Welcome RodF! I agree with ddruz assessments (great insights btw ddruz) and Hawaii is the perfect place for EV's, although the KwH rate from HECO is crazy expensive compared with the national average (11c national average vs. 33.5c here, ouch!!).
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Hawaii Tesla Owners
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Welcome RodF! I agree with ddruz assessments (great insights btw ddruz) and Hawaii is the perfect place for EV's, although the KwH rate from HECO is crazy expensive compared with the national average (11c national average vs. 33.5c here, ouch!!).
I was also debating on a bigger battery size, but even with a 40-mile/day commute, the 40kwh battery is more than sufficient. Plus, there are a good amount of charging stations around the island since every public place with over 100 stalls needs to have a charging station. It might be an issue if you decide to drive around the island on a single charge, but how many times does that really happen?
it will interesting to see how 40kwh configs (and total teslas) there ends up being here..am expecting mine in May/June...I think a summer tesla meet-up is a great idea
FYI, I just spent the long weekend on the North Shore. I drove from Kuliouou/Niu Valley to Turtle Bay via Haleiwa and it took about 15kWh averaging around 320 wh/mile. That's with the usual traffic you hit on the stretch from Haleiwa to Pupukea.
On the way back I went through Kaneohe. I didn't pay attention to the exact kWh usage, but I know I averaged around 280 wh/mile. So the usage was less than going out through Haleiwa.
I had a couple short runs to Sunset Beach/Ted's Bakery over the weekend. Another short errand somewhere else. I used the AC the whole time and had 4 people plus baggage in the car.
The total usage for the weekend was shy of 35kWh. Room to spare if I had a 40kWh battery.
Turtle Bay has about a half dozen charging stations that no one was using. They happened to be Better Place charging stations, so I couldn't use them because you have to sign up with Better Place to get a card, and I didn't. Checked Better Place's website. Charging was free in 2012, but no real statement what charging will cost, if anything, in 2013. I'm going to call them tomorrow.
Thanks, ddruz for the great information, I think it solidified where I was heading - 40 KWH makes too much sense to me! I was a little concerned about the performance and posted earlier asking about 40 KWH acceleration, and the answers I got made sense that it should not be an issue for daily driving. So I'm good to go with 40. As far as color goes, that picture of DSmith's car at Ala Moana sealed the deal for me as well. That silver was awesome! StephenM - good point about the electricity cost, thank goodness for PV panels. I may add an additional set of panels after a few months when I have accumulated some data as to how much electricity the car is drawing.
If you have a home and roof space, PV is easily the way to go with all the incentives. If not, HECO has a couple off hour arrangements for EV charging whereby the cost is 6 cents less per kWh than usual from 9 pm to 7 am, a very decent percent savings. If you aren't aware of this details are at: http://www.heco.com/portal/site/heco/menuitem.508576f78baa14340b4c0610c510b1ca/?vgnextoid=6c4eb8d886136310VgnVCM10000005041aacRCRD&cpsextcurrchannel=1
Jkam - thanks for the fantastic, detailed info! That should be very helpful for people on the fence about configuring.
Anyone know of any touchless, automatic car washes on Oahu? Any experience with them? Mahalo.
Jkam - thanks for the fantastic, detailed info! That should be very helpful for people on the fence about configuring.
Anyone know of any touchless, automatic car washes on Oahu? Any experience with them? Mahalo.
sublimaze1
8Dec2012 / Leeroy Jenkins
I am thinking that Hawaii is going to be the haven for old 85kWh Model S (and their owners) to retire. Think of it this way: after 1XX,XXX miles, the battery life is going to approximate that of a new 40, which many Hawaii owners seem to feel is just fine for their daily use. So, you simply give up the hustle and the grind for the whistle and the whine of a Model S in the 50th.
Or maybe not. Just sayin'
Or maybe not. Just sayin'
I looked at this briefly, but I'm not really seeing enough of a cost benefit to get me to enroll. You can save about 6¢/kWh from 9pm-7am, but you have to pay 2¢ or 5¢ extra per kWh for times other than 9pm-7am. Plus on one plan you have to pay an electrician to install the meter and on either plan you still have $1.50 metering charge.
I've been using about $100/month of electricity to charge my car (which BTW is a lot cheaper than a typical month's worth of gas - around $275). A 6¢/kWh savings amounts to around $18 per month. Subtract the $1.50 metering charge and it's down to $16.50 savings per month. I don't know what it costs to install a meter, but let's say that its $300. That will be about 18 months before you start breaking even. And that's assuming that you never charge in the prime hours of 7am-9pm in which case your savings will be less. And who knows if HECO will ever raise the $1.50 monthly metering charge?
Seems like a lot of work to save $16.50 per month. To be honest, I like the idea of putting more PV on my roof to cover my car usage. More upfront cost, but in the long run I prefer being able to produce enough electricity on my own to cover my car versus paying a little less to HECO to draw from them at a specific time period.
I know saving $16.50/month is saving $16.50/month (it probably adds up to a nice steak dinner with friends once a year), but I think I need stronger financial incentive to in effect give up the possibility of charging from 7am-9pm. Call me crazy if you want.
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One of the main reasons i'm getting a Tesla is because we have PV on our house...it is a big expense upfront (ours was about $50K to go net zero)..but with the federal and state tax credits (before they took away the loophole for more than one credit), it ends up being less than half the cost. Our loan payments are about what we were paying monthly for electricity but after we pay it off in about 3 years, it will be virtually no electricity bill for us (HECO still charges a processing fee of course)
I'm not sure if the washing system at Cosmo Yajima Service Station is considered a "touch less" system, but it looks like it is. I've always been happy with the results there and they're pretty efficient because even when they're busy (which is most of the time) they have your car ready within 30 minutes. It's a little pricier than other places but it's worth it IMO.
I have been hand washing my car, and learning about it as I go. I was surprised at how nuanced the experience was. Behind the handles, inside and rim of trunk and frunk and inside of every door are hard to keep clean and spot free. If any of you find a decent place to use, I would also like to hear. I also use a California car duster between washes so that I don’t wet it down every couple days.
I checked into the Better Place charging system. It really is painless to sign up, but you do need a VIN#. It says charging is free through April 2013. After that it is yet to be determined.
Once you sign up it takes 7-10 days to get your pass card. Once you get the pass card, you can use any of the Better Place chargers, and they do seem to have a lot of them on Oahu. You are limited to 4 hours of charging.
I probably won't use it all that much except when I go to the North Shore, but is nice to have and free to sign up. Nothing to lose other than giving your personal information.
You can sign up here: BetterPlace - Hawaii
Once you sign up it takes 7-10 days to get your pass card. Once you get the pass card, you can use any of the Better Place chargers, and they do seem to have a lot of them on Oahu. You are limited to 4 hours of charging.
I probably won't use it all that much except when I go to the North Shore, but is nice to have and free to sign up. Nothing to lose other than giving your personal information.
You can sign up here: BetterPlace - Hawaii
Just remember that the Better Place chargers are *slow*. I think that they're only 15 or 16 amp chargers. Painful on a Tesla (but perfect match for a Leaf). The Chargepoint and Volta chargers are the more usual 30 amps.
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
jkam,
Hi, One minor question if you don't mind. Was sales tax at the standard 4.5% we pay on every thing else?
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Aloha, Please make room at the table for one more. I got confirmation that my order has gone to the factory.
Any one want to give me their estimate of the delivery date? (Your guess as got to be better than mine.)
(Windward)
Welcome! What's your configuration? Makes a difference as to how long you might have to wait. When you say that your order has gone to the factory, this means that you just finalized?
dsmith2189
Active Member
I addition to what Jkam said, When I went to the Tax office they also wanted to see my MVPA and Final Delivery Configuration sheet with the shipping costs (Tesla Personal Delivery)
then at the Satellite City Hall at Ala Moana tryint to get my registration. they said my VIN wasn't in their system, so even with all the docs that jkam said to bring, I have to wait for the State Inspection office to look at my car. (Not the safety inspection) before they will give me a registration.
And for those who need to get on a military base you can do that with the Temp CA registration, shipping documents and Hawaii Insurance. they will give you a pass, but you will have to repeat at each base you go to.
Akikiki
A'-Lo-HA ! y'all
Hmm,
Let's see? Hmmm, Ah, Black on black, 60kw, bigger sound sys, twin chargers. That's about it. Nuthin special 'cept the car itself.
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