"Car market literally down to 2 cars today"

[paulkva]

So thing to point out is that the average driving time at least for me living on the east coast of the US is about two hours, which requires a stop normally to use the bathroom at that point. (Note I am not old, 26, so it isn't a bladder thing... I drink a lot to stay awake during my driving and that translates to stops.)

2 hours of driving is around 120 miles which is about the average distance between chargers. Some were longer some were shorter. That recharge time is only about 15-20 minutes tops. In most cases I was stopping plugging in, walking over to where I could use the bathroom and get a new drink and then walking back. By that point I was pretty much ready to go again. Some stops going up and down the East coast were as short as 5 minutes. My longest stop was over an hour but was caused by my own doing... Since it was a food stop. The benefit of driving in this fashion is also that it is more relaxing overall. I didn't feel stressed to get somewhere and stopping gave me time to rest from the road driving.

This was precisely my experience driving from DC to Florida. The family needed a bathroom break every ~2 hours, we timed them to coincide with superchargers, and by the time we were done the car was ready to reach the next charger. Some of our stops required more charging time, so those were lunch or dinner, and by the time we finished each of those we had a nearly 100% full battery. It worked out pretty well, and for the entire ~2500 miles we only had to wait for the car a total of ~30 minutes (out of a cumulative ~8 hours of supercharging).

I used to take 4-hour trips from DC to NJ and arrive exhausted, sore/tense, and in a bad mood. On our Tesla trip to FL, I did >10x the driving, and although I was tired at the end of each travel day, I remained comfortable the whole time. And with the Tesla, those 4-hour trips to NJ are no longer exhausting either.

 

[adiggs]

Minus the part where I used to care about gas engine cars (before the Roadster, I just didn't care about cars), I feel the same. It's pretty wild to realize that the automotive industry contains 1 manufacturer, soon-to-be 2 cars/choices, and a whole bunch of pretenders.

I hope the pretenders get involved again soon.

 

[chickensevil]

This was precisely my experience driving from DC to Florida. The family needed a bathroom break every ~2 hours, we timed them to coincide with superchargers, and by the time we were done the car was ready to reach the next charger. Some of our stops required more charging time, so those were lunch or dinner, and by the time we finished each of those we had a nearly 100% full battery. It worked out pretty well, and for the entire ~2500 miles we only had to wait for the car a total of ~30 minutes (out of a cumulative ~8 hours of supercharging).

I used to take 4-hour trips from DC to NJ and arrive exhausted, sore/tense, and in a bad mood. On our Tesla trip to FL, I did >10x the driving, and although I was tired at the end of each travel day, I remained comfortable the whole time. And with the Tesla, those 4-hour trips to NJ are no longer exhausting either.

Yeah, I had a couple stops which we stayed a bit too long on the eating part and it ended up making me go to 100% without meaning to, and we had a couple other stops that we overcharged on, on accident, but it worked out because then the next stop was even shorter! There was only one stop in which I had to intentionally sit there and kill time and that was the last supercharger stop at St Augustine FL, and that was because where I was going there was very little destination charging options, so I wanted to get as much charge as I could. Getting to where I wanted to go? Easy. Driving around after I got there? Still a bit of a challenge... That will change though soon enough

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Thank you, guys. And I appreciate the stories and sentiments regarding long roadtrips. Us in Europe are not yet as lucky with the supercharger network as you are in the U.S. (and CHAdeMO and AC chargers remain slow substitutes), so the decision is not just about taking more or longer breaks - although I agree those would be good on a long trip for a multitude of reasons. All this will change over time, of course, barring any catastrophic event around Tesla and the EV.

 

[chickensevil]

There are plenty of places in the US still left uncovered, so take heart, you are not alone in your wish for more coverage. I don't know which part of the EU you live in (since your description is very non-descript... which is totally fine) but I assume based on those comments you live east of Germany? If so then Elon has said in a recent twitter update that they are going to be updating the map soon for Eastern Europe and he has committed already to saying that 2014/2015 will include full coverage for Spain and Portugal.

If it makes you feel any better I can't get to where my parents live just yet (without it being a HUGE hassle) and am waiting on one or two more Superchargers to come online, and there are plenty of people always complaining about how their part of the US is not even on the map at all yet for getting a Supercharger. It is just something that takes time... more than money. I have watched the process of this, and permitting takes FOREVER! I don't know how bad it is in European countries (I assume this likely varies), but in the US, you have Federal regulations (National), State regulations, County regulations, City regulations, etc... Everyone gets their 5 minutes to complain about why this is bad or whatever, holding up the process, and it just takes a long time. From what I have seen of the process it can take 2-3 months just to get through the permitting.

Keep in mind that the East to West route was SUPPOSED to be originally finished by the end of 2013... and it wasn't until spring that it came online. So if your country isn't covered just yet, I would expect it will be soon enough! In 2017 when the Model 3 comes out a charger will be a stones throw away from pretty much anyone's home.

 

[AnxietyRanger]

There are some superchargers alongside the routes I mentioned, but not all of them. I am too new to really yet have delved into the politics of all this, but I'm sure I'll be paying more attention to this in the future...

One thing that is interesting is how fast or slow other fast chargers will spread. EU is of course home to Germany's car manufacturers and thus, if they are not completely deciding to stay out of the car market, they will affect the DC charging networks as well. Not that I'm looking forward to a Frankenplug adapter...

 

[jkliu47]

Great read!

 

[CHGolferJim]

Thoroughly enjoying your posts, AR! Please keep it up :biggrin:

 

[DGM73]

I really liked and enjoyed reading your blog-like-posts. Congrats on both your communication skills and on ordering a Model S. I just reached the 2.000 km mark on mine (received it around one month and half ago) and I'm enjoying it so much that I'm actually thinking that I would be needing a desintoxication treatment sometime soon! I'm completely addicted.

Your remark on being able to park the Model S in the living room is funny but spot on! Yesterday, I was literally told by a co-worker to whom I was showing the car, that she could go to bed... with the Model S! (of course, it was a joke related to another kind of conversation, but we laughed all the same ).

 

[chickensevil]

I really liked and enjoyed reading your blog-like-posts. Congrats on both your communication skills and on ordering a Model S. I just reached the 2.000 km mark on mine (received it around one month and half ago) and I'm enjoying it so much that I'm actually thinking that I would be needing a desintoxication treatment sometime soon! I'm completely addicted.

Your remark on being able to park the Model S in the living room is funny but spot on! Yesterday, I was literally told by a co-worker to whom I was showing the car, that she could go to bed... with the Model S! (of course, it was a joke related to another kind of conversation, but we laughed all the same ).

Don't try the detox... it is VERY painful. I have had to go without my car a couple times and each time it hurts... and then I finally was forced to drive a RAV4 yesterday (my first non-Tesla in over 5 months) and I wanted to cry... Just keep injecting yourself with the thrill of the Tesla and don't look back

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

I'm with you. Will never buy a gas car again, and right now see only two cars to choose from.

Interestingly, my erstwhile favorite was always the BMW 3-series convertible... ideally, the M3 convertible. For my entire life, that was my dream car. I never wanted a 5-series. Now, I wouldn't leave the Model S for anything today. But the Model X looks awesome enough to maybe tempt me into something even bigger (we've already ordered one for her), and I can't help but think that the Model 3 may speak to me the way the 3-series always did: more compact, more agile, more light-hearted. The announcement of a P+ AWD Model 3 Convertible would definitely put my preorder into line as fast as I could click the webpage. The next few years are going to be interesting for me to see what Tesla offers me... but I only care about what Tesla offers me. No one else is making what I want to buy, and drive.

Every so often I have to drive my wife's BMW 535 GT, or the Honda Odyssey... it's just painful, and I feel bad for the car to be working so hard and yet getting so little done.

 

[CaptainKirk]

With Tesla, I can personally see the excitement the company brings. My father (71 years old) used to go through the saturday newspaper's Wheels section and comment on the Lexus ads about wanting one. He's a blue collar worker who worked hard to earn a living, but never really bought anything luxurious for himself. Over the last year since I started investing in Tesla he's now commenting that the cars in those ads are a ripoff compared to what a Model 3 would be theoretically able to offer. Over the year conversations slowly changed from I'll buy your IS350 off of you when you get a Tesla to let's both just try to get on the reservation list when the Model 3 comes around. I say try because I anticipate a LOT of interest (competition :tongue

 

[adiggs]

With Tesla, I can personally see the excitement the company brings. My father (71 years old) used to go through the saturday newspaper's Wheels section and comment on the Lexus ads about wanting one. He's a blue collar worker who worked hard to earn a living, but never really bought anything luxurious for himself. Over the last year since I started investing in Tesla he's now commenting that the cars in those ads are a ripoff compared to what a Model 3 would be theoretically able to offer. Over the year conversations slowly changed from I'll buy your IS350 off of you when you get a Tesla to let's both just try to get on the reservation list when the Model 3 comes around. I say try because I anticipate a LOT of interest (competition :tongue

Using you and your dad as a microcosm - it sounds like the two of you are beginning to save for your deposit on a car that doesn't even exist at the eventual manufacturer of the car, much less something that you've seen.

How many people do any of us know that are busy planning for the deposit they will put down on the 2018 version of .. well anything (car industry)? I don't know anybody, outside of the Tesla universe. And here, it's routine. We fish are trying to throw ourselves into a boat that isn't even in the water yet.

 

[chickensevil]

We fish are trying to throw ourselves into a boat that isn't even in the water yet.

Best analogy ever! haha! Elon made mention I think of us fish throwing ourselves into the boat, but for the Model 3 it is totally true that people are planning for a boat that doesn't even exist yet except in our dreams

But yeah, I have at least two people I know personally who have already said when the Model 3 comes out they not only want one, but want to be first in line to get it! This is going to be worse (better?) than black Friday sales for Tesla! Only there will be no "special deal" it will just be buying something at full value (or a premium if you go for a sig).

They did a Signature 100 for the Roadsters
A signature 1000 for the Model S (although I think they did more than 1000... but still)
A signature 1000 per region for the Model X

I hope they do a Signature 10,000 for the Model 3! Because so many people are going to want to be part of that history

 

[AnxietyRanger]

Thank you guys, for the kind words.

And yes, Tesla indeed is inducing its own kind of crazy. Here I am not yet with my own Model S and I've already booked the "sequel" too. I am that confident, given the minimal exposure to Model S I've had. It is just a (car-)life altering realization when it hits you.

I don't recall ever doing that with a car. Time to ice the ICEs on the driveway. There will be no looking back now.

 

[Hugh Mannity]

I too have been a car guy since forever, have never been so obsessed with a product(s) before. There must be subliminal messaging in the tesla vids i have seen or something. In a relatively short time frame they have made me realise that ice vehicles are irrelevant and old school junk, will never purchase one again

 

[chickensevil]

I too have been a car guy since forever, have never been so obsessed with a product(s) before. There must be subliminal messaging in the tesla vids i have seen or something. In a relatively short time frame they have made me realise that ice vehicles are irrelevant and old school junk, will never purchase one again

It isn't just the vids... I think they pump something into the cabin while you are riding/driving that makes you love the car even more too! haha

 

[adiggs]

It isn't just the vids... I think they pump something into the cabin while you are riding/driving that makes you love the car even more too! haha

Yeah - I can see them hiding something like that in the Model S -- so much room in there. But where do they hide it in the Roadster???

 

[chickensevil]

Yeah - I can see them hiding something like that in the Model S -- so much room in there. But where do they hide it in the Roadster???

Well with both cars you are basically sitting on the battery... it's those "toxic" fumes coming off the battery that gives you that euphoric state of love and ecstasy for all things Tesla and driving electric vehicles. Better than cocaine

 

[Red Sage]

I do believe that the driving experience for Tesla Motors vehicles is... infectious.

The grinning... The giggling... The obsessive behavior.

Someone call the CDC.