Daily Commuting in a Model S

[jd3]

Ever since 2 Nov, 2012 when I received my Pearl White Sig Perf, it's been my commute (ok, everything) vehicle. Key things I've noticed:

1. I didn't know gas prices went up to $4.00 a gallon in San Jose until I saw it on the news!
2. It's amazing how quickly NOT thinking of getting gas on the way home/to work, happens! I charge at night and can't "commute" enough during the day to worry about range anxiety.
3. It's a REAL Car! Roomy, spacious trunk/frunk, taking 4 people to lunch or wherever is absolutely FUN. I also own a Prius but there is more trunk space, people space and FUN space in the MS! Yes, I know, it costs 4x of my Prius.
4. "Tesla time" is a valid excuse for me to be late to wherever I was supposed to have been!
5. It's a GORGEOUS Car, period! Everybody says that...the fact that it is also a superb BEV becomes part of the conversation afterward.
6. Showing off features like the iPhone app (or Android if you must) is just WAY COOL! Plenty of charge - check; Cabin at 75 degrees - check; Honk at my co-workers - ;-)

Essentially, commuting is no longer about just getting back and forth, it's having the Tesla Grin while commuting that's the kick!

cheers

 

[Robert.Boston]

I may have the shortest commute discussed so far: 2.8 miles each way, all in the Boston urban core.* The Model S makes this trip a far better experience.

• It's not unusual for my trip home to take 20 to 30 minutes, with lots of time stopped. My gas mileage was horrible; running the engine that long to travel that short distance chews up gas. I don't feel guilty about spewing fumes and wasting energy sitting in traffic.
• No gas detours. There are no gas stations between my office and house, so I used to have to make special trips or detours just to gas up my Audi. Instead, I just plug in.
• Free fuel. The parking garage at my office has free EV charging. So far, I've gotten over 600kWh of free power, about $100 worth. Better yet, the gas savings have been approximately $500.
• Client relations. Leaving the parking garage yesterday, a friend and client (who also has offices in the same building) pulls up next to me. "Nice ride!" We agree on a test ride for lunch next week, which will undoubtedly generate more work

*Yes, there are buses and subways, but my son has to catch the 7:30am commuter rail out to his high school. It's much faster and more reliable to make that early train by driving him in to the station, which is next to my office. And with my MS, I'm not contributing to urban air pollution by driving.

 

[fizzazle]

70 miles RT daily. No problems doing this in my P85. Just plugging in when I come home and I'm good to go. Driving this car makes my commute so much nicer. Today was the first time I could open the sunroof and enjoy this for a while. Can't wait for summer!

As others have reported there is a large loss of charge overnight when not plugged in in the cold. I have that once in a while when on a 24h shift at work. No outlets available there. It does not appear to come back once the battery is warm as some claim...

Please note that mileage/range doesn't magically appear back on the screen once the car battery is warmed up BUT THE "LOST" MILES ARE THERE!

You should notice that while you are driving the miles consumed go down a lot slower.

for example, I 1st experienced this with 70 miles of range decreasing to 35 miles range overnight (presumably about 8 miles lost to so called "vampire drain" and 28 miles "lost" b/c of the cold). The vampire drain miles are a goner (Tesla working on decreasing that number). The lost miles due to cold aren't really lost though...the range indicator just states so IF the batteries remain at that temperature. Obviously as you are driving the batteries get warmed up ("conditioned"). I drove about 15 miles to work and my range stayed exactly the same the entire drive!

So you see...even though the range indicator doesn't explicitly stare so...those miles really haven't been lost.

Important caveats: I drove a mix of trafficky freeway and trafficky surface streets in morning Los Angeles traffic. Temp was "cold" for the overnight parking in the mid 50's (parked outside). Temp in the morning was "brisk" (for us Los angelinos) in mid 60's.

All these factors will affect your actual numbers...

 

[ToddRLockwood]

Please note that mileage/range doesn't magically appear back on the screen once the car battery is warmed up BUT THE "LOST" MILES ARE THERE!

You should notice that while you are driving the miles consumed go down a lot slower.

for example, I 1st experienced this with 70 miles of range decreasing to 35 miles range overnight (presumably about 8 miles lost to so called "vampire drain" and 28 miles "lost" b/c of the cold). The vampire drain miles are a goner (Tesla working on decreasing that number). The lost miles due to cold aren't really lost though...the range indicator just states so IF the batteries remain at that temperature. Obviously as you are driving the batteries get warmed up ("conditioned"). I drove about 15 miles to work and my range stayed exactly the same the entire drive!

So you see...even though the range indicator doesn't explicitly stare so...those miles really haven't been lost.

Important caveats: I drove a mix of trafficky freeway and trafficky surface streets in morning Los Angeles traffic. Temp was "cold" for the overnight parking in the mid 50's (parked outside). Temp in the morning was "brisk" (for us Los angelinos) in mid 60's.

All these factors will affect your actual numbers...

Thanks for the clarification on this.

 

[stevezzzz]

We have been having a little dispute regarding the charger cord.
Do any of you carry it with you for your daily driving??

I don't bother taking the charger cord (UMC) with me. Of course, the longest day of my week is just under 100 miles, so it's a no-brainer as far as range is concerned.

- - - Updated - - -

Please note that mileage/range doesn't magically appear back on the screen once the car battery is warmed up BUT THE "LOST" MILES ARE THERE!

You should notice that while you are driving the miles consumed go down a lot slower.

I can confirm this behavior from my own experience. For example, one evening last week I parked the S for between three four hours in the cold (mid-20's). Rated range was 180 when I parked and 166 when I returned. The drive home was about 37 miles, but the rated range when I pulled into the garage was 140, a difference of 26 rated miles. My consumption was about 335Wh/ mi.

 

[MarkR]

It's about a 13 mile drive in a HOV lane to my office where I pull into roomy parking spaced marked "Electric Vehicle Parking Only." The drive is a quick pleasure and the parking space is big enough that I don't worry about door dings.

I'm getting a bit more exercise because I always park with a couple of extra spaces around me when I go to a market or shopping center, again, to avoid door dings.

I make a point of putting my purchases in the frunk just to give my fellow shoppers a WTF moment.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

I don't bother taking the charger cord (UMC) with me. Of course, the longest day of my week is just under 100 miles, so it's a no-brainer as far as range is concerned.

- - - Updated - - -



I can confirm this behavior from my own experience. For example, one evening last week I parked the S for between three four hours in the cold (mid-20's). Rated range was 180 when I parked and 166 when I returned. The drive home was about 37 miles, but the rated range when I pulled into the garage was 140, a difference of 26 rated miles. My consumption was about 335Wh/ mi.

Be sure to read fizzazle's comment above...

 

[Daniel Scherer]

Here is my daily work commuting mileage spreadsheet.

 

[Linda Z]

Love my daily commuting in my Model S- wish it were a little longer (especially the highway part!)... smooth, easy, performance-based ride....

 

[Frankrb]

Daniel, I'm a "data hound", so I think your spreadsheet is tremendous! I don't have commutes like you do, but I will use your format, slightly modified for my purposes. I have a 10.5 KWH solar plant on the house and may try to integrate some of that data also. THANKS FOR SHARING!

 

[arremgee]

Used to dread my commute (in a loud, gas-guzzling, 13 year old, 200,000++ miles beat-up, leaky ford explorer)... now I've donated said vehicle to charity and my commute is quite tolerable. 80 miles round trip every day in my Model S in Chicago city traffic. Good music, comfy seat, quiet, nice temperature and the best part is not having to get out in this freezing weather to pump gas. Also, there is rarely a day that someone isn't pulled along side of me trying to get a peek at the side and front of the car to figure out what it is--or just rolling their window down to ask. I sometimes lose a few miles on the sub 20 degree days while I'm at work (no plug), but it's never been an issue. People working drive-through windows are also often blown away by the touchscreen. I was spending $500/month in gas. Now I don't buy a drop of gas and my electricity bill is just under $100 higher/month. I'm already over 5000 miles and I've owned my car for just under 3 months.

- - - Updated - - -

I make a point of putting my purchases in the frunk just to give my fellow shoppers a WTF moment.

Hah, I always put my groceries in the frunk for the same reason. Plus, it just seems like a better fit for grocery bags. They don't roll around as much. I love it.

- - - Updated - - -

Please note that mileage/range doesn't magically appear back on the screen once the car battery is warmed up BUT THE "LOST" MILES ARE THERE!

You should notice that while you are driving the miles consumed go down a lot slower.

for example, I 1st experienced this with 70 miles of range decreasing to 35 miles range overnight (presumably about 8 miles lost to so called "vampire drain" and 28 miles "lost" b/c of the cold). The vampire drain miles are a goner (Tesla working on decreasing that number). The lost miles due to cold aren't really lost though...the range indicator just states so IF the batteries remain at that temperature. Obviously as you are driving the batteries get warmed up ("conditioned"). I drove about 15 miles to work and my range stayed exactly the same the entire drive!

So you see...even though the range indicator doesn't explicitly stare so...those miles really haven't been lost.

Important caveats: I drove a mix of trafficky freeway and trafficky surface streets in morning Los Angeles traffic. Temp was "cold" for the overnight parking in the mid 50's (parked outside). Temp in the morning was "brisk" (for us Los angelinos) in mid 60's.

All these factors will affect your actual numbers...

I think there is some validity in this, but I think it's important to note that you get all of that energy back when it's still cold when you're driving. I think the battery uses up some of the energy just heating up. I've even had my battery get cold again on a long road trip while I was driving 100 miles distance (yellow hash marks came back on after having already warmed up). The temp was in the single digits though.

 

[huntjo]

I may have the shortest commute discussed so far: 2.8 miles each way, all in the Boston urban core.* The Model S makes this trip a far better experience.

• It's not unusual for my trip home to take 20 to 30 minutes, with lots of time stopped. My gas mileage was horrible; running the engine that long to travel that short distance chews up gas. I don't feel guilty about spewing fumes and wasting energy sitting in traffic.
  /QUOTE]
  
  I think I got ya beat: Only 1.4 miles each way for my daily drive. In the middle of the night I can be out the door and walk in the ER in 6 minutes- takes a little longer in normal daylight hours. Luckily, a couple times a week I get to drive to our office at the south side of town which is a whopping 3.9 miles away from home. A few times a month, I go to the hospital in the adjacent city (Loveland) for meetings. I used to dread going down there, but now the 20-25 minutes it takes to drive those 13.6 miles are a complete joy!
  
  Needless to say, with such a short commute, I find all sorts of reasons to drive places I don't necessarily need to go. Yesterday I went back and forth to Loveland in the morning and again at the end of the day, just because I wanted to eat lunch at home and make the drive again. Currently my only road trips have been 70-90 miles away to Denver, so I haven't had to charge in the wild (other than parking it at the airport).

 

[mknox]

I worked with an engineer in Toronto years ago who lived in a high-rise condo next door to our office. Since he had to go to the ground floor to enter/exit, his commute was more vertical than horizontal. (Being an engineer, he calculated a 27% increase in his commute time when they moved his office from the 4th to 7th floor!).

 

[olanmills]

I love using the Model S for my daily commute. I love having Tune In and Slacker, and I also for some reason like pay attention to my energy usage and trying to drive efficiently. I like being able to see the traffic either on the nav, or also the local DOT website (it's usually more accurate). Previously I would look at this on my phone, which is less safe obviously. Speaking of that, it's great to have the phone on bluetooth, and with voice control and the touchscreen app, you can do pretty much everything when it comes to voice calls (it was even great for conference calls for work), and again, both safer and more convenient than using the phone directly.


In certain really bad traffic (like stop for a minute, move 1 foot, stop again for a minute, etc) I like to check gaming headlines in the web browser.

The nav is also great and works well, and I love having the statically oriented map on the main screen and the "POV" view on the gauge cluster, but of course, I don't really use nav for my daily commute.

 

[Babylonfive]

26 miles each way, and what a pleasure.

 

[aviators99]

We have been having a little dispute regarding the charger cord.
Do any of you carry it with you for your daily driving??

Now that I have installed my HPWC, the UMC is permanently in my trunk.

 

[fizzazle]

I think there is some validity in this, but I think it's important to note that you get all of that energy back when it's still cold when you're driving. I think the battery uses up some of the energy just heating up. I've even had my battery get cold again on a long road trip while I was driving 100 miles distance (yellow hash marks came back on after having already warmed up). The temp was in the single digits though.

[/QUOTE]

of course...everything will depend on what the temperature is. I'm in Los Angeles so the "cold" here isn't that bad. For me it seems like I get almost every mile back onto the battery

in harsher climates you will only get a fraction of the list miles back...

 

[contaygious]

Best 4 mile round trip ever! Somehow I use 30 miles though...

 

[olanmills]

Yeah, short trips are less efficient as the car uses more energy per mile at the beginning of a drive. I'm assuming that it's mainly due to either cold or hot ambient temperature, but I don't know if there's other factors as well.

 

[shady]

My commute is exactly 100 miles (round trip). Most of it is on the Freeway, with a little hill driving (in the dark now the clocks moved forward).

I'm amazed at how good the lights are? - There are many hazards early morning getting from my house to the 101, such as wild turkeys and deer, and I see them all now

I love TuneIn radio. Currently I'm enjoying BBC Radio 4 in the mornings for my news and Absolute Radio on the way home.

I can't wait for my Car Pool Lane stickers to arrive