400 mile Electric Truck that Tesla should Watch out for

MNGeeks61 wrote:


And there you go, speculating on non-existent products. You even sound like a marketing guy.

How do you think they come up with airplanes, computers, etc.?

And Finance guy here but have overseen Marketing, Manufacturing Operations/Supply Chain and Sales and Corporate Strategic Planning.

My son works for Tesla, my daughter owns a Tesla and he, his brother and I own Tesla stocks. Now, there goes my bias.

I'm also an admirer of Elon Musk and know his start up story where he asked a friend to lend him $50,000 to meet payroll. The friend write it off telling himself Musk is too much far ahead of his time and he will fail. He got the first Tesla car and his money back in turn.

Reisender wrote:
Your commute is comparable to ours. Literally every EV on the market in the last 10 years would work for that even at minus 20 degrees. And even with the worst one you would only be chargin every second day. And every EV made today has the ability to charge at 120 volts. For that kind of commute 120 volt charging would be fine. Many EV owners never install a 240 plug at their house.

Reference 100 amp service. That’s what we have and we have two EVSE’s installed at our house. A 120 volt and a 240 volt. Even houses with 60 amp can make it work.

Thank you for your feedback. How's the Leaf work in really cold temps compared to a Tesla? Does it have a battery preheater?

I am constantly looking for a decent sub 5k EV, if I could convince the wife, I'd do it in a heartbeat. My $700 POC commuter car has tons of rust. When it dies, I hope to replace it with a Leaf or a Gen2 Prius (whichever gen had the battery packs last 250k miles). I haven't been able to convince her to give up her Jeep for a Kona (not that I can find one locally to test drive). But doing the math I agree with you, a commuter EV would be great for me. I could fast charge at work in the parking lot if I needed to. I think they have either a NEMA or Chademo...I have not seen any Tesla's in the parking ramp yet.

edit: They have Chargepoint level 2's

MNGeeks61 wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
It appears that the naysayers are those who have not driven an EV, don't intend to have one or can't afford one (and they tell me I'm arrogant).

I have driven EV's, high powered electric golf carts, want one, and can afford a USED EV, just not a Tesla. The problem is the cold and lack of information on how EV's really work in 0 degree or below (Fahrenheit) weather. My commute is 12 miles one way and I do not have the capability to install a 240V charger in my house (100 amp service, built in 1950) nor do I want one. I'd like to see an electric car with decent range, that doesn't require a supercharger or a 240V. I saw a video from someone who tried to charge only on 120V for a week. It might actually work for me.

Speaking of charging, why is there no hybrid based on a fuel cell engine recharging a Tesla-like battery? An intermediate. Like a Prius did wonders for EV's.

Most exciting for me for us RVers is the Tesla pick up, their sleek semis that RV manufacturers could convert -- and Elon Musk's plan to provide mega-chargers along with super chargers in their stations. And his idea of a battery-exchange for those who are in a big hurry.

And there you go, speculating on non-existent products. You even sound like a marketing guy.

Why have none of the EV folks mentioned the Solo? Or the Hyundai Kona EV or the Ioniq or i-Pace or Bolt/Volt? Or the other manufacturers who make electric cars? I'm going to "speculate" here that you all own Tesla's...

Heck, even the Rivian, which this thread was originally about, isn't being discussed much.

Frankly, all the EV folks should request their own section or something. the EV "revolution" is really not likely to impact RV's for some time.

Your commute is comparable to ours. Literally every EV on the market in the last 10 years would work for that even at minus 20 degrees. And even with the worst one you would only be chargin every second day. And every EV made today has the ability to charge at 120 volts. For that kind of commute 120 volt charging would be fine. Many EV owners never install a 240 plug at their house.

Reference 100 amp service. That’s what we have and we have two EVSE’s installed at our house. A 120 volt and a 240 volt. Even houses with 60 amp can make it work.

MNGeeks61 wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
It appears that the naysayers are those who have not driven an EV, don't intend to have one or can't afford one (and they tell me I'm arrogant).

I have driven EV's, high powered electric golf carts, want one, and can afford a USED EV, just not a Tesla. The problem is the cold and lack of information on how EV's really work in 0 degree or below (Fahrenheit) weather. My commute is 12 miles one way and I do not have the capability to install a 240V charger in my house (100 amp service, built in 1950) nor do I want one. I'd like to see an electric car with decent range, that doesn't require a supercharger or a 240V. I saw a video from someone who tried to charge only on 120V for a week. It might actually work for me.

Speaking of charging, why is there no hybrid based on a fuel cell engine recharging a Tesla-like battery? An intermediate. Like a Prius did wonders for EV's.

Most exciting for me for us RVers is the Tesla pick up, their sleek semis that RV manufacturers could convert -- and Elon Musk's plan to provide mega-chargers along with super chargers in their stations. And his idea of a battery-exchange for those who are in a big hurry.

And there you go, speculating on non-existent products. You even sound like a marketing guy.

Why have none of the EV folks mentioned the Solo? Or the Hyundai Kona EV or the Ioniq or i-Pace or Bolt/Volt? Or the other manufacturers who make electric cars? I'm going to "speculate" here that you all own Tesla's...

Heck, even the Rivian, which this thread was originally about, isn't being discussed much.

Frankly, all the EV folks should request their own section or something. the EV "revolution" is really not likely to impact RV's for some time.

They don't mention the other makers because then they can't be hatin' on Musk/Tesla.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:
It appears that the naysayers are those who have not driven an EV, don't intend to have one or can't afford one (and they tell me I'm arrogant).

I have driven EV's, high powered electric golf carts, want one, and can afford a USED EV, just not a Tesla. The problem is the cold and lack of information on how EV's really work in 0 degree or below (Fahrenheit) weather. My commute is 12 miles one way and I do not have the capability to install a 240V charger in my house (100 amp service, built in 1950) nor do I want one. I'd like to see an electric car with decent range, that doesn't require a supercharger or a 240V. I saw a video from someone who tried to charge only on 120V for a week. It might actually work for me.

Speaking of charging, why is there no hybrid based on a fuel cell engine recharging a Tesla-like battery? An intermediate. Like a Prius did wonders for EV's.

Most exciting for me for us RVers is the Tesla pick up, their sleek semis that RV manufacturers could convert -- and Elon Musk's plan to provide mega-chargers along with super chargers in their stations. And his idea of a battery-exchange for those who are in a big hurry.

And there you go, speculating on non-existent products. You even sound like a marketing guy.

Why have none of the EV folks mentioned the Solo? Or the Hyundai Kona EV or the Ioniq or i-Pace or Bolt/Volt? Or the other manufacturers who make electric cars? I'm going to "speculate" here that you all own Tesla's...

Heck, even the Rivian, which this thread was originally about, isn't being discussed much.

Frankly, all the EV folks should request their own section or something. the EV "revolution" is really not likely to impact RV's for some time.

Reisender wrote:

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Our longest return trip is never longer than about 110 KM so our car is fine for us. Our daily commute is shorter. Buy what suits your needs and use the worst case scenario. Electric cars are not the panacea for everyone but for those of us who they work for they are a huge improvement over gas/diesel vehicles and we could never go back. I spend about 6 seconds twice a week keeping my car charged. Beats the heck out of hanging around gas stations. And thats just one of many reasons we would never go back to liquid fuels.

Hope this helps.

Are you configured to access Tesla charging stations?

Seems like the sentiments of Tesla owners. If they have to replace or upgrade, they choose another Tesla.

Of course, Tesla is still on the high-end or luxury category of vehicle ownership until they can do mass production.

Hey Yosemite.

Nope. We can access any Chademo DC fast charge station but not the Supercharger system. We rarely use DC fast charging though. Maybe max half a dozen times per year in the last three years. We do 95 percent of our charging at home on either 120 or 240...depends who gets home first and gets the garage. :)

We are replacing one of our EV's with a Tesla model 3 in 2020. Great car. Keeping the leaf. Great commuter.

Looks like a good plan. I wonder why other EV manufacturers refused Tesla's offer to share their charging stations (for a fee, of course).

We have similar discussions on the other thread since closed: https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/29800758/srt/pd/pging/1.cfm

It appears that the naysayers are those who have not driven an EV, don't intend to have one or can't afford one (and they tell me I'm arrogant).

Most exciting for me for us RVers is the Tesla pick up, their sleek semis that RV manufacturers could convert -- and Elon Musk's plan to provide mega-chargers along with super chargers in their stations. And his idea of a battery-exchange for those who are in a big hurry.

Yosemite Sam1 wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Our longest return trip is never longer than about 110 KM so our car is fine for us. Our daily commute is shorter. Buy what suits your needs and use the worst case scenario. Electric cars are not the panacea for everyone but for those of us who they work for they are a huge improvement over gas/diesel vehicles and we could never go back. I spend about 6 seconds twice a week keeping my car charged. Beats the heck out of hanging around gas stations. And thats just one of many reasons we would never go back to liquid fuels.

Hope this helps.

Are you configured to access Tesla charging stations?

Seems like the sentiments of Tesla owners. If they have to replace or upgrade, they choose another Tesla.

Of course, Tesla is still on the high-end or luxury category of vehicle ownership until they can do mass production.

Hey Yosemite.

Nope. We can access any Chademo DC fast charge station but not the Supercharger system. We rarely use DC fast charging though. Maybe max half a dozen times per year in the last three years. We do 95 percent of our charging at home on either 120 or 240...depends who gets home first and gets the garage. :)

We are replacing one of our EV's with a Tesla model 3 in 2020. Great car. Keeping the leaf. Great commuter.

Reisender wrote:

Our longest return trip is never longer than about 110 KM so our car is fine for us. Our daily commute is shorter. Buy what suits your needs and use the worst case scenario. Electric cars are not the panacea for everyone but for those of us who they work for they are a huge improvement over gas/diesel vehicles and we could never go back. I spend about 6 seconds twice a week keeping my car charged. Beats the heck out of hanging around gas stations. And thats just one of many reasons we would never go back to liquid fuels.

Hope this helps.

Are you configured to access Tesla charging stations?

Seems like the sentiments of Tesla owners. If they have to replace or upgrade, they choose another Tesla.

Of course, Tesla is still on the high-end or luxury category of vehicle ownership until they can do mass production.

trailerbikecamper wrote:
The 400 mile range is great, but I'm going to use a typical winter work day for me as an example.

I leave home at about 5:40 in the dark. Many times it is either raining or wet snow. So I need headlights, wipers and heater. I then drive about 70km on a twin highway to work. The truck will then sit for about 10-1\2hrs with out the benefit of being plugged in, since there is no plugs available, for any vehicles. I then drive home in the dark, also requiring heater, headlights and many times wipers.

My question is how do the additional loads affect the range? If I get left even once on the side of the highway, I would be done with EV's.

Hope the following helos. Please feel free to ask more questions.
I'll give it to you straight up.

I'll put up a picture of our display from our present EV (first generation leaf). They have a range of 180 KM so you'll have to extrapolate for something newer like a Tesla model 3 with a range of 500 kilometers.

Generally speaking, lights and wipers draw next to nothing compared to going down the road at 100 KMH. However, the HVAC (heating/cooling) can affect your range by as much as 35 percent...or at least for our cars.

If the car is cold at lets say minus 10 ( a cold morning where we live) the heat pump/heater will draw as much as 3 KW for the first few minutes. Cars are a small space, they heat us quick. Within about 5 minutes the draw seems to drop to around half of that and 5 minutes later it drops to about half again. We use our seat heaters more and just keep the car at around 18 degrees as we usually have jackets on and it gets hot in the car quick. We also always use our heated steering wheel.

Our longest return trip is never longer than about 110 KM so our car is fine for us. Our daily commute is shorter. Buy what suits your needs and use the worst case scenario. Electric cars are not the panacea for everyone but for those of us who they work for they are a huge improvement over gas/diesel vehicles and we could never go back. I spend about 6 seconds twice a week keeping my car charged. Beats the heck out of hanging around gas stations. And thats just one of many reasons we would never go back to liquid fuels.

The pic below shows what the climate control uses and what the other systems use on a cold morning. The first 5 minutes would have been 3 times the power for the heater. You can also see what you would get back if you turn off the HVAC. Course then you'll be cold. :)

Hope this helps.

GeoBoy wrote:
...They attained a whooping 45 mph in that tunnel, couldn’t convince me to put my $100k car in that tunnel where the car rides in a sled with little wheels that run along a concrete curb!

Do you know that's a proof of concept test tunnel that's only 1.2 miles, right?