How much do you value SR+ to LR (AWD) range upgrade?

[PNWLeccy]

I have been debating for a while whether I actually "Need" the LR model vs SR+. In my mind the SR+ represented a good value and the $9K upgrade cost to LR AWD seemed hard to justify. However, when I thought about how nice it would be to go to the mountains for skiing and not be as effected by the decreased cold weather range or being able to take trips out to the Olympics with less planning around charging, LR seemed much more attractive.

There's an understandable debate about the value of an upgrade in range from SR+ to LR AWD with a $9k upgrade giving you an additional 70mi. The marginal increase in value is hard to justify for some people who think SR+ meets their needs but if you could use the longer range, even the LR (AWD) represents a better value in absolute terms:

• SR+ @ 240 miles comes to ~$162.5 p/mi
• LR AWD @ 310 miles come to ~$154.8 p/mi

Part of the equation for me, is if you were able to get an inventory LR AWD model for a bit cheaper @ ~$45k that would still qualify for tax incentives, it would make the delta between SR+ only about $6K which starts to make getting SR+ seem like a bad value with LR AWD @ ~$145.2 p/mi.

What do most people think is an attractive price for the LR upgrade?*
*(I totally get that this is a personal wants/needs decision but I want to hear how other people think about this)

Other considerations- how much does the additional value of Premium upgrade play into your decision?:

• Faster charging capability
• Longer warranty (120k mi vs 100k mi)
• Premium connectivity
• Ambient lights
• Fog lights
• Heated rear seats

 

[Greglorious]

For around town and very occasional long trips the SR+ is a great value. The rwd is more efficient too. The dual motor seems beneficial for snow climates and people doing a lot of daily mileage. I have a SR+ and if could do it all over again again, I would have gotten the stealth performance. Actually had one on order but loosing 7k in one month of ownership is too big of a pill to swallow.

 

[Greglorious]

A friend test drove my SR+ and then wanted one. I told him about the stealth and he now has one. I've driven mine and his back to back. Floored his in the pouring rain with no traction issues at all. The acceleration difference is real noticeable but mine is no slouch (the performance will cause me to get a police beating). The sound system is better in his but not drastic enough for me. If you do go with a LR, spend the extra 2k for the performance stealth because why not.

 

[AndrewAllen]

I have both the SR+ and P3- (stealth).

I had my SR+ for 4 months before we decided to get another one. I put almost 5k miles on the SR+. I work from home so it was several road trips and a lot of excuses to go to the store.

Here’s what I can tell you. The SR+ is an amazing car. Quite frankly it was the best car I’ve ever owned. (Next to the P3!!). The SR+ took us on several 1200+ mile trips and worked out great. It has amazing acceleration as well. Figure the SR+ will give you about 170 miles of realistic range on average to keep the battery healthy in normal weather. If that works for you then I would highly recommend it.

The P3- is insane. If you are even considering a dual motor car I would strongly suggest finding one of these if they are still out there. $49,990 for long range car, but 3.2 0-60.

I’ve read buy as much battery that you can afford. If the difference in price isn’t going to break the bank, go bigger. If you really don’t have the need for extra battery the SR car is still a great car.

 

[Bluebay]

So I voted $6 USD ( I am in Australia)
Here in Australia it is $85 000 LRAWD, and $66,000 SR+ excluding taxes and on road costs (Registration etc )
SR+ isnt enough range for a lot of my needs.

Driveaway costs are $93,866 for LRAWD, $102,331 for performance, or $70,657 for SR+

So the difference between SR+ and LRAWD is 19000 AUD , $12,891.78 USD. so that is a big gap, and it is also a big gap in marketing price points.

I know of quite a few fence sitters in Australia who are thinking the same way. It does feel a bit like "if you want the LR battery - pay up a lot extra " at present - so many I feel, are loving the Tesla model 3, but they are holding back, still wanting Tesla to make a profit on every car sold, but the extra cost per KWH , over the difference between a SR+ battery at say 62KWH, and the LR AWD battery at say 79.5 , is 17.5 KWH difference is large.

So lets look at that figure of $12,891.78 USD over the two models. .

AWD I dont really care about, nor better speakers, but lets say extra motor etc $3500 -5000 . call it 5k. that still leaves $7, 891.78.

How much extra is Tesla cost per kwh , for that 17.7 extra on the AWD?

if you calculated the cost per kwh at $150 USD, that would be 17.5 x $150 = $2625. Take away $2625 from $7891.78 = an extra $5266.78 per car. If the price per battery kwh is less, more profit, if the cost of the extra front motor is less than 5k, even more profit.

Cost per mile for us in aus is $186 USD, excluding taxes and on road costs

So as there was no option for $7500 USD, ( $11,053.28 AUD) , I chose the $6k USD represents good value .

A further note would be , LR RWD would be fine. Would I take it at $8 ,000 USD more ? maybe.

So that s where I am - reserved April 2 , 2016. Current status.. sitting on it, not jumping at it. Not waiting for the Y either. Congrats to all in the US that received the LR RWD, and those that received good deals on P- deals etc , and any fellow aussies that are about to get our first model 3's within the next few weeks.

 

[PNWLeccy]

I have a SR+ and if could do it all over again again, I would have gotten the stealth performance.

Have to be honest, with these P3- deals @ $49.9k it is very tempting to upgrade from the LR AWD for $2k. My only hangup, which is specific to us WA state residents, is that if I can possibly get a LR AWD inventory model <$45k I may be able to qualify for an additional $2.5k in tax incentives. If all options were on the table I would just go for an inventory LR RWD and call it a day. I had thought AWD might be worth it but from everything I've read about the RWD, the traction control is crazy good and I'd likely not require the dual motor - Besides, I grew up in New England and never had it.

Figure the SR+ will give you about 170 miles of realistic range on average to keep the battery healthy in normal weather. If that works for you then I would highly recommend it.

The P3- is insane. If you are even considering a dual motor car I would strongly suggest finding one of these if they are still out there. $49,990 for long range car, but 3.2 0-60.

Your 170 mile range estimate is what I was worried about. Lots of trips I'd like to take are just around that distance and I think I really would feel the range anxiety if that was the case with traffic or bad weather.

• Seattle > Hurricane Ridge (Olympic national park) - 156mi
• Seattle > Portland - 175mi
• Seattle > North Cascades - 125mi

Like my comment above, I'm only really considering a dual motor because the LR RWD is no longer available. However, if I'm unable to get under $45k for tax incentive purposes then I think P3- becomes very attractive. I've never owned a car remotely as fast as a Model 3 but when I test drove the LR AWD I was addicted to the speed. How do you live with sitting in traffic knowing you could be 0-60 in 3.2?!?!? I think just knowing how fast I could be going would drive me crazy but driving on the open road would be incredible.

A further note would be , LR RWD would be fine. Would I take it at $8 ,000 USD more ? maybe.

When the LR RWD was available it was $45.9 putting it at $7k more. With a deal this could be even less. This seemed to be the goldilocks model for lots of people but unfortunately its no longer available.

As a former Sydney-sider myself, I don't miss those crazy high prices for cars. It's too bad the Labor party didn't win and implement some much-needed EV tax credits!

 

[ewoodrick]

The SR+ should fit all requirements. The LR just makes longer trips slightly faster.
As long as you can get from Supercharger to Supercharger, that's all you need.

 

[PNWLeccy]

The SR+ should fit all requirements. The LR just makes longer trips slightly faster.
As long as you can get from Supercharger to Supercharger, that's all you need.

What's the longest trip you've take in your SR+ and how much longer did it take compared to an ICE car? Interested in some real-world examples of how this plays out

 

[ewoodrick]

What's the longest trip you've take in your SR+ and how much longer did it take compared to an ICE car? Interested in some real-world examples of how this plays out

500 miles, maybe just a few minutes spent waiting on charging.
All other stops were caused by biology and at some of those stops I had to move the car to keep from getting idle charges.

 

[Matt L]

I have been debating for a while whether I actually "Need" the LR model vs SR+. In my mind the SR+ represented a good value and the $9K upgrade cost to LR AWD seemed hard to justify. However, when I thought about how nice it would be to go to the mountains for skiing and not be as effected by the decreased cold weather range or being able to take trips out to the Olympics with less planning around charging, LR seemed much more attractive.

There's an understandable debate about the value of an upgrade in range from SR+ to LR AWD with a $9k upgrade giving you an additional 70mi. The marginal increase in value is hard to justify for some people who think SR+ meets their needs but if you could use the longer range, even the LR (AWD) represents a better value in absolute terms:

• SR+ @ 240 miles comes to ~$162.5 p/mi
• LR AWD @ 310 miles come to ~$154.8 p/mi

Part of the equation for me, is if you were able to get an inventory LR AWD model for a bit cheaper @ ~$45k that would still qualify for tax incentives, it would make the delta between SR+ only about $6K which starts to make getting SR+ seem like a bad value with LR AWD @ ~$145.2 p/mi.

What do most people think is an attractive price for the LR upgrade?*
*(I totally get that this is a personal wants/needs decision but I want to hear how other people think about this)

Other considerations- how much does the additional value of Premium upgrade play into your decision?:

• Faster charging capability
• Longer warranty (120k mi vs 100k mi)
• Premium connectivity
• Ambient lights
• Fog lights
• Heated rear seats

You forgot that one is AWD. That would be kinda handy to take to the Mountains skiing.

 

[Matt L]

The SR+ should fit all requirements. The LR just makes longer trips slightly faster.
As long as you can get from Supercharger to Supercharger, that's all you need.

This has been debated but it’s actually not true. There are stretches that an SR+ will not cover.

Sure you could drive down the interstate at 45-50mph...but that’s not reality.

240 miles is actually about 140-150 (no wind, not cold) when driving at 80mph and getting to destination with a 10% reserve.

 

[DR.T]

I just did a 600+ mile road trip from south Florida to Mississippi and back in my Sr+ and the time difference calculated from my plug share app was an extra 2 stops with 40 mins added to the trip. At first I was fretting the trip but it was very easy to do. I imagine the larger battery would take longer to charge compared to the SR + which I would get to 80% from 10% in about 20ish mins which was the majority of my charges. Not sure how fast it is to charge a LR model . The fastest charge was in the first 10-15 mins then it slows down to a trickle.

 

[DR.T]

This has been debated but it’s actually not true. There are stretches that an SR+ will not cover.

Sure you could drive down the interstate at 45-50mph...but that’s not reality.

240 miles is actually about 140-150 (no wind, not cold) when driving at 80mph and getting to destination with a 10% reserve.

Majority of the superchargers I have encountered are about 120 miles of each other. Btw I was driving 75-80 mph most of my trip too. Lots of myths about range till it’s put to the test. My SR+ gained my trust .

 

[PNWLeccy]

This is still my open question: How much does your speed effect range? I have to admit, I usually drive a little over the speed limit and if 240 miles is reduced to about 175 if you are going 75-80mph, then that is a huge factor for me.

I know there are lots of factors at play but it's hard to get a real consensus on this. Are most people factoring in that they won't charge to 100% and won't go below 10% SoC? Conservatively, that would put you around ~190 miles and I'm guessing most people look at their effective range as this so they have some range in reserve which is probably smart.

 

[zyzz]

somethings no one mentions is that recommended charge for these cars is from 80% max for daily and 20% before you should start charging again. Thats effectively 144 miles of range for the SR+ and 186 miles for the LR

unless youre doing 45mph on the highway in warm weather, no ac on, you probably wont get the rated range

 

[ewoodrick]

I just did a 600+ mile road trip from south Florida to Mississippi and back in my Sr+ and the time difference calculated from my plug share app was an extra 2 stops with 40 mins added to the trip. At first I was fretting the trip but it was very easy to do. I imagine the larger battery would take longer to charge compared to the SR + which I would get to 80% from 10% in about 20ish mins which was the majority of my charges. Not sure how fast it is to charge a LR model . The fastest charge was in the first 10-15 mins then it slows down to a trickle.

The LR does indeed take longer to charge, more like 30-40 minutes, but then there's the possibility that you can skip forward a stop. But at 600 miles, it's not going to be a big difference.

It's interesting that if you take the same stops, that it could take the Model 3 longer, dependent on its starting charge. If the LR starts at 100%, then at the first stop, it will be charging from about 40-80%, which may be slower than the SR+ going from 20-80%
But if the LR starts at 80%, then it will charge from 20-60% which is faster.

Just thinking out loud, The LR can go about 220 miles safely between stops. The SR+ about 170 miles. So in theory, after about 3-4 stops, the LR range will be able to take one less stop. So that' right around you trip. But the reality is that because of location, we'd probably all stop in the same places. Ocala, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Destin, Biloxi, not a lot of choices.

 

[PNWLeccy]

The LR does indeed take longer to charge, more like 30-40 minutes, but then there's the possibility that you can skip forward a stop. But at 600 miles, it's not going to be a big difference.

It's interesting that if you take the same stops, that it could take the Model 3 longer, dependent on its starting charge. If the LR starts at 100%, then at the first stop, it will be charging from about 40-80%, which may be slower than the SR+ going from 20-80%
But if the LR starts at 80%, then it will charge from 20-60% which is faster.

Just thinking out loud, The LR can go about 220 miles safely between stops. The SR+ about 170 miles. So in theory, after about 3-4 stops, the LR range will be able to take one less stop. So that' right around you trip. But the reality is that because of location, we'd probably all stop in the same places. Ocala, Gainesville, Tallahassee, Destin, Biloxi, not a lot of choices.

That's a good use-case. On shorter trips you'd likely be stopping in same spots whether you've got a SR+ or LR. I think I get worried because there are less SCs out here in Washington once you get into national/state park territory which makes me a little nervous...

 

[ewoodrick]

But in National /State park areas, there are campgrounds. While they aren't as fast as a Supercharger, they tend to have a NEMA 14-50 if you get in trouble. Also don't forget Plugshare.com for all the J-1772 options available. While not great for day trips, there are a lot of options for overnight charging.

Down in Ft Lauderdale, while I had Supercharger options, the hotel had a 120V 15A plug. Over a week, including a lot of daytime trips, it brought us back to near 100%.

 

[SlimJim]

$9000 must totally worth it if you have the money and Tesla is the only car you have.
In my case, it is not worth $9000.
I have my wife's ICE for long distance trips and ski trips.
If Tesla is the only car and you cannot afford a $50K tesla but you need a AWD long range car, Tesla is not the right car for you.

 

[JBT66]

The LR allows me to get to a few lakes here in AZ that I couldn’t reach with out the extra range. I suppose I could make it by going WAY out of the way but I’m not prepared to make a 3 hour trip a 5 hour trip.