George Parrott, Contributor
Articles
-
With the big upturn in electric-car adoption driven by the Tesla Model 3, incoming Kia and Hyundai options, and the highly competitive Chevrolet Bolt, many drivers will be moving to vehicles that...
-
Tesla Model 3 vs Model S: Tighter dragstrip times, sharper traction systemTesla claims some astonishingly quick acceleration times, and for some of us, testing and verifying those times are part of the fun. To do that, the drag strip is the only safe and fully reliable source for accurate numbers. In February of 2015, I migrated to a Model S Performance, after owning a...
George Parrott -
Tesla Supercharger electric-car charging sites in CA surge (photos)In January 2016, before the public introduction for pre-orders of the Model 3, Tesla had 585 Supercharger locations around the world. By the end of June 2016, that number had climbed to 655. Then the potential of 400,000-plus reservations for the more affordable Model 3 pushed Tesla to promise it...
George Parrott -
Why Tesla Model 3 should use standard model-year changes: opinionElectric-car maker Tesla Motors has always followed a different path than the rest of the automobile industry. Among the ways it has violated industry convention is ignoring annual model changes and simply updating its cars whenever changes were ready for production. This has occasionally made for...
George Parrott -
Tesla Model S: From Insane to Ludicrous to slice 1/4-mile times (with video)The original Tesla Model S P85D is quick, but it has now been superseded by the P90D, with its even more outrageous “Ludicrous” option. To lessen the sting for early P85D adopters, Tesla Motors also offers a “Ludicrous Upgrade” option for the earlier car--and many...
George Parrott -
Creeping Toward KITT? Now Tesla Can Be Summoned And Park Itself (Video)Tesla Motors continue to add self-driving capabilities to its Model S electric car at a breathtaking pace, and the company announced yet more this past Sunday. This latest software upgrade, Version 7.1, has been eagerly awaited by Model S owners whose cars were built since August 2014. The new...
George Parrott -
Tesla Motors has built a strong reputation for performance, starting with its first Roadster and then its Model S P85 and P85+ sedans, before moving to the dual-motor P85D and most recently the...
-
Electric Cars At Local Dragstrip: 8 Models, One Afternoon, Results VaryBy this point, many of us have seen videos and articles showing Tesla Model S high-performance versions running against loud and smoky gasoline cars. But these have almost always been a single Tesla taking on the dinosaurs. Last week, the Sacramento Electric Vehicle Association organized an...
George Parrott -
Price Of Electric-Car DC Fast Charging Varies: Sacramento A Test CaseWhile fast charging for electric cars is still nonexistent--or just starting to roll out--across much of the country, California leads the way. And the state capital of Sacramento now has such stations installed both by private vendors and the local public utility, Sacramento Metropolitan Utility...
George Parrott -
Drag-Racing My Tesla P85D: 71-Year-Old Novice Hits The Strip (Video)It had been more than 50 years since I'd been to a drag race--back in what now seems almost like the very dawn of motoring. Back then, I just watched. Yet here I was, just a month ago, behind the wheel of my Tesla Model S P85D, facing off against another car as I watched the lights change. Red...
George Parrott -
Tesla Supercharger Network Growth Surges Over Last 14 MonthsOne of the main advantages of the Tesla Model S is its relative freedom from “range anxiety,” at least in the 85-kilowatt-hour battery pack of the higher-end versions. Rated by the EPA at 265 miles, that range compares to ratings of 62 to about 90 miles in less expensive plug-in...
George Parrott -
UPDATE: Tesla's First Solar-Powered Supercharger-Store-Service Center Now OpenElectric-car maker Tesla Motors has rapidly been opening Supercharger DC fast-charging stations throughout the U.S. and outside the country. But despite its goal of providing solar-generated electricity at those sites, Superchargers thus far have drawn on electricity from the conventional power...
George Parrott -
Even 10 years ago, the idea of a “family sedan” that could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in less than 4 seconds was something between a rarity and a fantasy.
Even more delusional was the...
-
Why I Had To Trade My Tesla Model S For A Brand-New P85DLast October, Tesla announced an all-wheel-drive version of the Model S electric car, with up to a mind-boggling 691 horsepower, and said deliveries would start as early as December—only a two month wait. The performance specifications of the new P85D version promised supercar numbers on the...
George Parrott -
Honda Opens Demonstration Smart Home, With Fit EV Electric Car In GarageThe Honda Smart Home represents about 2000 square feet of energy efficient living
George Parrott -
Will National Parks Become A Black Hole For Electric-Car Visitors?National Parks problem....black holes for our increasing electric vehicle tourists
George Parrott -
Nissan Surveys Tesla Owners For Intelligence On Electric CarsNissan is very quietly gathering additional electric-car "intelligence" about satisfaction, details, and features from Tesla Model S owners.
George Parrott -
Tesla Model S Road Trip: 1,200 West Coast Electric-Car Miles600 miles in a day in the all-electric Tesla Model S
George Parrott -
The battle of low-cost electric car leases has expanded: Ford is now enticing new customers to its 2013 Ford Focus Electric with offers as low as $199 per month.
Nissan has attracted new customers...
-
Tesla Model S 'Get Amped' Tour: 5,000 Test Drives In SightFourteen of the planned sixteen cities have been completed on the “Getting Amped Tour,”
George Parrott -
2012 Nissan Leaf Electric Cars Offered At Up To $5,000 Offdealerships are showing 2012 Nissan Leaf SL models at fully $5000 off MSRP
George Parrott -
Electric-Car Charging Stations: Will Market Forces Cut Prices?As some public charging stations have started charging fees for charging sessions, many electric-car drivers are debating what a fair price would be. Virtually all drivers accept that it's reasonable to pay something to charge at a private business. Two executives from Coulomb Technologies, which...
George Parrott -
Free Electric-Car Charges Start To Depart; What's A Fair Fee?demanding $ 2.00/hour for charging as do the similar charging stations....
George Parrott -
Volt Owners: Here’s Why Your Delayed Charging Failedthis problem as resulting from high frequency ground currents
George Parrott