use one of their high tension outlets.
Maybe instead of all this power rewiring, we could just hook it up to a gas-powered generator to recharge. Then we get all the benefits of an electric car without having to change our homes.
Jason, is that sarcasm? If so, it's too veiled--I'm actually taking you seriously. Really, if you can't see the problem with using a *gas* generator to power an electric car, then perhaps I can sell you stock in my perpetual-motion machine company.
Just pony up the $330K and buy 3 roadsters and you've got your problem solved! Drive one while the other two are charging. Sheesh!
*cricket noises*
Noone?
Fine... I'll do it...
*click*
For the motherland!
*click*
Rubber wheels in motion...
*click*
Charging!
Yes, Tesla roadster is fast, but vat is the range of hood-mounted tesla coil?!
And where is so-called Allies' response, the chrono roadster?! Now THAT'S scary...
Lack of infrastructure is not a simple matter to solve. The number of gas stations vs charging stations is one obstacle, mainly financial. Who will invest in utility upgrades, poles, cable, transformers at the gas station / charging station? Existing fuel stations when built did not require twelve + 80A 220V circuits, many would require upgrades.
It must be an advantageous business model, where the station / business owner will see a reasonable return on investment within a short enough time period to justify the investment. The public can not expect business owners (supermarkets, tech retailers, coffee shops, the local steak house etc..) to carry the burden just because it will help others become green. It is not a part of their existing business model meaning no money left over to invest in upgrades for something that has nothing to do with their core competency. Example, our local Home Depot has 4 EV charging stations in the parking lot. The cost of investing in something that is not a part of their business model was hard enough to justify. Installing 20 or more charging stations represents too significant of an expense. Cost per kwh is high enough meaning not much left over for a markup per kwh to recoup the costs.
Many gas stations are rather small, with just enough space for the pumps, trying to pack in high voltage along side flamable fuel dispensing pumps is not an easy task without some risk. So with the added safety issues, it's not a simple "install a few plugs at each gas station. An arc spells danger in close proximity to gas fumes
Many and I mean many homes in the US are still on 100A service, so with the central AC on 30A @ 220 in addition to the rest of the normal load, you will exceed the capacity of the main with the 80A @ 220 from the tesla. 30hour charge time with a 120v circuit is not realistic, no one will use this car with that charge time. If you are out the door at 630am and do not get home until 9pm the 30 hr charge time does not work.
Most facilities occupied by various businesses when built used a simple formula applied by electricans to calculate the loads and the required wire / circuit specs. Some future capacity was added in, but not enough capacity for 20 or more 80a charging stations. This means most businesses in order to provide charging stations need a new drop from the elec co., meter, permits, cable, tearing up the parking lot to lay cable & install charging stations.
When you step back and take a broad perspective, the EV's make sense on paper for emission reduction & less fossil fuel consumption but when you lay out everything required to make the supporting infrastructure as efficient as the existing gas station network, a significant number of obstacles exist. Obstacles so significant that it will inhibit the adoption of EV's by those who need it most, the daily commuters.
If solar could increase efficiency to 50%, then subsidies to businesses and consumers could be offered. Two birds with one stone so to speak, the incentive for installing the solar array is to relieve strain on the grid and to aid in creating an infrastructure for charging.
People are recieving their cars! the first 10 or so have been delieved
So, I guess I better not go to the supermarket 111 miles away. Geeez. This is not the family truckster you take to your mother-in-law's. It has a 220 mile range.
Step 1: Go drive
Step 2: Look at trip odometer
Step 3: Be back home before it says 220
People keep comparing the overall efficiency of the Tesla Roadster to 30-50mpg cars, but you have to remember that this is a performance sports car - you should instead be comparing it to other performance cars, most of which get under 20mpg
In other news today, the day is 24 hours.
Tesla stands a really good chance at staying in business for a very long time if they can stop themselves from imploding by PR hype.
I like to see the automotive industry actually advancing past the ICE for once.
or maybe if you were following someone you could run an extension cord from their lighter outlet. How many solar panels would one need to charge the thing in 8 hours?
well alex i once heard a rep for tesla state that 260 miles was possible in the tesla with "conservative" driving. so i would assume if u know ur gonna be riding close to that 220 limit u would take it easy on the peddle and not tear up the road. the 220 range on the website is an average WITH the a/c running. Thats probably adding in quick accelerations as well; which def eats up battery life. so if u only do maybe 50 mph on the high way, leave the top off, and keep the ac off u'd probably exced that 220 limit. plus jeez wouldnt u like charge it at work or something to make sure u get back jeez? or even buy a small solar panel and keep in ur trunk and then just prop it up when u get to work. maybe get another 10-15 miles out of it. damn dont some of u people want to get off gas already...