Some Model S questions (that I have not found answers to)

[FalconNinetyD]

I'd be willing to lease my Model S to you at the right price! Makes me wonder, is that legal?

A bunch of P2P car rental websites have popped up in the past few years, so yes, I think it is legal in most places:
Getaround - Peer-to-peer car sharing and local car rental
RelayRides Rent Cars From People Near You Through a Peer-to-Peer Marketplace

 

[Lloyd]

You can do it legally, but remember you are collecting taxes, and as the legal owner of the vehicle, you need to assure that you are properly insured for the actions of the leasee.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Interior Measurements?

Does anyone know the distance from the inside of the trunk to the back of the front seats with the rear seats folded down? (anyone with a measure at SR maybe?)

Curious if it is long enough to sleep in for a night (It would be pretty sweet to have a car that can keep the temp ideal!)



Looking at the factory pictures of the cadd drawings on the wall I think there is about ~ 6' , so 1 person diagonal should fit pretty well (assuming you're around 6' or so)

 

[jerry33]

Does anyone know the distance from the inside of the trunk to the back of the front seats with the rear seats folded down? (anyone with a measure at SR maybe?)

Curious if it is long enough to sleep in for a night (It would be pretty sweet to have a car that can keep the temp ideal!)

I don't know the actual distance, but the X is said to be able to almost fit a queen size mattress and because they are both built on the same platform I'd imagine the distance from the back of the front seat to the rear isn't all that much different. To put it another way, I (5'8") can sleep in the Prius and the Model S is twenty inches longer.

 

[neroden]

Yes, that's the round trip mileage. It's a brutal commute though, if I leave at the wrong time of day I can sit in bumper to bumper traffic for a good 20+ minutes which turns it into a 80 minute or so drive.

This makes you an ideal electric car owner, in economic terms. You don't need a huge range, but you do a decently large number of miles per year (so the savings on fuel starts to outweigh the increased initial purchase cost) and you've got a lot of stop-and-go traffic (so you save a lot from not idling). You'll have to decide what size battery you need, but you may well be fine with the 160.

 

[voip-ninja]

This makes you an ideal electric car owner, in economic terms. You don't need a huge range, but you do a decently large number of miles per year (so the savings on fuel starts to outweigh the increased initial purchase cost) and you've got a lot of stop-and-go traffic (so you save a lot from not idling). You'll have to decide what size battery you need, but you may well be fine with the 160.

I need to see how Tesla does with the Model S and I will be revisiting the question of gas vs electric vs hybrid when the lease on the BMW 335i I am getting is up in 3 yrs.

 

[neroden]

I'd be willing to lease my Model S to you at the right price! Makes me wonder, is that legal? Or do you have to be a bigger institution to be able to do this? It actually seems like a decent little business to go into. Buy up 2 or 3 Model S's and lease them out. Probably a nightmare with all the legalities of things, but you could end up paying for your own Model S with the profits you make from the leases.

Check state law (or pay a lawyer to research it). It's certainly legal to lease your model S to someone else, but you may have certain licensing and inspection requirements which could be prohibitive if you're doing it on too small a scale.

 

[neroden]

I need to see how Tesla does with the Model S and I will be revisiting the question of gas vs electric vs hybrid when the lease on the BMW 335i I am getting is up in 3 yrs.

I understand. I've been watching Tesla like a hawk since the Roadster came out, spending untold hours poring over details of both the car and the company, which is why I was willing to commit to the model S. But I had to be very, very cautious. I'm now certain it will be fine in cold and hot weather and I'm certain it will drive really nicely and be really safe on the road, and I'm certain it will have a low factory defect rate and a long lifetime. I'm still uncertain about maintenance and repair costs (sole-source issues), and tire choices, and interior comfort; but I'm not actually that picky on interior comfort, I can always change the tires, and I decided I could deal with the unknown maintenance & repair costs.

I do suggest that you do a personal TCO comparison for gas vs. electric. Compare your existing gasoline usage at predicted gas prices with the predicted electric bill for an electric car (remembering, no idling, stop-and-go is basically free) and figure out how much it will save per year; this will give you a better sense of how much of a premium you would really be paying for electric; it's less than most people think, and especially so for you.

I think it's startling that Tesla is the only company currently producing an electric car with 160 mile range. I also think they are taking full advantage of the opportunity for increased pricing given that they're "the only one out there" (reasonable behavior for a startup). In 3 years there may be another manufacturer producing a 160-mile range all-electric car and then they'll be cheaper. Given your driving profile, I feel certain that unless you do road trips you haven't told us about (driving to California or something), that at that time, you are going to want to get an all-electric, whether it's one of Tesla's or not.

 

[jerry33]

I'm still uncertain about maintenance and repair costs (sole-source issues), and tire choices

As long as you opt for the 19" tires, there is a wide variety. 21" tires are less common. Of course, you're unlikely to have a choice on the OE tires (other than 19" or 21") but that's the same for any car. Typically you drive on the OE tires for as long as you can stand them and then get something better. In a very few cases (like the DS-21) the OE tires are actually the best.