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long range battery
- Thread starter kirby
- Start date
Thunder7ga
Member
I am not sure how you would expect anyone to give you any viable opinions on this without YOU providing more information, like your use case, your budget, your average commute, what exactly you are looking for in an EV etc etc etc.
So, here is my answer to your question, given the lack of information you posted.
Yes.
Thanks. Sorry for not enough info. I'm retired. i don't commute. I have plenty of time for road trips. This is my first EV. I live in Delaware, not many super chargers
Yeah. I get that. I'm just wondering, there has been so many price changes. Could the price of the long range battery go down?
Yeah. I get that. I'm just wondering, there has been so many price changes. Could the price of the long range battery go down?
Thunder7ga
Member
I'd say the price difference between SR/SR+ and LR will always be about what it is. Now, COULD the overall prices go down...sure but who knows if or when that would occur. Things change...but conversely, they could go up too. With any type of technology (and this car is technology) you buy when you are ready...worrying about future price changes will just make you wait indefinitely. Either you want it or you don't.
Ok, thats more info
With the extra detail, I will now say that, for you "it depends".
If you are retired and dont commute, you dont have an issue with daily range. If you live in a residence where you can install a home charger for general use, the lack of superchargers around your area will not really effect you, unless you are traveling somewhere.
In your case, I believe it boils down to:
1. How much money you can (or want to) spend
2. whether you value additional performance in cars (the long range car is faster, and is the equivalent of buying the 6 cylinder vs the 4 cylinder in ICE cars, sorta... at least from performance standpoint.
3. how many road trips you take, how far they are, and your tolerance for having to possibly stop more in your road trips and what that might be worth for you as far as spend goes.
In your use case, no you dont "need" the long range battery. Very few people actually "need" it, but many "want" it for various reasons which are all valid.
I love my SR+ and have not once regretted getting the shorter range.
- Destination chargers are everywhere. Even in northern Canada. And Superchargers are abundant on major routes, never more than 200km apart (for routes I would drive).
- SR+ is more efficient. I’m averaging 126 Wh/KM (202 Wh/mile). Granted winter is here and that will go up, but even my 8km trip in 0 degrees Celsius yesterday was only 105 Wh/KM (168 Wh/mile).
Unless you consistently need to go long distances, I really don’t think you can beat the value of the SR+.
- Destination chargers are everywhere. Even in northern Canada. And Superchargers are abundant on major routes, never more than 200km apart (for routes I would drive).
- SR+ is more efficient. I’m averaging 126 Wh/KM (202 Wh/mile). Granted winter is here and that will go up, but even my 8km trip in 0 degrees Celsius yesterday was only 105 Wh/KM (168 Wh/mile).
Unless you consistently need to go long distances, I really don’t think you can beat the value of the SR+.
Hmm, I like the proformance thing. I had a 4 cylinder car. it stunk! On road trips, I usually stop every couple of hours anyway (I'm old), so, I don't need it, I can afford it, the added performance is the thing. Very helpful. Thanks. JKOk, thats more info
With the extra detail, I will now say that, for you "it depends".
If you are retired and dont commute, you dont have an issue with daily range. If you live in a residence where you can install a home charger for general use, the lack of superchargers around your area will not really effect you, unless you are traveling somewhere.
In your case, I believe it boils down to:
1. How much money you can (or want to) spend
2. whether you value additional performance in cars (the long range car is faster, and is the equivalent of buying the 6 cylinder vs the 4 cylinder in ICE cars, sorta... at least from performance standpoint.
3. how many road trips you take, how far they are, and your tolerance for having to possibly stop more in your road trips and what that might be worth for you as far as spend goes.
In your use case, no you dont "need" the long range battery. Very few people actually "need" it, but many "want" it for various reasons which are all valid.
I love it! Spoken like a true Canadian ehh, You make a great point. I guess the only difference really is the GO FAST.
Heck yeah!!! Road trip are way easier and I can go to areas I wouldn’t feel comfortable going with a sr m3. Plus the sound system is well worth the upgrade. The car is pretty quiet so you need nice sound to listen to.
CharleyBC
Active Member
As others have said, it's ultimately a very personal choice. We went for it. $9000 extra seemed like a lot, but the timing was a factor. LR was the only battery at the time, and getting LR assured getting the full $7500 federal tax credit in the US. It wasn't clear at the time when SR would come out, but we guessed we'd lose half or 3/4 of the credit. So, the tax credit partially bought our battery. That math is different now, of course.
The LR battery has allowed us to make some day trips that would have been impossible with the SR. One example was driving to a trail head for a hike. It was about 135 miles away, with no charging opportunities. A 270-mile round trip was fine with the LR battery. On the other hand, the Supercharger network is getting better all the time. If you're going to go for road trips along major highways, you will easily be able to hop from charger to charger with the SR battery in the great majority of cases in the US. I might be able to skip a charger that you have to take along the same route, but we'll both get there. Back to our hike: there's a new Supercharger under construction right now that will allow an SR to make the trip.
But if you can swing it financially, you will never regret the bigger battery. I understand that's a big "if".
The LR battery has allowed us to make some day trips that would have been impossible with the SR. One example was driving to a trail head for a hike. It was about 135 miles away, with no charging opportunities. A 270-mile round trip was fine with the LR battery. On the other hand, the Supercharger network is getting better all the time. If you're going to go for road trips along major highways, you will easily be able to hop from charger to charger with the SR battery in the great majority of cases in the US. I might be able to skip a charger that you have to take along the same route, but we'll both get there. Back to our hike: there's a new Supercharger under construction right now that will allow an SR to make the trip.
But if you can swing it financially, you will never regret the bigger battery. I understand that's a big "if".
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