Almost abandoned my Model S for an ICE rental last night...

[perkiset]

The notion of renting an ICE as abandoning your EV is kind of bombastic, IMO. It's about the right tool for the job. I've rented cars here at home many times for different jobs, because I dont have the right vehincle for the mission. I've even rented to do longer road trips just because I didn't want to put the mileage on my Sequoia. I adore my Tesla. I literally look for errands to run and things to do just to drive it. But there are many times when it's just not the right car.

It sounds like you (wk057) have a need for both a hammer and a screwdriver in your toolbox - it is not an indictment of the hammer if you need to screw something in mate. And if you only do it once in a very long time you can borrow one from your neighbor. But if you're doing a lot, then you buy one.

I think you should have an ICE about - I'd not even go Volt or anything, I'd go the opposite direction so that you have the broadest capability in your posession. I view it as a huge, lost opportunity when I need to do something with my Sequoia and can't drive the rocket ship. But, rather than having angst about maybe having to rent an ICE, or that there's no AutoPilot, or the 0-60 is not what was advertised (all of which you post most prolifically about), perhaps you need to grapple with the fact that one tool is not enough for all jobs.

For me, this makes every single excursion in my MS perfect, rather than always slightly lacking.

 

[Oil4AsphaultOnly]

The notion of renting an ICE as abandoning your EV is kind of bombastic, IMO. It's about the right tool for the job. I've rented cars here at home many times for different jobs, because I dont have the right vehincle for the mission. I've even rented to do longer road trips just because I didn't want to put the mileage on my Sequoia. I adore my Tesla. I literally look for errands to run and things to do just to drive it. But there are many times when it's just not the right car.

It sounds like you (wk057) have a need for both a hammer and a screwdriver in your toolbox - it is not an indictment of the hammer if you need to screw something in mate. And if you only do it once in a very long time you can borrow one from your neighbor. But if you're doing a lot, then you buy one.

I think you should have an ICE about - I'd not even go Volt or anything, I'd go the opposite direction so that you have the broadest capability in your posession. I view it as a huge, lost opportunity when I need to do something with my Sequoia and can't drive the rocket ship. But, rather than having angst about maybe having to rent an ICE, or that there's no AutoPilot, or the 0-60 is not what was advertised (all of which you post most prolifically about), perhaps you need to grapple with the fact that one tool is not enough for all jobs.

For me, this makes every single excursion in my MS perfect, rather than always slightly lacking.

+1

When I had an old pick-up truck in college, I would rent an econobox to drive home (because fuel economy). And then when I had a sports coupe, I would rent a full-size sedan when carpooling (because passenger space, and company paid for the rental). And as a leaf owner, I'd think nothing of falling back to my minivan when the situation warrants it. EV's are mainstream, because it meets people's 95% needs and they are used to renting vehicles when the situation warrants it. After all, car rentals existed and prospered well before EV's became a "thing".

I think the expectation that your one vehicle meets ALL your needs is the true corner case. Most people are fine with renting/borrowing when the situation arises.

 

[cab]

We recently turned in our Volt after a three year lease and are considering a CPO Model S. One thing owning a Volt teaches you is what you can and can't do with regard to electric range. We live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area...not exactly "supercharger country" here in Texas...and it is a BIG friggin' state. Any Model S 60-90D would meet our daily "metroplex" needs, but beyond that we are a bit stuck. We can go North towards Oklahoma City or South towards Austin/San Antonio, but those are more occasional journeys. Our more frequent journeys take us East and Northeast...supercharger desert as wk057 describes them. Yes, there is a Nissan dealership on the way to one of them...not sure if they have ChaDemo OR if they have it behind the gates on the weekends we tend to go there. Tulsa route up i75...oops nothing there. Hang out in an RV park....um, no thanks. What about that pesky elephant in the room called "destination charging" when folks don't have an accessible 220v outlet. Heck, my parents house was sketch enough I stopped charging the Volt there at 110v on 12 amps.

The Model S is a ridiculously awesome car, but supercharging and destination charging are still sketchy for a lot of us on a lot of journeys. As "early" adopters most of us are willing to work with this, but the average joe...not so much. Heck, even my wife would prefer we just get another Volt because of this very concern!

 

[LetsGoFast]

As a final example, I have a friend in NJ who makes a drive from NJ to Texas often (probably twice a year). He averages 80+ MPH and makes excellent time usually. So, a few problems. First, there are some huge supercharger deserts on his route (I-81 and I-40 mainly). Completely impossible to do in a Model S using a sane route. Then, he pulls off the trip in about 22 hours with an average speed of around 80 MPH, including time spent refueling/bathroom breaks/etc.

For two trips a year, it could be a reasonable decision to rent a car for those trips (or travel by air). But it is undoubtedly true that people who do round the clock road trips where they barely stop for gas or food are going to have to make a significant lifestyle change to do the same in an EV. It ain't for everybody. Personally, I'd rather gnaw off my arm than drive 22 hours straight at 85-90mph.

 

[InternetDude]

I just did a trip, about 500 miles each way using only Level 2 charging. Honestly it went way better than I expected. We had a chance to slow down a bit and check out some towns we would have normally driven past.

 

[Drucifer]

I think that this shows that electric vehicle adoption has made tremendous progress in the last 5 years and that within another 5 years will be fully able to replace ICE vehicles for nearly all missions.

 

[Auzie]

(My personal 2c: the thread title is a bit "glass-half-full", ....)

My model S struggled, but it was there for me all the way in quite peculiar circumstances - that might qualify for a glass half full down here. It might even earn you a full glass of your favourite drink.

Current title, we would classify it as a downer

 

[wk057]

I just did a trip, about 500 miles each way using only Level 2 charging. Honestly it went way better than I expected. We had a chance to slow down a bit and check out some towns we would have normally driven past.

Even best case L2 charging (20kW HPWC) you'd spend at least 4 hours charging assuming you left at the beginning of the trip with 100% charge... so an 8-hour trip becomes 12+ hours. I personally am not willing to add 50%+ more time to a trip for the sake of driving the Model S. I'm not alone in this thinking, either.

I think that this shows that electric vehicle adoption has made tremendous progress in the last 5 years and that within another 5 years will be fully able to replace ICE vehicles for nearly all missions.

Not sure where you got that from my post, considering I used no public charging infrastructure and was still inconvenienced with the required 2 hour stop at a friend's (where I had previously installed a NEMA 14-50) to make it home. Pretty sure this would have been the same situation years ago when the Model S first came out since no superchargers were used.

My model S struggled, but it was there for me all the way in quite peculiar circumstances - that might qualify for a glass half full down here. It might even earn you a full glass of your favourite drink.

Current title, we would classify it as a downer

For the record, I'd appreciate it if the title were left as-is. The situation was a downer, so, if that's what it reflects then it is appropriate.

 

[Auzie]

For the record, I'd appreciate it if the title were left as-is. The situation was a downer, so, if that's what it reflects then it is appropriate.

For the record, I was not suggesting the change to the original thread title. It would not be appropriate for me to make such a suggestion.

The spirit of your feelings comes across quite clearly from your posts and indeed matches the tread title as you wish it to be

My post merely responds to Nigel's post and tries to match Nigel's 2c to my 2c.

 

[wk057]

For the record, I was not suggesting the change to the original thread title. It would not be appropriate for me to make such a suggestion.

The spirit of your feelings comes across quite clearly from your posts and indeed matches the tread title as you wish it to be

My post merely responds to Nigel's post and tries to match Nigel's 2c to my 2c.

Understood.

<sarcasm>
Just noting for the trigger happy mods who are always changing thread titles and annoying probably one person on the whole forum, but still. lol.
</sarcarm>