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Tesla Sweet Spot: Most Cost Effective Model Choice

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I'm hearing that the Model S 60 KW model may be the best value for the dollar with some of the popular features added as well. Sure it would be nice to drive from SF to LA but it's much easier to fly. Most of us don't drive more than 200 miles per day. And with the supercharger option for the 60 KW version you have the ability to stretch the distance when the occasion may arise. With tech package, air suspension, super charger option and sun roof, the car will end up being in the mid to high $70K's out the door rather than high $80K to low $90K's. I'm still tempted to go all out but my practical side says to restrain myself. Any thoughts?
 
my thoughts: consider the relevance of continuous elevation gain, range loss to heat/cold/battery conditioning, rain, snow, head winds, long traffic jams and wanting to drive fast, to where you live and how you want to drive and factor in room for age related capacity loss and leave a good comfort buffer for mental health. If you will have access to a gas car for long trips, that will make a difference. Ask yourself this, have you ever been disappointed that you purchased the largest hard drive on a portable lap top?

Two years and counting, owning the Leaf had me come to the conclusion that you really want choose the car for the task that will have you hardly ever charging in the wild, it's best to choose the tool that will meet virtually all your needs without having to sit around. The genius of EV's is that virtually all the charging happens in your garage while you sleep, the larger the battery, the more that is true! Our Leaf is great for what we use it for as is our P85 S, different tools different jobs.
 
My wife forced the restraint, and I'm now happy with it. We have 60w with air suspension and jumpseats. The tech package is a ripoff and u don't need XM with standard Slacker/Internet radio. We didn't buy it for roadtrips so $2000 for the supercharger seemed steep. We have my GTI for long trips.
If u want nav, use Google maps via browser or your smartphone.
 
It sounds like you'd do well with the 60 kWh version and Supercharging but don't think you'd ever be disappointed with the extra range of the 85 kWh car, especially if you plan to keep the car long term.
 
I was an early reservation holder and received supercharger access. The 6o kWh option was a good choice for me but may not be for others. I limited options to those shown below. Two concerns: (a) Using 120 V to charge and this is temporary (b) Vampire drain.
 
It sounds like you'd do well with the 60 kWh version and Supercharging but don't think you'd ever be disappointed with the extra range of the 85 kWh car, especially if you plan to keep the car long term.

Yeah I think the 'sweet spot' entirely changes on how long you expect to keep the car. And also you daily driving habits. I'll hit 125k miles in 5 years, or less, in my Model S. So 3+ extra years of battery warranty is really nice, in addition to my additional range.

Not to mention there are quite a few drives I do that are EZ in a 85kWh, that would require thought with the 60kWh pack.

But I have always been in the 'if you go, go all out' camp. I was in the stripped 40kWh, or optioned 85kWh on my decision plate. I think I made the correct choice. I have been well over 30kWh used at the end of the day way more than I thought I was going to be. Granted I am driving the car more/longer because I can.
 
"Sweet Spot"is just so relative. I agree with Monkey's hard drive analogy. It's all about the batteries. If cost cutting isn't that big a deal (again: very relative) I wouldn't consider anything less than the standard 85. It just feels to me that in the long run this will be the best value. The beauty of the car (amongst many others) is the range. With my driving habits and history, I'm guessing I will almost never worry about range for the life of the car. Just plugging it in at home while I sleep for the next ten years is priceless to me. I got twin chargers and supercharging. I don't see myself ever actually NEEDING a public charger, or a supercharger. Though I may use them just for fun a few times.:smile: However, the person that buys this S when I move on to the next Tesla quantum leap might need/want these items.

My feeling is that NEVER feeling range anxiety (if possible) is the sweet spot.
 
I'm hearing that the Model S 60 KW model may be the best value for the dollar with some of the popular features added as well. Sure it would be nice to drive from SF to LA but it's much easier to fly. Most of us don't drive more than 200 miles per day. And with the supercharger option for the 60 KW version you have the ability to stretch the distance when the occasion may arise. With tech package, air suspension, super charger option and sun roof, the car will end up being in the mid to high $70K's out the door rather than high $80K to low $90K's. I'm still tempted to go all out but my practical side says to restrain myself. Any thoughts?

My "value" configuration is this:

60 kWh - Enough charge to drive 2x the mileage of my current "worst day" in cold weather
Metallic Paint
Body Color Roof
19" Wheels
Textile Interior
Tech Package - I like the turn-by-turn integration into the control cluster, and the power lift gate
Standard Suspension - Less complicated than air suspension, cheaper to repair if necessary
Supercharging - I want to have this just in case

$70,070 after tax credit

Previously, my "value" configuration included the Air Suspension and Twin Chargers, but I decided that I probably don't need them. The standard 10 kW charger is more than enough to bring the battery to full overnight, and I don't have the wiring to support the Twin Chargers anyways (If I built a new garage I would have the electrical circuits built to support the full capability of the wall charging unit).

Unfortunately, a car that costs in the high-70's would be very imprudent for me to purchase.:eek:
 
My wife forced the restraint, and I'm now happy with it. We have 60w with air suspension and jumpseats. The tech package is a ripoff and u don't need XM with standard Slacker/Internet radio. We didn't buy it for roadtrips so $2000 for the supercharger seemed steep. We have my GTI for long trips.
If u want nav, use Google maps via browser or your smartphone.
Many, including me, would respectfully disagree.
(Supercharger option on 60k battery is for resale value if nothing else. Just like my adding twin chargers and having no HPWC yet.)
 
I ordered the 60 kwh, supercharger , twin chargers because I do very low mileage, I just drive around town maybe 10-12 miles a day. So I originally ordered the 40 kwh but I do very infrequent road trips like maybe 200 miles round trip the max. Believe me I lived in NY area my whole life and I have never driven to Boston and I hate the NY Times (lousy paper, full of lies, Anti-Semitic, no sports section). I have driven the furthest to Baltimore so that would fit in my plans very well because there is supercharger in Delaware. However if you go westward from NY ,say to Scranton ,PA which is 110 miles each way that would be pushing the limit but I have not done that in a long time. But what I have been told by NY drivers that 280-300 miles range is more than enough and 60 kwh is just fine for NY driving.
 
I'm hearing that the Model S 60 KW model may be the best value for the dollar with some of the popular features added as well. Sure it would be nice to drive from SF to LA but it's much easier to fly. Most of us don't drive more than 200 miles per day. And with the supercharger option for the 60 KW version you have the ability to stretch the distance when the occasion may arise. With tech package, air suspension, super charger option and sun roof, the car will end up being in the mid to high $70K's out the door rather than high $80K to low $90K's. I'm still tempted to go all out but my practical side says to restrain myself. Any thoughts?


I think the "sweet spot" for you will completely depend on a) how far you drive every day and b) how far you tend to drive on weekend road trips. If you have a 20 mile round trip commute each day and live in Hawaii where it's pretty difficult to take a long road trip, I bet the 40 kWh will be just fine. If you commute 100 miles each day and like to go on long road trips then the 85 kWh battery is really your only option.

The exercise I went through when I was considering which battery to get was to make sure 8 years of my daily commute + weekend trips wouldn't exceed the battery warranty and I thought about how many of the road trips my wife and I went in the past year would be comfortably within the range of each battery. After doing the math, it was pretty clear the 85 kWh battery was the best option for me. The fact that it accelerates faster was a nice bonus ;-)

Also keep in mind that the EPA rated mileage is a bit optimistic if you do mostly freeway driving where the flow of traffic is above the speed limit. At the moment my freeway driving would give me about 220 miles of range with my 85 kWh battery, but I've only had my Model S for less than a week so I may still be in the "floor it for the pure joy of the acceleration" phase :)
 
...

The exercise I went through when I was considering which battery to get was to make sure 8 years of my daily commute +...

8 years is a crazy long time. As someone who buys a car and drives it to it's end of life I was surprised soon after I made a new purchase of the "perfect car" for my needs. The car that was supposed to last me for 10 years was ancient. That was 2004. Had no idea that a new car company would pop up with the most amazing tech ever!

8 years could easily see a 600 mile range Model S.
 
I'll say one more thing when considering which battery to go with. I used to hate driving, now I go out of my way to think up cool stuff to do in this car because it's so fun to drive. if you are the type of person that is likely to get inspired by a fantastic driving experience, you may end up wanting to go more far and wide to test it's limits than you do now... if that's you, go with the 85! Charging on the go gets old at any charging speed and is best minimized. it is a bit of a challenge to project yourself forward down the road of ownership and understand how you could truly fall in love with a car, but it has happened to us! this unique mix of altruism, thrill and vanity is a very intoxicating concoction, and I'm not too proud to admit it!
 
This is really a case of "sweet spot will vary". Buy the options which are worth it TO YOU, given your tastes and preferences and personal driving pattern.

FWIW, 8 years could see an electric car with a range of 3000 miles on a charge.
 
I know they have stated otherwise before but Elon recently said that in five years if the battery chemistry has updated a new battery pack using new chemistry could be installed in Model S. It was said in the Norway stop he recently made where he spent some time answering questions from the crowd (some of them got very technical). If that is true I think your choice will prove to be wise ... you may be able to upgrade for cheaper down the road
 
Unless you live on a small island, I would say the Supercharger option is a must. Even if Tesla's Supercharger station plans never get fulfilled, it's probably required to use any other sort of DC charging option (SAE, CHAdeMO).
Also, I'm finding the air suspension to be more useful than I originally thought it would be. In the "standard' height setting, the S still has relatively low clearance, so it's pretty easy to scrape the nose when entering or exiting even moderately sloped driveways. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way....
 
The best value for me was a 40kWh. Oh wait, but the 60 kWh is only 10k more. A good buy. Yeah but that 85kWh is only another 10k more and includes supercharger access too, still a great value. Wow this car is awesome. I never have to pay for gas again. Well hell, that this rate, it's only about 15% more for the P85, comes with leather seats and air suspension standard and all these interior upgrades included too and now this car is faster than hell. Crap. I just spent $103k.
 
Well I drive 30 miles a day and for longer trips I typically need AWD anyway (skiing etc). I took 60k and supercharger since i think with charging networks growing range wont matter as much in 5 years but speed of charging will matter still.

For instance you probably didnt calculate how far you can drive on a tank of gas in ICE car since you can fill it up at every block in 5 minutes. 911 range on a tank of gas is abou 230 miles for instance