75? 100? 75? 100? ARGHHH!

[RyDad1]

I had planned on waiting on a 3, but after having an X for a couple days last week I reallllllllllly want one.

I'm debating between the 75D or the 100D (maybe a 90 before they are gone). I'm no Tesla expert, but other than price, are the only real differences between the 75 and the 90/100 the range and acceleration?

I work in DC and live just outside in VA, so I'd mainly be doing city driving with some short highway spurts. My apartment building has 2 chargepoint stations in the garage and we should have another 3-4 superchargers around the DC area by next year.

I know people say to just go with what you can afford, but I was just curious if I was missing any other big differences.

 

[redan]

I'd go with the 100, all things being equal. I'm not sure the acceleration difference is noticeable in real world driving, but the additional range certainly will be, especially in the winter. You get a 75 and you may wish you had more range. You get a 100 and I doubt you'll ever wish you had less range.

 

[MIT_S60]

The 100D will be able to Supercharge faster than the 75D (up to 120 kW versus nearly up to 100 kW) and the top speed is a bit higher, but it's not that big of a difference in real world usage. If you get the 75D, you could use the $17k savings towards a Model 3!

 

[rjdoc74]

The 100D will be able to Supercharge faster than the 75D (up to 120 kW versus nearly up to 100 kW) and the top speed is a bit higher, but it's not that big of a difference in real world usage. If you get the 75D, you could use the $17k savings towards a Model 3!

Get an inventory 90D. Inventory savings, tax credits, plenty of range.

 

[MIT_S60]

Get an inventory 90D. Inventory savings, tax credits, plenty of range.

You weren't kidding, they really are blowing out those remaining 90D's.

 

[Peteybabes]

100D comes standard with high amperage charger...

 

[Peteybabes]

You weren't kidding, they really are blowing out those remaining 90D's.

Model X P100D 5YJXCDE47GF029287 | Tesla

this one has been reduced almost $20k for example and lease payment dropped $600-$700!!

but in all seriousness most of the 90D's have been reduced by $10k+ https://ev-cpo.com/classic/

 

[Hsuester]

We struggled with the same decision and from what I could tell range, acceleration, and weight were the only differences. We "value engineered" our X by dropping a few options and going with a 100 versus a well optioned 75. We decided against the 90 because its total capacity was ~85.8 kWh versus the ~102.4 kWh of the 100. Our other car and first EV is an e-Golf that we plug in daily and requires us to consider its range whenever our plans change. We decided on the 100 so that we could plug it in slightly less often (we tend to charge our EVs as needed versus topping it up everyday), experience less range anxiety, and have faster acceleration.

 

[JHWJR]

The 100D will be able to Supercharge faster than the 75D (up to 120 kW versus nearly up to 100 kW) and the top speed is a bit higher, but it's not that big of a difference in real world usage. If you get the 75D, you could use the $17k savings towards a Model 3!

Another subtle difference. If you need 70 kWh to get to your next stop, the 100 will take it on much faster than the 75 because the 75 will slow down a lot as it approaches "full."

 

[chris5639]

When I was going through the same dilemma, this thread, What to Order -- X 75d, X 90d, X 100d was really helpful. Most of the folks favored the 100 as I suspect this thread will reflect as well. We did eventually pick the 100D but even after picking it up, I'm not convinced it was the right choice. For one, it feels heavier than the 75D we test drove. Maybe it is just my imagination or maybe a new car needs time to break in - although it's not like an ICE where there's are cylinders and transmissions to wear in. I supposed the gear box to a much smaller extent.

I think the main consideration, at least to me, should be whether or not you favor road trip vacations vs. flying to your destination. For everyday around time use of the car, a 75D is ideal. You save $18K (tax included) and it is a bit more efficient due to less weight. One road trips, it's not that you can't get most places with a 75D but that you would use the limits of the lithium ion battery pack which causes some degradation. There's also the consideration of faster supercharging and even skipping a few during the long distance route but those factors are less important to me. My family enjoy frequent stops.

So why did I go with the 100D? My frustration has been the lack of official communication from Tesla about whether or not you can upgrade to a 100 kWH battery pack later. There's lots of threads debating whether there are suspension differences that would make the upgrade unpractical. If an upgrade is made available later, I would argue it is better to get the 75 kWH pack now and replace it with the 100 later as it is almost a guarantee the $/kWH will drop in the not too distant future. I think about it the same way I think about computer hardware. I always buy the second best graphics card for my PC. It is much cheaper, almost as good and next year I'll be able to buy last year's top of the line GPU at a fraction of the price.

You'll find most here will say buy the most you can afford. But I tend to look at it from a value perspective. Breaking out the math on a spreadsheet, the value is definitely with the 75D. You get 100% of the features (sans the 72 amp AC charger) for $18K less. My wife drives the 100D and she drives less than 30 miles a day. I have the car set to charge to 70% to favor 50%-70% SOC. 72 amp charger would be overkill for replenishing 30 miles of range. That would take an hour at L2 40 amps. This will be the situation for 95% of the time we own this car Will the 100D come in handy for the other 5% when we're road-tripping? Absolutely. But you have to decide whether you want to pay $18K to optimize for that 5%. That's my situation and my 2 cents. Yours may vary.

[Edit] Oh I forgot the 0-60 of 4.8 seconds bragging rights if that matters to you. Obviously not a big deal to me since I didn't include the difference in my original post

 

[Peteybabes]

When I was going through the same dilemma, this thread, What to Order -- X 75d, X 90d, X 100d was really helpful. Most of the folks favored the 100 as I suspect this thread will reflect as well. We did eventually pick the 100D but even after picking it up, I'm not convinced it was the right choice. For one, it feels heavier than the 75D we test drove. Maybe it is just my imagination or maybe a new car needs time to break in - although it's not like an ICE where there's are cylinders and transmissions to wear in. I supposed the gear box to a much smaller extent.

I think the main consideration, at least to me, should be whether or not you favor road trip vacations vs. flying to your destination. For everyday around time use of the car, a 75D is ideal. You save $18K (tax included) and it is a bit more efficient due to less weight. One road trips, it's not that you can't get most places with a 75D but that you would use the limits of the lithium ion battery pack which causes some degradation. There's also the consideration of faster supercharging and even skipping a few during the long distance route but those factors are less important to me. My family enjoy frequent stops.

So why did I go with the 100D? My frustration has been the lack of official communication from Tesla about whether or not you can upgrade to a 100 kWH battery pack later. There's lots of threads debating whether there are suspension differences that would make the upgrade unpractical. If an upgrade is made available later, I would argue it is better to get the 75 kWH pack now and replace it with the 100 later as it is almost a guarantee the $/kWH will drop in the not too distant future. I think about it the same way I think about computer hardware. I always buy the second best graphics card for my PC. It is much cheaper, almost as good and next year I'll be able to buy last year's top of the line GPU at a fraction of the price.

You'll find most here will say buy the most you can afford. But I tend to look at it from a value perspective. Breaking out the math on a spreadsheet, the value is definitely with the 75D. You get 100% of the features (sans the 72 amp AC charger) for $18K less. My wife drives the 100D and she drives less than 30 miles a day. I have the car set to charge to 70% to favor 50%-70% SOC. 72 amp charger would be overkill for replenishing 30 miles of range. That would take an hour at L2 40 amps. This will be the situation for 95% of the time we own this car Will the 100D come in handy for the other 5% when we're road-tripping? Absolutely. But you have to decide whether you want to pay $18K to optimize for that 5%. That's my situation and my 2 cents. Yours may vary.

[Edit] Oh I forgot the 0-60 of 4.8 seconds bragging rights if that matters to you. Obviously not a big deal to me since I didn't include the difference in my original post

This thread was before the 100D went up in price though right?

the other options is simply finding a 100D Demo car...I even saw some with the new console available for sale... Model X 100D 5YJXCBE26HF050569 | Tesla or Model X 75D 5YJXCBE27HF050161 | Tesla

 

[MXFan]

When you get a Model X, you'll find you will want to drive it all over the place. The 100D gives you so much more opportunity to travel farther with fewer stops for supercharging. And the acceleration is a lot better. If you have the extra dollars, get the 100D and you won't ever regret it.

 

[ckwong]

I see a lot of people saying "Range is King"!

 

[KJD]

When buying an EV the 3 most important things to consider.

1. Range
2. Range
3. Range

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I don't think my mom has driven more than 40 miles in a day in the past 20 years. When she starts shopping for a Model 3, I will suggest she only consider the smallest battery available as she would never get close to draining the battery in one day and she will never go on a road trip requiring a Supercharger stop.

Personally, I do a lot of road trips around Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, etc. so I got a 90D, which was the highest offered at the time.

While range is king, if you never actually drive far outside of the metro area, I think a 75 would be fine for your needs.

I see there are nearly 400 inventory 75 and 90 Xs available now, with 50 having discounts from $4300 to $13700 off. While those with the biggest discounts are loaners with some miles on them, there are nearly 300 which are essentially brand new and which still have discounts up to $3600 off new prices.

 

[vandacca]

...
So why did I go with the 100D? My frustration has been the lack of official communication from Tesla about whether or not you can upgrade to a 100 kWH battery pack later. There's lots of threads debating whether there are suspension differences that would make the upgrade unpractical. If an upgrade is made available later, I would argue it is better to get the 75 kWH pack now and replace it with the 100 later as it is almost a guarantee the $/kWH will drop in the not too distant future. I think about it the same way I think about computer hardware. I always buy the second best graphics card for my PC. It is much cheaper, almost as good and next year I'll be able to buy last year's top of the line GPU at a fraction of the price.
...

Elon Musk has indicated at the 2017 Annual General Meeting that pack upgrades will be made available to existing customers. He added that there may be some weight limitations that need to be considered.

Basically, the packs haven't changed much until now. Moving forward 5-10 years, the packs may be considerably different (different layout, different cooling, different cells, etc.). So, Tesla can't say what they will or can do in 5-10 years because they haven't designed these replacements yet or even really thought about it.

You may be able to upgrade from 75kwh to 100kwh in 5-10 years assuming that the new cells weigh 25% less. It's all speculation right now, but it does sound like Tesla will provide some sort of replacement program.

 

[martinicus]

We've been happy on the range with our 60D as almost all our driving is short distances in a metro area. Just upgraded to 75D as we are taking a few trips this summer. Would I love the range of 100D once in a while? Of course! Especially for winter trips. But for us it wasnt worth the extra $$ when we were purchasing.

 

[Nerdy_Engineer]

I'd recommend 100D if you can afford it for a couple of reasons. First, if you live somewhere with rain or snow that can have a drastic impact on your range. You also shouldn't charge to 100% on a regular basis or take the battery all the way down to 0% so your usable range is more like 80% under ideal conditions. And if you go with the 22" rims, you'll lose 10-15%. Also, over time, you'll naturally lose 5%+ range due to battery degradation.

There are other places that you can save money. You can hold off on getting the Full Self Driving software upgrade because it'll probably be a year or so before those many of those features are turned on. All new Teslas come with the complete autopilot hardware so it's a simple software update later on. You can also go with the 20" rims to save money and to help your range. You can also avoid the subzero package if you live somewhere that doesn't see a lot of snow since you can preheat the car with the app.

I recently put together a video talking about this very subject since it's a common question.

 

[rjdoc74]

I work in DC and live just outside in VA, so I'd mainly be doing city driving with some short highway spurts. My apartment building has 2 chargepoint stations in the garage and we should have another 3-4 superchargers around the DC area by next year.

It's awesome that everyone is providing their personal experiences, but lets get back to OP's situation. My situation is somewhat similar to OPs as I live in a large metropolitan area in a condo complex.

OP: DO NOT GET 75D.

You don't even have a dedicated charger in your apartment complex. Two chargepoint stations? For how many units? You may wait in line to charge as more and more people get EVs.

Short sprints around a large metro can eat a lot of battery. Trust me on this one.

Three-four supercharhers in your area? OK, but relying/driving to/waiting at superchargers gets very old very quickly.

My 0.02c- get inventory 90D or 100D.

 

[chris5639]

When buying an EV the 3 most important things to consider.

1. Range
2. Range
3. Range

One of the things I noticed is that we basically have two groups of folks here. Those where Tesla is their first EV and then folks like me who have had an EV before Tesla. We started with a 2011 Nissan Leaf which we just traded in for the X. The Leaf was TERRIBLE at range, especially on the highway. The range just melts away as soon as you go over 60 mph. But yet, it was a perfectly good around town car for my wife. Despite the terrible degradation (25% over 5 years), it still had 50 miles of (non-highway) range at 80% SOC. That's right, despite the fact it has such low range, we only needed to charge it to 80% daily. The only reason we made the switch was that she was tired of having such an econobox for her car. It became especially a sore point when I got my S My point is that most folks think they need more range because of the time it takes to recharge and the availability of chargers. But in practice most people will not need more than 200 miles of range each day and unlike a ICE car you get to start each day with a full tank (or 90% if you prefer). My Honda S2000 had a really small tank and its range was about 220 miles. I know I didn't refuel it daily.

I have this debate with my friends that have ICE cars all the time. They talk about the 30-60 minutes of supercharger refuel time vs. 10 minutes at a gas station. I tell them those numbers are accurate but not a reflection of day to day. Day to day it takes me 10 seconds to plug and unplug my car in the comfort of my garage. Assuming they refuel once a week @ 10 minutes? Have to have a credit card handy? And may have to wait for a pump?

Bottom line is that we're making decisions based on specs but then there's the reality of day to day real life in practice. Everyone's situation is different so you really need to decide if you want to optimize for the last 5%