Full Self Driving vs Long Range

[jackhodges]

Range. You can always add FSD at a later date.

 

[SigNC]

pick LR over FSD all day every day

 

[ArcticStation]

LR now, FSD later (or not at all). I don't have FSD and have never thought to myself "why didn't I get it?". Nice to have, yes, but not essential.

 

[Fernand]

I got 2018 EAP, which is the same as the current state of FSD. After weeks of getting the hang of it, I use the NOA, the auto lane change in plain AS, and auto-park, a lot, every day. In dense traffic, on freeways, it's a huge advantage, regardless of what dissenters say. I would never trade this for the base AP of today, without even factoring in the future enhancements.

I don't have a 240 volt jack at home as yet, I plan to add that. You should do that. You can then keep your car fully charged, no problem. I mostly drive in suburban areas where Superchargers are plentiful. Using a decent 12 gauge 50 ft 120 volt cable, I can add 60 miles of charge in 12 hours at home. I carry the cable in the frunk if I'm on a trip, it can even be routed out the door at a motel. Range is never an issue. My "mid range" tops out at 264 miles instead of 240, not a big difference (a 310 mile range is significantly more). With a 240 volt jack at home, you can simply charge up to a full 240 miles every night.

The only time I think about range is when driving in remote areas without nearby Superchargers. If I made a lot of trips like that, I'd consider the long range as important. Also, if you mostly drive in such terrain, with 2 lane country roads, you're not going to be in NOA mode a lot, you won't be parallel parking much, nor needing driver-initiated automated lane changes in AS on 4 lane surface boulevards. At that point the base AP becomes perfectly adequate, you can add FSD if you move to a more urban area, or when new autonomy features impress you, and the range issue in the boonies tips the scales to a LR without FSD.

So it depends mostly on where you live and drive. If your commute involves freeways, and you learn to engage and disengage it as conditions change, the NOA in FSD is a great convenience. Make sense?
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And BTW, I wouldn't worry much about the longevity of the Tesla battery, they have held up beyond expectations. In the end, the consensus is that you can just charge as you like, and it's OK. Just avoid Supercharging to 100% all the time. For one thing it's hard on the brakes as you actually have to use them since your regen has no place to store the energy until you drop below 90% or so.
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