Does anyone else still prefer to drive their gas cars?

[Barklikeadog]

Are you not able to charge at your destination?

I don't own an EV(yet). Have no idea how to answer this. My 'destination' would be a relative's home who does not own an EV.
All I can say is that I often make a 500+mi each way drive(with kids) and keeping that time around 7.5hrs is preferred. If I go to a Tesla
trip planner for the same route, and pick a long range vehicle, it always spits out approx 10hrs. I don't like multiple stops on long drives,
my wife -hates- multiple stops. We stop for 15min in the middle to do our business and grab some food for the road.

I keep reading about people justifying how relaxing it is to stop and hang out during a drive. I prefer my relaxation before and after the drive.
Here is some perspective:
8am, have a breakfast
9am hit the road
12:30 pm stop, eat, relieve
12:45 hit the road
5pm arrive at destination, family is over with food, or we go out to eat, kids get to bed on time

Tesla trip planner:
8am have breakfast
9am hit the road
7pm arrive destination, maybe pick up fast food, I don't know, the kids are going to bed at 8pm

or I suppose I could wake the kids up at 5am and leave by 7. I don't think that would be a pleasant drive.

Drive home:
9am pack
11am have lunch with family
12pm leave
7:30pm get home, put the kids in bed

Tesla Trip Planner:
9am pack
10am leave
8pm get home, put kids to bed

I like that I can spend those extra hours with family -and- get the kids to bed on time or avoid waking them up at 5am.
Give me 500mi of range and I'm on board. I was all about the pickup truck until I saw it.

 

[gavine]

I don't own an EV(yet). Have no idea how to answer this. My 'destination' would be a relative's home who does not own an EV.
All I can say is that I often make a 500+mi each way drive(with kids) and keeping that time around 7.5hrs is preferred. If I go to a Tesla
trip planner for the same route, and pick a long range vehicle, it always spits out approx 10hrs. I don't like multiple stops on long drives,
my wife -hates- multiple stops. We stop for 15min in the middle to do our business and grab some food for the road.

I keep reading about people justifying how relaxing it is to stop and hang out during a drive. I prefer my relaxation before and after the drive.
Here is some perspective:
8am, have a breakfast
9am hit the road
12:30 pm stop, eat, relieve
12:45 hit the road
5pm arrive at destination, family is over with food, or we go out to eat, kids get to bed on time

Tesla trip planner:
8am have breakfast
9am hit the road
7pm arrive destination, maybe pick up fast food, I don't know, the kids are going to bed at 8pm

or I suppose I could wake the kids up at 5am and leave by 7. I don't think that would be a pleasant drive.

Drive home:
9am pack
11am have lunch with family
12pm leave
7:30pm get home, put the kids in bed

Tesla Trip Planner:
9am pack
10am leave
8pm get home, put kids to bed

I like that I can spend those extra hours with family -and- get the kids to bed on time or avoid waking them up at 5am.
Give me 500mi of range and I'm on board. I was all about the pickup truck until I saw it.

What does that 1000 mile trip cost you in fuel? $300? FYI, people wait in long gas lines to save $0.05 per gallon. This trip would have a much lower fuel cost in an EV (free for some Tesla owners). I guess it comes down to how valuable your time is and whether waiting more at chargers is worth the savings.

 

[holmgang]

What does that 1000 mile trip cost you in fuel? $300? FYI, people wait in long gas lines to save $0.05 per gallon. This trip would have a much lower fuel cost in an EV (free for some Tesla owners). I guess it comes down to how valuable your time is and whether waiting more at chargers is worth the savings.

A sporty motor like BMW i6 turbo 300hp+ yields 25mpg. 1000 miles/25mpg = 40 gallons. Pittsburgh premium-grade prices are $3.50, to make $140.

$300 is a gross inflation. And nobody i know in the world waits the 20, 30 minutes - supercharge equivalent - to wait in fuel lines

 

[gavine]

A sporty motor like BMW i6 turbo 300hp+ yields 25mpg. 1000 miles/25mpg = 40 gallons. Pittsburgh premium-grade prices are $3.50, to make $140.

$300 is a gross inflation. And nobody i know in the world waits the 20, 30 minutes - supercharge equivalent - to wait in fuel lines

Barklikeadog's avatar is a big pickup truck. I highly doubt that gets 25mpg. Probably more like 15mpg.

Here's a picture I took at a gas line next to supercharger. I'm pretty sure my stop was shorter than their wait. Granted, gas lines are rare, but they to happen.

 

[MichaelP90DL]

Barklikeadog's avatar is a big pickup truck. I highly doubt that gets 25mpg. Probably more like 15mpg.

Here's a picture I took at a gas line next to supercharger. I'm pretty sure my stop was shorter than their wait. Granted, gas lines are rare, but they to happen.

Costco's gas lines are like that daily. Fortunately for me, I just cruise on by. I ought to get in line just for the heck of it. LOL

 

[dodukes]

No. And It scares me now because when I get out of my "spare" ICE car I usually forget to turn off the key and end up leaving the car running.

hhahaha I DID THIS EXACT THING this week at work after driving the Tesla a few days. Yesterday at Target it happened again, I was on the phone and half way across the lot before I was like let me go back and check, of course it was fine but I was so used to not having a key that really i tend to forget LOL

and to answer OP questions, no, I HATE having to go back to my car after driving the bf's tesla, I'm currently in the market for one (since I was coming up on being in the market for a car this year anyway) and will probably be seriously trying to get one by spring. I seriously can't imagine life without it now!! LOL

 

[Cycle11111]

I don't own an EV(yet). Have no idea how to answer this. My 'destination' would be a relative's home who does not own an EV.
All I can say is that I often make a 500+mi each way drive(with kids) and keeping that time around 7.5hrs is preferred. If I go to a Tesla
trip planner for the same route, and pick a long range vehicle, it always spits out approx 10hrs. I don't like multiple stops on long drives,
my wife -hates- multiple stops. We stop for 15min in the middle to do our business and grab some food for the road.

I keep reading about people justifying how relaxing it is to stop and hang out during a drive. I prefer my relaxation before and after the drive.
Here is some perspective:
8am, have a breakfast
9am hit the road
12:30 pm stop, eat, relieve
12:45 hit the road
5pm arrive at destination, family is over with food, or we go out to eat, kids get to bed on time

Tesla trip planner:
8am have breakfast
9am hit the road
7pm arrive destination, maybe pick up fast food, I don't know, the kids are going to bed at 8pm

or I suppose I could wake the kids up at 5am and leave by 7. I don't think that would be a pleasant drive.

Drive home:
9am pack
11am have lunch with family
12pm leave
7:30pm get home, put the kids in bed

Tesla Trip Planner:
9am pack
10am leave
8pm get home, put kids to bed

I like that I can spend those extra hours with family -and- get the kids to bed on time or avoid waking them up at 5am.
Give me 500mi of range and I'm on board. I was all about the pickup truck until I saw it.

Well all I can say is this makes zero sense - Most Teslas right now get 300 miles of range. Lets say you have to stop three times which I will debate in a minute you will be 10-20 minutes per charger for a range of 30-60 minutes total charging - net net at 60-70mph that is a 7 hr drive plus 30-60minutes for charging so the trip is 8-8.5 hours - not 10hrs. Now I own two Teslas and drive up and down to Tahoe every week so know the range well - a 500 mile trip is 1 or 2 charges not 3. If you go to YouTube and watch Ben Sullins channel he does an LA to Las Vegas run to prove these crazy times for long distance travel are not correct or more accurately exaggerated.

 

[SDRick]

I don't own an EV(yet). Have no idea how to answer this. My 'destination' would be a relative's home who does not own an EV.
All I can say is that I often make a 500+mi each way drive(with kids) and keeping that time around 7.5hrs is preferred. If I go to a Tesla
trip planner for the same route, and pick a long range vehicle, it always spits out approx 10hrs. I don't like multiple stops on long drives,
my wife -hates- multiple stops. We stop for 15min in the middle to do our business and grab some food for the road.

I keep reading about people justifying how relaxing it is to stop and hang out during a drive. I prefer my relaxation before and after the drive.
Here is some perspective:
8am, have a breakfast
9am hit the road
12:30 pm stop, eat, relieve
12:45 hit the road
5pm arrive at destination, family is over with food, or we go out to eat, kids get to bed on time

Tesla trip planner:
8am have breakfast
9am hit the road
7pm arrive destination, maybe pick up fast food, I don't know, the kids are going to bed at 8pm

or I suppose I could wake the kids up at 5am and leave by 7. I don't think that would be a pleasant drive.

Drive home:
9am pack
11am have lunch with family
12pm leave
7:30pm get home, put the kids in bed

Tesla Trip Planner:
9am pack
10am leave
8pm get home, put kids to bed

I like that I can spend those extra hours with family -and- get the kids to bed on time or avoid waking them up at 5am.
Give me 500mi of range and I'm on board. I was all about the pickup truck until I saw it.

Just about every year we do a 1000 mile each way trip pretty much nonstop gas and go kind of thing. I too like to just get there as soon as I can. My wife always complains that she would like to stop along the way. Half the time we drive straight through the other half we stop for a night.

This year we took the Tesla. Yes, it took a little longer but it was different in mostly positive ways. As I get older I am becoming more relaxed and smell the roses along the way. Funny thing is now the wife says why do we have to stop.

Going forward, unless we are in a severe time crunch we will be doing electric road trips.

 

[Cycle11111]

Nope I really dislike driving ICE cars now. The noise and smell of fuel is super annoying - my sense of smell has really gotten sensitized to exhaust. Regarding Teslas - performance, features and comfort beat all but my most expensive ICE cars so sum of the parts for me it is EV forever.

 

[SSonnentag]

We were given a Mercedes to drive when our Tesla was in the shop. Neither my wife nor I wanted to drive it as it was noisy, vibrated, gutless, slow, clunky, etc. The only thing positive I have to say about the Mercedes is that the controls were pretty much the same as our Teslas since the Tesla controls are supplied by Mercedes.

 

[Barklikeadog]

What does that 1000 mile trip cost you in fuel? $300? FYI, people wait in long gas lines to save $0.05 per gallon. This trip would have a much lower fuel cost in an EV (free for some Tesla owners). I guess it comes down to how valuable your time is and whether waiting more at chargers is worth the savings.

well lets see, 36gallon tank, 22mpg highway, 23 depending.
1000miles. I paid $2.59 before i left to top it off and $2.31 total fillup at my destination. I don't know, $105 for the trip?

if I had a 10hr drive and could pay $50 to get there in 7.5 hours. Yea I'd pay it, no question.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

well lets see, 36gallon tank, 22mpg highway, 23 depending.
1000miles. I paid $2.59 before i left to top it off and $2.31 total fillup at my destination. I don't know, $105 for the trip?

if I had a 10hr drive and could pay $50 to get there in 7.5 hours. Yea I'd pay it, no question.

According to ABRP you can go from Everett, WA to Ashland, OR in about 8 hours with a Tesla Model S LR Raven edition. That's roughly 500 miles.

It estimates 7 hours and 20min for the driving time, and 45 min for the charging time. Where the first charge is 15min and the second charge is 30min.

If I was going to go that route I'd most definitely take the Tesla.

The reason is it has TACC for areas with lots of traffic, and NoA for areas with little to no traffic. This is pretty critical in the PNW due to traffic in Seattle, Tacoma, Portland, etc.

I have to eat anyways so that's going to burn 30 min. The other factor is gas is around $3.50 a gallon where I live, and so it's closer to $160 of savings taking the Tesla instead of a vehicle that gets 22mpg. It also means I don't burn 45 gallons of gas, and instead I use energy that's largely from renewable sources (which is really common in WA, and OR). So that means more Steaks for me. At least I think it works that way.

I make the decision fairly often of whether to take my Tesla (the P3D which only really has a realistic range of 250 miles at common freeway speeds) versus an 18mpg Diesel camper van with a 350-400 mile range . I either get to have the drive for cheap with the Tesla, or I get next to free lodging with the Camper.

Usually the decision comes down to how long I'm staying, and if I want to bring my Toys (Mountain bikes, Kayak, Paddleboard, etc). Or if my destination is where i won't want to take the Tesla which is usually the case with a 4x4 Camper Van. Sometimes I bring a "friend" with me, and they always seem to need to pee more than I do. So sometimes the Camper Van is preferred so I can make them pee while I drive so I don't lose time.

Charging time used to factor in a lot more for road trips with the Tesla, but charging has gotten so fast that I barely have time to eat now days.

There are certainly bad times to Tesla road trip. Like black friday can be a really bad day due to chargers at outlet malls. But, aside from those days I vastly prefer taking my Tesla over my Camper Van. I also have a Jeep that has adaptive cruise control, but it's WAY too loud on the freeway to take anywhere, but a short trip to the Mountains.

 

[RDoc]

I can't afford a roadster, and they don't exist, so I'm very happy driving my NSX.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

8am, have a breakfast
9am hit the road
12:30 pm stop, eat, relieve
12:45 hit the road
5pm arrive at destination, family is over with food, or we go out to eat, kids get to bed on time

I dunno about anyone else, but I applaud your efficiency especially with kids. That's some expert level itinerary.

My itinerary is more like this

9am - Why isn't she ready?
9:30am - Why are you still not ready?
10:00 - hit the road finally
10:05 - "Can you stop off at Starbucks?"
10:15 - Hit the road again
10:30 - "I need to pee because I drank too much coffee"
10:30 -> 1pm dealing with crazy PNW traffic
1:00pm -> stop to eat/pee/etc/charge
1:15pm -> Car says its almost done charging, and we still haven't gotten our food.
1:30pm -> Car is done charging so I have to move the slider from 90% to 100% to buy time. Sorry other Tesla owners
1:35pm -> Can I have the check?
1:40pm -> I'd really like the check now
1:45pm -> Finally
1:50pm -> Back on the road
4ish to 5ish -> Getting tired of driving, and my eyes are bugging out
5pm (or so) -> Stop to charge to stretch my legs, and maybe grab a bite to eat.
5:30pm -> Back on road, and now my eyes work correctly.
7pm -> Arrive at destination successfully without any serious issues.

 

[gavine]

I dunno about anyone else, but I applaud your efficiency especially with kids. That's some expert level itinerary.

My itinerary is more like this

9am - Why isn't she ready?
9:30am - Why are you still not ready?
10:00 - hit the road finally
10:05 - "Can you stop off at Starbucks?"
10:15 - Hit the road again
10:30 - "I need to pee because I drank too much coffee"
10:30 -> 1pm dealing with crazy PNW traffic
1:00pm -> stop to eat/pee/etc/charge
1:15pm -> Car says its almost done charging, and we still haven't gotten our food.
1:30pm -> Car is done charging so I have to move the slider from 90% to 100% to buy time. Sorry other Tesla owners
1:35pm -> Can I have the check?
1:40pm -> I'd really like the check now
1:45pm -> Finally
1:50pm -> Back on the road
4ish to 5ish -> Getting tired of driving, and my eyes are bugging out
5pm (or so) -> Stop to charge to stretch my legs, and maybe grab a bite to eat.
5:30pm -> Back on road, and now my eyes work correctly.
7pm -> Arrive at destination successfully without any serious issues.

Ha ha...leave at 10:00, 10:05 "can you stop off at Starbucks?"

What a great post.

 

[gavine]

well lets see, 36gallon tank, 22mpg highway, 23 depending.
1000miles. I paid $2.59 before i left to top it off and $2.31 total fillup at my destination. I don't know, $105 for the trip?

if I had a 10hr drive and could pay $50 to get there in 7.5 hours. Yea I'd pay it, no question.

So you go 500 miles in 7.5hrs (including stops) and still get 22mpg in a pickup truck? You have to be going 75 to 80mph. I can't imagine you're getting that kind of mileage going that fast in a truck. If you are, that's amazing.

 

[⚡️ELECTROMAN⚡️]

well lets see, 36gallon tank, 22mpg highway, 23 depending.
1000miles. I paid $2.59 before i left to top it off and $2.31 total fillup at my destination. I don't know, $105 for the trip?

if I had a 10hr drive and could pay $50 to get there in 7.5 hours. Yea I'd pay it, no question.

Have you road tripped in a Tesla before? In my opinion your contribution to this thread isn’t really that relevant if you haven’t even owned and used a long range EV. Maybe you should read the title again. I interpret it as asking Tesla owners and users, or even former owners, if after living with an EV, if they still prefer to drive their traditional ice car(s).

 

[Barklikeadog]

So you go 500 miles in 7.5hrs (including stops) and still get 22mpg in a pickup truck? You have to be going 75 to 80mph. I can't imagine you're getting that kind of mileage going that fast in a truck. If you are, that's amazing.

Yea that's about right. On google maps rt now (with traffic on my end) it spits out 500 miles even, 7hrs 25min. Limit is 70, I go about 75, make up some time there. Stop for 15 in the middle. Typically arrive in 7 and a half hours. My EPA MPG is 17/23.

 

[gavine]

36 gallons of gas in your tank is 1.2 mega-watt hours of stored energy (33.7kWh per gallon x 36 gallons = 1,213kWh) . A Model 3, for example, can travel about 4 miles per kWh so, if the Model 3 had a battery with the equivalent energy of 36 gallons of gas, it would have a range of about 4,852 miles (1213 x 4). This, of course, assumes that a 1.2MW hour battery weighs the same as the current 75kWh battery (and that my math is correct).

 

[MichaelP90DL]

36 gallons of gas in your tank is 1.2 mega-watt hours of stored energy (33.7kWh per gallon x 36 gallons = 1,213kWh) . A Model 3, for example, can travel about 4 miles per kWh so, if the Model 3 had a battery with the equivalent energy of 36 gallons of gas, it would have a range of about 4,852 miles (1213 x 4). This, of course, assumes that a 1.2MW hour battery weighs the same as the current 75kWh battery (and that my math is correct).

Well that would certainly cut down on the need for stops on the cross-country trip!