Is Model 3 your only car?

[Guest]

I own a Model 3 awd.. No way you get 4 people with ski gear for a trip 200 miles away in the middle of winter. How do you get home even if you could? 300 miles, no stops to charge, yeah right.

You guys are not being honest with yourselves at the inconveniences EV presents for round trips of more than 250 miles without having to concern yourself with getting some juice and the energy invloved in doing such. I will put in that energy sometimes, but not always, when taking an ICE is much easier

 

[Ciditad]

I own a Model 3 awd.. No way you get 4 people with ski gear for a trip 200 miles away in the middle of winter. How do you get home even if you could? 300 miles, no stops to charge, yeah right.

You guys are not being honest with yourselves at the inconveniences EV presents for round trips of more than 250 miles without having to concern yourself with getting some juice and the energy invloved in doing such. I will put in that energy sometimes, but not always, when taking an ICE is much easier

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but how often do you take 400-mile round trips?

I drive roughly 30,000 miles a year (2016 GTI had 77K miles on it in 30 months) and I took 2 trips that were longer than 400 miles and that was going to Canada. For those super long trips I’ll rent an ICE car and drive it.

Everyone’s needs are different, some people don’t take long roadtrips so there will be people in the EV only camp.

 

[Glamisduner]

Nope, I have 2 atvs, a Rzr SxS, and a Dodge 3500 to pull the toy hauler.

I don't see electric being viable for dessert or dune running any time soon and I can't imagine the Tesla truck pulling a 28 ft trailer very far and charging with a long trailer attached with the current lack of charging stations.

Maybe some day though. Loved having the 3 for the commuter for the week I had it. The old loaner S is nice too. I feel like I own an old S at this point.

Wife is thinking about checking out a Kona EV as her commuter but I'm not sure it will work well for her if she decides to start making some longer drives (lack of fast charging network), and I'm pretty burned out on the Tesla experience so far, so I can't really suggest she wait for a Y or any other Tesla.

 

[Sparky]

I own a Model 3 awd.. No way you get 4 people with ski gear for a trip 200 miles away in the middle of winter. How do you get home even if you could? 300 miles, no stops to charge, yeah right.

You guys are not being honest with yourselves at the inconveniences EV presents for round trips of more than 250 miles without having to concern yourself with getting some juice and the energy invloved in doing such. I will put in that energy sometimes, but not always, when taking an ICE is much easier

Model 3 & Model X. I'm about to make my 7th EV winter trip with 4 people and a dog, 660 miles SoCal to Park City, Utah area. Winter tires on the X, cold weather package, AP2, yawn. I'd rather drive the X to the snow anytime than my now long-gone, SUV. Not going back.

 

[Leicina]

I have an M3 (RWD) and a 2015 Toyota Prius. The Prius had been my daily/work vehicle since purchasing it and I am still debating on whether to sell it out of practicality. I'm a filmmaker that frequently travels with a bunch of pelican cases, light stands, etc, which does fit into the M3, but has taken a toll on the Prius (lots of scrapes, marks, etc from loading/unloading quickly). I know its a car and its meant for driving, but I'd hate to destroy it. However, after driving the M3, there is just absolutely no thrill to driving the Prius at all (not sure there ever was, but its what I was used to). I think the solution here is a Model X, but it is just too expensive for me to justify with a lack of long range. My other problem has been the lack of Superchargers in the DC area for my normal route though I-66 (the Haymarket charger should fix this soon). Either way, the Prius will be my last ICE car for sure and I hope we'll soon get to 400+ mile ranges on batteries.

 

[Guest]

I don’t disagree with what you’re saying, but how often do you take 400-mile round trips?

I drive roughly 30,000 miles a year (2016 GTI had 77K miles on it in 30 months) and I took 2 trips that were longer than 400 miles and that was going to Canada. For those super long trips I’ll rent an ICE car and drive it.

Everyone’s needs are different, some people don’t take long roadtrips so there will be people in the EV only camp.

As often as I can in the winter. Sometimes I stay the night and can use a destination charger if so, but I could only take 2 people with skis or I'd have to buy a rooftop carrier, so less millage, more hassle. Even going to the city for shopping and a night out is a challenge unless I happen to choose a place that has a charger. That is not convenient, especially if we want to take another couple, whereas, it could easily be done without even going to the gas station in an ICE. I'm just saying, there is a significant population that will not deal with that stuff with an EV. There are a lot of people that only view, rightfully so, an EV as a toy. That is all it can be for me.

 

[Orwell]

I had a 2013 Honda Accord Sport CVT.

I was going to get a new VW Alltrack + Lotus Evora 400

But the practical side of me that wanted just (1) car said to get the Tesla Model 3 Performance to do it all. Glad I did. Never going back to ICE.

 

[Uncle Paul]

Kept my nice Mercedes for a while after getting my Tesla. Realized I was never using it, so it is gone.

Great solution is to accept you will rent or Turo an ICE vehicle, when and if you every have one of those situations where you will need the longer range. Also might rent a pickup for occasional hauling needs.

X is now 19 months old. 24,000 miles. Never came close to needing an ICE. Keeping a second car is pretty much just a waste of money.

 

[o2bmeek]

I kept my 2004 4Runner because we can get some deep snow on CT and I have to show up to work regardless of weather.

But 2 months in I'm leaning hard towards selling it in the spring then get snow tires for the 3.

 

[SageBrush]

. If your lifestyle is such that you are not bothered wasting time charging, don't do things on a whim where you need a large, strong, long distance, roomy vehicle, fine, go EV and learn to love the compromise,

I live in rural Colorado and do not feel any compromise at all.

Best not to generalize

 

[StellarRat]

It's only me at home and I certainly can't afford another car after paying for this one.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Model 3 & Model X. I'm about to make my 7th EV winter trip with 4 people and a dog, 660 miles SoCal to Park City, Utah area. Winter tires on the X, cold weather package, AP2, yawn. I'd rather drive the X to the snow anytime than my now long-gone, SUV. Not going back.

That's pretty much the deal. Someone can construct in their head hypotheticals where "it's not going to work" but you have to work HARD to cherry pick them where it's actually true. The scenarios in the actual are fairly sparse. If the person trying to do it doesn't actually own the vehicle, or hasn't tried to use it, they usually pretty quickly have to adjust the scenario (AKA move the goal posts) because they're actually operating their mental map on FUD.

 

[Jedi2155]

I don't know how that's possible (owning just the Spark EV). When I had the Spark EV (had DCFC which was great) my other car was a Gen1 Volt for longer trips. Unless you only hangout in the Diamond Bar/Alhambra/Monterey Park area the Spark EV can't even get you to Santa Monica and back.

That was basically me. I basically didn't travel or had a borrow a family members car when I needed to travel further. On my 2012 Volt, I basically traveled within a 40 radius between chargers for nearly 3 years burning 1 tank of gas per year (see attached). I got a really good feel of the public charging infrastructure back then (when there were far more public chargers than EVs).


Most of my time was in the OC/Inland Valley area. When I did travel to Hollywood or something, I'd find myself using a public charger or something and spending 1-2 hours for a charge to get me that extra push home. My SparkEV battery was a '14 A123 (LiFePO4) pack whose capacity was completely based on calendar life. It hit about 20% degradation after 5 years since manufacturing making me unable to do a round trip to LAX and home without a charge and forcing me to consider new options. Great little car, if not for the range issue. I actually did make a trip to Malibu once in my SparkEV (within a month of buying it), ended up charging at the Santa Monica Whole Foods for 3 hours with my then fiancee at 1 AM . She knew she married into an EV nut back then.....

The fact that we're failing to see Tesla's "calendar" life degradation makes me wonder if they have some type of secret sauce or they're just hiding the capacity loss from us consumers.

 

[Gavyne]

As often as I can in the winter. Sometimes I stay the night and can use a destination charger if so, but I could only take 2 people with skis or I'd have to buy a rooftop carrier, so less millage, more hassle. Even going to the city for shopping and a night out is a challenge unless I happen to choose a place that has a charger. That is not convenient, especially if we want to take another couple, whereas, it could easily be done without even going to the gas station in an ICE. I'm just saying, there is a significant population that will not deal with that stuff with an EV. There are a lot of people that only view, rightfully so, an EV as a toy. That is all it can be for me.

You can cherry pick scenarios that will make EV's not ideal. But are they that way for everybody all the time? Or even a fraction of the time? Your scenario of driving multiple people to ski very often during the Winter just never happens to me. And I would say that probably doesn't happen to majority of the people either.

As for an evening night out, that I do very often. But I fail to see how that's an issue especially with a Model 3. You leave home with 90% charge and you aren't going to drive 300 miles in city driving or an evening out for dinner/movies/party. You may have range anxiety in cars like Kona, I-PACE, i3, Leaf, Bolt, etc.. but Model 3 does not have range anxiety issues for evening outing.

Even if you need to charge, Tesla's Superchargers are there when you do want to top off a bit, and they are quite readily available unlike other EV options. You don't need to fill up to full, 15mins with a Supercharger will take you to 60% quite easily. You might be surprised how your friends might enjoy having a cup of coffee & restroom break for 15-20 mins.

I just don't see your scenarios as problems for majority of the population.

 

[Sandiegodoug]

95% of our driving is with wife’s x or my 3.
Kept Jeep rubicon because can’t flat tow 3 behind our motorhome and 3 useless on desert trails anyway. Kept my tacoma 4x4 off road because just need a reliable pick up that can go anywhere, and haul stuff I dare not put in either x or 3.

 

[Glamisduner]

95% of our driving is with wife’s x or my 3.
Kept Jeep rubicon because can’t flat tow 3 behind our motorhome and 3 useless on desert trails anyway. Kept my tacoma 4x4 off road because just need a reliable pick up that can go anywhere, and haul stuff I dare not put in either x or 3.

Like a barrel of manure/mulch from the mushroom farm to feed your garden. I guess it could fit in the trunk hah. Maybe a pallet of cinder blocks, or rock, or bringing a greasy smoker to a friends house. Sure you can tow some small things with a car but it certainly isn't ideal, esp if you need to stop at a supercharger. Went a few weeks without my truck and started missing it almost immediately!

It isn't driven nearly as much as the EV, still need it though! I would need it allot less if there were proper tie down points in the model 3 trunk

 

[David_Cary]

2 EV household for 3.5 years. No other vehicles. Haven't rented a thing except when travelling (or collision repair on my S).
But - my wife got frustrated this T-day. I had to work and she borrowed the S (other is Leaf) to go visit parents. The round trip is about 300 and my 70D gets 225 or so. It was also quite cold. So even plugging in at 120V at their house was not quite enough.
Went to Whole Foods to charge and it started charging but then failed. Had an issue with the stuck adapter. Then had to supercharge - nothing more than a bathroom break but still.
In my area, we have a ton of superchargers but only on the interstate. Most of the time back roads are better so we change route to supercharge...

Even the Model 3MR would have made it (with the 120V charging at the house).
She refuses to go to gas station again so these little inconveniences don't really matter.

To guest. Sure the majority of geographical areas in the country aren't great for an EV. Thankfully so few people live in those areas, that it isn't a big deal for now. The vast majority of people live in the US in areas that are absolutely fine for EVs. Someone who can't go out to dinner with friends on a 300 mile range is an extreme edge case.

I do feel a little bad for the people in rural areas in the future. When the politics make it, gas will cost a lot of money and it will crush the rural lifestyle.

 

[ℬête Noire]

I do feel a little bad for the people in rural areas in the future. When the politics make it, gas will cost a lot of money and it will crush the rural lifestyle.

Upside-down view, in my opinion. Gasoline is already something of a PITA in areas emptying of people, as stations have been getting further apart for decades now. As they have consolidated, for economic reasons, places with much lower population have difficulty sustaining them much less 24/7 stations that most people are used to. BEVs represent a way that it'll become economic again to have "re-fueling" in remote areas. Both at home and small scale, automated. Remember that low density, primarily single family dwellings, are the norm in these areas and those are prime candidates for at-home charging.

We're just at something of an awkward point right now due to price of adequate range and variety of vehicle forms (you've got the Model 3 LR at $49K, that's still pretty pricy, with the S 100D is way above that along with the X 100D, which is also probably a bit short on range) and the low number of those small scale charge locations.