What did you drive before getting the model S and why did you change?

[mnx]

FWIW I wouldn't count on getting 380km range in the dead of winter.

Looked through this thread, but seems no-one reported abandoning an Evo yet Well I've not yet gotten my MS, but I've made the deposit and right now the order is on hold until I can figure out the insurance. However so far I drive a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. It's an excellent rally car and up until recently if anyone asked what car I'd drive if I could choose any car my answer was I already drive it. However the Model S is so much more. I've always waited for a real electric car with the benefits that electric motor brings (constant torque, powerful engine that's compact etc) and the Model S is the first true everyday car that hits all the marks (all the other contenders are purely crap, really). So now even though the car is 2-3x more expensive than any car I've bought so far I've decided to get the Model S and the Evo will go on sale once I know when the MS arrives.

Even though Estonia is a tiny country, the two major cities are separated by 190km. Driving back and forth is 380km and for real I'd not really want to charge EVERY time I have to take the trip. So the only car so far that can do this trip also in the dead cold winter is the Model S with 85kWh battery. And this is a tiny country!

 

[Mayhemm]

Yes, you may end up having to charge each time after all (in the winter anyway). In cold weather, 300-350km range is more realistic unless you drive super slow.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Yes, you may end up having to charge each time after all (in the winter anyway). In cold weather, 300-350km range is more realistic unless you drive super slow.

From what I was told the outside temp will reduce the range by around 10%, the use of heaters another ~10%. The highway speed is ~90 km/h so around the Tesla rated 88km/h. So doing the math 480*0.8 = 384. I'd need to be ~100% efficient at the rated miles to get there. Then again, if I see that I'm slightly running low I can reduce the speed to ~80 on the leg back home in part or I will only need a short plugin at my destination (1-2h at standard plug getting 20km/h of recharge). However that assumes that indeed the winter conditions take off 20% of the range

In any case, with my Evo X I'm hard pressed to fit the round-trip to a full tank, I usually need to refuel (it for sure isn't an economic car). In the case of Tesla I can start from home with full tank and don't need to make a longer stop than usual refueling to cover the missing km If CHAdeMO comes around, then we've got rechargers every 40km that can do 50kW recharging if I really need it. But that's the extreme case. During most of the year the return trip shouldn't even need any planning. So that's why I consider this the first car where I'm going electric

 

[Mayhemm]

Oh, don't get me wrong. It's definitely doable. You just may have to be extra cautious. (keep one eye on the trip meter :biggrin

 

[SFLCEO]

The last 5 cars in my household over the last 5 years:

2009 Mercedes CLS63 AMG (518hp)
2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG Renntech (640hp)
2008 Mercedes CL65 AMG Renntech (720hp)
2010 Mercedes E63 AMG (518hp)
2013 Mercedes GLK350 (302hp)

Most of these were my daily drivers at one point or another.

I am taking delivery on a loaded P85+ Tomorrow morning (9/17) at 10am!

Needless to say I'm chomping at the bit!!

 

[texex91]

The last 5 cars in my household over the last 5 years:

2009 Mercedes CLS63 AMG (518hp)
2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG Renntech (640hp)
2008 Mercedes CL65 AMG Renntech (720hp)
2010 Mercedes E63 AMG (518hp)
2013 Mercedes GLK350 (302hp)

Most of these were my daily drivers at one point or another.

I am taking delivery on a loaded P85+ Tomorrow morning (9/17) at 10am!

Needless to say I'm chomping at the bit!!

Your MB dealer is going to be very disappointed :biggrin:

 

[brianman]

@SFLCEO

It's a bit OT perhaps, but I'm interested in "more color" (yes, I'm looking forward to earnings) on the horsepower trend in your prior 5.

Also, welcome to the forum!

 

[SFLCEO]

Lol, my BMW dealer was disappointed when I moved from an M5 to AMGs, so I guess it's time for the Mercedes dealer.

Of all the cars, my favorite was the SL63, which had full renntech mods and snarled like a beast! you could here it coming for miles.

And the CL65 was a monster, but a serious sleeper.

I am sure that the performance of the P85+ will equal any of them, but I will miss the sounds.

Hopefully the high end audio will be a worthy replacement...

Stay tuned... I plan on adding to the first impressions thread.

Thanks all!

 

[texex91]

Hopefully the high end audio will be a worthy replacement...

Don't count on that. You can do a search--sound system is pretty poor (IMHO very poor for price of car).

However, someone like you might want to search forum, and look for Reus Systems, which does an amazing (from what people say) after market specific for Telsa for about $4K.

BTW--congrats and post pics when you get it!

 

[bareyb]

The last 5 cars in my household over the last 5 years:

2009 Mercedes CLS63 AMG (518hp)
2009 Mercedes SL63 AMG Renntech (640hp)
2008 Mercedes CL65 AMG Renntech (720hp)
2010 Mercedes E63 AMG (518hp)
2013 Mercedes GLK350 (302hp)

Most of these were my daily drivers at one point or another.

I am taking delivery on a loaded P85+ Tomorrow morning (9/17) at 10am!

Needless to say I'm chomping at the bit!!

Congratulations! This is gong to be one long day for you!

 

[Gizmotoy]

Looked through this thread, but seems no-one reported abandoning an Evo yet Well I've not yet gotten my MS, but I've made the deposit and right now the order is on hold until I can figure out the insurance. However so far I drive a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. It's an excellent rally car and up until recently if anyone asked what car I'd drive if I could choose any car my answer was I already drive it.

Same situation here, same car. Love the Evo. Great ride. Starting to feel it's time to move on, though. Fortunately it's retained over 80% of its value, so it was probably the lowest overall cost of ownership of any car I've ever purchased. What I've struggled with is trying to find the next car. The Evo/STI spoil you on performance so badly, you can't find anything within tens of thousands of dollars that can match the performance.

I drove a P85 yesterday, and it was pretty amazing. It didn't feel anywhere near as tight or communicative as the Evo, but it was definitely a bit faster (Evos post mid 4-second 0-60 times stock). It's 3x the price, but it's a hell of a lot nicer inside. The Evo is a $14k Lancer with a $15k drive train upgrade dropped in and it shows.

I'm thinking I'm going to go with a standard 85, which from what I've seen should be faster at speed but slightly slower off the line and around the bends. And it doesn't gulp gas at 14mpg in town either. Ideally the P85+ would be my selection, but at a $23,500 premium over the 85 I'm looking at, it's hard to justify (Plus requires 21" wheels and Air Suspension, which I hadn't planned on getting). If the Performance model still included those things it would probably be a whole different ballgame.

Anyway, which one did you end up selecting?

 

[SFLCEO]

Don't count on that. You can do a search--sound system is pretty poor (IMHO very poor for price of car).

However, someone like you might want to search forum, and look for Reus Systems, which does an amazing (from what people say) after market specific for Telsa for about $4K.

BTW--congrats and post pics when you get it!

Thanks, I'll look into it...

 

[earlyretirement]

Drove an Audi Q7 TDI before the Model S. I gave that to my wife and we got rid of her BMW 335i.

Before the Model S I didn't like driving and looked at cars as getting from point A to point B. Tesla changed all of that. I like driving now.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

Same situation here, same car. Love the Evo. Great ride. Starting to feel it's time to move on, though. Fortunately it's retained over 80% of its value, so it was probably the lowest overall cost of ownership of any car I've ever purchased. What I've struggled with is trying to find the next car. The Evo/STI spoil you on performance so badly, you can't find anything within tens of thousands of dollars that can match the performance.

I drove a P85 yesterday, and it was pretty amazing. It didn't feel anywhere near as tight or communicative as the Evo, but it was definitely a bit faster (Evos post mid 4-second 0-60 times stock). It's 3x the price, but it's a hell of a lot nicer inside. The Evo is a $14k Lancer with a $15k drive train upgrade dropped in and it shows.

I'm thinking I'm going to go with a standard 85, which from what I've seen should be faster at speed but slightly slower off the line and around the bends. And it doesn't gulp gas at 14mpg in town either. Ideally the P85+ would be my selection, but at a $23,500 premium over the 85 I'm looking at, it's hard to justify (Plus requires 21" wheels and Air Suspension, which I hadn't planned on getting). If the Performance model still included those things it would probably be a whole different ballgame.

Anyway, which one did you end up selecting?

I ended up going with the S85, with tech package, but without air suspenders and with 19" wheels. The only thing that'll require getting used to is the rear wheel drive as both the Evo as well as it's predecessor the STI that I drove had some of the best AWD on the market. And the winters here can be harsh, but can't wait for the Model X (the subsistence for EV-s runs out next year).

And indeed, the Evo is a guzzler, 14-17 mpg for ordinary driving is no surprise, only highway cruising can get you maybe 20 mpg. The max I can go on one tank is ~350-400km which is well short of the S85 range and I rarely need to fill up on a trip therefore I already know that I won't have an issue with the S85. And being used to the spartan "comforts" of an Evo X I think the interior of the S will be far superior

 

[SwedishAdvocate]

I drove a P85 yesterday, and it was pretty amazing. It didn't feel anywhere near as tight or communicative as the Evo, but it was definitely a bit faster

/…/

I'm thinking I'm going to go with a standard 85, which from what I've seen should be faster at speed but slightly slower off the line and around the bends. /…/ Ideally the P85+ would be my selection, but at a $23,500 premium over the 85 I'm looking at, it's hard to justify (Plus requires 21" wheels and Air Suspension, which I hadn't planned on getting). If the Performance model still included those things it would probably be a whole different ballgame.

There’s some discussion about the 19’’ wheels and the different suspensions here:

The Factory Still Does Not Have the Frunk Lid Sorted - Page 2 ...and in the rest of that thread,

& here:

P85+ with 19 wheels

 

[lczand]

Porsche 996 C4. Porsche now seems sluggish after driving my P85+.

 

[rickbecker]

I will be driving a Nissan LEAF for the next 15 days. Have had the LEAF since 4/15/11 and love it. It is time to get a big boys car!

 

[Seven7]

The price we all pay for oil, and I'm not talking about the money spent at the pump, some of that money finds it's way into the pockets of people who would like to kill us and the unnesecary wars we have to fight for the privilige of paying $100 a barrel for that oil, and it's only going up, wait till saudi has an arab spring, then the oil price is going to hit the fan.

ETA: I formerly drove a 08 Corvette.

 

[bareyb]

The price we all pay for oil, and I'm not talking about the money spent at the pump, some of that money finds it's way into the pockets of people who would like to kill us and the unnesecary wars we have to fight for the privilige of paying $100 a barrel for that oil, and it's only going up, wait till saudi has an arab spring, then the oil price is going to hit the fan.

I read somewhere that our Government has spent over a TRILLION dollars defending the Oil Shipping Lanes for Exxon and the like for years. Exxon is the wealthiest, most profitable company in the entire WORLD. Can't they afford to pay for their own Security? Can you imagine the good that could be done with that Trillion dollars? Just to put that number in perspective, it's enough money to feed every starving person in the entire World for the rest of their lives… Something to think about for sure. We are all doing our part. I just hope the rest of the World wakes up soon…

 

[mknox]

At the new Toronto Store/Service Center grand opening the other night, Tesla was filming customers and asking this exact same question. I'm not sure when or where the video is going to get posted, but my answers were something to the effect:

I previously drove a Cadillac CTS.

I bought the Model S primarily because I was spending $80 every four days on gasoline and now I spend about $70 a month on electricity.