TaoJones
Beyond Driven
As long as they keep the payment friction away from the pedestal, it doesn't matter much in practice. All cars that pull into an SC will plug in, charge and leave. And perhaps leave faster if there are idle fees involved. Love that idea, since ICEing by our own remains the biggest network capacity risk today.
That said, the moment someone takes 15 minutes to try to add kW via the in-car browser and a credit card while at the pedestal with people waiting, only to find out the browser doesn't have that capability, and they have to instead call Ownership to sign up for the first time or to reload, well, it won't be pretty.
The poo-poo advocates who as yet don't own EVs will be surprised to see how costly saving that $2000 up front will get both over distance and locally in particular when things with which they have no experience become factors. Even at a relatively low rate of $0.20/kW.
Here's a simple example: At the moment, my car has consumed 37kW since SCing 60 miles away last night. But only 26kW @ 313Wh/mi is displayed "Since Last Charge" for 83.2 miles driven.
37 * $0.20 = $7.40 for 83 miles. My friend's generic Honda gets 30mpg average and gas is $2.45/gallon. Do the math.
Elon is of course correct, especially since gas won't be cheap forever. People *will* have the opportunity to save money, not to mention to reduce air pollution. But it won't be as much money as they think via poo-poo or even via the a la carte code leaked today. Unless you think the price per kW will be *cough* subsidized.
Besides being a great reason to pay up front or to just get a CPO S, the cost to the Model 3 owner who thinks they'll come out ahead by not paying up front is neither good nor bad - it's just the way it will be. Absent the clarity we've all grown accustomed to not getting, of course.
Example of clarity: No option whatsoever for lifetime included charging with the Model 3. Helps keep the Model S viable for longer, despite being twice the cost for 50% more range on a good day.
There are going to be some sweet CPO opportunities across the board when people's monthly payments approximate their gas/oil costs (yes, this applies only to higher-mileage drivers - of which there are many hereabouts). Despite the one-time versus poo-poo nonsense, the future remains bright.
As long as they don't clutter up the pedestals with poo-poo efforts. Should be an easy problem to solve with incentives and disincentives... See idle fees. Maybe.
That said, the moment someone takes 15 minutes to try to add kW via the in-car browser and a credit card while at the pedestal with people waiting, only to find out the browser doesn't have that capability, and they have to instead call Ownership to sign up for the first time or to reload, well, it won't be pretty.
The poo-poo advocates who as yet don't own EVs will be surprised to see how costly saving that $2000 up front will get both over distance and locally in particular when things with which they have no experience become factors. Even at a relatively low rate of $0.20/kW.
Here's a simple example: At the moment, my car has consumed 37kW since SCing 60 miles away last night. But only 26kW @ 313Wh/mi is displayed "Since Last Charge" for 83.2 miles driven.
37 * $0.20 = $7.40 for 83 miles. My friend's generic Honda gets 30mpg average and gas is $2.45/gallon. Do the math.
Elon is of course correct, especially since gas won't be cheap forever. People *will* have the opportunity to save money, not to mention to reduce air pollution. But it won't be as much money as they think via poo-poo or even via the a la carte code leaked today. Unless you think the price per kW will be *cough* subsidized.
Besides being a great reason to pay up front or to just get a CPO S, the cost to the Model 3 owner who thinks they'll come out ahead by not paying up front is neither good nor bad - it's just the way it will be. Absent the clarity we've all grown accustomed to not getting, of course.
Example of clarity: No option whatsoever for lifetime included charging with the Model 3. Helps keep the Model S viable for longer, despite being twice the cost for 50% more range on a good day.
There are going to be some sweet CPO opportunities across the board when people's monthly payments approximate their gas/oil costs (yes, this applies only to higher-mileage drivers - of which there are many hereabouts). Despite the one-time versus poo-poo nonsense, the future remains bright.
As long as they don't clutter up the pedestals with poo-poo efforts. Should be an easy problem to solve with incentives and disincentives... See idle fees. Maybe.
