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mikeash
Active Member
There's also the fact that if you include local driving, EV charging is often less time consuming than filling a gas car on average.
You might end up spending some extra time charging while on longer trips. But this is offset by the fact that you never spend any time at the gas station while local. Road trips are rare for most of us, and so this offsets it a lot. If you're filling up on average once a week, that's 20 minutes per month that you're saving with an EV. If you go on a road trip once a year and spend two hours total waiting for the car to charge, you've still come out way ahead.
That's not how I heard it. While Jake Fisher (incorrectly, as we all feel) stated in the video that the Model S would "not be a good primary car", he clearly stated that this was based on "road trips with the family where there are no gas stations for hundreds of miles" and that if you used it daily for "less than 200 miles, then it would be ok" (as your only car).
So I think they actually qualified their initial statement, but never phrased it in a way that the Model S would be an adequate primary car for 95% of people in 95% of circumstances. Nobody is claiming, even here, that it replaces an ICE for 100% of people 100% of the time!
Vger
Active Member
I raised an eyebrow at this as well. Even though CR gave the P85D such I high rating, and good on them for it, the interview leaves me with the feeling that they are still conventional car guys at heart, and are a bit begrudgingly admiring the MS. Only Jake Fisher said, independent of money, that he would buy one.
As for us, our two Model S's ARE our primary cars; the Roadster is now the "secondary" but extremely fun car. The only ICE we have in our garage is our snowblower. Anybody know of a good electric medium-duty snowblower? :wink:
As for us, our two Model S's ARE our primary cars; the Roadster is now the "secondary" but extremely fun car. The only ICE we have in our garage is our snowblower. Anybody know of a good electric medium-duty snowblower? :wink:
mikeash
Active Member
I don't see how it could be interpreted any other way. "The people who are buying these cars, they have another car." That's just false for a lot of us owners.
Yes, it's in the context of long road trips and the trouble that comes when you're away from superchargers. But when the one fellow gets to his "primary car" nonsense he states it without qualifications.
mknox
Well-Known Member
This is what I use. They now have more powerful models as well as cordless. I find it to be about as powerful as maybe the smallest gas blower out there. It surprised me by how well it actually does work, but you do have the hassle of dragging a cord around in the snow.
FWIW, this is my cordless electric lawnmower. It's my third attempt at cordless electric grass cutting, and so far, seems pretty decent.
Vger
Active Member
Thanks! Had just found Snow Joe online. Good to have another reference. I am looking at getting their latest cordless "pro" model. Now we can start a discussion about whether your electric snowblower is your "primary" snowblower. :wink:
My electric snowblower is my primary snowblower, regardless of what CR says, because I hated having to deal with the gas cans and mixing the two cycle engine mix!
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And not to belabor the point, since we are talking about semantics here, but they are correct I think, in that the great majority of families ("people") has another (ICE) car in the household.
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And not to belabor the point, since we are talking about semantics here, but they are correct I think, in that the great majority of families ("people") has another (ICE) car in the household.
My Model S has been my primary car for over 2 years now. If there are no Superchargers where I need to go, I will usually find another way to charge. There are some destinations, like Bisbee, AZ, that are particularly difficult or impossible to get to due to lack of charging infrastructure (and nothing on Plugshare). However, I'm not in a rush. I have plenty of other places where my Model S will take me.
And that may well be true for a bunch people in well serviced areas. Certainly it's not even close to true where I live, where there is one supercharger 300 km away in one direction and none in any other direction. I couldn't possibly have a Tesla as my only car.
My wife uses the S as her daily commuter car ---- 25 miles each way. We have another car at home for my use --- I'm retired and do all the errands, etc. The second car is the big Lexus SUV ---- and I need every bit of that cargo space when I travel a few times a year to a second home we own nearly 500 miles away. There is no way I could fit all the tools that I carry into the MS ---- we're talking combination mitre saws, 1-2 hammer drills, circular saw(s), a large "Little Giant" ladder, and tons of various hand tools. I suppose I could purchase a second set of tools to keep at the second home --- but that is not cost effective. When I can actually get inside the MX with measuring tape in hand and estimate its REAL cargo capacity, then perhaps we can transition from the Lexus to the MX as our second vehicle.
I bet the great majority of BMW 5 Series owning families also have a second ICE car, but you wouldn't hear CR saying that that meant that the 5 series isn't a good primary car.
Edit: perhaps that's the origin of all of this. Perhaps CR asked a load of owners if they also have an ICE car in the household and they said yes, and so CR made the (incorrect IMO) leap that this meant that the other ICE car was the "primary" car.
mknox
Well-Known Member
LOL. Well, I do have an ICE snowblower, but haven't had it out for quite a few years now!
Exactly - for you the Model S couldn't be your "roadtrip" car, but then neither could an Audi A7 or a Mercedes CLS - you need a big SUV. Nobody is saying that the Model S can be everyone's roadtrip car, but CR are effectively saying that it is usually not the roadtrip car, and that just doesn't fit with my experience.
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ZachShahan
Active Member
Wow! I'm very surprised to hear Consumer reports make such a statement. Since I've purchased my Model S 11 months ago, I've wracked up approximately 34,000 miles with very little in maintenance costs incurred. In the last 11 months, I have not owned nor driven an ICE vehicle. The car is simply amazing as my daily driver. Since I'm a geek, I've crunched the cost savings and while I've driven 34,000 miles, I saved almost $10k in gas and other maintenance costs while only seeing an approximate $2,400 increase in my electricity bills year over year.
My electric utility doesn't offer a time-of-use plan so just imagine how much I'd be saving if that option was available to me. Because I drive a lot, I use the entire spectrum of chargers available to me from home charging (my primary method) to superchargers to level 2 public chargers. Being that I live in California where the charging network (both superchargers and public chargers) is fairly robust, I'm never left stranded for where I need to go.
Mike
My electric utility doesn't offer a time-of-use plan so just imagine how much I'd be saving if that option was available to me. Because I drive a lot, I use the entire spectrum of chargers available to me from home charging (my primary method) to superchargers to level 2 public chargers. Being that I live in California where the charging network (both superchargers and public chargers) is fairly robust, I'm never left stranded for where I need to go.
Mike
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