Pulling the Plug after 6,000 MILES!

I did the same thing after 5,500 miles. It was tough because I really loved the Lightning but I also have a smallish camper trailer and outside of single charge range towing (~135 miles with ER batt) is just impractical or impossible. Hardly any fast charging infrastructure outside of major metro areas. If I didn’t have the towing mission I would have kept it because I have other vehicles for longer trips and the Lightning was too much fun.

I replaced the Lightning with a PowerBoost hybrid, with power onboard it’s perfect for me. I ordered a MachE GT which I’ll hopefully see sometime next year.

The simple reality is that we are still very early in the adoption phase of non-Tesla EVs. CCE fast charging infrastructure limitations are real and very frustrating for any distance trips. Those problems are made worse by trucks with big batteries.

If you want a few laughs, checkout RichRebuds on YouTube driving his new Rivian from NJ for Florida and back. He had a roughtrip.

Take it from somebody who’s been driving electric vehicles for over 11 years, the infrastructure will get better. I’ve seen it go from almost nothing to what it is today. Granted, I am in the bay area which is Ground Zero for EV adoption but it will come to other parts of the country as well.
EA chargers are buggy. I needed to charge at my local EA station twice recently and one day I got 40 kW and the next 135. The only difference I could tell was I was the only one there for the second session.
I was very happy with a charging curve on the Lightning. For the session where I got up to 135 kW it maintained at least 120 kW all the way until 70% state of charge.🤙

Txxthie said:

If this is your work vehicle and you rely on it to make your living, you didn’t do your due diligence prior to purchasing a battery electric vehicle. Sounds like a hybrid is more suitable for your work vehicle and a BEV for your personal vehicle. Tesla has the only dependable, trouble free, ease of use, and available (quantity) DCFC charging network today. It’s not even close. Don’t count on Tesla now to open up their network since the NACS news. Tesla only needs a manufacturer (Aptera) to use the connector to get IRA $$. I could see Farley and Ford actually adding the connector for sales, he is a Elon Fanboy.

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My understanding just an adapter to Tesla will not cut it. Their is a handshake protocol too. Tesla owns all the cards.

grumpy said:

I don't think we know yet the DOT minimum standards for EV charging infrastructure, and what options are available for Tesla.

The proposed rules demanded a minimum of four simultaneous CCS connectors for at least 150 kW DCFC to get funding. Stations can not require memberships and contactless payment for all major debit and credit cards.

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The NEVI rules for charging stations can be found here:

Tesla is ruled out by the law (funding only available to chargers used my more than one automaker) and NEVI rules (specify CCS).

ChasingCoral said:

The NEVI rules for charging stations can be found here:

Federal Register :: Request Access

www.federalregister.gov

Tesla is ruled out by the law (funding only available to chargers used my more than one automaker) and NEVI rules (specify CCS).

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So, I think the question becomes:

1. If CCS specified in the actual statute? If not, since Tesla just opened sourced their charger, it opens up a back door provided one other auto-maker starts using it.

2. How long would it take the regulation to change if CCS is NOT specified in statute? If the administration did not respond to updating the statute, Tesla would have grounds for a lawsuit. Granted, Congress could fix all of this with further legislation.

This will be interesting to following. I am getting a little worried that Tesla is backing out of opening to CCS.

THEsocalledfan said:

So, I think the question becomes:

1. If CCS specified in the actual statute? If not, since Tesla just opened sourced their charger, it opens up a back door provided one other auto-maker starts using it.

2. How long would it take the regulation to change if CCS is NOT specified in statute? If the administration did not respond to updating the statute, Tesla would have grounds for a lawsuit. Granted, Congress could fix all of this with further legislation.

This will be interesting to following. I am getting a little worried that Tesla is backing out of opening to CCS.

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CCS is stated in the rule not the statute. However, Tesla has no grounds to sue unless another automaker is producing vehicles issuing the Tesla charger and no major automaker is likely to do that without an SAE or ISO standard.

ChasingCoral said:

CCS is stated in the rule not the statute. However, Tesla has no grounds to sue unless another automaker is producing vehicles issuing the Tesla charger and no major automaker is likely to do that without an SAE or ISO standard.

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That's the rub and what I said. This will need to be followed; could have one little start up use it, and......

THEsocalledfan said:

one little start up use it, and......

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Aptera did.

Voltz said:

Aptera did.

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Aptera is an enclosed motorcycle, not an automobile.