Why I am okay with losing the $7500 tax credit

[Clomer]

I understand what you mean and your concern is appreciated.

By no means am I meaning to encourage dangerous behavior. Every good story has some exaggeration to it. The answer is not a literal never stop at a yellow. Let's say I need to stop for very few yellows as instant torque lets you cross short distances no ICE can ever match. It's all very situational with variables like
-Is there a car in front of me?
-How far am I from the light?
-Do I/If I need to exceed the speed limit by to make the light? If so, is it going to be 5 over ,10 over?
-Is there any kind of cross traffic, jay walking pedestrians, cars not yielding right of way, etc.

Yellow lights last between 3-6 seconds depending on speed limit of the intersection. I go through my go/nogo decision matrix in 1 second giving me 2 seconds to reach the intersection worst case scenario.

2 seconds is a LOT of road covered by a Tesla for those who utilize its performance capabilities.

My decision factor for whether to stop at a yellow is a lot simpler than yours. It is "can I clearly make it through the intersection before the light turns red without needing to speed up?" If yes, I keep going, maintaining constant speed. If no, I stop. Speeding up to beat the light just seems like a bad idea, especially at an intersection where the likelyhood of a car or pedestrian jumping out in front of you with no warning is higher than elsewhere. For me, it's about the odds - you can never completely eliminate the possibility of a collision, but you can take steps to significantly reduce that chance at any given moment.

 

[MXWing]

My decision factor for whether to stop at a yellow is a lot simpler than yours. It is "can I clearly make it through the intersection before the light turns red without needing to speed up?" If yes, I keep going, maintaining constant speed. If no, I stop. Speeding up to beat the light just seems like a bad idea, especially at an intersection where the likelyhood of a car or pedestrian jumping out in front of you with no warning is higher than elsewhere. For me, it's about the odds - you can never completely eliminate the possibility of a collision, but you can take steps to significantly reduce that chance at any given moment.

Remember also there is a chance of driver behind you who may expect you to keep going vs stopping.

Even though its 100% fault/loss for the driver who hit you, it's not a win for all parties. It's universally not fun to put a Tesla in a body shop.

One of the aspects of Tesla is the ability to accelerate out of danger. That's why I will *never ever ever* turn on chill mode.

 

[ℬête Noire]

My decision factor for whether to stop at a yellow is a lot simpler than yours. It is "can I clearly make it through the intersection before the light turns red without needing to speed up?" If yes, I keep going, maintaining constant speed. If no, I stop. Speeding up to beat the light just seems like a bad idea, especially at an intersection where the likelyhood of a car or pedestrian jumping out in front of you with no warning is higher than elsewhere. For me, it's about the odds - you can never completely eliminate the possibility of a collision, but you can take steps to significantly reduce that chance at any given moment.

The "correct" question is: Can I stop within the distance to the stop line? If you judge you can then you do.

Partially because that's the nominal purpose of the amber and partially because you don't always know how long the amber to red is, or the decision tree gets complicated (AKA slower) because you try to recall what this light's timing is. There's an amber light length to speed limit ratio is supposed to be used but there are jurisdictions that mess with that over and under, sometimes on intersection by intersection basis.

Hopefully you are traveling at something below or near the posted speed limit, adjusted for road conditions, and whomever configured the lights didn't royally pooch the setup.

 

[kWh]

This is a decision that is personal from my perspective. It is somewhat unique but may apply to a minority of a few others. Rather than give me a disagree, tell me why you disagree with my logic.

I have a driving lifestyle that makes a 310 mile range car, as opposed to a 220 mile range car, meaningless to me. I make trips longer than 300 miles maybe once a year. A 220 mile range is more than sufficient for me for daily driving. I am in the slow lane of life at this point and spending an additional 30 minutes at an extra supercharger stop on a 500 mile trip once a year is inconsequential to me.

I realize that waiting for the SR version might defer my delivery to late 2018 or even early 2019. That scenario will put my qualification for the full $7500 tax credit in serious jeopardy although $3750 tax credit would be likely.

Because of my position in line, I will probably be invited to configure in 30-60 days. So, I would need to spend $9000 on LR version to save a $7500 tax credit. I would be losing $1500! Yes, I understand that means I could get the LR, an option I would rarely if ever use, for only $1500. That does not make financial sense to me in my particular, specific, unique situation. By waiting for the SR version, I can save $9000 plus an additional $3750, that equates to $12,750. That sum will buy me a lot of options on the SR version - PUP, EAP, paint, wheels.

So yeah, I will wait for model 3SR.

I bought a model S 60 four years ago using the same logic, I’ve enjoyed the car and it has served me well. However an expected issue arose: I discovered that I like driving a MS much more than I expected. I actually want to go Ont trips that I would have never considered in the past. This weighed heavily in the decision to get the LR M3.

 

[T34ME]

I discovered that I like driving a MS much more than I expected. I actually want to go Ont trips that I would have never considered in the past. This weighed heavily in the decision to get the LR M3.

That sounds like a win/win situation for you and that is great! I have a friend who is committed to ICE and he calls driving a Tesla with EAP, FSD, center screen, no gear shifting, few if any knobs and dials.........he calls it "mindless driving." Little does he know that Tesla puts the mind and fun back into driving. A 3SR will go everywhere a 3LR can go. Yes it will require a little more time (I am in no hurry) and a little more planning for a charging strategy, but it will also put a little more mind into that mindless driving.

 

[polymathic]

My 14 month old AP2 MX shows vehicles in adjacent lanes. Wish it was a 360 view but that that feature is now there with the latest software I downloaded.

What firmware are you running? Thanks.