Greetings from Corning, California, where apparently all olives come from. The trip is going smoothly with one notable exception: the Tesla Superchargers.
From what I understand, in the early part of the 20th century when cars were first getting popular, people who still used horses would pass by incapacitated cars and shout, “Get a horse!” to chide them.
A hundred years later, I could easily picture those in gas-powered cars zipping by the long, long, long lines today at the supercharger shouting, “Get a gasoline-powered internal combustion engine-based means of transportation!” But it doesn’t roll off the tongue quite the same way.
It isn’t normally like this. Typically, Tesla owners simply plug in and get all the (FREE!) electricity they want for their travels. Today, however, everyone is heading toward the eclipse, which means that there are HUGE bottlenecks along the way. If a supercharger has 4 charging stations, that means that every Tesla – -EVERY ONE – – on that freeway path has to wait for their turn. This has resulted in people driving for an hour and a half and then waiting for four hours to get charged up again.
Not good.
It’s all about infrastructure. There are about eight billion gas stations in the country, and yet a relatively small number of superchargers (which is the only practical way to charge the car; let me put it this way – – an normal electric plug would require DAYS to complete the charge).
So I’m stopped, at this very moment, enjoying my eagerly-anticipated charge at a pleasant restaurant while the poor sons of bitches in line continue to wait.
I guess I’d better get back on the road again. Onward!
