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Converting his 60 to an 85: the david Nolan story

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Are any other 60's having a hard time currently making it between superchargers????

I'm certainly not in freezing cold, up 4000 foot mountains, into the wind and moving with traffic averaging 66 to 70 down the west coast

maybe the OP is just referencing one supercharger location but I find the purpose behind this article misleading that 60's are not capable of driving between superchargers.
 
price of new 85kwh battery is 44,564. This will make people who opted to buy battery replacement for 12000 after 8 years feel good.

Source: http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/2013-model-s-price-increase
We have received many requests for a Battery Replacement Option. We are happy to now offer this option for all three battery variants. This option will provide you a new battery anytime after the end of the eighth year at a fixed price. Prices are as follows: $8,000 for the 40 kWh battery, $10,000 for the 60 kWh battery, and $12,000 for the 85 kWh battery.
 
East coast spacing (for the time being) makes it difficult. It's about 200 miles between SC locations right now and driving at 65-70 mph in sub-20 F weather creates challenges. I drove from CT to TN using the chargers along I-95. Bottom line is that I went 65-70mph and pulled into the stations with between 12 and 20 rated miles left after a 252 mile range charge on an 85kWh. He could slow down to 55mph and probably make it but it's no fun having horse trailers and RVs passing you at +15mph.

It's a steep price for the upgrade and he could have done better selling his 60kWh on the open market (rather than quoting Tesla trade-in prices) and buying a used 85kWh. Glad he did it this way, though, to get the extra data point.

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David Nolan is such a drama queen. He's starting to chafe my nerves.

Have to agree with this.
 
Yes, and we now have the list prices of the battery packs:

60KW $37,102
85KW $44,564

We do, but we have to be careful about what it means, as people will start making all sorts of conclusions given this price. This is what I wrote on the GreenCarReports article:

I suspect that these prices are substantially higher as a service part than as a new part. After all, Tesla is production constrained - in other words, for each battery service part that is sold, Tesla does not have the opportunity to make profit of a full car. For the most part, since Tesla's warranty covers pretty much everything, the only people buying battery service parts are those involved accidents/floods and therefore it's insurance buying the battery. No incentive for the price to be low. Therefore, I suspect the battery pricing reflect almost all the profit that Tesla would make on a full car.
The 85kWh battery pack probably costs Tesla closer to $22k and they charge a 100% markup as a service part right now, at least until the battery constraints are not a big issue anymore.

 
what a waste of $10,000!

then again, who am I to say what the value is, in $$ terms, of convenience. But I just keep thinking about how many Pano roofs, tech packages, etc he gave up.. even tho he says he doesn't want\need them.
 
I liked the article too. Since I am going to be buying in the future, I followed the same reasoning and decided ahead of time that I'd upgrade to the 85 kWh pack. I plan on driving the car for a long time and having the most energy storage possible would allow for more flexibility and security.
 
Look, I don't know about everyone else, but I'm driving pretty far on my 60 kwh Model S, and only on my last trip did I even use a supercharger, and it was only for the remaining 80 or so miles of a 420 mile trip. Now that superchargers are sprouting up on the map like dandelions in my lawn in Spring, I don't connect with the concerns expressed in this article. A few hours of battling the cold, a longer travel time, to me is not a big deal. $18,000 is a big deal.

I anticipate on, at some point in the future, upgrading my car to a battery that holds more than 85kwh, and I'm betting on that and a price drop. Go, Moore's Law! So glad the concept applies to our cars now. I don't fully understand what's going on with batteries (I used to be a lot more into it), but I think there are some significant changes in chemistry and definitely in the design of the anodes/cathodes. This ought to be around the time the Tesla pickup truck comes out, is my guess.
 
Hmmm.... maybe; I opted out because investing $12k will probably turn into ~$26k in 8 years AND the cost of that battery will probably be ~$30k. I hope to hang onto my battery for ~15 years.

Although they announced prices, no one has yet had the opportunity to purchase. There was no opt-out to do.
 
I agree that the 60 kWh battery is not much of a constraint if you slow down a little on segments where you really need maximum range and don't have superchargers nearby. I drove Durango to Albuquerque (210 miles) with a friend on a cold October night and managed to make it on a single charge by going 55 and coasting occasionally on the downhills. Driving faster and then stopping at a campground, even with 50 amp service, makes the total trip time longer than driving slower and not having to do the extra charge.

We also drove last week from Durango to Glenwood Springs and got away with a 75 minute charge at the campground in Delta. When I have to do drives longer than 200 miles without a supercharger, the best approach seems to be to find a campground about 120-150 miles into the trip, as the battery will charge at maximum speed if it's already mostly depleted (and I've been in the car long enough to appreciate the break!).

Also spent a chunk of yesterday and today driving a P85 loaner around Denver while my 60 was in for a routine checkup. The P85 is a little quicker off the line, but it's not a qualitatively different driving experience in anything approaching normal urban traffic conditions. The P85 chews through a fair bit more electricity per mile, rides rougher, and costs quite a bit more. My advice is buy the 60 now and save your money for the lighter, greater energy density, cheaper battery technology like to be available 4-6 years from now...

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Could be the first reference I've seen to a frunk-mounted confetti cannon! What do you use it for? Definitely agree with you on the 60 kWh battery being sufficient, particularly for the price...
 
Fitted with the smaller 60-kilowatt-hour battery pack, my car's EPA range of 208 miles was not quite enough to make it between Superchargers--Tesla's proprietary ultra-fast DC charging stations--at normal Interstate speeds in cold weather.

If only there was an internet forum that he could have read prior to purchase. It's almost like he didn't do any reporting prior to ordering the car.