Would you give up free supercharging for life?

[rafacq]

My dream is finally coming true. I put the deposit on a 2015 S85D fairly loaded (no air suspension), 12,004 miles and includes free supercharging. I do have a level 2 EVSE in my garage, so for nightly refresh I am ok, but would not have bought the car without the free supercharging! Here in Dallas my average electricity cost is 8.5 cents a kWh. The car is in San Diego, so I have to go get it. So looking forward to the drive back to Dallas.

 

[APD1080]

I would NOT give up my free supercharging! Elon should allow us the OPTION to transfer the free supercharging to an new similar or better model (S to S or X or roadster) but not from an S or X to a Model 3. I use mine extensively since my wife and I are retired and do a lot of traveling plus there is a supercharger less than 10 mins form my home so it is easy for me to stop and quickly "fill up" when I am out and about. I make sure I do not "fill up" during peak times to be respectful for those still working that need to charge during prime time. I also do not see the need to upgrade until they come out with a range > 400 miles. Note the 2020 roadster is supposed to have a range of 600+ miles so the battery technology is there it just needs to get pushed out!

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I didn't get through all of the comments, but one of the main reasons to not upgrade for me is the loss of free supercharging. I charge 98% of the time at home, but when I'm on the road the inconvenience of the time to charge (just a statement, I think the supercharging and speed is awesome, but it still is an inconvenience) is offset by the free supercharge. I would upgrade IF I could transfer my free supercharge to my new vehicle. Otherwise, I'll hold off and not buy for a few more years. My 6 year old S is doing great! Want the new stuff but unwilling unless I could transfer when I trade in or keep free supercharging on both (wouldn't trade the old S if could get on both)

I mentioned it earlier, but remember you can always upgrade to a used S or X that was ordered before 1/15/17 and the free Supercharging for life will transfer to you. That would be a great way to get into something a lot newer (2016/2017) with free Supercharging, AP2 (which can be upgraded to AP3), etc. and at way less cost than a brand new build which isn't that different.

 

[D.E.]

This seems incorrect. We take a lot of trips, and typically the stops are 2-3 hours apart, with 15 minutes of charging time (not counting the extra time we spend eating at lunch stops). I don't recall ever taking an hour to charge at a Supercharger.

Jerry, I had a supercharging stop of over an hour this past weekend. I have an S75D, I don’t doubt what you say, all I can do is pass on my experience.

2.5 hours at 70 MPH is 175 miles. That’s a much longer charge for me than 15 minutes. 15 minutes would be a charge rate of 700 miles per hour of charge. I’ve never seen a charge rate of over 300 miles per hour of charge for my car, and that is an initial rate, it goes down from there as I charge.

 

[jerry33]

Jerry, I had a supercharging stop of over an hour this past weekend. I have an S75D, I don’t doubt what you say, all I can do is pass on my experience.

2.5 hours at 70 MPH is 175 miles. That’s a much longer charge for me than 15 minutes. 15 minutes would be a charge rate of 700 miles per hour of charge. I’ve never seen a charge rate of over 300 miles per hour of charge for my car, and that is an initial rate, it goes down from there as I charge.

I expect the 75 to charge at a bit lower rate than my 85 because the heat from charging is spread over fewer cells. My expectation would be that a 100 would charge even quicker. When I charge, I only charge enough to get to the next charging point plus some extra just in case. That keeps the charging rate high. If you treat it like a gas car and fill to 90 or 100% every time, you'll certainly get the longer charge times. That's why more frequent charging stops get you there faster.

 

[paco878]

We just purchased a used 2015 Model S, with AP1, and Free Supercharging. We already have a LR RWD 3, that we bought back in Sept. The MS, will now become our travel car, already planning a trip from Round Rock to St. Augustine, FL for the Summer. 2000+ Free, Supercharged Miles, RT... I can't wait.

 

[jerry33]

We just purchased a used 2015 Model S, with AP1, and Free Supercharging. We already have a LR RWD 3, that we bought back in Sept. The MS, will now become our travel car, already planning a trip from Round Rock to St. Augustine, FL for the Summer. 2000+ Free, Supercharged Miles, RT... I can't wait.

You'll have a great time. I've driven mine to Seattle and to Canada, among other places from DFW.

 

[wandlmink]

I traded in my leased P90D at the end of my lease last September and leased a new 300D. I was able to keep my free supercharging for life because I had five referrals and was allowed to self-refer myself. I don't think that trick works anymore, but you might want to inquire. For me it was a dealbreaker. I would have bought out the lease on my first car if I was going to lose my free supercharging.

 

[northWETwa]

Another vote for NEVER parting with our 2014 P85 non-autopilot, free supercharging ride for sparkle & glitz.

On a side note......got stuck *having* to Supercharge our DM M3 this past weekend (my bad, forgot to charge up!). Had brief heart failure when I saw that we were accruing fees on the charge......

Us silly "early adopters" (you know....us nuts who bought into the whole EV "thing" & Tesla early on) are so spoiled......haha!

 

[smhirsch]

For the amount of long-distance driving I do, it's a few hundred to maybe low thousands of bucks worth of benefit. Would I let that tail wag the dog of when to replace the car? Oh hell no. I'll miss it when it's gone, though.

That said, I have no plans to replace my (early 2015) car, and in fact just bought the 4 year extended warranty.

I believe the extended warranty is transferable if that helps/makes any difference.

 

[smhirsch]

Correct. Charging while sleeping always trumps driving someplace and charging. So home and destination chargers are preferred. SCs are for daytime stops while traveling.

My only concern with destination chargers are how they're equipped from a Kw/h level - I recently road-tripped from St. Louis to Nashville and purposefully selected a hotel with Tesla Destination Chargers, but only got approximately 24 Amp charging which translated to about 18 miles per hour of charging - didn't do the trick overnight at all after the trip down.

 

[D.E.]

I expect the 75 to charge at a bit lower rate than my 85 because the heat from charging is spread over fewer cells. My expectation would be that a 100 would charge even quicker. When I charge, I only charge enough to get to the next charging point plus some extra just in case. That keeps the charging rate high. If you treat it like a gas car and fill to 90 or 100% every time, you'll certainly get the longer charge times. That's why more frequent charging stops get you there faster.

I think you are correct, I probably charge more than I need. I go by the car display. The car seems to calculate based on a higher consumption rate than I actually use. I’ll start off with an estimated residual charge of 15-20% or so but that residual generally increases as I drive. After one stop this weekend, I had an estimated 5% remaining charge at the next stop. By the time I got there it was 25%.

The car used to text me when I had sufficient charge to continue. Now it seems not to do that. Now I look at the estimated time for the stop and I set an alarm on my phone. Otherwise the car will charge to 80% and send me a text saying charging is almost complete.

Here is a picture that’s somewhat typical. There’s 168 miles of charge thus far, there’s 10 minutes to go, and a charge rate of 232 miles/hr of charge.

There was no one else sharing the same charger.

Anyway I think I could cut it quite a bit closer doing as you suggest and running the batter closer to empty which would allow it to charge faster. I think if I started off with a negative estimate of charge at the next charger, I’d be inclined to worry until it turned positive and climbed to 10% or so. I don’t like to worry.

 

[dgpcolorado]

Mostly correct, but bear in mind that when you are on an extended road trip, many of the overnight stops will be at destination chargers of some description (e.g. perhaps not Tesla destination chargers), reducing the percentage of Supercharging needed.

FWIW, the way I do trips is:
1. 100% charge at home.
2. First Supercharge (usually a lunch stop)
3. Second Supercharge (might be a lunch stop depending upon start time)
4. Third Supercharge
5. Fourth Supercharge
6. Fifth Supercharge
7. Destination charge to 100% (Destination between 600 and 700 miles).
Longer trips just repeat, although if I am not in a hurry, I might only do four Supercharges in a day.
Sometimes the destination charging is at a Supercharger, but more often it's not.

While I realize that many here use destination charging on road trips I usually don't. When visiting friends and family I end up parking on the street (save for visiting my sister, who has a 14-50 RV outlet).

Hotels with destination charging tend to be twice the price of those without so I don't stay there. I do hit RV parks and campgrounds at times when it suits the trip, especially when venturing off the network in my very limited range car, but that's pretty much it for destination charging.

So, for me road trips are fueled by the Supercharger network.

Anything over 400 miles is a long day of driving for me. But I’ve seen your posts and know you can put down the mileage (at low consumption, too).

My typical day of driving is 600 miles or 12 to 15 hours. In part that is because my Supercharger stops tend to be two to three times as long as those of others here, typically 50 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the trip leg. My car starts at 77 kW below 5% and tapers to 48 kW by 20% and then tapers down from there. That's pretty slow by the standards of others here and I have to charge to 95-98% to make a 150 mile trip leg at freeway speeds (my total capacity is currently 176 RM). [I get really annoyed when people suggest that Supercharging should be limited to 80% or 45 minutes, or some such thing!]

On my September trip I drove straight through to get home — 950 miles — because the RV park I was thinking about staying at had closed and I didn't want to call them after hours (10 PM) to get them to open up. I napped for a few minutes at the next two Supercharger Stations and then spent three hours sleeping in the back of the car at a highway rest stop, along with many other cars and trucks doing the same. Turned out to be way easier than making a brief overnight stop. It tends to frustrate me to pay for a motel after 15 hours on the road when I only plan to be there for a few hours anyway, before continuing on my trip.

 

[jerry33]

My only concern with destination chargers are how they're equipped from a Kw/h level - I recently road-tripped from St. Louis to Nashville and purposefully selected a hotel with Tesla Destination Chargers, but only got approximately 24 Amp charging which translated to about 18 miles per hour of charging - didn't do the trick overnight at all after the trip down.

Did you bring that up with the hotel management? I've always had them charge at either 80 or 40 amps. (60 / 30 mph).

 

[smhirsch]

I traded in my leased P90D at the end of my lease last September and leased a new 300D. I was able to keep my free supercharging for life because I had five referrals and was allowed to self-refer myself. I don't think that trick works anymore, but you might want to inquire. For me it was a dealbreaker. I would have bought out the lease on my first car if I was going to lose my free supercharging.

Where can I get my hands on a 300D?

 

[ChopinBlues]

I have an early 2014 S85 with 70K miles and in tip top condition. Would LOVE to have a new one due to the AP features, but unwilling to give up the free charging. I have gone in to the local dealer (SF bay area) a few times to see if they would let me "transfer" the free charging to a new vehicle, but so far, they haven't gone for it. I'm hoping that they will become increasingly desperate to sell vehicles after the rebates expire, to either go for this deal, or to offer free supercharging on "referrals", like they were doing for a while.

Chances are, down the road, I will simply buy a Model 3 or Y, and keep my S85. I'm planning on getting solar in the near future, and will then be charging free anyway (at least at home), and at that point, the Model S would become my long-trip car.

 

[smhirsch]

Did you bring that up with the hotel management? I've always had them charge at either 80 or 40 amps. (60 / 30 mph).

Nah - I just grinned and bore it - not much I could do at that point since I was already booked and checked in... they also didn't "seat" the charging cable and when I checked the app on my phone it showed it wasn't properly connected/charging so I had them re-seat it. Didn't help or make any difference, unfortunately. The good news is that I could leave my car in the garage for the better part of two days so I got enough to get me to the next SC station in Kentucky on my way back home. Doubt the hotel would have done anything for me anyway considering there was no guarantee or SLA for charging speed.

 

[jerry33]

On my September trip I drove straight through to get home — 950 miles — because the RV park I was thinking about staying at had closed and I didn't want to call them after hours (10 PM) to get them to open up. I napped for a few minutes at the next two Supercharger Stations and then spent three hours sleeping in the back of the car at a highway rest stop, along with many other cars and trucks doing the same. Turned out to be way easier than making a brief overnight stop. It tends to frustrate me to pay for a motel after 15 hours on the road when I only plan to be there for a few hours anyway, before continuing on my trip.

Some places will let you use the destination charger if you only have a meal there. Then again, perhaps my take is because there were no Superchargers even remotely close for the better part of three years. All charging was done at RV parks (after the first year there was a kindly Tesla owner on PlugShare). So SCs are great, but if there weren't any, I could do without.

 

[smhirsch]

I think you are correct, I probably charge more than I need. I go by the car display. The car seems to calculate based on a higher consumption rate than I actually use. I’ll start off with an estimated residual charge of 15-20% or so but that residual generally increases as I drive. After one stop this weekend, I had an estimated 5% remaining charge at the next stop. By the time I got there it was 25%.

The car used to text me when I had sufficient charge to continue. Now it seems not to do that. Now I look at the estimated time for the stop and I set an alarm on my phone. Otherwise the car will charge to 80% and send me a text saying charging is almost complete.

Here is a picture that’s somewhat typical. There’s 168 miles of charge thus far, there’s 10 minutes to go, and a charge rate of 232 miles/hr of charge.View attachment 390183

There was no one else sharing the same charger.

That's a big part of it - as I've been told by some of my friends in the service centers, you're best off plugging into the charging stall closest to the transformer/power "building" and also best to avoid being part of the #A/#B pair if you can avoid it (try to isolate yourself to a circuit by yourself.) Additionally the vehicles will slow their charge rate once you surpass a specific percentage of capacity and continue ramping down as you reach maximum. Therefore, it's true - you'll charge up to 60% or so as quickly as you can in an uncontested situation but then slow for the remainder.

 

[jerry33]

That's a big part of it - as I've been told by some of my friends in the service centers, you're best off plugging into the charging stall closest to the transformer/power "building" and also best to avoid being part of the #A/#B pair if you can avoid it (try to isolate yourself to a circuit by yourself.) Additionally the vehicles will slow their charge rate once you surpass a specific percentage of capacity and continue ramping down as you reach maximum. Therefore, it's true - you'll charge up to 60% or so as quickly as you can in an uncontested situation but then slow for the remainder.

The A B part is correct. (V3 fixes that). The next to the transformer is not. At least I've never noticed any difference in speed between near and far in any of my many SC visits.