Well... My test drive weekend ended Monday morning at 4AM, and I was very, very, very sad.
Tesla in Nashville gave me a fully-loaded P100DL with under 100 miles on it as a vehicle to test drive to Jackson, Mississippi and back over the weekend. It didn't have autopilot or TACC (for some reason they weren't enabled), but that wasn't a big deal to me. The drive was still amazingly smooth and quiet, the handling of the car was beautiful, and being able to just pass someone without thinking about it at all is awesome.
The trip from Nashville to Jackson, MS is about 420 miles one way. On the trip into Mississippi I left Nashville at an 85% SOC and doing 74 made it to Birmingham with a 19% SOC. Stopped there for dinner (only needed to stop for 45 minutes, but ended up being there for nearly an hour) and left there with about an 85% SOC. Got to Meridian Mississippi (doing 80 the whole way) and by the time I had found the bathroom in the mall the charger was at, the car was ready to go. Needless to say, overcharged and then did 80 into Jackson... Stopped at the Pearl supercharger to get it up to a higher SOC (arrived around 40%) for some joy-riding and around town driving... Did some launches with a friend in the car, drooled over the performance, and then drove about another 15 minutes to my friend's house. He had set up a 30 amp circuit for me to charge on, so I plugged in the car and let it charge overnight.
Saturday and Sunday was a lot of just driving for the heck of it. Showed the car off to several friends, did a TON of launches, drove over some rough road, smooth road, twisty road, straight road... All of it. Enjoyed every. Single. Mile. I drive a Cadillac day to day, and this car blows the ride quality and handling out of the water. I could nearly floor it from a stop around a 90 degree turn and not have a problem. No slip, no body roll, nothing. It just goes!
Sunday night got exciting... I got the car up to about 83% SOC and set out for Memphis. I didn't bother to put Memphis into the route planner on the car until i was about 45 minutes out of Jackson. It popped up saying to stay under 65MPH and that I _SHOULD_ arrive at 5% SOC. Then it started to rain, and it told me to slow down to 55MPH and that I should arrive with a 3% SOC. "Oh crap!" I thought. I ignored the 65MPH warning for a bit, but then dropped it down to 63MPH when it told me to slow to 55... And made it just fine. Got to the Memphis SC at a 5% SOC and stopped there for about an hour. As it was about 11:00 at this point, none of the places near the SC were open, so I just took a nap in the back seat. Left Memphis with an estimated 55% when i arrived to Jackson, TN so I set cruise to 80MPH and just enjoyed the nice quiet, smooth, effortless ride. Got to Jackson at a 51% SOC (Not too far off considering I was speeding) and took a quick 20 minute nap and then did 80MPH back to Brentwood, TN. Dropped the car off around 3:30AM and then rambled on and on and on to my Uber driver about how awesome it was!
So what did I learn?
EVs can EASILY be used for long trips, and stopping actually makes the trip feel SHORTER. My Cadillac can make the trip in a solid go with no stops, but stopping and taking those little naps and having dinner makes all the difference. I wasn't sore, I wasn't tired, and I was still ready to keep driving if I needed to!
AP is NOT A REQUIREMENT. This car is SO much fun to drive, and so EASY to drive that AP isn't needed at all. Would it have been nice? Sure. But this drive convinced me that I can get a P85 or an 85D second-hand and be perfectly happy without AP.
Rain makes a difference, as do the 21" wheels. As nice as they look, I'll likely opt for the 19" wheels and some slightly harder tires to keep range up. The sport tires on the 21" wheels are awesome for handling and fun, but when it comes to driving in the rain (or just long distance travel) the hurt they put on range is noticeable. I made it to Memphis with 16 miles left in the tank... That means if the car had the 19" wheels, I could have made it with a little over 40 miles left in the tank. Certainly worth the sacrifice in looks.
Air suspension is absolutely amazing, as is a crazy low center of gravity.
Ludicrous+ is absolutely not needed, but oh so so so much fun. It literally sucks the blood out of your face. (My friends thought I was joking when i told them that; They stopped laughing the first time I punched it)
All in all, I am very impressed with the Model S and look forward to finding one with the options I want... Used. I have a rule against buying new cars, and to make this trip comfortably I do want to at least have an 85KWH battery. I could PROBABLY swing the payment on a 90D or a P90D, but I can DEFINITELY swing the payment on an 85D or P85, and will enjoy the car a lot more knowing I'm getting about 95% of the P100DL for less than half the price. Insurance is also about $500/month cheaper on a 2014 P85 than on a 2017 90D.
On the down side, gasoline vehicles suck and I spend a lot of time in rental cars for my work. Waiting on the thing to start moving after I press the gas is terrible...
Tesla in Nashville gave me a fully-loaded P100DL with under 100 miles on it as a vehicle to test drive to Jackson, Mississippi and back over the weekend. It didn't have autopilot or TACC (for some reason they weren't enabled), but that wasn't a big deal to me. The drive was still amazingly smooth and quiet, the handling of the car was beautiful, and being able to just pass someone without thinking about it at all is awesome.
The trip from Nashville to Jackson, MS is about 420 miles one way. On the trip into Mississippi I left Nashville at an 85% SOC and doing 74 made it to Birmingham with a 19% SOC. Stopped there for dinner (only needed to stop for 45 minutes, but ended up being there for nearly an hour) and left there with about an 85% SOC. Got to Meridian Mississippi (doing 80 the whole way) and by the time I had found the bathroom in the mall the charger was at, the car was ready to go. Needless to say, overcharged and then did 80 into Jackson... Stopped at the Pearl supercharger to get it up to a higher SOC (arrived around 40%) for some joy-riding and around town driving... Did some launches with a friend in the car, drooled over the performance, and then drove about another 15 minutes to my friend's house. He had set up a 30 amp circuit for me to charge on, so I plugged in the car and let it charge overnight.
Saturday and Sunday was a lot of just driving for the heck of it. Showed the car off to several friends, did a TON of launches, drove over some rough road, smooth road, twisty road, straight road... All of it. Enjoyed every. Single. Mile. I drive a Cadillac day to day, and this car blows the ride quality and handling out of the water. I could nearly floor it from a stop around a 90 degree turn and not have a problem. No slip, no body roll, nothing. It just goes!
Sunday night got exciting... I got the car up to about 83% SOC and set out for Memphis. I didn't bother to put Memphis into the route planner on the car until i was about 45 minutes out of Jackson. It popped up saying to stay under 65MPH and that I _SHOULD_ arrive at 5% SOC. Then it started to rain, and it told me to slow down to 55MPH and that I should arrive with a 3% SOC. "Oh crap!" I thought. I ignored the 65MPH warning for a bit, but then dropped it down to 63MPH when it told me to slow to 55... And made it just fine. Got to the Memphis SC at a 5% SOC and stopped there for about an hour. As it was about 11:00 at this point, none of the places near the SC were open, so I just took a nap in the back seat. Left Memphis with an estimated 55% when i arrived to Jackson, TN so I set cruise to 80MPH and just enjoyed the nice quiet, smooth, effortless ride. Got to Jackson at a 51% SOC (Not too far off considering I was speeding) and took a quick 20 minute nap and then did 80MPH back to Brentwood, TN. Dropped the car off around 3:30AM and then rambled on and on and on to my Uber driver about how awesome it was!
So what did I learn?
EVs can EASILY be used for long trips, and stopping actually makes the trip feel SHORTER. My Cadillac can make the trip in a solid go with no stops, but stopping and taking those little naps and having dinner makes all the difference. I wasn't sore, I wasn't tired, and I was still ready to keep driving if I needed to!
AP is NOT A REQUIREMENT. This car is SO much fun to drive, and so EASY to drive that AP isn't needed at all. Would it have been nice? Sure. But this drive convinced me that I can get a P85 or an 85D second-hand and be perfectly happy without AP.
Rain makes a difference, as do the 21" wheels. As nice as they look, I'll likely opt for the 19" wheels and some slightly harder tires to keep range up. The sport tires on the 21" wheels are awesome for handling and fun, but when it comes to driving in the rain (or just long distance travel) the hurt they put on range is noticeable. I made it to Memphis with 16 miles left in the tank... That means if the car had the 19" wheels, I could have made it with a little over 40 miles left in the tank. Certainly worth the sacrifice in looks.
Air suspension is absolutely amazing, as is a crazy low center of gravity.
Ludicrous+ is absolutely not needed, but oh so so so much fun. It literally sucks the blood out of your face. (My friends thought I was joking when i told them that; They stopped laughing the first time I punched it)
All in all, I am very impressed with the Model S and look forward to finding one with the options I want... Used. I have a rule against buying new cars, and to make this trip comfortably I do want to at least have an 85KWH battery. I could PROBABLY swing the payment on a 90D or a P90D, but I can DEFINITELY swing the payment on an 85D or P85, and will enjoy the car a lot more knowing I'm getting about 95% of the P100DL for less than half the price. Insurance is also about $500/month cheaper on a 2014 P85 than on a 2017 90D.
On the down side, gasoline vehicles suck and I spend a lot of time in rental cars for my work. Waiting on the thing to start moving after I press the gas is terrible...
