The Tesla Motors patent wall is now empty

[Elkhound Odin]

Until you can "fill up" an electric charge as fast a pumping gas into the tank, mini marts aren't going to be an option.

What we really need is mass conversion to utilize all that sweet natural gas we are drilling the heck out of.

[Hugh Conway]

Because gas stations actually don't make money on fuel, they make their money on the mini mart sales. $1.50 for a 16oz bottle of water? What kind of markup is that? The idea is if you have an electric car charging station, you will attract more customers to your profitable business, and they're going to hang out there for a while.

The problem is there aren't enough electric cars on the road for businesses to make the investment in infrastructure to attract the small number of customers. Tesla is trying to change the market by providing the technology.

part of the attraction to Tesla's - from talking to owners around/party spew - is that they never have to go to a gas station. Ever. They "fill up" at home/work

[Tippster]

Until you can "fill up" an electric charge as fast a pumping gas into the tank, mini marts aren't going to be an option.

What we really need is mass conversion to utilize all that sweet natural gas we are drilling the heck out of.

The vast majority of drivers go less than 100miles/day. An electric car with a 300 mile/full charge range, like the Tesla, is more than enough for them. Tesla's superchargers are pretty cool too - 20 minutes for another 150 miles - just go take a shit and have a sammich. When was the last time you needed to go more than 450 miles before sleeping? Unlike needing to go get gas you simply plug your car in at the end of the day and it's fully charged by the time you wake up.

A coworker has a Chevy Volt. They recently flushed the gas tank because in the 18 months they'd owned the car it still had more than half of the original tank of gas and they were afraid it had gone bad.

[systemoverblow'd]

I'm already seeing a couple random charging stations added to parking lots in Boston.

[DJSapp]

Until you can "fill up" an electric charge as fast a pumping gas into the tank, mini marts aren't going to be an option.

My point was it's not the fuel, whether gasoline or electricity, that is not the actual profit center. The fuel is just an attraction to get the customer to the actual profit center.

When your diners, local strip malls and grocery stores have lines of electric chargers charging enough of a fee to cover costs is when the electric car will win. Just catering to a handful of Tesla's on the road isn't going to make businesses take on that expense.

[Hugh Conway]

some yuppie grocery stores in the bay area (and elsewhere) and various other asshole accoutrement suppliers have electric vehicle chargers right now. that and the EV only parking spots and HOV lane bullshit just reinforce the narcissistic asshole appeal of this shit. Besides a stupid hippy driving a LEAF paying $1 extra for their arugula takes a long time to pay off an investment.

the really cool gas stations are moving beyond cocacola to nerd beers (see: growler thread)

[systemoverblow'd]

Funny, we did a "Wheels Up" episode that featured the first Leaf in the country and the Audi R8 (with a cameo of that crazyfast electric Porsche) in San Fran. Sounds about right.

[BmillsSkier]

some yuppie grocery stores in the bay area (and elsewhere) and various other asshole accoutrement suppliers have electric vehicle chargers right now. that and the EV only parking spots and HOV lane bullshit just reinforce the narcissistic asshole appeal of this shit. Besides a stupid hippy driving a LEAF paying $1 extra for their arugula takes a long time to pay off an investment.

the really cool gas stations are moving beyond cocacola to nerd beers (see: growler thread)

You can't find an apartment complex, retail complex, or similar around here without running into charging stations, and EV parking spots. Lots of curbside charging spots too.

What pisses me off is when I'm paying to park in your mixed use garage, to shop at your stores and eat at your tenant's restaurants you can go fuck yourself with the EV only parking. I back my premium fuel sucking suv into those spots with pride when I can't find a spot elsewhere.

[DJSapp]

some yuppie grocery stores in the bay area (and elsewhere) and various other asshole accoutrement suppliers have electric vehicle chargers right now. that and the EV only parking spots and HOV lane bullshit just reinforce the narcissistic asshole appeal of this shit. Besides a stupid hippy driving a LEAF paying $1 extra for their arugula takes a long time to pay off an investment.

That's my exact point Hugh. Right now it is only in the narcissistic assholes of the world and not the mainstream, which is why it will fail without help. By making the technology available to the mainstream manufacturers, it will get more cars out into the hands of the filthy unwashed masses, and it will get more use. More use => more infrastructure => more buyers willing to switch to electric => reduced costs => more use. Musk sees the big picture here, without widespread manufacturing and infrastructure, it will remain as a niche product for assholes.

As for narcissists:

The city of Davis has a couple EV only charging spots floating around, as well as some "Hybrid or Alternative fuel vehicle parking only" spots. I've double parked my 4x4 F150 crewcab in those alt-fuel spots before. It's an eco-boost. It counts! IT SAYS ECO! Fuck off hippy. Get out of my way before I back over your prius.

[Hugh Conway]

Oh dear. Arguing in complete agreement? This is new for TGR

[abraham]

Have the battery exchange stations been set up yet?
I thought the demonstration was a year ago. Maybe there aren't enough of the cars out there to make it worthwhile just yet. Certainly around Bellevue/Seattle there are plenty of teslas, I probably see 3-10 each day not including the neighbor's. Leafs also seem to be popular, not so much volts and I've only seen one of the Cadillacs. In salt lake I saw the Mitsubishi evs a couple times but they weren't very popular and looked like a golf cart.

[Tippster]

Have the battery exchange stations been set up yet?

Pretty sure that's "vaporware." http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/2...x-of-the-year/

[Hugh Conway]

oh dear. an elon musk bullshit promise?

[abraham]

Well yeah it's not surprising there's some vaporware. The reason suggested in that link is interesting though, I never thought of that angle.

[Tippster]

oh dear. an elon musk bullshit promise?

Dude - Tesla is Elon Musk's hobby - sure it'd be nice to be successful in leading the charge (pun) to EVs being ubiquitous but it's not his Rainmaker. He's rich (and will be much richer) because of SpaceX, which was an awesome gamble that has totally paid off.