Considering a Model S - am I mad in my situation?

[CaffeineJunkie]

Hi there

Been lurking for a while and reading lots on here. I'm in the process of changing job and am becoming Self Employed (IT contracting). I've wanted a Model S for a while but never been able to justify the cost, however I'll be doing a lot of miles in for the foreseeable future and the fuel savings start to add up. Plus I went for a test drive a couple of weeks ago and fell in love

My main question/concern is this... most weeks I'll have do drive 220 miles from near Manchester to Glasgow and back (separate days). I'd convinced myself this was easily doable even in a 75D, given there are superchargers at Teabay and Abingdon service, and I can park at a hotel with destination charging. However... I've read a few posts on here that concern me re availability of superchargers at services, range reduction in winter etc. winter. I don't mind stopping once for 25 mins, but twice would start to get annoying! I'll have the car on charge at night so can pre-heat in the morning, so I'm hoping this would help.

So, I guess my question is... if you have to drive 220 miles twice a week, would you still buy a Model S - and if so would the 75 suffice?

 

[sidmini]

Yes the best car ever!!! the autopilot makes it super easy journey you arrived refreshed. In terms of range the 75D should be fine check out A Better Routeplanner select tesla 75d in the options and put your to and from route in, it will show you all the stops and charging times. Check my profile if you need a referral code for free unlimited supercharging for life

In reference to SuC availability I have only waited once in 2.5 years and that was at a 2 bay supercharger. Winter will reduce range however you can set the car to "range mode" to reduce battery loss. Worth noting most motorway service stattions will have "fast chargers" and you can buy a chademo adaptor to access them, that will give you a fast top up when needed. I've personally never had range anxiety, just get in the car tell it where you want to go and it will tell you where to stop and how long for.

Destination charging will generally only give between 7-22 kwh charge so not ideal if you are in a rush but for if you are staying overnight at a hotel, having dinner or playing golf !

Why not ask the sales advisor if you can have the car for an extended test drive and then try the 220 miles route and see how you get on.

 

[Peteski]

Sounds feasible in your case, just requires a change in mentality i.e. not blasting at 90+ mph down the motorway and expecting to do long journeys non-stop. If you can handle a bit of planning then you will save a lot in fuel.

A 75D would work, but to be honest a 100D would be the ideal spec for regular long journeys. Remember that it's more efficient to run in the 20-80% battery range on a daily basis where it will also charge faster too. If you are forced to use the upper and lower 20% of the battery, charging times will increase significantly. If you search, this has been discussed many times.

Feel free to use my referral code for free unlimited supercharging for life.

 

[WannabeOwner]

if you have to drive 220 miles twice a week, would you still buy a Model S - and if so would the 75 suffice?

A 100 would do 220 miles without charging, and I would hazard even in Winter (but if not then with a quick stop). Assuming you can charge at the far end before you come back.

The 100 will also charge faster at Supercharger (all have same 10% - 70% charge time, but the 100 puts on more miles per percent - 1/3rd more)

As sidmini said I suggest you try actual journeys in A Better Route Planner (experiment choosing the various models and assume 20% more energy use in the depths of winter)

not blasting at 90+ mph down the motorway

Actually, if you have to Supercharge anyway then faster is OK. Overall saves more time driving faster, and charging longer, more so with a 100 than a 75 (charges faster). Used to think 75 MPH was the sweet spot, but the A Better Route Planner guy posted some graphs of actual car data showing that even faster was more economical. Not sure its a good defence in court though! and maybe, taking you literally, "90+ mph" is getting past the sweet-spot

If I can get-home-in-one I hypermile. If my journey requires a Supercharger anyway then I press on. UK Motorway miles usually involve a prolonged section of either roadworks or traffic at circa 50 MPH, which does wonders to my range too!

 

[Peteski]

Actually, if you have to Supercharge anyway then faster is OK. Overall saves more time driving faster, and charging longer, more so with a 100 than a 75 (charges faster). Used to think 75 MPH was the sweet spot, but the A Better Route Planner guy posted some graphs of actual car data showing that even faster was more economical. Not sure its a good defence in court though! and maybe, taking you literally, "90+ mph" is getting past the sweet-spot

I'm not sure what the sweet spot motorway speed actually is in terms of minimising overall travelling time, but once you get over 90 mph consumption is really starting to ramp up with the rapidly increasing aero drag (proportional to speed squared). I've always thought 75-80 mph is a good compromise and keeps you out of trouble with the law! But if looking to minimise charging stops rather than overall travel time, then 70 mph or a little less is better. Obviously speed becomes more critical if you are stretching range to reach a charger or destination. Most of my trips are short so I don't have to worry about speed apart from picking up points!

The other thing to consider is road and wind noise at high speed. I really notice it more in my Tesla due to lack of engine noise and above 80 mph noise levels ramp up considerably. So it's much more pleasant wafting along at 70-75 mph in the Tesla compared to the monotonous drone of an ICE at similar speed. Much above 80 mph I find you lose much of that effect as road/wind noise becomes the primary background noise in any car. At 90+ I find my MX as noisy as any other premium car, perhaps even a little more than some. I've heard the S is a little quieter overall?

 

[Johann Koeber]

Hello fellow caffeine lover,

get the car - you only live once. Enjoy it.

If you can afford it somehow, get the 100. This will give you peace of mind:

- no range anxiety
- no need for charging on the mentioned trip
- drive faster if you want
- faster charging because the throttling of the charging occurs later
- expect better logevity of the battery because you get more miles out of 1,000 charging cycles
- probably better resale value in case you want to part out

Battery will degrade with time. My 2014 P85 (no D) lost about 10 % of capacity. Odo is over 260,000 km. I will always buy the largest battery they offer.

You save a lot of money if you keep the car for a long time. This makes it easier to justify the larger battery.

If you can't justify the cost of a new 100, consider a used one. Personally I would prefer a good used 100 instead of a new 75.

This is advice.

Cheers

 

[Terry_B58]

I had the same feeling as you, my work takes me all over the country, sometimes at very short notice.

I collected my MS 75 on the 23rd March 10 miles on the clock), I now have over 10k miles on the cock

I am based near Chorley and work/ravel has taken me to Birmingham, London, Weymouth, Portland, Poole, Liverpool, Manchester, Ravenglass, Barrow in Furness and Norwich - I am sure there are more places but I think you will get the idea.

In the beginning, I ensured I had a 100% charge before setting off, now, as long as I have at least 70% I am confident that I can get anywhere.

The most popular question I get asked is "how far will it go on a charge?" - my stock answer now is "Further than I can before I need a toilet break", Plug in at the SuC have a break, then continue your journey.

The only 'issue' that I can foresee, and it has not happened to me yet, is that the inbuilt Sat Nav normally gets you to your destination with between 10-20% remaining, I once thought - What happens if I get home with say 10% then my good lady is in a panic insisting we have to get to a,b then c immediately charging at home is slow so that is out of the question. I tend now to ensure I arrive home with around 30% because that will get me round for the 'emergencies'. I suppose it is the same as always arriving home with the tank (ICE car) in the Red.

Make the decision, you will not regret it. Enjoy.

 

[.jg.]

Hi there

Been lurking for a while and reading lots on here. I'm in the process of changing job and am becoming Self Employed (IT contracting). I've wanted a Model S for a while but never been able to justify the cost, however I'll be doing a lot of miles in for the foreseeable future and the fuel savings start to add up. Plus I went for a test drive a couple of weeks ago and fell in love

My main question/concern is this... most weeks I'll have do drive 220 miles from near Manchester to Glasgow and back (separate days). I'd convinced myself this was easily doable even in a 75D, given there are superchargers at Teabay and Abingdon service, and I can park at a hotel with destination charging. However... I've read a few posts on here that concern me re availability of superchargers at services, range reduction in winter etc. winter. I don't mind stopping once for 25 mins, but twice would start to get annoying! I'll have the car on charge at night so can pre-heat in the morning, so I'm hoping this would help.

So, I guess my question is... if you have to drive 220 miles twice a week, would you still buy a Model S - and if so would the 75 suffice?

As someone who has been contracting for a long time, make sure you build up a buffer of "rainy day" cash before taking on too much in the way of new expenditure. Obviously, talk to your accountant about having whether you or your company should own the car, deprecation, Benefits In Kind, etc.

Like others have said, you shouldn't have too many problems with range on a 75D but it would be nice to have a bigger battery, if you can afford it. If you find out what non-Tesla chargers are on your route, which connectors are supported and if you need an app or membership of some charger network, these might prove useful in an emergency. As you mention, pre-heating (or cooling) whilst plugged in is a good idea. The Subzero package might also be useful option. If you are likely to be doing a lot of driving in the winter months "up north", it might be worth considering a set of wheels with winter tyres.

 

[Saimaannorppa]

I'm driving a 364km day trip on monthly basis (and the car gets to cool down 8 hours during the day without possibility for charging). 2017 90D can just barely make it - I've had 4 to 11% remaining back at home. The trip planner does awesome job estimating the remaining charge - it is most times even conservative.

Driving fast in summer is easily consuming more than driving moderately in winter (we have lowered speed limits for winter season), even up to few degrees below freezing (Celcius). Most of the way is expressway with 120 km/h limit in the summer and 100 km/h in the winter. In the summer I set speed to limit and in the winter limit +5.

If there is rain and wet road, I'll have to stop for a quick supercharge as consumption jumps about 10%, since I don't want to go slower than mentioned.

I had a lot of doubt to spend this much on a car (I sold a car being replaced for 8k€), but do not regret it. You really only live once. Go for it if you can. TCO is not as bad as the monthly payment indicates.

 

[Shock-On-T]

I had the same feeling as you, my work takes me all over the country, sometimes at very short notice.

I collected my MS 75 on the 23rd March 10 miles on the clock), I now have over 10k miles on the cock

I am based near Chorley and work/ravel has taken me to Birmingham, London, Weymouth, Portland, Poole, Liverpool, Manchester, Ravenglass, Barrow in Furness and Norwich - I am sure there are more places but I think you will get the idea.

In the beginning, I ensured I had a 100% charge before setting off, now, as long as I have at least 70% I am confident that I can get anywhere.

The most popular question I get asked is "how far will it go on a charge?" - my stock answer now is "Further than I can before I need a toilet break", Plug in at the SuC have a break, then continue your journey.

The only 'issue' that I can foresee, and it has not happened to me yet, is that the inbuilt Sat Nav normally gets you to your destination with between 10-20% remaining, I once thought - What happens if I get home with say 10% then my good lady is in a panic insisting we have to get to a,b then c immediately charging at home is slow so that is out of the question. I tend now to ensure I arrive home with around 30% because that will get me round for the 'emergencies'. I suppose it is the same as always arriving home with the tank (ICE car) in the Red.

Make the decision, you will not regret it. Enjoy.

I hope you mean on the “clock” but to each his own, eh?

 

[Shock-On-T]

To the OP:
The 75D is enough, and supercharging will be easy.
It’s a lot more money for the 100D, but bigger battery is always better. It call comes down to how much you are comfortable spending. You can have all the fun if a Tesla with the 75D.

 

[12Pack]

Would you consider going with a CPO to keep the cost down and go for a 100D? I went from an 85kW to a a 100 KW battery and really appreciate the faster charging/mile at the supercharger. Do give a shout if you need a referral code for free supercharging.

 

[CaffeineJunkie]

Thanks all for the replies. Seems like the general consensus is go for a 100D if I can afford it. I’ve had a couple of quotes through today (new inventory) and the 100D is only £100 (approx 12%) more, so not as bad as I thought.

I also didn’t realise extended test drives were available so I enquiried about that today too - they don’t offer 48 hours any more but can do 24 so I think I’ll get a 75 and do the run to see how I get on!

 

[sidmini]

I think I’ll get a 75 and do the run to see how I get on!

If you go for a 100D you can select 75D in the drop down menu and it will limit the car performance. Just press the little T tesla logo on the top of the main screen and a box appear drag down the top of the box for the secret menu and drop down should be on the top left to see the different models

 

[MagicMagicD]

My extended test drive, albeit only for half a day, was in a P100D, so you may not get a 75D!

I don't need to regularly do longer journeys, just for holiday purposes so a 75D covered my needs. My experience of it is that at this time of year, I can easily get 280wh/mi (being good), which equates to over 250mi from a charge. In winter it was over 400wh/mi with a vastly reduced range, though a lot of that was due to no charging at home or work, so I'd have a cold battery on every journey.

In my opinion I'd say your 220 journey is possible in a 75D on a single charge for part of the year and with one stop of 15 minutes the rest of it. With that said, if you can stretch to a 100D you won't ever need to worry about it...

 

[WannabeOwner]

I’ve had a couple of quotes through today (new inventory) and the 100D is only £100 (approx 12%) more, so not as bad as I thought.

personal opinion, but that would swing it for me. Depends on how often you would see benefit (i.e. if driving a 100 rather than a 75) but for me a 100 would probably save getting on for an hour a month (additional stops I could avoid with a 100, longer stops in a 75 on journeys where I have to charge) and if I just use man maths's that would be "I earn faster than that" .. let alone the life-time-saved..

No 100 model available back when I purchased, only a choice of 80 & 90 were available (the real-world difference is less than 10kWh). I did the sums and decided that 90 kWh price not worth it. During my wait the 80 was discontinued so I had to decide to upgrade to 90 or downgrade to 75. Reluctantly I spent the extra cash. That pain is now behind me and forgotten of course but I'm very glad I did it; plenty of journeys where the faster charging and marginal extra range have made a difference, even one journey where I got home on a couple of percent and probably would have failed in even the 80.

... but ... more superchargers available now, so now it more likely time-saved, rather than "hard to complete that journey"

 

[Asterix187]

I drive 220+ miles a few times a week most weeks (put 19k on the car since Nov 17) in a 75D and haven’t found it an issue at all. Only once have I ever had to queue and that was over Christmas. I drive 500 mile round trips to Newcastle from Worcestershire a few times a month and stop at Woodall o the way up, quick charge at Washington to get me about then a charge at Woodall on the way back down with no issues.

As you have already, you just need to plan a route and plan to stop for a coffee rather than pick one up en route.

 

[Mark_T]

Thanks all for the replies. Seems like the general consensus is go for a 100D if I can afford it. I’ve had a couple of quotes through today (new inventory) and the 100D is only £100 (approx 12%) more, so not as bad as I thought.

The new inventory cars generally get a better interest rate when financing through Tesla than the custom builds so that does help a lot.

Also when picking a particular car try and go for one that is '50 miles' but without a location when you check the details, and preferably a recent build so it has all the latest feature updates..

That will often mean that it has been nowhere near a showroom and hence will lack any of the wear & tear that goes long with having dozens of people using the doors, seats etc.

When I picked mine it was still in Tilberg but still took only a week to reach me in the UK.

Also don't get too excited about the 'discount' they list for these cars as it is always compared to the price at the time the car was built, so right now it looks high because they just incorporated the 'Premium Upgrade Options' into the standard built and raise the price by less than the cost of the upgrade package, so you see a larger difference than would otherwise be the case.

Use a site like this to hunt for your New Inventory car: Tesla MS and MX cars for sale in the UK

Tesla doesn't always list all of them on their web site, especially the ones that have not yet made it out of Tilberg

Any questions about the process just ask, I got mine only a month ago so it is all still fresh in my mind.

 

[CaffeineJunkie]

Thanks for the link Mark - much easier to find the right stock on there than on the Tesla search!

Am I right in my assume that that since PUP has been added as standard it actually works out cheaper to order a custom build than get from inventory!? That seems mad, surely they should have adjusted inventory prices to match?

 

[Mark_T]

Am I right in my assume that that since PUP has been added as standard it actually works out cheaper to order a custom build than get from inventory!? That seems mad, surely they should have adjusted inventory prices to match?

Yes, the inventory cars have had their prices adjusted.

That is why they now show a higher discount than they did before. It took them a couple of day to do it, but from what I saw earlier today the discounts are in there now.