41–50 of 132 posts
Edit: Whoops, meant Chevy Volt. Why isn't the Leaf doing better? when I heard about it I was super excited, and if I had to replace my Prius, it would be my first choice. I think they hit the tradeoffs just right: for almost all daily driving, you'll never use gasoline. But if you have to do a long trip, you don't have to care about range. What am I missing?
The Leaf is a pure electric. Maybe you crossed it up with the Chevy Volt?
While this is impressive, it still doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem. It can only be used for commuting and local trips. I regularly travel 450+ miles to visit family. Cannot use this. If you can improve the infrastructure with the charging stations it helps, but still doesn't work. I might be willing to stop for 30 minutes once, but not twice. I can eat a meal while it charges the first time, but as…
You say, "the problem" when you should say "my problem." Personally I just drive around the SF bay area. Maybe 120 miles on my longest driving day. For the one-two times a year I go farther, I suppose I need to rent a car, take transit. or have someone else drive. That seems like a reasonable price to pay to have the coolest car on the planet for a few years.
That doesn't however just make it "my problem." There aren't very many people buying any of these cars, so I assume it's a problem for more than just me.
The point I'm trying to make, is that if I'm spending 50-100k on a car, I want it to solve "the driving problem." i.e. if I need to drive somewhere, I'd like to be able to do it. Whether I do it often or not is irrelevant. In my case I actually do do it quite frequently, but I suspect that many people don't buy these not because they actually do this once every month or two like I do, but because they want to be able to if they want or need to.
Maybe it's vacation, maybe it's seeing family, maybe it's an emergency. You need to go somewhere and you want to jump in the car and go there. With this you can't, and instead have to go spend several hundred extra dollars and a have a huge hassle of renting a car. No thank you.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Good luck with that. Renting a car for a weekend drive is crazy expensive and varies widely depending on location, time of year, etc. Asking people to pay an unpredictable several hundred dollars for the rental, then pay for gas, several times a year, is not going to work. I'd focus on 2+ car households. I would love to have an electric that doesn't suck and another car for the wife, traveling, hauling kids, etc. The…
I agree with your conclusion that the Model S isn't for everyone. It sounds like you're not in the Model S market segment. Folks that can buy cars in the $50k-$80k range typically wouldn't balk at the cost of renting a car for the weekend. The hassle, maybe, but not the cost. There are also lots of folks & places whose weekend trips are inside the range of the Model S (consider Boston -> Martha's Vineyard, or Manhatt…
I plug the car into a regular 110V outlet. I typically get 30-50 miles of charge overnight, depending on what time I get home and when I leave. My commute is only 10 miles each way so it's 100% full most mornings when I get in.
I've verified the car can do 240 miles between cities but you have to set the cruise to 60 mph or below. I keep a gas car for long road trips and camping, etc., but I don't use it much.
The Tesla is very cool. Strangers stop me to talk about it multiple times per week. Customer service has been off the charts.
High recommend. Go buy one.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I regularly travel 450+ miles to visit family. Cannot use this. What if someone made you a "range extender" module that attaches to the towing hitch? I'd design one on a detaching cart so no lifting would be involved to install.
That might work. If I have to wait 30 minutes to charge (and not even a full charge) it has to have a longer initial range than gas. There is also the problem I mentioned above that the place you are going has to actually have a charging station as well, otherwise your range is cut in half. Can't got 250 miles if there isn't a charge there. Then you only get 125. Finally, not sure how this works, but it seems that "r…
http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster/charging/spare-mobile-co...
(They also have higher power options)
I've been driving a tesla roadster for about a year. It's my daily commuter. I plug the car into a regular 110V outlet. I typically get 30-50 miles of charge overnight, depending on what time I get home and when I leave. My commute is only 10 miles each way so it's 100% full most mornings when I get in. I've verified the car can do 240 miles between cities but you have to set the cruise to 60 mph or below. I keep a g…
When you drive an EV, acceleration is instant. Like, at the same time your foot goes down, your shoulders get thrown back.
Gas cars often take 0.5-2 seconds to get response from the engine, depending on the car & current conditions at the time you accelerate.
You get used to the acceleration in the Tesla after a while. But one year in, I'm still loving the instant response. That's what I really miss when I'm driving the gas car. It's just awesome.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
You say, "the problem" when you should say "my problem." Personally I just drive around the SF bay area. Maybe 120 miles on my longest driving day. For the one-two times a year I go farther, I suppose I need to rent a car, take transit. or have someone else drive. That seems like a reasonable price to pay to have the coolest car on the planet for a few years.
If you have a spare 100k "to be cool" then go for it. If I had that much money to throw around I'd get one as well. It's an awesome car. That doesn't however just make it "my problem." There aren't very many people buying any of these cars, so I assume it's a problem for more than just me. The point I'm trying to make, is that if I'm spending 50-100k on a car, I want it to solve "the driving problem." i.e. if I need…
I've been driving a tesla roadster for about a year. It's my daily commuter. I plug the car into a regular 110V outlet. I typically get 30-50 miles of charge overnight, depending on what time I get home and when I leave. My commute is only 10 miles each way so it's 100% full most mornings when I get in. I've verified the car can do 240 miles between cities but you have to set the cruise to 60 mph or below. I keep a g…
I forgot to mention what is maybe the best part. Surprised the article doesn't talk about this. When you drive an EV, acceleration is instant. Like, at the same time your foot goes down, your shoulders get thrown back. Gas cars often take 0.5-2 seconds to get response from the engine, depending on the car & current conditions at the time you accelerate. You get used to the acceleration in the Tesla after a while. But…