Tesla's to unveil $35K Model in 2016; will go on sale in 2017

[frunk]

Finding a place to charge the electric car is going to be a huge nightmare.  Deal-breaker, even. 

US$40k is pretty close to the limit of how much I can spend on a car.  That really punches a hole in the balance sheet.  Can't imagine someone spending US$100k on a car.

Good thing this model will only cost $35k.

A city like Hong Kong is the perfect enviornment for an electirc car. You can't drive more than 200 miles in one go and finding a charging station will be much easier than it would be in a rural area.

I can probably get a much better car for the same price. 

A city like Hong Kong is very unsuitable for electric cars, because there is no space to build the charging stations.

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

[Monoriu]

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car? 

[garbon]

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car? 

Quick search says 3.5 hours for Tesla Roadster and 8 hours for Nissan Leaf.

[jimmy olsen]

There is no way I will spend that kind of money on an unproven technology.

They sold 22,477 in North America and Europe last year and was named car of the year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S#Sales_and_markets

How is it unproven?

There has to be a reason why the vast majority of the cars still run on petroleum.  Besides, how many cars did they sell in Hong Kong in the past, say, 5 years?  I have a vague suspicion that the number is something close to zero.

Are you being purposefully dense? That's like asking in 1905 why most people still ride horses if cars are so great.

The electric car is the wave of the future and in 10-15 years they'll be dominant.

[Monoriu]

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car? 

Quick search says 3.5 hours for Tesla Roadster and 8 hours for Nissan Leaf.

Then it is absolutely out of the question to install the rechargers in a petroleum station.  All petroleum stations in HK are full service ones - because they need to ensure that each car only takes 5-10 minutes to refuel.  There is no space to let a car stay in a petroleum station for hours.  In this case, the only way this will work is if they install individual chargers in all carparks, not at the petroleum station.  Good luck with that.  None of the multi-storey carparks built so far have taken space for rechargers into consideration. 

[jimmy olsen]

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car? 

Quick search says 3.5 hours for Tesla Roadster and 8 hours for Nissan Leaf.

The article I posted said that they were installing new stations that will charge a car in an hour.

[garbon]

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car? 

Quick search says 3.5 hours for Tesla Roadster and 8 hours for Nissan Leaf.

Then it is absolutely out of the question to install the rechargers in a petroleum station.  All petroleum stations in HK are full service ones - because they need to ensure that each car only takes 5-10 minutes to refuel.  There is no space to let a car stay in a petroleum station for hours.  In this case, the only way this will work is if they install individual chargers in all carparks, not at the petroleum station.  Good luck with that.  None of the multi-storey carparks built so far have taken space for rechargers into consideration. 

More searching says there are quick charge stations that can get Leaf to 80% in 30 minutes.

[garbon]

They take up about the same space as an air pump.  It's easy enough to add to existing gas stations.  It's just electricity, just like you have in your house.  It isn't some space age new power source.

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car? 

Quick search says 3.5 hours for Tesla Roadster and 8 hours for Nissan Leaf.

The article I posted said that they were installing new stations that will charge a car in an hour.

I don't read your articles.

[frunk]

How long does it take to fully charge an electric car?

It depends, if it's plugged into household current (depending on configuration) anywhere from 5-62 miles per hour of charge.  The supercharging stations can get you fully charged in 30 minutes (with ~70% charged in 20 minutes).

[Monoriu]

More searching says there are quick charge stations that can get Leaf to 80% in 30 minutes.

Still far too long.  A typical petroleum station in Hong Kong has about four pumps in two lanes.  Unless the first car in each lane leaves the station, all the cars in the same lane will have to wait.  30 minutes for each recharge session is impractical.  Imagine if you are the 4th car in line waiting.

[frunk]

Still far too long.  A typical petroleum station in Hong Kong has about four pumps in two lanes.  Unless the first car in each lane leaves the station, all the cars in the same lane will have to wait.  30 minutes for each recharge session is impractical.  Imagine if you are the 4th car in line waiting.

I'm assuming most people in Hong Kong aren't driving more than 200 miles each day, so they should be able to get a regular household line to the car and charge it overnight.  No need to go to the station.

[Monoriu]

Are you being purposefully dense? That's like asking in 1905 why most people still ride horses if cars are so great.

The electric car is the wave of the future and in 10-15 years they'll be dominant.

A car is obviously much better than a horse.  So there is incentive to build the necessary infrastructure to support cars.   

An electric car isn't that much better than a car that runs on petroleum.  In many aspects, it is probably worse.  I already have very little incentive to buy one.  And I certainly don't see people building the infrastructure necessary to support electric cars, because it isn't like there is anything wrong with petroleum cars.  There is a chicken and egg problem there.  Unless there is a critical mass of electric cars, nobody is going to build the infrastructure.  But if there is no infrastructure, nobody is going to buy the cars. 

[Monoriu]

Still far too long.  A typical petroleum station in Hong Kong has about four pumps in two lanes.  Unless the first car in each lane leaves the station, all the cars in the same lane will have to wait.  30 minutes for each recharge session is impractical.  Imagine if you are the 4th car in line waiting.

I'm assuming most people in Hong Kong aren't driving more than 200 miles each day, so they should be able to get a regular household line to the car and charge it overnight.  No need to go to the station.

I don't think you understand what a typical carpark in Hong Kong looks like.  We don't live in houses, so we don't have garages.  We live in housing estates, and there can be 20,000 people in 8 buildings.  We park our cars in large underground or multi-storey carparks.  Like your mall carparks but they are indoor.  You can't just add the chargers there, because there is no space to put them.  The carparks aren't built with the chargers in mind. 

[Monoriu]

Like this.  This is how most people park our cars overnight in Hong Kong, only indoor and more congested.  They want to introduce electric cars in HK?  Either figure out a way to install chargers and wires and machines in the above set up, or shorten the recharging times to 10 minutes so that they can install the chargers at the petroleum stations. 

[Jaron]

How can you stand to live in such tightly packed space, Mono?