Feathermerchant

Lithium batteries have a non-linear charge curve due to their chemical characteristics. Since it in non-linear, the time to charge a larger capacity battery compared to a smaller battery is non-linear. ie the larger battery can accept charge in kWh faster than a smaller battery. For example I have seen as much as 246 kW charge rate in my (75 kWh) Tesla model 3 battery. But it occurred at the start of the charge when I had about 9% charge and lasted only a few minutes. If the battery were twice as big, the high charge rate would have lasted longer. This must be considered when taking charge times into account. Tesla recently announced that Superchargers were being upgraded to 300 kW charge rate. That will further reduce charge times.

jkoravos

In the article it listed exactly what they did. Each car was on for about an hour. The station was setup as a 50kW fast charger. The diesel fuel efficiency range from 33.5 mpg for the Tesla Model X 100D to 53.4 mpg for the BMW i3. Obviously this is better fuel economy than equivalent gas cars but the point is more to make remote, off grid charging viable.

jkoravos

The under is virtually guaranteed on that bet. Most analyst estimates are ~25% of new vehicles sales in 2030 will be EV. Even the highest (reputable) estimates are below 40%.

Feathermerchant

I'd argue that 50 kW is not fast charging. The old Superchargers charge at 150 kW and the newest at 300 kW. Anyway, you should be able to charge pretty fast wherever you can get electricity. Charging from a generator seems silly. With a 200 mile range you should be able to find somewhere on the grid to charge. Sure there are a few corner cases but not many.

jkoravos

Generator-based charging is not a large scale solution. It's a problem solver for niche situations.

Flamingtaco

It's my understanding that we are currently limited by the charging station. An F150 parked next to a Tesla on a supercharger (if they were compatible) would take longer to charge, no?

Feathermerchant

Yes a larger identical battery would normally take longer to charge than a smaller battery. See below.
Because of charging properties, it depends. All batteries have an internal resistance to current flow. That is why your dome lights dim when you crank your engine. The battery voltage drops from about 12 Volts to about 9 Volts when cranking. When charging, you'll see 13-14 Volts on a 12V battery. As a battery charges it's voltage rises. But on a Lithium battery like we use in EVs each cell voltage cannot exceed about 4.2 Volts or the battery will fail internally. So if starting at a low state of charge the battery can be charged at a high rate but soon the cell voltage reaches 4.2V while charging due to the charge current and the current must be decreased to prevent the cells from exceeding 4.2V. Back to the question above - If the Lightning and Tesla batteries had the same capacity, were at the same charge level, same temperature, had the same cooling, the same exact chemistry (it varies a little mfr to mfr) and the exact same physical geometry then they could charge the same speed. So it's not a simple question to answer and is why there are so many reviews that include charging comparisons.

bisonp

I watched a TFL video this week where they took a Taycan on a 1000 mile road trip. Their experience was not encouraging. I think it's going to be a while yet before long trips in an EV make sense. The infrastructure is terrible right now, it doesn't meet claims and is unreliable.

Feathermerchant

FWIW I have a Model 3 and Model Y. We have been round trip from DFW to Phila (twice) Galveston and Winter Park, Colo. No charging problems with the Tesla network. The car knows where all the stations are, how many ports are being used in each station and which if any are off line. It navigates you thru each one you need to stop at and gives an estimated charge time at each. It also gives you an ETA at your destination. After 9,000 miles we've had no problems.
The good news is that Tesla is opening their network this year. No other details so far on the opening.
I can tell you that there are no credit card readers (so no skimmers). So you'll probably need a credit card associated with your Tesla account to participate.

bisonp

That's surprising, I see they just announced that. I wonder what the cost and speed will be for non-Tesla cars.

Does the Tesla network tell you how many people are scheduled to arrive at a site? That would be my biggest concern, stations filling up before I make it there. Probably not an issue now but I imagine it will be as EVs become more common.