My Tesla thoughts after driving one...

[slodave]

Here are my results for the drive today and energy consumption.

Driving to Pelican, then taking a long detour to Hawthorne, I had started with

Starting Rated Rage 142 miles
Miles driven 77.1
Ending Rated Range 69

I charged at Tesla to 236 miles
Miles driven 52.6
Ending Rated Range 171

On the way home I lost 12.4 miles. Subtract the 4 mile gain and it's an loss of 8.4 miles. Of those miles I had rush hour traffic to deal with and had to go over the Sepulveda Pass in stop and go, so that hurt and going down the other side, I couldn't really generate any electricity because of the traffic. As well, I did get a little aggressive with the go pedal on the way home from my friends tonight, so that quickly ate battery, contributing to the 8.4 loss. The A/C was on the entire drive as well and lights tonight.

Overall, a 8.4 mile loss is not bad. One would probably lose roughly that in a gas car as well in the same conditions.

Also, since I charged at Tesla, the drive home today and the next two or three days of driving is totally free as far as electricity is concerned.

[jyl]

How long does it take to charge?

[slodave]

Originally Posted by Noah930

While you were inside the house and I was on the porch, she walked by with her dog. It was then that she asked me if the car in the driveway was mine. I went out to the driveway to chat with her and that's when you came out.

She's looking to buy a new car. Perhaps you could offer her a demonstration of the capabilities and attributes of the Tesla...

I see.

I'm going to need to start carrying barf bags for the passengers!

I'd be happy to!

[porsche4life]

Be sure to point out how roomy the back seat is Dave.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by jyl

How long does it take to charge?

Good question! I forgot to time it. Based on a couple of text time stamps, I was at Tesla for about an hour to the T. My iPhone app says the supercharger was charging at 209 miles an hour. About 45 minutes maybe to charge 167 "miles"?

EDIT: Tesla claims 30 minutes for 170 miles at a Supercharger.

[slodave]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Be sure to point out how roomy the back seat is Dave.

Screw the back seat! Fold those suckers down for room like a queen size mattress!

[slodave]

Oh, I got a peek at this as well...

[Gogar]

Originally Posted by slodave

Also, since I charged at Tesla, the drive home today and the next two or three days of driving is totally free as far as electricity is concerned.

Yeah, free to YOU! That energy comes from coal, you know. Someone paid for it. Freeloader. Gubmit. Gaaaah!


Signed, Glen and Sammy.

[slodave]

I see what you did there.

To clarify (Rereading my sentence shows it can mean a couple of things):

"I" didn't have to pay for the electricity, Tesla did, so free to me. This Supercharger is solar, so there is that too...

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by foxpaws

What is good for the goose may not be good for the gander.... plus I have the added bonus that I am allowed to charge the car at work. A single oil change per year, who knows when I will need to change belts or hoses. The electric motor has very little maintenance. With rebates the vehicle will cost me less than $20,000, quite reasonable, and my fuel savings are around $120 a month, I will pay far less in cost per mile than I would for a similarly priced combustion engine only vehicle.
The numbers do work for some people, and not for others, but it is nice to have all sorts of choices.

I wonder what happens when the 200+ people in my office building want to charge their car up at work.

BTW, you forgot to factor in the cost of replacing batteries. The current (pardon the pun) cost for Tesla Batteries is $12k. Although tech advances will lower cost down the road, inflation and taxes (I predict a road tax on the batteries) will jack the price back up. If you have to replace the batteries in 5 years due to reduced distance (rechargeables degrade with repeated recharging) that's an extra $200 a month.

That said, I agree with you that options are good. I just worry that the environmental wacko liberals like Al Gore will try to mandate EVs for everyone (although Congress will exempt themselves I'm sure).

[hardflex]

what's the average cost of a flat 6 rebuild these days?

[rfloz]

FWIW, probably not much, the TV news recently had a report about a New York taxi driver who retired his Prius cab after 340,000 miles (apparently mandated retirement) on the original battery pack.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by rfloz

FWIW, probably not much, the TV news recently had a report about a New York taxi driver who retired his Prius cab after 340,000 miles (apparently mandated retirement) on the original battery pack.

That is pretty routine. I talk to Prius cab drivers all the time, they all tell me the cars are running fine on the original battery well into 200K miles and often farther. In some cities cabs are required to be retired after X miles (in SF I think it is 300K) and the Priuses get sold to cab drivers in cities that don't have that requirement. We have 140K on our Gen 2 Prius, I expect to get 200K at least.

[foxpaws]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

I wonder what happens when the 200+ people in my office building want to charge their car up at work.

BTW, you forgot to factor in the cost of replacing batteries. The current (pardon the pun) cost for Tesla Batteries is $12k. Although tech advances will lower cost down the road, inflation and taxes (I predict a road tax on the batteries) will jack the price back up. If you have to replace the batteries in 5 years due to reduced distance (rechargeables degrade with repeated recharging) that's an extra $200 a month.

That said, I agree with you that options are good. I just worry that the environmental wacko liberals like Al Gore will try to mandate EVs for everyone (although Congress will exempt themselves I'm sure).

Well, the batteries on my Volt are guaranteed for 8 years - fully - and right now the batteries are listed on the GM parts site at $3,500 - so who knows (installation extra...smile). They could last longer (Volt batteries only charge/discharge in the 60% middle range of the battery capacity - to help increase life), and if they don't, it is part of owning a car - like replacing the timing belt/water pump on subies for about $800 every 80,000 miles... cars cost money - the Volt isn't going to never need repairs... but Camry's need repairs as well, sometimes costly, sometimes not.

I don't know what will happen when 200 people want to charge their cars at your work - as I said, this solution works for some people and not others - it appears you are 'not others'.

I can't imagine mandates for everyone to buy EVs in this country -that is pretty much crazy talk in a country where you can buy a 8.4 liter Viper, and the oil and gas companies pretty much own much of congress.

[Por_sha911]

I can't imagine CAFE mandates of 35.5 mpg.
I can't imagine mandates to eliminate incandescent light bulbs.
I can't imagine mandates to purchase healthcare.

Unfortunately all are happening.

[aschen]

I was at MIT for a work a work thing a few months ago. I had the honor of listening to a prof there who is one of the worlds formost experts on battery technology espescially for autotive use.

He opened with a question: "how do you improve the gas milage of a high milage Prius?"

a bit of silence

"take out the battery and throw it away, its dead weight"


Maybe you had to be there but it was funny to me. ANyways I think the point is you may not notice that much if you have severly diminished capacity in compound hybrid.

If your tesla starts to only get 30 miles to the charge you might notice

[slodave]

Again, there is a 8yr/unlimited mile warranty on the Tesla battery as well. Tesla has even said they will replace the battery even if it is owner error that ruins them.

The Roadster owners have shown that the battery does not diminish as much over the years as Tesla says. Tesla was being very conservative on their estimates.

Theoretically, you could get a Model S to go 16 years before having to pay for a new battery, assuming that it was replaced at the end of warranty because of really diminished capacity. Most people would not have a car that long anyway. Most who buy expensive cars tend to but new ones every 5 or so years anyway.

[aschen]

Im sure the batteries last a long time, though Im also sure it will lose some of its performance in 8 years. Modern battery mgmt systems are much more sophisticated than they used to be. Hell, remember when you through away your laptop battery every 2 years. They are good for at least double that now.

Unfortunately alot of battery management is due to using them well under there actual peak capacity

[slodave]

I believe I've mentioned some pages back as well.

When you pick up the Tesla, it's set to charge to 85% capacity. They have found this increases battery life. As well, you don't need a full charge to drive around town. Tesla recommends bumping the charge to 100% for road trips. Tesla owners are finding out that if you charge to 50-60%, that's helping with longevity as well and for most even that provides days worth of city driving without have to plug in. Off the top of my head, I believe Tesla has said to expect a drop of about 8 miles a year in capacity (based on a full charge). Those that have have had the Model S for a couple years now have found the loss to be around 3 miles.

[aschen]

Probably senility is setting in early for me!