Miami Valley Tesla Owners...

[CinRedMan]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday (8/29), I made the payment for a 2017 MS 100D (demo), which I plan to lease for 3 years. While I'm super excited, I also spent a sleepless night thinking about so many variables associated to making the switch from ICE to EV; As I often say...as my head hit the pillow..."The circus came to town" and my mind raced all night long. Chief among my concerns;

1. Charging...only 1 SuperCharger around Dayton (32 miles from home)
2. Range anxiety; Knowing I can't just hit the nearest gas station has me feeling as if I spent $$$$ with too many limits
3. Cost to install NEMA 14-50? (more money!)
4. Status Symbol; Wife and I are quite private and shy away from "flashy" purchases; You can see this car from outer-space!!
5. Charging strategy; As I understand, desire to keep battery between 20% and 80%; what does one do when they take a long road trip, only to arrive at destination (private home) and needing a charge??? Hey, mind if I plug-in?

So, I'm hoping to connect with a few "local" owners of either MS or MX who are willing to "talk me off the edge" and help in the transition...

 

[IT Geek]

Well, congrats... In my opinion, the MS is just the best car you can get...and I've had mine for about six months and 15, 000 miles now.

I'll give you my take on your questions...

1. You really want to install at home charging. Yes, that's going to costs you some money, but in the long run it's the absolute best way to go I had my car for 7 weeks before I got at home charging (was moving) and it gets very tiresome going out to the Supercharger each time you need some more juice.

2. That's honestly not really a thing that I worry about all that much since i put in at home charging. Once you have that you're basically leaving home "filled up" each day. With the 100D you can easily go 275 miles on a single charge ( I think they max out at 335 ) so unless your daily drive is more than that you need not worry about anything. Long road trips are easy with the Supercharger network too. I've already taken my car out to South Dakota and back and it was easy.

3. Just do it. Money well spent when you own an electric car. I even installed the Tesla wall connector (which just came down in price) so that I could leave my charge cables in the car.

4. True. You'll feel that for a while. But it's good to treat yourself every once in a while.

5. Yep, that could be one way. I've done the math and you'd be amazed at how little it costs to actually fill up a Tesla with 250 miles of range. For me on my electric (which is not cheap) it's only about $11.00. So I don't feel too bad about asking to plug in if needed. I even installed a NEMA plug at my friends house so that I can charge when I get there (as he is 50 miles away). But the other options are to look for Tesla destination chargers, or charge up a bit longer at a nearby Supercharger before heading to your final stop. Superchargers are being added everywhere now so likely there will be one near where you are going..if not now...then soon.

I don't regret my purchase one bit. It's just such a great car to drive, the best there is in fact.

If you have any more questions...ask away.

 

[CinRedMan]

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I'm feeling a bit better about the decision today, but still struggling to accept that the car I am buying, cost as much as my first home (back in 1992)...

 

[bwestlak]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday (8/29), I made the payment for a 2017 MS 100D (demo), which I plan to lease for 3 years. While I'm super excited, I also spent a sleepless night thinking about so many variables associated to making the switch from ICE to EV; As I often say...as my head hit the pillow..."The circus came to town" and my mind raced all night long. Chief among my concerns;

1. Charging...only 1 SuperCharger around Dayton (32 miles from home)
2. Range anxiety; Knowing I can't just hit the nearest gas station has me feeling as if I spent $$$$ with too many limits
3. Cost to install NEMA 14-50? (more money!)
4. Status Symbol; Wife and I are quite private and shy away from "flashy" purchases; You can see this car from outer-space!!
5. Charging strategy; As I understand, desire to keep battery between 20% and 80%; what does one do when they take a long road trip, only to arrive at destination (private home) and needing a charge??? Hey, mind if I plug-in?

So, I'm hoping to connect with a few "local" owners of either MS or MX who are willing to "talk me off the edge" and help in the transition...

Congratulations, we are in Michigan and are familiar with the Dayton Supercharger - it is our first stop going south toward Florida or sometimes toward Indianapolis.
1,2 & 3 - A lot of things to learn in a short amount of time. You will soon see that your local supercharger is the one you never use because you are too close for it to be of any use. Each morning you will leave fully charged and won't need to think about it again for at least 4 hours even if you are on the highway the whole time. With a 100D you can think of your battery as a large tank that you just need to put an average amount of range back in at a rate higher than you use on average. So if you think about charging on your 120V plug in your garage, you can add 40-60 miles of range per night. If you drive less than 30,000 miles per year that is plenty of range. If you drive over 30,000 miles you will actually be charging more using the superchargers so you won't be charging as much at home.
4 - My wife and I were very worried about the impression driving an expensive car would leave with others. We got over it, and the car presents a lot of opportunities for teaching moments with people who are hearing the propaganda about EV's.
5. Most of the info based on actual fact points to keeping the battery at 80% unless travelling on a trip. We find that stopping every 3 hours or so for coffee or fast food while supercharging is a more civilized way to travel - you may even start to like driving again. Long trips ending at a hotel with a destination charger solves part of the problem, and stopping at a supercharger near a friend's house to top up works well, but we often save a little bit of battery to charge up at friend's houses which helps other find out how easy it is and how they could also own an electric car. You will find them often interested and curious.
By the way our effective range is more like 80 miles less than yours and we have never had an issue getting where we want to go. A long trip starts out at 8 in the morning after our destination charger has fully charged overnight, we stop for coffee at 9 or 10 for 15 minutes at a supercharger, then drive till 1 and stop for lunch for about 30-45 minutes at the next supercharger then go till 5 and dinner at our next supercharger. If we want to go further we travel till 10 and stay overnight at a hotel with a destination charger. We never have to wait on the car to charge, it is always ready for us and each leg is less than 4 hours which is our limit without stretching our legs.
Hope this helps you off the ledge!

 

[CinRedMan]

Thanks bwestlak,

Regarding charging, it feels like I have to "let go" of the concept "Fill on empty till Full" and think more.."Top it off"

 

[Sawyer8888]

• Cost to install NEMA 14-50? (more money!)

The NEMA 14-50 is a relatively inexpensive cost. I received quotes between $400 and $1000 (S. FL area - the other "Miami Valley" ). The few in the upper range included permitting. There may be a trend of manucipalities requiring permits for these easy electrical jobs even if being completed by licensed electricians - for our safety of course. Or perhaps more $ for their coffers.​

• Status Symbol; Wife and I are quite private and shy away from "flashy" purchases; You can see this car from outer-space!!

The Model S is a very attractive car. However it is an understated cool. It stands out, but it is not an in-your-face, flashy, can-see-it-from-outer-space kind of thing IMO.​

 

[IT Geek]

Regarding charging, it feels like I have to "let go" of the concept "Fill on empty till Full" and think more.."Top it off"

The funny thing is that it's actually better to ride "the bottom of the battery" if you're doing a long road trip. I believe I've seen math that states you can charge from 20% to 80% in about the same amount of time as it would take to go from 80% to 100%. Rarely do I ever charge up to 100% unless I'm trying to go all the way across the state of Michigan in one go and skip 2 SC's along the way. When I do that I usually just charge up at home the night before making that trip.

The longest drive I did in one day was when I went from Denver to St. Louis. I just hopped from SC to SC and stopped for about 20 minutes every 2-3 hours. I like to joke that my car hold more "juice" than I can...and it's true. Often I'm stopping because I must stop, not because the car is telling it needs to.

Denver has 2 SCs but I never used either of them...I just stayed at a hotel there with a Destination charger and woke up each day with a full charge ready to go. Definitely look into where those are as they completely make it easy to charge in many additional locations.

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[bwestlak]

Thanks bwestlak,

Regarding charging, it feels like I have to "let go" of the concept "Fill on empty till Full" and think more.."Top it off"

Its not just a 'beginner' problem - I had driven EV's for 6 years and thought I was pretty savvy, but the bigger battery in the Tesla changes everything. First lesson was don't waste your time planning where to stop to charge on a long trip - the Tesla GPS calculates it all - just put in your end point address and the GPS tells you where and how long to charge to optimize your waiting time at the SC. Faster charging at the SC is in Tesla's interest as well as yours so they aim you toward little used chargers when your battery is able to do a fast charge (bottom half of the charge.) The only thing you have to be careful of is it won't end your trip full - you will have to look for the last charger if you don't have a charger waiting for you at your destination. The only thing you have to decide is which supercharger you want to stop at for your favorite food or coffee. You usually have your choice of 2-3 SC locations within your range.

 

[Vip]

Hey CinRedMan don't for a minute regret what you did!!! I have had my car for 4 years now. I have almost 100,000 miles on it. I live in Columbus and work in Dayton. I am lucky enough to charge at work but I still could make it back and forth from work without any issues. Don't worry about daily driving, you won't have any range anxiety especially with a 100kWh battery.
As for the cost of installation of a plug I had a NEMA 14-50 installed for about $400. You really don't need to use the supercharger so it really doesn't matter how far you are from it. Only use it for long distance travel. If I am traveling I usually skip the Columbus supercharger and charge in Dayton or Cincinnati.
Not having to go to the gas station during the winter is worth it alone for having the car. You can heat your car while it is still in your garage. So many benefits and few drawbacks.
As for destination charging most people will be fascinated with the fact that the car is all electric that the would be happy to let you charge. You may have to purchase an extension cord. My parents installed a NEMA 14-50 so I can charge faster when I come and visit. You may want to consider something like that.
Trust me once you get the car you will think back to this time and wonder what you were worried about!

 

[IT Geek]

Trust me once you get the car you will think back to this time and wonder what you were worried about!

I echo those sentiments...and I'm only six months (but 16,000 miles) into my Tesla journey.

 

[CinRedMan]

Appreciate all the words of encouragement and support. I have worked out the NEMA 14-50A circuit and will be doing the work with the help of my buddy (certified electrician). Now, a phone call to my OA is warranted as I'm in need of an update on my wheels!

 

[ZBB]

Congrats...

We relocated from AZ to SW Ohio 3 months ago... I still need to get an electrician out and run a charging line to the garage -- likely getting a wall charger now (my Model S Is only 4 1/4 years old -- I charged off a 14-50 in AZ).

I've been charging at home with a 5-20 adapter since the move. It's been fine for getting to work (about 45-55 miles for round trip and other daily driving).

 

[CinRedMan]

Delivery Update: Delivery scheduled for 9/20@3 PM; woot!

 

[Brian-MS90D]

@CinRedMan, how did your delivery go? Are you happy with the MS?