I got my MS back in May, and of course, love it.
My Mom is widowed, lives alone, but in her early 60's. She's always been fairly financially conservative. In fact, when she found out I was buying a Tesla...I thought I was going to walk into a room someday and have a bunch of family members around for a "financial intervention", :biggrin:. She was worried about me spending that much money on a car, about appearing to show off money to others, etc. That was until, she rode in it for the first time....:wink:
She was blown away, and surprisingly one of my favorite test rides. I thought she would be mildly amused, but she really enjoyed it and wanted me to take it around her neighborhood to show some of her friends.
Anyway, for the past 7-10 years she's driven Infiniti sedans (I35, M35) and really loved them. In 2013 she decided she needed more cargo space and so she got a Lexus RX350, but she's never been in love with it. She misses the "get up and go" of her previous Infinitis...and just overall has been underwhelmed. This weekend she told me she was considering trading it in for another Infiniti (another SUV). I jokingly said, "Tesla is coming out with the Model X!". Then, as we got to talking, I started thinking more and more that it might be a good option for her (a Model S, I don't think she needs a Model X...plus she likes sedans more anyway). She missed how fun those Infinitis were to drive and just how boring the RX350 is. We took another "test drive" and she really really loved it. But she was a little worried about the whole charging issue. I thought she would completely dismiss the Tesla as a realistic possibility, but I was surprised that she's seriously considering it.
Before this, I thought there was no way it would be good for my Mom to have a Tesla at this point. We're in East Texas, so not a lot of charging options for us. She's the one that I need to come over everynow and then to fix her TV, ceiling fan, bluetooth problem, etc. I don't picture her having the forethought (or patience) to plan ahead for destination charging. In other words, if she's going on a long trip that doesn't have a supercharger on the route, there's no way I see her hauling around a huge extension cord, 14-50 adapter, pulling out a dryer and plugging in. She needs something far more traditional.
However, we sat and talked for a long while about all the places she might go. We decided that 95-98% of her driving would be very doable with a 90kwh battery. This means trips to and from the farthest parts of Dallas (200-240 rated miles round trip). She goes to Houston ever few months to see her parents, which is super easy to do with three superchargers along the route. She goes to Tyler fairly often which is super easy (100 rated miles round trip). The only questionable trips are the ones that might be spontaneous and somewhere a little more off the beaten path. A good example is she recently went with a couple of girlfriends to Granbury TX (southeast of Ft Worth). This is about 300 miles round trip with no Superchargers anywhere along the route. So I explained to her that in this situation, she would either have to find a charge at the destination (plug at the hotel, Plugshare, destination charger which there is one) or she'd need to stop at a Chademo charger on the way home for about 15-30 minutes. I would have some anxiety trying to see her wrestle the chademo adapter around (she has fairly weak hands/grip). She acknowledged that she just might have to tell her friends that she can't drive that trip.
Or, a friend of hers lives in Little Rock, AR. That is a complete no-go right now. However, the 2016 map (I know I know, Tesla time) shows that route being fully covered.
So all of that to say, have you convinced someone who isn't the typical Tesla buyer (technologically above average) to buy. And if so, how has the result been? Did they adjust to the charging requirements? Did they surprise you or was it an epic fail? I really think that it will be fine and she'll absolutely love the car. But I have this fear that she'll be too stressed out about planning charging and not understanding how it all works, etc.
I know that in the end, it will ultimately be just a decision that we have to make if it will be practical or not...but just curious for some other input of those in similar situations. Thanks!
My Mom is widowed, lives alone, but in her early 60's. She's always been fairly financially conservative. In fact, when she found out I was buying a Tesla...I thought I was going to walk into a room someday and have a bunch of family members around for a "financial intervention", :biggrin:. She was worried about me spending that much money on a car, about appearing to show off money to others, etc. That was until, she rode in it for the first time....:wink:
She was blown away, and surprisingly one of my favorite test rides. I thought she would be mildly amused, but she really enjoyed it and wanted me to take it around her neighborhood to show some of her friends.
Anyway, for the past 7-10 years she's driven Infiniti sedans (I35, M35) and really loved them. In 2013 she decided she needed more cargo space and so she got a Lexus RX350, but she's never been in love with it. She misses the "get up and go" of her previous Infinitis...and just overall has been underwhelmed. This weekend she told me she was considering trading it in for another Infiniti (another SUV). I jokingly said, "Tesla is coming out with the Model X!". Then, as we got to talking, I started thinking more and more that it might be a good option for her (a Model S, I don't think she needs a Model X...plus she likes sedans more anyway). She missed how fun those Infinitis were to drive and just how boring the RX350 is. We took another "test drive" and she really really loved it. But she was a little worried about the whole charging issue. I thought she would completely dismiss the Tesla as a realistic possibility, but I was surprised that she's seriously considering it.
Before this, I thought there was no way it would be good for my Mom to have a Tesla at this point. We're in East Texas, so not a lot of charging options for us. She's the one that I need to come over everynow and then to fix her TV, ceiling fan, bluetooth problem, etc. I don't picture her having the forethought (or patience) to plan ahead for destination charging. In other words, if she's going on a long trip that doesn't have a supercharger on the route, there's no way I see her hauling around a huge extension cord, 14-50 adapter, pulling out a dryer and plugging in. She needs something far more traditional.
However, we sat and talked for a long while about all the places she might go. We decided that 95-98% of her driving would be very doable with a 90kwh battery. This means trips to and from the farthest parts of Dallas (200-240 rated miles round trip). She goes to Houston ever few months to see her parents, which is super easy to do with three superchargers along the route. She goes to Tyler fairly often which is super easy (100 rated miles round trip). The only questionable trips are the ones that might be spontaneous and somewhere a little more off the beaten path. A good example is she recently went with a couple of girlfriends to Granbury TX (southeast of Ft Worth). This is about 300 miles round trip with no Superchargers anywhere along the route. So I explained to her that in this situation, she would either have to find a charge at the destination (plug at the hotel, Plugshare, destination charger which there is one) or she'd need to stop at a Chademo charger on the way home for about 15-30 minutes. I would have some anxiety trying to see her wrestle the chademo adapter around (she has fairly weak hands/grip). She acknowledged that she just might have to tell her friends that she can't drive that trip.
Or, a friend of hers lives in Little Rock, AR. That is a complete no-go right now. However, the 2016 map (I know I know, Tesla time) shows that route being fully covered.
So all of that to say, have you convinced someone who isn't the typical Tesla buyer (technologically above average) to buy. And if so, how has the result been? Did they adjust to the charging requirements? Did they surprise you or was it an epic fail? I really think that it will be fine and she'll absolutely love the car. But I have this fear that she'll be too stressed out about planning charging and not understanding how it all works, etc.
I know that in the end, it will ultimately be just a decision that we have to make if it will be practical or not...but just curious for some other input of those in similar situations. Thanks!
