Overcoming Range Anxiety

 

    I'm not sure if Range Anxiety is actually listed in the latest DSM as a genuine psychiatric disorder, but to any new owners of all electric vehicles it is definitely viscerally real. Just how far can you go on the last charge and how accurate is the mileage estimate on the car's display?

    After driving the entire US West Coast and then across the country from San Diego to North Carolina on the East Coast in a 2012 Tesla Model S, I can definitely say I've overcome range anxiety completely - I now have lots more time to deal with my other anxieties. Too bad we don't own the Tesla, it was only a delivery. 

We stopped at lots of Tesla Supperchargers along the way. You can see the saguaro cactus behind the supercharger posts here in Arizona.

Most of the Superchargers are in mall parking lots, hotels, truck stops, chain hotels or near fast food restaurants. This one was in a 1920s gas station and rest stop on the original Highway 66.

Driving through the California desert was way hot. The Tesla AC worked hard. This is a dash picture while charging in the dessert. In the bottom right you can see the outside temperature at 116*F (47*C). At these temperatures the Tesla AC has to run at full blast to cool the batteries while they're charging.

If you drive a Tesla and use the Superchargers you are automatically part of The Club. That means hanging at a Supercharger off the Interstate you are bound to take up a conversation with another Tesla traveler. "Where you from? How far are you going? What year is that one? Did you hear the latest thing Elon Tweeted? Great cars, have a good day"

The car behaved beautifully all the way across. It should be super reliable too as it only has 17 moving parts in its drive train. To say the least, I've drunk the Koolaid and am totally bought into the Tesla.

Best stops across country: 

Winslow, Arizona and Santa Fe,  New Mexico

Best t-shirt:

 Make Orwell 

Fiction Again

Now that we've made it to Winston-Salem, North Carolina,  with the Tesla intact, we are busy packing up and getting ready to fly back to the Seychelles. That's if we can successfully jump through all the Covid-induced hoops to get approved for entry. Then it'll be boat maintenance and a shake down before we can start our passage to South Africa.

Paul