78% of drivers drive 40 miles or less per day

[elecblue]

If you take my Model S ODO and divide it by time, you get about 50 miles per day. Some days are 30 miles and some days are 130. At any rate, I luv the fact that I can do the whole range without worrying about it. Also, I hot-dog the S**T out of my car on the road - that is, zipping along and blowing doors off of anyone around at a given chance (staying within the local road laws of course * ahem *). For this reason also I luv Pac Blue!

For sheer power and fun, Model S beats all other EVs that I've driven - Leaf, Volt, I, conversion, you name it. Nothing compares!

 

[neroden]

when it comes to average daily driving, it's the exception that defines the need.

Yep. I spend entire days without leaving the house, but once or twice a month I have to drive 60-120 miles away.

So. Hence a Model S rather than a Leaf. I mean, I could take a gas car for the longer trips but... I hate gas, and I wanted to take a *nice* car on the long (and therefore naturally unpleasant) trip.

- - - Updated - - -

"The graph clearly shows"

Either:
A) Tesla owners should be driving more than 100 miles per day,

Economically speaking, this is roughly true. The Tesla really isn't money-efficient at low mileages. But there are considerations other than economics. For instance, I hate gasoline.

 

[Norbert]

Those graphs don't seem to give the complete picture. If you look on GM's website, where they count the total number of miles driven by Volts, you'll see that 62% are electric, and 38% on gasoline. This number (for gasoline) is quite a bit higher than I'd expect based on the graphs. And, I think, that is the number which counts.

While, on the plus side, this results in an average mpg much better than a Prius, it means that still, more than a third is driven with gasoline.

Not sure where the difference comes from. Weekend trips? Additional errands and trips after coming home from work? The only selection bias here is: who buys a Volt.

Regarding a pure EV, 100thMonkey is making a great point about the importance of the "exceptions". Covering the daily commute is just the minimum for range, not the proper size.

Also, if the intention is to (at least partially) support electric cars as the future mainstream solution, then a longer-range EV, especially the Model S, will do this significantly better, both in design and in terms of specific battery technology (as well as in the amount of that). I think the Gen III will be the major breakthrough for electric cars, and of course one of the best ways to support it, is to buy a Model S, if it makes sense for you.

 

[Teslawisher]

I have been tracking my driving for the last 7 months in my ICE. So far, on days I drive (some weekend days I don't go anywhere), I average 40 miles. This ranges from 13 mile round trip to the store being my only drive of the day, to a 30 mile round trip work commute, to a day trip to the wife's inlaws 140 miles, and a trip to a friend's for family photo's (200 miles).

So, for me, I want a vehicle that will cover 90+% of my driving so I need to have at least 200 mile range (maybe a bit more as I tend to do 70-75 highway, and tend to be a bit heavy-footed at the stop lights at times). For the <10% of time I need more, we can use the ICE. Or, if we end up with two EV's, rent, etc.

 

[100thMonkey]

...
So, for me, I want a vehicle that will cover 90+% of my driving so I need to have at least 200 mile range (maybe a bit more as I tend to do 70-75 highway, and tend to be a bit heavy-footed at the stop lights at times). For the <10% of time I need more, we can use the ICE. Or, if we end up with two EV's, rent, etc.

add for wind drag, bad road conditions (snow/ice or even just heavy rain), the occasional cold soaked battery in winter parked unplugged, overnight away from home and I would suggest that the 85kW is really the minimum for virtual care free driving. I'm willing to sit and charge "on the go" and otherwise be occasionally inconvenienced but care free driving is what I measure against in terms of determining what is adequate for the mass market expansion of EV's.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

My Model S so far ~
miles shown on X-axis are bins. I have done 6 days w/ over 300 miles per day, trips to/from Bay Area and to/from Sac
these all had ~ 1.5 - 3 hrs of 14-50 charging