Model S 60: Made a document to help me decide (could help you too)

[tacrim]

I am new to the forum but have been trying to read up as much as possible in the last 1-2 weeks (when I have time) to help me decide on my purchase decision (pulled trigger tonight and am in my 7 day grace period now).

I decided to put all my thoughts onto paper (literally ppt slides), and I thought I would share them with others as it could help them in making a decision. I haven't figured out where my referral code is (yet), but I will post it here when I can (if anyone knows where I can find it, let me know). Please use my code if you find my slides useful (or if you have no other code to use ).

That said, please provide me with feedback and I will try to update them slides as soon as possible.

Slides:
Dropbox - tesla_slides_external.pdf

 

[justg0]

I went thru the same exercise before going with 60D (grey next gen seats, AP2, pano, blue metallic paint), and pretty much had all the same thoughts as you. But I never documented them. Great job putting them in a spreadsheet for others.

I still get tempted to buy a used one with AP1 and save some money, but I think I am going to stick to the new now as my order gets locked in tonight.

 

[NAVALARCHITECT]

OP great job documenting all this. Helpful and insightful!

 

[bmah]

I decided to put all my thoughts onto paper (literally ppt slides), and I thought I would share them with others as it could help them in making a decision. I haven't figured out where my referral code is (yet), but I will post it here when I can (if anyone knows where I can find it, let me know). Please use my code if you find my slides useful (or if you have no other code to use ).

Nice! Welcome to TMC and thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Bruce.

PS. Your referral code will be somewhere on your MyTesla page, although I am not sure when you'll get it. You might get it via email as well.

 

[tacrim]

Thanks for the comments everyone!

Yeah the more I think about it, most people on this forum already know these things (since if you are on this forum, you are probably already doing your research ). That said, my coworkers and friends have found it useful. Maybe I'll upload something to youtube to help people who may not already be on the forums. Let's see.

PS. Your referral code will be somewhere on your MyTesla page, although I am not sure when you'll get it. You might get it via email as well.

Thanks for the tip. Can't seem to find it yet, but that's fine I guess

 

[Ian67]

Great analysis and aligns with my much less detailed analysis before I pressed go last week!

Regarding your referral code, I think you said you were in your 7 day grace period. I pressed confirm order to lock. Y design at the weekend and that was when my referral code appeared in mytesla.

 

[brianman]

@tacrim - Small piece of feedback: I think I saw "65 kWh" somewhere where "60 kWh" was probably intended.

 

[ApauloThirteen]

V nice. Good on noting that the supercharging rate is fast in a 60.

Minor quibble. Brakes are likely to be a low maintenance cost on a EV/Tesla. That's a safe assumption.

 

[steveho]

The only thing I have a little discrepency with is the MPG of the ICE car. A 0-60 in 5.4 car (bmw 540i) would NOT get 25MPG. It's rated for 15 / 23. And if you dip into the 5.4 sec often, I surmise that you'll never see 25 MPG. I'd guess that it would average closer to 17 or 18 mpg with liberal throttle usage. But I've never driven a BMW so I really can't say one way or the other. If you average 17 in the BMW, then you'd save much more in gas.

 

[tacrim]

Thanks again everyone for the feedback! I just updated the slides (V2.1).

Regarding your referral code, I think you said you were in your 7 day grace period. I pressed confirm order to lock. Y design at the weekend and that was when my referral code appeared in mytesla.

Thanks for the info. I'll keep an eye out once I finalize my order

@tacrim - Small piece of feedback: I think I saw "65 kWh" somewhere where "60 kWh" was probably intended.

Good eye. Fixed.

Minor quibble. Brakes are likely to be a low maintenance cost on a EV/Tesla. That's a safe assumption.

Good point. Added.

The only thing I have a little discrepency with is the MPG of the ICE car. A 0-60 in 5.4 car (bmw 540i) would NOT get 25MPG. It's rated for 15 / 23. And if you dip into the 5.4 sec often, I surmise that you'll never see 25 MPG. I'd guess that it would average closer to 17 or 18 mpg with liberal throttle usage. But I've never driven a BMW so I really can't say one way or the other. If you average 17 in the BMW, then you'd save much more in gas.

BMW claims 5.5sec with the 535i today (being replaced by 540i next year) and it gets 20city/31hwy MPG (new 540i will use a 3.0L turbo instead of the V8 it used to back in the day, so it should be similar). But yes, I drive a 2008 328i right now with older 3.0L engine and I avg under 20 MPG (though YMMV, literally), but yeah I definitely know what you mean
BMW 535i Sedan - Features & Specs - Specifications - BMW North America - BMW North America

 

[steveho]

@tacrim I see the newer BMW's are indeed higher mpg, but I still surmise that dipping into 0-60 in 5.5 would yield less than 20mpg. Just the nature of ICE cars? This still would have a greater spread compared to the Tesla. I'm guessing since ICE is about 20% efficient, vs EV about 85% efficient. This means the increase in power output in the ICE would still use 4x the power of the electric. Happy about EV!

 

[tacrim]

@tacrim I see the newer BMW's are indeed higher mpg, but I still surmise that dipping into 0-60 in 5.5 would yield less than 20mpg. Just the nature of ICE cars? This still would have a greater spread compared to the Tesla. I'm guessing since ICE is about 20% efficient, vs EV about 85% efficient. This means the increase in power output in the ICE would still use 4x the power of the electric. Happy about EV!

Yes definitely, agree. I mentioned something in the slides called "cost of acceleration" which I think is along the lines of what you are mentioning. Basically, if you have a 5.5sec BMW and you utilize that speed, you are not getting the rated MPG. You are getting 20MPG or less as you mentioned . The way I see it, the "cost of accelerating" quickly is more expensive in a BMW because the energy you are burning is the gas you pay for at the station. As you mentioned, EV are way more efficient so what you are paying for in that acceleration is a lot less...

 

[DarkMatter]

Did you account for the electricity cost in your gas price comparison? I didn't see it but totally could have missed it. The cost of acceleration is not free as loss of range is spending energy. It is however a lot cheaper.

 

[seevT]

excellent slides. i am on the same boat and contemplating ordering a S60.
is supercharging for life (if the car is ordered before end of this year) free for S60? i read somewhere that for S60, need to pay upfroint $2500 for supercharing and only on S85 and above it is free?

 

[justg0]

Supercharging is free if ordered this year for s60. Maybe older s60 needed additional payment.

 

[DarkMatter]

Supercharging is included with every car. At the end of this year unlimited energy will no longer be included. Instead 400 kWh will be included per year, and amounts after that will be billed.

 

[seevT]

great ..thanks

 

[tacrim]

Did you account for the electricity cost in your gas price comparison? I didn't see it but totally could have missed it. The cost of acceleration is not free as loss of range is spending energy. It is however a lot cheaper.

This falls in my disclaimers list . I personally am planning on charging for free at work for now, so I assume electricity will be "free". I guess it would be useful for me to note how much others who would be charging at home would pay (though it depends how much they charge at home vs. supercharge). I think I estimated 6 cents per mile (15 cents per kWh and 0.4 kWh per mile worst case -- likely less).

And yes I agree cost of acceleration is range for an EV (also mentioned that in the slides). That only matters when you care about range (e.g. long trip), which I rarely do besides my SD to LA leg which I think I can still have some fun on .

Lastly, I just "confirmed" my order tonight! I really can't wait to get it... That said, I got my referral link finally. I added it to the slides as well:
Referral | Tesla

Please use my link if you found my slides useful!

 

[seevT]

Ideally i wanted to buy the car somewhere towards end of next year but the removal of free super charging got me thinking about getting one now (along with the 2K price increase which is coign in soon) . I have a bunch of superchargers at my work so its goign to be very convenient is charing is free for life..

What are the chances that tesla stops the free supercharging for grandfathered vehicles?

 

[tacrim]

Ideally i wanted to buy the car somewhere towards end of next year but the removal of free super charging got me thinking about getting one now (along with the 2K price increase which is coign in soon) . I have a bunch of superchargers at my work so its goign to be very convenient is charing is free for life..

What are the chances that tesla stops the free supercharging for grandfathered vehicles?

I'd say try and get it now unless you have a good reason to wait. Take into account $2k increase, supercharging deal and the amount of money you would spend on gas in the meantime if you got the car sometime next year (also delay in federal rebate if that matters to you).

No one really knows if supercharging will remain free. I personally think it will since there are only a fixed number of vehicles that will have the benefit anyway (and there will be way more without it given Model 3 reservations).