Tesla: The CURE for range anxiety

[TEG]

Having owned a couple of short range EVs before, it didn't sink in how much big battery, 300+ mile range Teslas erase range anxiety. Between the long range, easy quick charging, comfort, smart navigation, and just general driving pleasure, it more than erases range anxiety. Now that I have a LR model 3, it tempts me to drive more than any other car I have owned before. I don't have free supercharging, but even the "market rate for electricity" supercharing fees and ultra efficient car mean that is still cheaper to drive somewhere than any internal combustion vehicle.

I just want to say "bravo" to Tesla for making this vehicle. It really is a better driving experience.
BMW claims the "ultimate driving machine"... Nope, not anymore. They have been outclassed.

 

[rabar10]

^ what he said.

Coming from a 70-miles-in-good-weather BEV and going to a 300-mile 3LR, and with supercharging to boot -- I didn't realize how constraining the previous vehicle was till now.

Freedom feels good.

 

[ChadS]

I completely agree. While I was never afraid of my first short-range EV, I did have to spend some time thinking about it and occasionally making other arrangements. And it sure was hard to convince my friends of the cars' merits. But my first long-range Tesla in 2009 really changed things. It's not just the range; there are a lot of things I like about big batteries.

I want to encourage the whole industry, I hate exhibiting brand loyalty, and I hate spending Tesla prices. But I have bought four additional Teslas in the years since, because a long-range car (especially when paired with a really good DC network) really makes a huge difference. And nobody else is doing it. Yet...

 

[SageBrush]

I want to encourage the whole industry, I hate exhibiting brand loyalty, and I hate spending Tesla prices.

Agreed ... although like you I have made an exception for Tesla. They are worthy of support.

 

[anisoptera]

I've been looking at evtripplanner.com for various trips I regular(ish)ly take, seeing how many superchargers I'd need to go out of my way for ...

310 miles is a lot, you guys. Like, I take a trip to an island a couple times a year or so. The drive to the ferry terminal feels like a long time, so I assumed I'd need to SC at least once on that trip to get home, and I'd be worried about running out on the island (which doesn't have any EV charging stations that I know of, anyway) ... but no, the entire trip can be done in a single charge, round trip, no SCing needed. I'd still probably make a pit stop at an SC near the ferry just to be sure I had enough for tooling around the island. At least the first time, until I see if there's a charge station or an available outlet at the house I stay at.

This story just repeats itself constantly. Trips I think I'd need to hit an SC to even get to the end of, the trip planner has me hitting the very last SC on the return route - which in practice might mean I wouldn't have to at all, since I'd have a chance to charge while I was at my destination.

I'm super excited. Now, if only they'd write up my contract so I have a snowball's chance of actually taking delivery this Friday...

 

[ℬête Noire]

I want to encourage the whole industry, I hate exhibiting brand loyalty, and I hate spending Tesla prices. But I have bought four additional Teslas in the years since, because a long-range car (especially when paired with a really good DC network) really makes a huge difference. And nobody else is doing it. Yet...

The DC network isn't there, so I'm leashed to about an effectively 80mi radius, but the Bolt's 238mi nominal does this already, too. It's EPA numbers aren't TM3 RWD sandbagged but they're quite realistic here, if you cap highway speed at 60-62mph (high Cd means range drops like a stone faster than that for the highway legs). Only weekends for me does starting 90%SOC fall below 50% and then I've only ever dropped below 20% a few times due to near 4hr of driving.

A couple times I've had to consider plans around a lot more driving stuffed into a single day but as it turned out I never needed to go to the ICE backup to cover it, and the 300+ mile range Model 3 would have handled it. So for a "primary" car 300mi is probably more-so the number for zero range worry.

There's a number of these 200+ mile vehicles coming shortly. For home centric driving, pre-purchase anxiety about range anxiety is really all the that's remaining, and that'll just take knowing people owning these long range EVs to clear that away.

 

[gilscales]

Having never owned an EV before I was a little concerned with the model 3 being our only car in the family and I reasoned that I would get an efficient ICE car if needed. (I do have an F250 diesel for work that I try to drive as little as possible) , after less than 3 months of ownership and over 8,000 miles driven my fear is gone and like others have said its such a fun car to drive that the miles will be adding up quickly, maybe in 4 years and 100,000 miles we can sell and get a P3D or a PYD?

 

[ORB]

I've been looking at evtripplanner.com for various trips I regular(ish)ly take, seeing how many superchargers I'd need to go out of my way for ...

310 miles is a lot, you guys. Like, I take a trip to an island a couple times a year or so. The drive to the ferry terminal feels like a long time, so I assumed I'd need to SC at least once on that trip to get home, and I'd be worried about running out on the island (which doesn't have any EV charging stations that I know of, anyway) ... but no, the entire trip can be done in a single charge, round trip, no SCing needed. I'd still probably make a pit stop at an SC near the ferry just to be sure I had enough for tooling around the island. At least the first time, until I see if there's a charge station or an available outlet at the house I stay at.

This story just repeats itself constantly. Trips I think I'd need to hit an SC to even get to the end of, the trip planner has me hitting the very last SC on the return route - which in practice might mean I wouldn't have to at all, since I'd have a chance to charge while I was at my destination.

I'm super excited. Now, if only they'd write up my contract so I have a snowball's chance of actually taking delivery this Friday...

Welcome to TMC! Your remaining range personal comfort zone will shrink as you gain confidence doing increasing longer road trips with your Tesla, that was my experience since getting my Model S in late 2012. EV Trip Planner does a good job, just be aware that its projected rated miles estimates are is a bit optimistic when dealing with long, steep grades. As Chad S. has mentioned elsewhere, figure about 7 mi/1000 ft. additional consumption uphill and about 4 mi/1000 ft. regained from regen going downhill for a sanity check on EV Trip Planner’s numbers. Have fun!
Oliver

 

[Twiglett]

Completely agree.
Having spent four years with a Leaf, driving the Model 3 is what a real EV is supposed to be.
Even better is looking at the stats from TeslaFi to confirm just how efficient the 3 is.
Vast majority of my drives so far are driven miles equal to rated miles, or at least within a few percentage points.

 

[Rockster]

I've been driving an S for five years and the range increase going from a P85 to a Model 3 is quite noticeable.