The Transportation Page -- T+18, January 20, 2019

Day 30 of the partial government shutdown.

North Dakota: only state in the union that has no Tesla chargers. The only state. Tesla promised "a" charging unit for North Dakota for 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 .... but not to be. 

Cost to fully charge a Tesla: Via a google search:

Hold that thought: more to come.

110-car unit trains? So yesterday. Now the trains are up to three miles long.

The freight train is now on track to stretch up to 3 miles long, with 200 cars or more. 

Railroads are taking advantage of the nearly $100 billion spent on rail infrastructure and equipment over the past several years. The spending included high-horsepower locomotives and upgraded track strong enough to withstand the extreme forces that can pull a long, heavy train off of the track on tight curves.

Some railroads are adding remotely controlled diesel locomotives at the end or in the middle of superlong trains so that locomotives are both pulling and shoving at the same time. Distributing the locomotive power reduces the heavy loads on the couplers that can break a train in two, improves train handling by reducing slack action and makes brake applications quicker and smoother.

Custom Critical. I assume FedEx has had this for years. I was unaware until I saw a FedEx Custom Critical truck parked in Barnes and Noble parking lot, Southlake, TX, this morning. It has a huge tractor suggesting that two or three people "lodge" in this vehicle while driving point-to-point, long haul. See this link. Where did Custom Critical come from?

Back to Tesla: cutting costs. By raising prices. From the linked article:

Tesla's efforts to improve its bottom line go beyond layoffs and disappearing perks. Electrek has learned that Tesla is raising Supercharger rates around the world, with per kWh rates climbing about 33 percent in numerous markets. While it's still less expensive than gas (even the 36 cents per kWh in some California locations is modest), it's not quite the savings it represented in the past. According to Tesla, this is really a matter of adapting to financial realities.

So, at 13 cents/kWh, the full charge would cost $13. At 36 cents/kWh I would assume the cost is $36. That full charge, $36 would give one a range of 295 miles. On fumes, pulling into a service station to fill my 2012 Honda Civic costs me just under $20. Interstate driving in Kansas on a full tank with the wind at my back, my range is around 525 miles.

At four hundred miles, I stop and fill up with gasoline, taking about 6.5 minutes (after getting snacks inside) instead of waiting 30 - 45 minutes to re-charge -- assuming a charging station is even available.

I don't know. You do the math.

"Even the 36 cents per kWh in some California locations is modest." For elites, perhaps.