Well, maybe I misunderstand the purpose of the Supercharger systym but I thought it was for road trip travel. This guy had a house with a garage (I asked). I don’t get why he would consider charging at a Supercharger? Maybe I misunderstand the supercharger concept. I would think any DC fast charger within a 100 km of home is useless.
We have a first generation 30 KWh 2016 Leaf. Maybe 3.5 years ish. It works fine for what we do right now. Bullet proof. Other than washer fluid never been back to Nissan. Things are changing for us next year a bit as far as driving needs so last year we started to look at alternatives. Fell in love with the model 3 of course. (Who wouldn’t). Great car. However we recently put a deposit down on a new 2020 Nissan Leaf SL Eplus. 8 month waiting list so we won’t see it till next year which actually works out perfect for us as we’ll be out of the country for a bit. We did a lot of test driving of both and had a big list of pros and cons for each. The Leaf won out but for some pretty edge case reasons that don’t apply to most shoppers I’m sure.
Funny story. On the way to the dealership to pick the colour and put down the deposit we had a Blue on white model 3 pull up beside us. Almost threw out the whole list and just call Tesla and say “take my money”. But practicality won out and we went with the Eplus. Sigh.
Right about the time the model Y comes out we’ll be trading in our other car (smart ED convertible). Thinking that’s next on our list and it will check a few boxes that the model 3 couldn’t check.
Stay safe on the road EV brethren. Don’t forget to wave to us “leaf people” from time to time.
No, you dont misunderstand the supercharger network. The issue is, in the early days of tesla, they gave away free supercharging as a benefit with their VERY expensive cars, as a way to help combat the issue of range anxiety. So, lots of people with model S and X have free supercharging, and are "hell bent" on "getting their moneys worth". "They gave me free supercharging, so I am going to use it. Whether I can charge at home or not is irrelevant" is a refrain said around here by many who have the free supercharging benefit.
I personally dont agree with it, but its hard to fault someone for trying to use the thing they were promised when they bought the car. The supercharging network is SUPPOSED to be for people traveling, to ensure they can cross the country in their electric car almost as easily as they could in their ICE / Hybrid. What it turned into, is for many people with free supercharging, a way to save on whatever their electricity would cost them to charge at home (never mind the fact they could do something else if they charge at home, and are likely to spend that saved money if they are at a supercharger in a mall or other location that has places to shop.
I also dont agree with the "just build more supercharger stalls", because that infrastructure would never be able to keep up with cars sold. Building more supercharger stalls at existing locations is not the answer. Increasing supercharger locations might help, but what would help even more is making the supercharger something people use WHILE TRAVELING.
I keep hearing the argument that "well some people live in condos or apartments and cant charge there.. they have to use the supercharger". For me that argument carries zero weight... because every car is NOT for every person, and someone who bought the car without the ability to charge at home or work likely made a mistake in my opinion. They should have gotten a hybrid, or some other ICE. Every product does not have to be suitable for every person. A tesla is simply the wrong tool for someone who can "never" charge at home in my opinion. They need to take responsibility for their choices. No one forced them to buy the tesla.. they signed up for the inconvenience of going to a supercharger to charge frequently (instead of when they travel).
The real "fix" to this problem wont come until the cars with free unlimited supercharging are mostly off the road, and tesla charges enough per kWH over home charging to ensure that people charge when traveling. When you are on a road trip, the difference between a charge costing you .15c a unit or .30c a unit wont matter. You are traveling, and will want the charge. Just like if you need gas in an ICE and pull off to a station that is 50c a gallon more than at home, you might grumble a bit but you dont care. Those 50c a gallon more expensive stations are not frequented by locals though, because they "know better".
Same thing needs to happen with supercharging. The network of superchargers SHOULD be for people who need the charge as they are moving from place to place... in between charging at home, Locals will charge there until it doesnt make sense for them not to, if they can.
Just because I dont agree that locals should charge there, doesnt mean I blame them for trying to "get their monies worth" out of their free unlimited supercharging. They were sold it, so "why not"? Thats why I said this is tesla's fault for giving that perk away WAAY too long.
They also need to STOP running "specials" on free supercharging. They should just give away 2 months of free supercharging with every car, to give people a chance to get their electrical sorted out at home / work, and thats it. No free supercharging miles for referrals, etc. All of that drives people to superchargers who clog them up.
They seem to be moving in that direction, with making the referral supercharger miles expire in 6 months, but they need to do more, and building out supercharger stalls in current locations sure isnt it.
