Electric Cars, WeChat Public Account “icar123”, Focus on Electric Cars, Focus on the Future of Cars
If we return to the essence of a car, I still believe that the Tesla Model S is perfect for me. It satisfies my pursuit of speed and my daily needs.
Power and Dynamic Handling
The acceleration of this car reaches the level of a sports car, with a 0-96 km/h acceleration time of only 4.2 seconds. During each acceleration, the whole car is exceptionally quiet, without any engine roar, and the infinitely variable output of the electric powertrain can make the car reach its peak without the need for gear shifting. Because there is no sound or feel of gear shifting, the driver feels that the power output is coming directly from their feet. As for passengers, they will have the illusion of being on a roller coaster.
Although the speed is fast, thanks to the 500 kg battery pack integrated into the bottom of the car, the handling of the car in turns is very stable and there is no obvious feeling of “tail flick”. In my several months of driving, whether on highways, mountain roads or uphill and downhill, this car can handle it with ease.
The Model S is a pure electric-drive car, which means it has no fuel tank, gearbox, exhaust pipe, or drive shaft running through the body, all of which usually account for about 40% of the volume in a traditional car and are typically a challenge for engineers to arrange. On the bottom of the Model S is a flat battery pack weighing about 500 kg in place of the traditional “chassis”. Between the rear wheels is a four-pole copper rotor motor about the size of a watermelon, with an output of 416 horsepower. Compared with other pure electric cars, such as Nissan’s Leaf and Chevrolet’s Volt, this durable battery pack not only guarantees longer driving range (the 85 kWh version can drive up to 480 km on a full charge, while the Leaf and Volt can only achieve 121 km and 61 km, respectively), but also has strong output (the 0-96 km/h acceleration of this Model S Performance Signature is 4.4 seconds). The flat battery pack, integrated with the body frame, also enhances the torsional rigidity of the car.
Compared with other mainstream manufacturers who are trying new battery technologies, Tesla has chosen the more mature 18650 lithium-ion battery, which has many safety considerations, as its smaller battery capacity does not pose a serious danger of explosion. However, managing nearly 7,000 battery cells is extremely challenging: Tesla adopts a layered management design–69 battery cells are connected to form a battery pack, and 9 battery packs are connected in series to form a battery block, which is then connected in series to form the entire battery pack. Each battery cell, battery pack, and battery block has a fuse, and each level will have monitoring of current, voltage, and temperature. Once the current is too large, it will immediately melt the fuse.
The Model S steering wheel has three adjustable levels of tightness: Sport, Standard, and Comfortable, from tight to loose, to meet various scenarios and preferences. The optional Air Suspension technology can also adjust the height of the suspension at any of the four heights, making it easy to handle whether you are racing on a flat road or driving on a bumpy mountain road. Unfortunately, it is not possible to adjust the suspension during driving, and we hope this will be improved in the next version.
Utility and Cost
Traditional power and transmission systems occupy 40% of the car body space, and the release of these spaces has made the Model S a truly practical family car. Without an engine, it still maintains a design like a front engine cover, called Frunk (the English word for the trunk is Trunk, Frunk means Front Trunk, I will temporarily call it the front trunk), which is large enough to hold a large suitcase and some odds and ends.
The trunk of the car can even accommodate two children if the optional rear-facing child seats are chosen! Of course, personally, I think this seat is just a gimmick. No parents would feel comfortable putting their children in this enclosed space, sitting facing backward, which is neither safe nor interesting. However, the 2.97 square meters of trunk volume is enough to make full-size luxury cars like Mercedes S (1.48 square meters) and BMW 7 (1.3 square meters) blush.
Although the price of the Model S, ranging from $60,000 to $100,000, may seem high, if we do the math, its overall ownership cost has significant advantages.
Firstly, electricity is relatively cheap, especially in California, where most public charging facilities are solar-powered and free. If calculated at $0.15 per kilometer for 25,000 kilometers per year, one can save nearly $20,000 in five years. Secondly, since there is no gas tank, transmission, and engine, there is no need for maintenance costs, such as oil changes, and the brake life is longer (if using regenerative braking). Compared to the exorbitant maintenance costs of European cars in the United States, it can save a lot of money. Thirdly, due to government support for environmental projects, this car has already received several preferential benefits when purchased: $2,500 refund from the California Center for Sustainable Energy, $7,500 federal income tax refund, free parking at Los Angeles International Airport (more than $30 per day), free parking in many city metered parking spots, and even one person can drive in the carpool lane requiring two or more people (saving time cost). After all, the overall cost of owning the car is not much more expensive than a fully equipped Mercedes E550 or BMW 550i.
Battery Anxiety
In the process of car-purchasing decisions, what often prevents people from buying an all-electric car is battery anxiety. The so-called battery anxiety is the psychological apprehension of the battery running out.
A few weeks ago, The New York Times published a review of the Model S, pointing out its rapid battery consumption in adverse weather and causing the reporter to be unable to complete the trip, ultimately having to use a tow truck. Of course, most of the data and facts in the article were later proved to be fabricated by Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. But even with Tesla’s evidence, we still need to face the issue of battery life.
To be honest, after owning the car for three months, I’ve also encountered situations where the battery almost ran out (the most critical time was when I had to turn on reserve power), but it didn’t affect my enthusiasm for electric cars. For example, the current smartphones, whether it’s the iPhone or Android, are difficult to sustain for a day, which is much worse than the 3-4 day standby time of phones in the past. Does this mean I won’t use smartphones for this reason? The answer is no, because the positive experience that smartphones give me far outweighs the negative experience of low battery life.
There are three things that can help us overcome battery anxiety:
The hardware advantage of the Model S gives us confidence
The Model S 85 kWh version has a range of up to 480 km, and even fans on the Tesla forum have claimed to have driven an extreme distance of 640 km, which is close to the design of a regular car’s fuel tank (can run 640 km on a single tank of gas), making it a very ideal and reasonable range.
The Model S supports several charging modes, among which the fastest is the proprietary Super Charger station. It uses Tesla’s unique high-voltage charging technology, with a charging peak of up to 480 km/hour (90 kWh/hour), which means you can recharge enough to drive 240 km in just 30 minutes. In the next two years, this speed is expected to double. This is a technology that other electric cars can’t compete with. You should know that the new 240V/30A J1772 station used by Leaf or Volt can only output 7.2 kWh per hour, which is less than 1/10 of the Super Charging station.
It’s worth noting that Tesla’s Supercharger is free for life, and is expected to be opened to other partners in the future, such as Mercedes and Toyota, who have already purchased the technology license.
For long-distance driving, it is more reasonable and comfortable to rest and recharge for 15-30 minutes every 2-3 hours on the highway (about 200-300 kilometers). Tesla’s goal for Supercharger stations is to solve the problem of long-distance travel within the United States. For example, the driving distance from San Diego, the southernmost part of the West Coast, to Seattle, the northernmost part, is over 2,000 kilometers, which is more than four times the range of the Model S on a single charge. Therefore, to complete a cross-coastal road trip, at least 5 or more Supercharger stations must be arranged along the way. Currently, there are only about 10 Supercharger stations in the country, but the goal within 2 years is to reach nearly 100. We believe that by then, we will be able to travel freely within the United States.
In addition to the Supercharger, Tesla also tailored Twin Charger technology for the Model S, which can guarantee twice the parallel charging speed. The optional high-voltage wall-mounted power supply can achieve a charging speed of 50 kilometers/half hour. Unfortunately, Tesla seems to have been too eager to push the Model S to the market and overlooked the production of accessories. Therefore, the high-voltage wall-mounted power supply that I ordered together with the car has not arrived yet. The car also comes with a 110V/12A ordinary plug-in charger and a 240V/50A NEMA 14-50 charger. Although the former is slow (about 5 kilometers/hour), it is convenient and can be charged anytime and anywhere. The latter is mainly used in RV parks and can achieve a charging speed of 100 kilometers/hour, which is a temporary solution for long-distance travel before the Supercharger network is fully established.
The continuously optimized infrastructure gives us confidence.The gift also includes a J1772 conversion head. J1772 is the standard for most mainstream electric vehicles. Now, many charging stations of J1772 standard have been established in city’s charging parking lots, public transportation facilities (such as railway stations, airports, etc.), power or energy companies, or service departments of car dealerships. In the United States, there are many mobile apps and websites that can quickly locate these charging stations. With this conversion head, charging can be conveniently achieved in those places. If there is always such a charging station available within every 10 kilometers, would you still worry about the battery?
Better Car Use Planning
At present, the key to solving the problem of range anxiety is still better car use planning: developing good charging habits, predicting the usage rate in advance for the next few days, planning charging points (and backup sites) for long distance trips, understanding the battery properties in depth (such as losing about 10-15 kilometers of power every day for a lithium-ion battery pack, and cold weather will accelerate power loss). These are not particularly troublesome for me.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.