Is a 60kWh pack large enough?

[Buckeye2320]

I am looking for some feedback on the below

My wife is looking for a new car, and I was thinking about getting here a Model S CPO/Inventory Model S 60. She drives about 40 Mile per day round trip. We have a NEMA 10-30 (240V/24A) circuit in the garage already. This would get us around 180+ Miles of charge over night. There is no charging station or EV Stations near her work that she could use if needed. The speed limit on the roads that she travels does not exceed 50mph. Will a Model S 60 be OK for her? Or does it make sense to get an 85?

Thanks for the feedback?

 

[Bound466]

I have the 60kWh battery, and commute 92 miles round trip everyday, and usually have about 60-70 miles left over when I get home.

We also do a lot of road trips (never did road trips before we got the Tesla), and never had a problem getting between the superchargers.

I think you will here a lot of folks say you should get the 85 just in case you need it, but we have had our 60 for almost 3 years and never had a situation where we needed extra mileage.

Either way, you wife will enjoy the car immensely.

 

[KJD]

I am looking for some feedback on the below
My wife is looking for a new car, and I was thinking about getting here a Model S CPO/Inventory Model S 60. She drives about 40 Mile per day round trip. We have a NEMA 10-30 (240V/24A) circuit in the garage already. This would get us around 180+ Miles of charge over night. There is no charging station or EV Stations near her work that she could use if needed. The speed limit on the roads that she travels does not exceed 50mph. Will a Model S 60 be OK for her? Or does it make sense to get an 85?
Thanks for the feedback?

40 miles a day should be easy.

If you live in Chicago, I would for sure buy the winter tire package as well. The all season tires suck in the snow.

 

[Super_Popular]

I have the 60kWh battery, and commute 92 miles round trip everyday, and usually have about 60-70 miles left over when I get home.

We also do a lot of road trips (never did road trips before we got the Tesla), and never had a problem getting between the superchargers.

I think you will here a lot of folks say you should get the 85 just in case you need it, but we have had our 60 for almost 3 years and never had a situation where we needed extra mileage.

Either way, you wife will enjoy the car immensely.

Yes. But have you looked into a CPO 85 or P85....there are some that are pretty cheap.

 

[CuriousG]

I am looking for some feedback on the below

My wife is looking for a new car, and I was thinking about getting here a Model S CPO/Inventory Model S 60. She drives about 40 Mile per day round trip. We have a NEMA 10-30 (240V/24A) circuit in the garage already. This would get us around 180+ Miles of charge over night. There is no charging station or EV Stations near her work that she could use if needed. The speed limit on the roads that she travels does not exceed 50mph. Will a Model S 60 be OK for her? Or does it make sense to get an 85?

Thanks for the feedback?

Range will not be an issue. I also charge via NEMA 10-30 and it gets ~18MPH using the Tesla adapter ($45). I think the question better suited for you would be do you want to have a SuperCharger enabled car since I think at the time it was an option. So unless they made all CPO cars SuperCharger enabled, that question is moot.

Realistically if she truly travels 40 miles round trip, you're looking at only charging 2-3 hours a night using the 10-30.

 

[tomanik]

Having owned a 60 in a cold location with a very similar daily drive, you would be fine. It has more than enough range for what you are describing, regardless of the weather or if you forget to charge one night. However if you could do a few thousand more then the 85 is worth it as you may end up driving the car for more than just workmy, weekends, vacations, etc

Happy to answer any other questions.

 

[Maaz]

85 for the warranty.

 

[Buckeye2320]

Thanks for the feedback.

Would it make sense to get the Dual Chargers?

I have looked at 60s and 85's and with the amount of driving she does, I want to try to stay under $55K. There are a few 85's below 55K, but most of those are in California. She has a parking garage that she parks in for work, so that should help with the winter weather and not impact the range that much. Won't take as long as to warm up the car after work.

 

[blanche]

Range is clearly no issue. You just have to consider all the other factors that may be important to you, including resale value, the willingness to do a bit more planning for road trips, etc.. Good luck - the 60 definitely sounds like it meets you basic commuting needs.

 

[ecarfan]

Is a 60KW enough?

For the scenario described by the OP a 60 sounds fine given the stated budget. I would be sure to get a car with Supercharging enabled. Teslas are addictive and many find that while they bought thinking the car would be for local trips only, they quickly discover that they want to drive it everywhere. And as Supercharger numbers and density increase, even a 60 can be used for road trips (as many have already demonstrated when there were fewer Superchargers than there are now).
Regarding Dual Chargers, you may have a hard time finding a CPO 60 with them but you could have the second charger added at any time. As much as I am an advocate of Dual Chargers, for your wife's commute scenario a single charger will be fine.

 

[AMPd]

Thanks for the feedback.

Would it make sense to get the Dual Chargers?

I have looked at 60s and 85's and with the amount of driving she does, I want to try to stay under $55K. There are a few 85's below 55K, but most of those are in California. She has a parking garage that she parks in for work, so that should help with the winter weather and not impact the range that much. Won't take as long as to warm up the car after work.

Dual chargers are only necessary if you plan on using tesla high power wall connector, which charges at 80amps if the car has dual chargers
But if you're only going to be using the nema 10-30 then you have no use for the second on board charger

 

[Buckeye2320]

I have looked at the ev-cpo.com website and all the 60s listed have Supercharging enabled so that should help with the unexpected road trips that ecarfan mentions.

For those cold weather owners, I live in Chicago, so should I get the subzero weather package? or is the car fine without it?

 

[iKhalid]

I have looked at the ev-cpo.com website and all the 60s listed have Supercharging enabled so that should help with the unexpected road trips that ecarfan mentions.

For those cold weather owners, I live in Chicago, so should I get the subzero weather package? or is the car fine without it?

I'm an owner of a 60 in Canada. The winter package is not that useful unless you really need heated seats in the back. The heated wipers are almost useless. If you can find one with it, go ahead; otherwise, no big deal.

I personally had a few scenarios were I wished I had an 85kWh battery to skip a supercharger in Toronto (before Port Hope, ON SuperCharger), but I would still get a moderately loaded 60 over a stripped 85 given my budget at the time of purchase. I did a lot of road trips between Montreal and Toronto in 2015 and will do the same in 2016 due to a temporary situation, but no issues so far.

Although unlikely based on your post, but if you ever had to drive 125miles without a recharge when it's -5F cold, you will make it but you have to stick to the speed limit. Any longer distance would be a concern at such a low temperature.

 

[ZachShahan]

Well, it's a very personal situation (depends on various factors only you two can answer), but I'd get the 60 kWh. We typically drive *much* less than we think we do when we think about this matter.

 

[clarkbariowa]

I would give her your car and get a P85 :biggrin: The prices of P85's have come down a ton. The monthly finance payment variance between a 60/85/P85 would be minimal. Because of that I would go with a P85 or at least 85. I have done two roadtrips so far and in any weather under 40 degrees I plan to lose 40 miles with normal driving (speeding up/down, heat, heated seats) unless you want to constantly think about range, I would go with the 85 KWh battery. Some superchargers can be 150+ miles apart. Also you would have to supercharge above 90%, which add a lot of time to your trips.

 

[ZachShahan]

I have looked at the ev-cpo.com website and all the 60s listed have Supercharging enabled so that should help with the unexpected road trips that ecarfan mentions.

For those cold weather owners, I live in Chicago, so should I get the subzero weather package? or is the car fine without it?

Supposedly, all CPO cars have Supercharging. But also good to make sure.

 

[Tedkidd]

It seems the real disadvantage to the 60 isn't the range as those tend to be blue moon situations. The shortcoming occurs if you are a long distance travel frequent flier, as you'll be hitting change taper at most stops and thereby facing up to double the wait time at Superchargers - particularly in winter.

My 2c - go with the 60. If you end up realizing you love xc driving, trade up in a few years for a nice used 90 with autopilot.

 

[Buckeye2320]

Great Feedback. Looks like a 60 is soon to be purchased. Happy New Year!

 

[TexasEV]

Be aware that Tesla no longer sells a 10-30 adapter for the UMC. Everyone here thinks that is a mistake, and your situation is a good example of that, but that's the reality. You could buy an aftermarket 14-50R to 10-30P adapter that would allow you to use the 14-50 UMC adapter but you would have to remember to manually turn the amps down to 24A on the screen. You're probably better off having a 50A circuit installed in your garage so you can plug in with the 14-50 UMC adapter directly.

And yes with your driving pattern a 60kWh car is fine. You should only pay to have dual chargers installed if you know of an 80A HPWC that you would use on a trip somewhere.

 

[Mike K]

Well, it's a very personal situation (depends on various factors only you two can answer), but I'd get the 60 kWh. We typically drive *much* less than we think we do when we think about this matter.

This is a great point however I still don't see a compelling argument for going with a used 60kwh car over an 85kwh. There's a couple reasons for this:

Prices - I don't know what the OP's budget is but there are fantastic deals on 85kwh cars right now. Whereas the difference in cost was originally $10,000 between the models (I think so at least), as the cars depreciate that gap closes. There are well equipped 60's on the CPO site for $50,000ish and well equipped 85's with similar miles for $54,000. Hell, there's a low VIN 2012 P85 for $55,000 if you're feeling frisky. The gap isn't nearly as large as it once was so on a car you're already paying $50,000 for, why not pay a few more thousand for the following reasons:

Charging - The 85kwh car will supercharge faster and start tapering off in speed later than the 60.

Battery Cycles - All things equal, the 85kwh car is going to experience fewer battery cycles which is going to result in longer life.

Warranty - The 60 comes with an 8 year, 125,000 mile warranty on the battery and drive unit. The 85 comes with an 8 year, unlimited mile warranty. This all by itself is reason enough for me to go with an 85 over a 60.

Peace of mind - Something I see repeated here often is that nobody has every regretting getting an 85. And that's true. Nobody has ever been like "gee, I have too much range and the car charges too fast and the warranty gives me too much comfort".

For these reasons I just don't see a compelling reason for anyone to go with a 60 over an 85 unless the 60 is substantially less money. Don't get me wrong. The 60's are still fabulous cars but with prices where they're at on both models, I just don't see the sense in going with a 60 any longer.