Anyone using their Roadster as a commuter car?

[pab5482]

I just ordered my car - apparently the LAST Thunder Gray Roadster Sport they'll ever make. They're shipping it from Chicago to Menlo Park CA this week.

I'm planning to use the car every day to go to work - about 35 miles each way.

Do you use your Roadster for commuting? Any lessons learnt? Things I need to think about?

Thanks.

 

[mpt]

Welcome to the club and to Tesla day-to-day driving!

Yes, many of us use our cars day-to-day. Check out the 'Living with the Roadster' thread and, well, pretty much most of the forum!

 

[bonnie]

I just ordered my car - apparently the LAST Thunder Gray Roadster Sport they'll ever make. They're shipping it from Chicago to Menlo Park CA this week.

I'm planning to use the car every day to go to work - about 35 miles each way.

Do you use your Roadster for commuting? Any lessons learnt? Things I need to think about?

Thanks.

Yes, learn the backroads between your house and the office. You'll want to detour on a regular basis .

 

[Doug_G]

Do you use your Roadster for commuting? Any lessons learnt? Things I need to think about?

Of course! It's a great commuter car.

Once in a while I have to drive my ICE car because I need to carry something large. But that's rare; 99% of the time I can fit everything I need in the Roadster's trunk. You'd be surprised how much you can stuff in there.

 

[DRM]

yup, use it every day to and from work. From the other owners I've met, most drive it as their primary car.

 

[Jaff]

Yep, commute in it every day.

I'm thinking of moving my office to the next town over so I can commute a few more miles daily...:wink::biggrin:

 

[vfx]

You won't want to drive anything else!

 

[user497]

I just ordered my car - apparently the LAST Thunder Gray Roadster Sport they'll ever make.

Congratulations. I also have the Thunder Gray and couldn't be happier with it. I also used mine as a daily commuter. Since you are in California you probably won't have this issue with this but the most important thing in the east coast is to pay attention to the pot holes. The roads out here really get chewed up so you want to be careful. After doing the commute several weeks, I know exactly what lanes I want to be in during which part of my commute. My only other observation is that I stopped going to certain places for lunch where the parking situation is a little sketchy in favor of other places with better parking.

 

[strider]

Welcome to the club!

I commute from San Mateo to Sunnyvale every day in my Roadster. HOV stickers help a lot and it's a fun car to drive - telepathic handling and acceleration make moving through traffic as fun as it could possibly be.

Even though I'm only going ~60 miles/day I go ahead and do a Standard mode charge every night. I'm on PG&E's time of use rate plan for EV owners so the car is set to charge at midnight - I plug it in when I get home and it kicks on automatically.

One thing that bothers me is that the radio reception is terrible - the antenna is under the body panels and carbon fiber filters out a good deal of signal. I'm actually going to have Tesla look at it when I take it in for its first year service. The hands free bluetooth works well unless you're over 70mph (not sure if you take a lot of calls in your car). Getting your phone paired up is a bit fiddly. There's a thread on here about it - you have to do some kind of secret handshake w/ the car stopped, parking brake on then off, etc.

In the winter you'll probably be doing some driving in the dark. I would recommend upgrading to HID lights. There's also a thread on here somewhere. Get the 55W version and it made a huge difference in night time vision.

What else... oh, buy a hat. I've been running around w/ the top off so much I've sunburned my head a few times (yes, it's a little thin up there ).

But overall it's really fun. Shortly after getting my car I went on paternity leave and I found myself itching to get back to work so I could drive my car.

 

[dwegmull]

I use it everyday. Well, technically, every other day as I carpool. You should see the face on my carpool buddy on the odd day when I have to take my other car (Volvo V70R)! I would guess that I drive my Roadster more than 90% of the time. As an office worker, I don't need to carry anything besides a laptop, so trunk space is not an issue. My commute is only 15 miles each way, so again, no problem. I live in California, so weather is not a problem (I hear there is a hard top available. What's that?).

 

[daghb]

Yep! Commuting is about 115 miles each way. However, not every day now, but down to three times a week. Of course, with such distances you have to have faster charging than 10A or 16A - there simply isn't enough hours in a day to charge.

 

[kgb]

I commute daily about 20 minutes each way. I found my experience to be similar to others I've read about in this forum. I look for excuses to drive my Roadster. Need milk? "I'll get it." Ice run? "I'll get it." Too drunk to drive. "I'll drive you."

 

[SByer]

Best. Commute. Car. Ever!

9 miles each way, white sticker helps a lot. I haven't had it yet, but have gotten tantalizingly close to a commute without once touching the friction brakes (had to stop fully at the last right turn).

I use an iPod instead of trying to listen to the radio (plus, the radio station I used to listen to has gone away).

 

[NeoDoc]

I went and bought a netted zip pack (for suitcases, etc) at the Container Store for about $10 - attached it with Velco to the mat in front of the driver's seat and put my small stuff in it (entry badge, beeper, sunglass case, etc). Keeps the cockpit tidy and prevents stuff from flying around as you zip in and out of traffic. I drive 50 miles round trip 5 days/week - would recommend that you use some type of spray cleaner to clean off obvious surface grime daily to save the paint. Just takes a few minutes.

 

[tetsuos]

I use my for commuting 23 km to the office every day here in Hong Kong. Around once every two weeks I go on a 3-4 day business trip, so I drive to the airport (50 km) and leave my Roadster there waiting for me to come home. I average about 20% discharge on my daily commute (measured in Standard mode) and 50-60% discharge on my airport round trip.

The Roadster is absolutely ideal for Hong Kong's geography and traffic situation, and the high security in most multi-story carparks means I can leave the top off all day (when it's not raining or 35C outside).

 

[markwj]

The Roadster is absolutely ideal for Hong Kong's geography and traffic situation, and the high security in most multi-story carparks means I can leave the top off all day (when it's not raining or 35C outside).

Yes, those two weeks of the year here are pleasant, aren't they? ;-)

 

[mpt]

I use an iPod instead of trying to listen to the radio (plus, the radio station I used to listen to has gone away).

Me too, I'd actually forgotten that I had a radio in there then tried to use it for a local station; crackly and poor quality. iPhone streaming from the same station is far better quality and consistent.

 

[pab5482]

Thanks all of you very much. I just bought the car - your comments convinced me it's going to work fine. Kinda cool to know it was the last Thunder Gray S ever! Ended up also buying the hardtop for the winter weather.

Noted on the lights, potholes and other things to be aware of.

Again, appreciate your help, and for those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area, let me know if you ever want to go out for a run! My 4 year old son and me will be itching to find the twisties

 

[Jaff]

Congrats pab & welcome to the club!

 

[TEG]

...it was the last Thunder Gray S ever!...

Well, glad it ended up in the greater SF bay area...!