What Options I would Buy now that I have 2 teslas

[TeslaSinHR]

Hey there - first post to Tesla Motor Club! I was reading this thread on the way to a test drive in Portland, OR and it really helped us decide on what options to get or not. Order was placed 5/26/2013 - we're in the 2 week window.

We pretty much went with Josh's opinion except for these:

85W & Twin Chargers - we live an hour outside of Portland, OR in Hood River so wanted the longer range. Plus we make frequent trips to Seattle and occasional trips to Spokane and wanted to be able to use high amp charging stations if they were available on the way.

Air Suspension - we've been scraping the front bumper of our Prius getting out of a few key parking lots here that have slightly steeper curb cuts. Figuring the higher clearance option will help for that plus on the few "rural" dirt and gravel roads we may drive on. This decision had nothing to do with performance. Would love to hear any feedback on whether the Model S is low enough to scrape when exiting slightly steeper curb cuts.

The biggest help was in deciding to go for after-market paint protection. I hated the look of all the micro-pits in the hood of my Audi after a few years of highway driving.

Thanks everyone!

Another thing - I'm really looking forward to never visiting a gas station. In Oregon, you can't pump your own gas so it is NEVER quick.

 

[dfdtruckie]

What options to get on the 60kWh Model S?

Excuse me if this is a dead horse. I'm looking at a 60kw MS and what to know your feelings on the options. Were there some you wish you picked or wish you didn't? The only upgrade I'm set on is the Tech Pack. Dual chargers, parking sensors? I guess is there a "must have list"?
Thanks in advance

 

[Mr X]

Tech Package, Supercharger Capability, Parcel Shelf and Parking Sensors could be added too since the car is large.


Other than that thats basically all you need. I'd get fog lamps too just to have all the cool lights. Dual Charger is only needed if you travel a lot more than normal daily.

 

[dsm363]

There are a few threads that touch on this already but what is your daily usage scenario and what kind of trips do you see taking? Many will push for the 85kWh pack but that depends on how far you drive.
60 kWh vs 85 kWh packs - Page 7


I see you live in Denver too so cold weather and mountains will have an effect on range as well so something to consider.

What Options I would Buy now that I have 2 teslas

Range for 60 kWh

Here's a good post on the 60kWh Model S too

I can reassure you that the 60 is sufficient for 90-95% of the driving conditions you are likely to encounter. Going to the 85 doesn't get you to 100% either, so the question of whether it is worth the incremental cost is very much a personal one. The key advantages that persuaded me to ultimately purchase a 60 were as follows, and I have no regrets:

* Higher energy efficiency and lower weight - the car travels more km/kWh by not having to carry around as much battery weight.
* Even after enabling supercharger capability, the 60 kWh battery saves $8,000 in purchase costs, which is not a trivial sum for most buyers.
* Acceleration is faster in the 60 than any car I have ever owned - no need to risk more speeding tickets by getting an even faster car.
* The larger battery enables more power flow to the motor, which encourages more high speed and high acceleration driving, which wastes even more electricity, so some of the extra range you think you'll get from the larger battery doesn't occur in practice.
* Most importantly, the battery pack is replaceable/swappable. Since lithium ion batteries improve in energy density and cost/kWh by perhaps 5 to 10% per year, there are real advantages to starting with the smaller, lighter battery now and upgrading to something bigger once the technology development curve has significantly reduced its cost and increased its energy density. Panasonic's 18650 cells are already up to 3400 mAh of capacity apiece and they are developing 4000 mAh cells, compared to 3100 mAh cells when Tesla first started building the Model S. See the following link for more details: http://www.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/model-s-going-use-new-version-panasonic-18650-series-battery. All of which means there is no perfect battery; there is what you can afford now, and a recognition that things will continue to improve for years to come.

 

[JonathanD]

Excuse me if this is a dead horse. I'm looking at a 60kw MS and what to know your feelings on the options. Were there some you wish you picked or wish you didn't? The only upgrade I'm set on is the Tech Pack. Dual chargers, parking sensors? I guess is there a "must have list"?
Thanks in advance

I made the same decision as you on 60kWh, mainly due to cost; due to my lifestyle it's difficult to justify the 85. Don't get my hands on the thing until June 6, but here was my rationale on each (my own opinions of course, no offense to anyone):

- Metallic Paint: sprung for this, liked the grey. I'm not a fan of the white per say, and owning a black car is too much work.
- Carbon Fiber Spoiler: Not an option for me since it's requires 85P but it wouldn't have mattered, not my style
- Red Brake Calipers: ditto
- Supercharger: Your car gets the hardware either way, it really depends if you think you are going to use it. I live 4 miles from my office and we usually take the wife's kid hauler for anything out of the county (my kids are 2 and 4, I'm not quite ready to pile them into a brand new $75k car on a regular basis to wreak havoc). So in the end I'll take the risk that I have to spend an extra $500 down the road to get the software enabled.
Dual Chargers/HPWC - Given my situation this didn't make sense, I can get by just fine with a NEMA 14-50 plug.
- Tech Package: Wasn't going to get it until I realized how much was involved. I'd say if there is one "must have" option this is it. Frankly I don't think it should even be an option but standard equipment.
- Smart Air Suspension: I've had plenty of family and friends with this type of system on various luxury cars. It's neat but potentially expensive to repair down the road. I passed on this not only because of the price now but due to potential issues later.
- Parking Sensors: We thought about it, but both my wife and I are used to not having them and don't particularly want to become dependent upon them.
- Fog Lamps: we don't have fog
- Ultra High Def Sound: For one I usually am listening to news or sports when driving, and for two for $2,500 I'm not entirely convinced the manufacturer upgrade is going to rival potential aftermarket systems that could be installed down the road if I really wanted it
- Extended Leather: I'm getting textile seats anyway so this wouldn't make sense
- Alcantara headliner: I rarely look at or touch the headliner of my vehicles
- Rear facing seats: look like it would be a vomit comet, and besides I'd rather have the storage. With only 2 kids we have plenty of space in the back seat.
- Premium Lighting: Cool but not $1,000 cool
- Pano Roof: Debated this, but sounds like it can have some issues, and since it gets toasty in the summer where I live I decided not to mess with it. My last car had a sun roof and I rarely used it, but ymmv.
- Subzero package: like I said we don't even get fog much less sub-zero temps
- Parcel shelf: We wound up getting this, at $250 it's relatively inexpensive and looks to have a good fit. I like the idea of protecting cargo from sight and sun. Easy insurance.
- Tire upgrade: Can always get better tires later, figure I'll give the stock versions a try first.
- Paint Armor: lots of aftermarket options here, probably better than this also.

Overall my philosophy was to not let the price run away from me, and also because it's a relatively new product to keep it simple to minimize issues with unnecessary equipment.

 

[dfdtruckie]

I drive mostly city and approximately 100 miles or so. So the dual charger only works with the Tesla wall charger? Not needed for the Supercharge system?
Thanks

 

[dsm363]

I drive mostly city and approximately 100 miles or so. So the dual charger only works with the Tesla wall charger? Not needed for the Supercharge system?
Thanks

The Supercharging system is something separate. It is a $2,000 option in the 60kWh and included in the cost of the 85kWh Model S so the difference between packs is only $8,000 if you are planning on Supercharging. Are you planning on taking many day trips over 150 miles where there are no Superchargers? Almost no one regrets getting the extra range so that is one consideration for the 85 kWh pack but if you know your usage pattern is almost always less than 100 miles then that will fit well within the 60kWh range. That said there are many happy 60kWh Model S owners and even one who did an entire cross country trip and back using the Superchargers so travel is easily possible in the 60kWh Model S too.

The dual chargers will work with an EVSE (you'll hear many people call them 'chargers' even though technically the chargers are built into the car) more than 40A so that could be the Tesla HPWC (they are now calling it just the wall connector apparently) or a 40 to 80A J1772 charge station as well (these are very rare in public though but still can be useful). Given that you'll be traveling mostly in Denver and less than 100 miles you could easily drop the dual chargers to save some money. They can be added later but for $3,500 instead of $1,500 when you order the car so much more expensive but still an option.

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

^ Great post from JonathanD above. A man after my own heart. It's rather easy to "want it all" but tough to weed out the bells and whistles even if you can afford them. I'd have gone textile seats as well had they been on par - heating- and memory-wise - back when I got the car; they are now. Have been using the Air Suspension a lot though to clear my steep driveway every day.

 

[bonaire]

The OP really matches with what Musk said during the Q1 ER conference call. That future buyers will choose lower options (and that means MS 60 over 85). The practiality of the MS60 is just fine in terms of getting good range at a lower price. The price also does not include the 0-60mph launch that some bought Tesla for in the first place - but is mighty quick off the line like all EVs are. As more mainstream buyers (ie. risk-averse, waiting) come to realize, they get the "same car" without the extra price of the P85 and P85+ when they buy an MS60. The only things missing are higher-priced options that they would rarely use. I am still waiting for next-gen batteries to come out before going for a full BEV. Until then - happy with what the Volt offers. I think the future EV market will be somewhere in the same range as the MS60 but will use newer-gen batteries, lighter and more compact - higher density. This will allow more car designs from not only Telsa but other companies like Ford, GM, BMW, etc. I think the future holds two sizes of BEV - the 80-100 range compact commuter in the $18-25K range and the 180 mile full utility vehicle (CUV, larger sedan) in the $35-40+K range. Dual chargers are really a "luxury" - overnight charging at 6.6KW can easily fill 100-miles or more of range. A good 10KW EV charging design, (which is 40A max) for EVs should be enough for almost everyone except taxi drivers and super-long-distance commuters and vacationers.

If public DC charging were plentiful - then cars would not need onboard chargers at all. Like ICE cars do not need a refinery on board. Thousands of DC public chargers could cut the costs of EVs by $500-1000 each since that circuitry is dispersed. Today, we have every EV having an on-board charger because they are early in design and the charging infrastructure is still new.