this post was submitted on 30 Apr 2024
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This is a death sentence for Tesla. I have a Model 3 that I enjoy despite its shortcomings. One of the deciding factors was the supercharger network. It's the easiest system I've used for charging. It makes all other networks infuriating in comparison.
A lot of people get Teslas for the ease of charging alone. If the network starts to falter, people will leave the brand even faster than they already are.
Tesla really needs to vote this idiot out of the CEO position before he kills the company.
I'm their prime demographic, currently car shopping to replace my wrecked Benz, and was leaning towards a Model 3 up until reading this headline lol. I guess I could still charge at home or if the network fails it could be purchased by another company?
Or I just avoid stressing about it altogether and get a normal car
I do think someone would immediately buy the charging network if it were an option. I mean gas stations have all kinds of stuff spring up around them when anyone stopping there won't even be very long and only passengers will be bored with nothing to do for that short amount of time. At a charging station, you are taking a longer break and even the driver is participating in that break.
Owning the charge network is going to be a much bigger deal when it's common to use your EV for long trips. And whether people want to or not at this point, it's steadily becoming more and more normalized. It's certainly more enjoyable overall to take a long trip in an EV. The downtime is nice. And healthier than sitting down for hours straight. Even before electric cars, people were encouraged to stop every 2 hours on a road trip anyway.
The old advice was to plan recreational stops along the trip, to prevent embolisms or cramps. What if charge stations had electric scooters or bikes and maps to fun 15 minute activities in range. Not to mention meals of course.
I know many people don't take road trips in a healthy way currently, so gas cars seem like the better choice for them. You'll "make better time" if that is the only important thing. But for people that already followed best practices, a road trip in an electric car is already the same.
Investors should build charging stations with infrastructure (ie restaurants, game rooms, etc) halfway between big cities that are 5 hours away from each other. 2.5 hours (~150 miles) is about the distance you can drive an EV before needing to charge. This would create tremendous bidirectional business for people traveling from big cities.