Tesla’s Petrol Backup
October 15, 2023
By Paul Homewood
A picture paints a thousand words!!!
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“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert”. – J Robert Oppenheimer.
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NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT 
It does, doesn’t it Paul ! 🙂 ( no picter tae see here – but I ken fit it’ll be )
As the picture didn’t appear, I opted to look up “saighdear” as it has puzzled a thick quarter English, quarter Scot and half Italian mongrel like me what it actually meant! So are you a soldier or an archer which the google men say it means?
Well that depends on the size of the “Thick Quarter” 😉 Yes I seem to be fighting “The System” for my sins and as for the Archer: consider the target in view at the time. I prefer the idea of a 303 and the stealth factor but sometimes you are caught short and if there’s a shaft + some Baler twine, so be it. See how you get on here:
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/index.htm
No picture and link does not show either
Likewise
So … since each word is worth 1/1000 of a picture, and there are 6 words in your post, can we assume that you’re showing us 6/1000 of a picture?
w.
Chris Packham has corrupted your comp!
The Harris Ranch Supercharger between San Francisco and Los Angeles provides plenty of charging spots (98) for folks making the six-hour journey between the two cities, but one journalist found that the site isn’t connected to any claimed solar farms and that the Superchargers are supplemented by a diesel plant (hidden from those thinking that they are “saving the world”).
Behind the Shell station possible.
How many miles is the “six-hour journey”? if six hundred, an EV would need charging at least three times, while a diesel or petrol car would only need filling once and would still have range left without refilling at all on the way
” How many miles is the “six-hour journey”? if six hundred, …. ”
A steady ton for six hours on a tank of fuel? Probably achievable if no big hills and no head wind, but what car? Would need to be “slippery” , almost certainly a diesel. The diesel “ecoboxes” I’ve driven over the years would generally struggle to hold a steady ton over a long distance.
The Trident Iceni would surely be a certainty to achieve this, but I don’t think any were ever completed 😦 Visually resembles some TVRs, but fitted with a 6.6 litre diesel engine.
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/trident-iceni-diesel-sports-car-revealed
My point wasn’t really the actual speed, but more the fact that whatever the speed, the electric car is not going to make that journey without multiple recharges (each of which takes a long time), yet the diesel or petrol vehicle would not have to refill on the way and would still have range left.
Think about it. 200 miles range for an EV, maybe 300 but not more as compared with 750 for an almost ten year old diesel and the newer diesels have even better ranges.
>>A steady ton for six hours
Behind the Shell station there is allegedly a hydrogen refuelling point. Perhaps there is an electrolyser hidden somewhere? There are a pair of large fuel storage tanks behind the ARCO on the other side of the junction
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Kv9mpdxF9nGpVqc56
Where is it?
Try this for picture https://wattsupwiththat.com/2023/10/03/the-irony-of-green-charging-stations-the-harris-ranch-tesla-supercharger-station/
Where? At Coalinga – about half way between the 2 cities above.
Is it the picture you wanted to post?
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/alahdal_electric-cars-are-the-best-having-a-backup-activity-6974687836910354432-sA15
A good solution to the problem of a battery car but the problem could also be solved by buying a proper car.
Maybe, but what if you need to tow a normal trailer or caravan?
It still beats me why people spend money on EVs that are LESS practical then proper cars with petrol and diesel engines.
>>A good solution to the problem of a battery car but the problem could also be solved by buying a proper car.
Totally.
Using an ICE car would be the more practical, cost effective and overall less polluting choice. But with a regular car, you can’t show to the world how virtuous you are. 😉
That’s the sort of thing I envisioned when I read the title, Marc. I thought trailer, but this is more tidy.
A Tesla cannot be charged while driving. But bringing a generator along with some jerrycans of petrol would enable you to charge it yourself. Or it’s just a security blanket.
For the next charge, do you pull your Tesla into a petrol station to fill up? Or do you go to an electric charging station? Decisions!
Gamecock wants to know
1. How many miles to a gallon does he get?
2. Those look like 4-5 gallon cans. How many charges can he get?
3. How long does it take to charge (That’s a rather large portable generator!)?
4. Is that platform, with generator and jerrycans, rated to carry that much load?
Gamecock thinks it is overloaded, so this really isn’t practical.
I reckon that generator is 5kW at best. So charging from it for an hour will get you about 15miles. Surely it’s a joke photograph.
Agreed, Ray. It’s staged.
Please upload the pic Paul, it didn’t come through.
Thanks DH
https://i0.wp.com/wattsupwiththat.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/image-1.png?resize=768%2C637&ssl=1
No vehicles at the charging stations. Not open yet. Diesel generators may be for testing. I can’t find any current photos.
But I’m more interested in volume of usage. Google Maps shows double-ought zero cars charging at the original SC station in front of the steak house.
Why would you build 98 more stations when what you have are underutilized?
The thing that really puzzled me about the Harris Ranch supercharger was the pattern of use. Nothing at peak afternoon rush hour. Maximum around midnight. I guess it’s about time of use charging, or a perverse result of people assuming that they’d have a long wait if they were charging in late afternoon. The nearby petrol stations have steady business throughout the day, dropping off overnight.
https://i0.wp.com/wattsupwiththat.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Screenshot_20231004-162517_Maps-1696433402.7543.jpg?fit=800%2C1078&ssl=1
Try the link again.
Thx. The graph shows usage pattern, but it doesn’t have a y-axis scale. Do they say how many cars are charging?
It’s from Google maps. There is no scale, but it is surely extraordinary that they record no use at all between 4p.m. and 7p.m.
I conclude the chargers are for the hotel guests, with little use by highway traffic.
It’s currently the world’s largest Tesla Supercharger site with 98 stations, about half way between SF and LA on I5. There are 4 gas stations at the same junction which is in the middle of nowhere, 13 miles from Coalinga. It’s all about the passing traffic on the Interstate. The restaurant is a pricey $100 a head.
Found it on Google Maps. Chart you show is for Tuesdays. Drop down selection for different days shows radically different patterns day-to-day. There might be a PhD available for analyzing the patterns.
Me thinks Paul is showing us an Andy Warhol painting.
No, The Emperors’ New Clothes, surely.
See, Paul, we told you wordpress was messed up!
Interesting! How should we interpret this? Is it a good thing there are charging stations for EVs or is it a good thing that no EVs are charging with petrol power?
It looks like wordpress changes don’t allow embedded images from the cloud, the Stones wrote a song about that !
It’s worth remembering that all of the alternative energy sources (renewables) are delivered and installed using conventional ICE vehicles. That means petrol. Gasolines or renewable biofuels.
Just seen that VOLTA trucks , [ makers of electric commercials ] has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden , and will do the same for its English branches .
It employs about 600 people in the UK .
A picture’s worth a thousand words but bugger all if you can’t see it.
A pictures worth a thousand words but bu***r all if you can’t see it.
The picture refers to a Tesla support vehicle filling up with diesel.
I’ve seen pictures of diesel generators charging EVs at the roadside, diesel generators the other side of the fence from EV charge points. You don’t see it the other way around though, do you.
12 Tesla pics here…
https://tesla-calendar.com/