I am only getting 2/3rds expected range...

[rekoh]

AND I LOVE IT!! --Heat on high. Cranking the stereo. Driving like I am 16 and trying to impress my friends. Oh... an ZERO range anxiety!

What has this car done to me?? I dont feel guilty at all. I guess I should try ot learn how to drive more conservatively for that extremely rare occasion that I will need to go a long distance, but for now, it is all about fun Fun FUN!

 

[bonnie]

Hah! That's exactly how I feel in my Roadster. But for some strange reason I seem to blow through rear tires on a regular basis...

 

[lolachampcar]

Yessssss, I was going to say something about them there rear tires but Bonnie beat me to it.

 

[100thMonkey]

I know exactly what you mean. the other day when I swung by the service center and chatted with the guys, I saw a set of tires on the ground that not only had no tread on them, but there was nothing but belts showing, all the way across... I'm not even sure how someone could do that without turning off traction control and doing nothing but donuts in a parking lot! I think what is going is that while some folks are perhaps a bit too obsessed with squeezing out every mile, others are getting totally intoxicated by torque euphoria and having way too much fun! well, maybe not too much...

 

[SuperCoug]

I take delivery of my 60 kWh Model S tomorrow morning at 10 am. All my friends have asked me what sort of range I expect and I always have to preface my answer with "Well, the EPA rating is 208 miles but I'm sure I won't get more than 140 for at least a month!".

I just know that I'm going to be intoxicated by the instantaneous throttle response and crazy torque so efficient driving is not a skill I will practice anytime soon. I plan to give many test drives and be carving up traffic the rest of the summer. :biggrin:

 

[lolachampcar]

I anticipate SuperCoug will have some problems with muscle fatigue from the enlarged Tesla Grin.
Contrats.

 

[Bipo]

If I had one, it would be only 1/3, or even less

 

[lolachampcar]

and then you would be looking for bail.......

 

[mknox]

Agree. Even with my 100+ mile commute combined with side trips, I just drive the way I like and use the HVAC all I want, and I don't even think about range.

 

[tezco]

Just wait until the teenagers start getting these as hand-me-downs -- it'll be wild out there.

 

[Plug Me In]

I agree, at some point I'll have to get energy conscious again (right?) but now I'm living it up! Jackrabbit starts, random mad accelerations just for the hell of it.

 

[kinddog]

I dont feel guilty at all. I guess I should try ot learn how to drive more conservatively for that extremely rare occasion that I will need to go a long distance, but for now, it is all about fun Fun FUN!

until your electric bills are $300. then it will be no fun, No Fun, NO FUN!!!

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

until your electric bills are $300. then it will be NO FUN, NO FUN, NO FUN!!!

Heh... in the last 12 months, my lowest electric bill was $330. The highest was $750.

Still, regardless of how much energy you try to run through a Model S, it's going to be cheaper than running gasoline (and assuming equivalent cars where you're spending roughly the same on tires and whatever else). In Florida, $0.12/kWh and really wringing out the car at an average of 400Wh/mile means $0.048/mile. My wife's BMW 535 GT is almost the exact same size as the Model S -- with the smallest and most efficient engine BMW will put in that car, to boot -- and at best we get 26 mpg out of that car on the highway. Her average is closer to 15 mpg. Her fuel cost per mile ($4/gallon @ 15 mpg) comes out to $0.267.

The BMW has a fuel cost fully 5.5 times higher than the fuel cost of the Model S. And keep in mind I'm comparing to the 535, not the 550. In this scenario, someone putting in 1,000 miles a month at $0.048/mile is going to run through $48 in electricity instead of $267 in gasoline.

 

[bonnie]

I had similar electric bills (averaging $500/month) -- put in solar & now I don't think twice about what I'm doing to my electric bill. Currently PG&E owes ME money.

Now if I could only come up with a way to deal with the cost of rear tire replacement ...

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

Agreed, Bonnie. I'll get around to solar soon, but I'm just wrapping up the construction of my office (added to my home) and I still have some pending work to do on the place. For example, I need to modify the garage since I can currently fit my Model S or my wife's BMW in there, but not both. Then, when I'm done with the current batch of mods, I think the entire family needs a little respite from constantly having contractors in the house. It'll be a few months.

 

[kinddog]

Heh... in the last 12 months, my lowest electric bill was $330. The highest was $750..

what.

the.

&$#@*$&?!?!?!?!?!?!??!

how in gods name do you rack up a $750 electricity bill?!? My last bill, my first full month with the Tesla, was $240. It's usually about $180. and my electric co charges about $0.11c/kWh, so you're not far off at .12.

so I ask again, what in gods name are you and Bonnie doing to achieve electricity bills like that?!? haha

- - - Updated - - -

Now if I could only come up with a way to deal with the cost of rear tire replacement ...

correct me if i'm wrong, but i think you just did...

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

how in gods name do you rack up a $750 electricity bill?!?

Not hard, actually. :-D Several factors come into play:

1. 5500 sqft house with four adults and two kids, lots of windows and skylights.

2. Miami heat and humidity require lots and lots of A/C. $750 is July's bill.

3. Part of my home (about 750 sqft) is my office. Adds quite a bit of power use since I'm always there and the office is colder than the house.

4. My office being at home means a PBX system, dual Internet links, high-speed network, a couple of servers... quite a bit of hardware going.

5. The two-car garage has A/C as well. We don't go in and out much, but obviously there's losses when doing so plus it adds to the cooled area.

And that electric bill happens despite the fact that our stove, oven, clothes dryer, water heaters, and generator are all fueled by natural gas from the city (another $75 monthly). The energy bill was a lot higher when we bought the house... :-D

 

[dsm363]

AC for the garage...nice. Do you have solar or solar attic fans? Your payback might actually be fairly quick with that kind of bill.

 

[Rodolfo Paiz]

A/C for the garage is not something I would probably have done on my own, but the prior owner had antique camera gear and needed dry, cool storage. I don't object to it, especially since I spent nearly two years using half the garage as my office while my real office was getting built onto the other side of the house. Two desks, a filing cabinet, and a Roadster... not a bad office at all! :-D

I don't think that the payback is affected by your consumption. How much each KW of PV capacity costs, the weather and insolation at your location, and the siting/installation issues like shading and panel angles, plus of course your local energy rate and any net metering or other rate issues, are what's going to drive your return on investment. High energy use just means you have to buy more panels, but the ROI on each panel and on the system is probably unaffected. I'll find out exactly soon enough.