Looking for some wisdom for choosing 75D vs 100D

[D.E.]

If we're voting, I vote for the 75D. I've taken mine on several trips, the charging interval is fine. You won't do the trip as quickly as in an ICE car but you'll be more rested when you arrive. The acceleration is plenty.

You'll get about 4 miles range per hour of 120v charge time. You can supplement with a supercharge if you have one close.

For the price difference you'll get a little more acceleration and more range. Otherwise the cars will be identical. I'd save the money.

As far as the range goes, it isn't as if you go from 100% charge to 0% every time. It just means you might do 4 stops on a trip instead of 3. The charge time in those 3 stops will be a little longer. The 100 will charge a little faster. Overall the time savings with the larger battery will be a factor but not huge.

So you might figure out about how much you make per hour that you work. Then figure out how much time you are likely to save per long trip. Then take the hours saved times your hourly pay and see if it comes out to $20,000 or so. It's only an exercise because you won't be able to sell those fragmentary saved hours anyway. Still it'll put things in perspective. But you're leasing, so do it with lease payments over the lease term instead. There may be a difference in insurance rates as well.

 

[Max*]

I feel the instrument cluster is still essential

We have both, and you get used to the 3 not having the IC REALLY quickly. My wife actually prefers the 3 with no IC

I've read some of the threads on various forums discussing the pros/cons. It's doable, but will have some added time

I don't know about your particular supercharging path, but I have a 70D (which I was debating about getting an 85D at the time), and I have no regrets. I've been up and down the east cost, in 3 years we put in over 60k miles. We road trip a lot. The car is often ready before the kids are. The only time we usually end up waiting for the car is when we drive at night and kids are asleep.

The time savings you're thinking about will be considerable on the first leg of the supercharging trip (home to supercharger). It won't be more than 5 minutes during the 2nd leg (supercharger to supercharger). There's people who ran the math previously. Is 5 minutes (even if it's 10 minutes) a few times a year worth $20k? Only you can answer that.


I used a 120V to charge the first few months before I had a 240V outlet installed. It's doable. It's not great, but definitely doable with your short commute. You can always top off at superchargers or public chargers while you're shopping once a week.

and will resell for more

That's a silly argument that's used on this forum more than it should be.

All addition features depreciate faster. You put in an extra $20k upfront, and you might get $7k back on resale. Sure you get $7k more when you sold it, but you invested $20k to get that $7k.

Also OP said he's leasing.

 

[P85_DA]

As another posted noted the 75D has as much range as my P85D...I recently got one as loaner and was surprised at range I got ..the past I would have said go for the 100D ..but with density of super chargers in LA//OC u can’t go wrong with 75D

 

[Xd85]

That assumes you know what you will need. Things change, unforeseen events happen.

LOL - yeah right... Trust me, you're going to find any and every excuse to drive you Model S

These two . Found excuses for "day trips" in my 75D that are 220-300ish miles map distance round trip. Have superchargers of course but I think it would be so much easier in 100D. Trips that I once thought "few times a year" turn out to be "few times a month".

On a related note, have a 100D loaner right now and it does feel slightly clunkier. Extra 25kWh battery that noticeable?

 

[gavine]

The 75D is a great value.

 

[RDoc]

Since you're in CA, this doesn't apply, but for anyone in a cold weather area, the big difference IMHO with battery capacity is when it's below freezing. The Wh/mi consumption below 20F is really scary!

 

[jlv1]

I love my car and the range of the 75D has not been a problem in and of itself. I rarely commute in the Tesla (I use the LEAF for that). For all our nearby (100 mile range) driving, the difference between the 75D and 100D would not matter at all.

Yet, I regret not getting the 100D for two reasons.

We use the car for lots of 400+ mile trips (22K miles in 15 months). When I plug in at a SC, the fastest it every charges is at 99kW - that's 16% slower than if I had a 90 or 100. That adds up to 5-15 minutes more time every time we SC, which on some trips of 400+ miles can be 2-3 times. We are road warriors and with an ICE we might drive 4-5 hours without ever stopping once. Thus, it irks my wife ever so much to have to stop to charge. If the charging was just a little faster, it might not irk her as much.

From MA, we tend to head west on I90 towards Buffalo, NY. Because of the range of the 75D, we need to stop after 150 miles and charge at the SC in Albany, NY, which we reach with over 40% charge remaining. If I had a 100D, I would be able to go all the way to the SC in Utica, NY (240 miles, with 18% charge remaining). This would cut 1 SC stop off any of our trips to western NY. Again, this is just to annoy my wife less by not stopping as much. (FWIW, Tesla adding a SC halfway between Albany and Utica would also accomplish this, but I see no plans for that).

I did try to change the config of the car from 75D to 100D before they started to build it, but they wouldn't let me (they said the parts were already pulled or something).

So, if you can afford the 100D, there are good reasons to do that route.

 

[xilex]

Thank you everyone for the good conversation! It looks like going with the 75D makes the most sense. I can afford the 100D but it probably is not the wisest choice from a financial standpoint. Also the small differences in 0-60 times are inconsequential. I'll check out the X also but I think was leaning towards S because I've heard it's a sportier drive than the X.

Realistically I only have maybe 4 weekend days off a month excluding requested actual vacation time so these trips I hope to take are going to be uncommon.

LOL - yeah right... Trust me, you're going to find any and every excuse to drive you Model S

I know, right? I turned off Eco mode in my car after 5 years and driving was a better experience and made barely a dent in actual gas mileage.

 

[jddssc121]

Realistically this may only occur once or twice a year, so maybe not worth the extra 20000?

If you're leasing, you're not paying an extra $20K. Your only paying a portion of that based on the lease residual %.

 

[Sprandt23]

Since you're in CA, this doesn't apply, but for anyone in a cold weather area, the big difference IMHO with battery capacity is when it's below freezing. The Wh/mi consumption below 20F is really scary!

I echo this as well - any driving you do below freezing has a significant impact on range. On extreme cold days I feel like I would be hard pressed to get 175 miles out of a full charge on my 85D.

Obviously not a concern in CA, unless your road trips take you into colder climates.

 

[sidmini]

leaning towards S because I've heard it's a sportier drive than the X

Go for the S it's sleeker, quicker and more efficient than the X!

 

[arcus]

Go for the S it's sleeker, quicker and more efficient than the X!

I would also argue that unless you chose very specific seat configuration on X, S will also be a better cargo hauler

 

[xyeahtony]

Go for the S it's sleeker, quicker and more efficient than the X!

Yeah but the S doesn’t have self presenting doors
Opening ur own door is so 2012 haha

 

[PrGrPa]

I did the ‘math’ and realised that my time was worth less than the time I’d gain from the cost of 100D over 75D. I bought the 75D. Awesome.

If I had my time again? I’d go for the 75D. Though I might be more tempted by the overpriced PUP given the complaints from the backseats on ‘my seat doesn’t heat up’.

 

[henderrj]

Lots of good discussion on the vehicle, let me address the charging . While on vacation we needed a better rate but only had 120 available. A quick trip to Home Depot, 2 extension cords , a NEMA 1450 plug, and a cheap little 120/240 lighted indicator, and we wired up a 240 volt 12 amp charging adapter. Had to try a half dozen 120 plug pairs before we found two that worked, but it did the job. Might work for you as well.

 

[xilex]

Power went out yesterday for many hours, apartment was like 90 degrees, couldn't sleep at night. If I had my Model S, I could have slept in the back with climate control on.

 

[Vic_F]

For me it was the LR M3 vs a more base Model S. We will occasionally travel so the range is sometimes important. At the end of the day comfort, space won the day and I ordered my Model S June 30th. I am not worried about traveling with the 75D given the ever expanding network.

 

[xilex]

For me it was the LR M3 vs a more base Model S. We will occasionally travel so the range is sometimes important. At the end of the day comfort, space won the day and I ordered my Model S June 30th. I am not worried about traveling with the 75D given the ever expanding network.

Sweet, thanks for sharing! Model 3 not in consideration for me because not available as a lease option at the moment, but I do value comfort.

Now off-topic again, also the day the power went out was 110 degrees in SoCal. Walking from work to outside was like opening your oven door and sticking your head in front of the oven. No covered parking structure at work. Now if I had my Model S, I could have told it to start cooling down 10 minutes before and then not have to feel like crap waiting for the AC to start working. Yea, I know, first world problem, but it's a Tesla.

 

[f-stop]

@xilex welcome to TMC. IMO based on your usage I'd say a 75D should be fine.

I've had my 70D for ~2.5yrs now, around town I drive an average of <40km/day, and charge at home with 120V. I occasionally use public L2 chargers around town if convenient while shopping etc. (Yeah of course home 240V would be better, but for low daily mileage 120V can do the job). I may take a long road trip just once per year - the longest so far being a 3500km round trip to NorCal and back - no problem.

If I had a long daily commute, or frequently took long road trips (or road trips off the beaten path, i.e. ill-served by Supercharger network) perhaps I'd say the bigger battery is worth the extra $$$, but in my actual use case I don't regret choosing the 70D.

 

[GaryW]

This is a very good point. I bought a model S supplement my sports car (BMW z4m). I figured I commute to work in the Tesla and enjoy the sports car more on the weekends. Not a chance, the BMW has been collecting dust since I got the Tesla, and it’s now on the market. Once you go electric you will never go back.

Same for me. I sold my BMW Z4 after driving my model S for a few weeks.

I knew I would road trip my model s, so went with the 100D.