OK, so I watched the Elon Musk Model 3 presentation. He spoke, initially, of the horrors of climate change. So, I'm wondering how much does Tesla care about climate change? So I hunted through a recent Model S manual looking for keywords: CO2, greenhouse, carbon, emissions and climate. Among those words, 'emissions' occurred in only one section, and 'climate' appeared only with respect to 'climate control'. Frankly I doubt one car can control the climate ;-).
Now, I don't have access to a Model S, so my knowledge on this subject is limited. Yet even several months of lurking at the TMC site gives no indication there is any instantaneous car-generated feedback on this subject.
So given the above, I find it strange, that there is no apparent user interface in the Tesla (maybe the phone app?) that gives the driver ANY CLUE about how much less carbon is in the atmosphere, thanks to the recent EV trip driven. Nevertheless, there are all sorts of details about wHr/mi and rated range in the instrument panel(s). Now, I understand that the CO2 savings will largely depend on three things: 1) the best ICE substitute for the Model S (your baseline); 2) the electric fleet of generators in your area; and 3) how much of a lead-foot, you, the driver has. Still, given that #1 can be a pre-set user-preference; #2 could be updated based on GPS and statistics; and #3 is just driving history, why doesn't the green-friendly Tesla give some clues about what the day-to-day differences are, in the car's ample display screen.
Just to show you how little the apparent CO2 impact is, in my neighborhood (Dallas), I compared economy flights from DFW airport to ORD (Chicago).
Carbon Footprint Ltd - Carbon Footprint Calculator reports such a flight is costing 190 kg of CO2. In contrast, the CO2 grid-impact is about 250 gm/mi to charge a Model S. Given
driving DFW->ORD is 931 miles, then we have a 232 kg in CO2 release by the Model S. So that is 22% difference favoring flying (assumes single occupant driver). 61% better CO2 economy if two people ride the Model S. Driving an ICE would be about a 50% greater CO2 release than the Model S. So why does the average driver have to be married to a math major to get these rough approximations? Ignoring any quibbles over whether my math is right or not, what would it take for Tesla to surface this information to the driver?