Motor Trend's 2013 Car of the Year: Tesla Model S

[Ferzerp]

People don't want to wait 30 minutes. 5 minutes and I start getting impatient for a fill up.

[HybridSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Ferzerp

People don't want to wait 30 minutes. 5 minutes and I start getting impatient for a fill up.

yeah but after driving for 240+ miles you need a break....30 minutes is perfect.

[Brovane]

Originally Posted by HybridSquirrel

yeah but after driving for 240+ miles you need a break....30 minutes is perfect.

Not to mention the fill-up is free.

[HybridSquirrel]

yep.....and for day to day driving, there is plenty of range. all you have to do is plug it in when you get home, and its ready by the next morning. I've had one on reservation for a while, but I actually thought about cancelling it and buying a used Roadster. I saw one on the tesla owners forums for ~50k

[Imported]

Originally Posted by HybridSquirrel

yep.....and for day to day driving, there is plenty of range. all you have to do is plug it in when you get home, and its ready by the next morning. I've had one on reservation for a while, but I actually thought about cancelling it and buying a used Roadster. I saw one on the tesla owners forums for ~50k

Thought the Roadsters weren't compatible with the new super charging stations?

[HybridSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Imported

Thought the Roadsters weren't compatible with the new super charging stations?

they aren't, but i like them more.

[kaerflog]

Purely on aesthetics, this is one gorgeous looking car on every angle.

[Imported]

I saw one tonight with just the LED DRLs on.. Looked pretty awesome I must say.

I've seen at least 7 different ones in the past few days.

[GnatGoSplat]

I replaced the leaking lower intake manifold gasket on my car on Saturday. So many pipes, hoses, and tubes! Every single rubber hose was stuck tight and every spring clamp fought with me. There were spring clamps in places that were barely accessible, and upside-down bolts with no clearance to turn them. Turned out to be an 11-hour job. It really made me appreciate the simplicity of the Tesla's motor. How compact it is, how very, very few pipes, hoses, and tubes it has. It's a beautiful car on the outside, but that electric motor is also a thing of beauty!

[Ferzerp]

People are so hung up on the power generation tech that they're ignoring what dictates that tech.

That's where the power comes from. Batteries still, frankly, suck. We need majot improvements there. No one will argue that an electric motor has far better potential than an ICE, but right now, gasoline/diesel >>>>>> batteries.

You can poopoo away that fact (oh, but you can 80% recharge in 30 minutes if you happen to have one of these stations on your route, ignoring that 80% of short range is even shorter range, and the infrastructure doesn't exist), but it's still the major hurdle for electric vehicles, and why, at the moment, they're really just luxury items.

[JCH13]

Originally Posted by Ferzerp

People are so hung up on the power generation tech that they're ignoring what dictates that tech.

That's where the power comes from. Batteries still, frankly, suck. We need majot improvements there. No one will argue that an electric motor has far better potential than an ICE, but right now, gasoline/diesel >>>>>> batteries.

You can poopoo away that fact (oh, but you can 80% recharge in 30 minutes if you happen to have one of these stations on your route, ignoring that 80% of short range is even shorter range, and the infrastructure doesn't exist), but it's still the major hurdle for electric vehicles, and why, at the moment, they're really just luxury items.

EVs are more than just luxury items. They are effective vehicles for commuting in. I am seriously considering an electric vehicle for my next car, I commute about 1 mile to work on a road that is unsafe to walk or bike on. An EV would suit 98% of my driving needs perfectly.

EVs fit a role the same way a truck, SUV, or van does: they perform one specific function very well, but having another vehicle to round-out the motor-pool capabilities is still a very good idea.

No one is going to be effectively driving cross-country in an EV for a while, I don't know of anyone deluded enough to believe that. But how many times does the average person drive for more than 150-200 miles a day? I do that maybe once a month. I take extended road trips 3-4 times per year. Heck, for the fuel savings alone it would probably be more cost effective to rent a car for those trips.

TL;DR: EV's are not a luxury item just because they can't do everything an ICE vehicle can do (i.e. range), they have their place and I believe they fit it very well.

Edit: from Tesla's website: "A fifty-percent charge in thirty minutes can be achieved with a Tesla Supercharger."

[GnatGoSplat]

I have 3 vehicles, 2 midsize cars are wife and my daily drivers and 1 fullsize pickup truck.
Both the wife and I commute to work 12 miles each direction, 5-days/week, so total 120-miles/week each. We could completely replace our 2 midsize cars with Teslas and recharge them on weekends, while using the truck for hauling crap and long road trips. The cheapest Model S has a 160-mile range, so we wouldn't experience any change in lifestyle.

I don't disagree that batteries still suck and we're still in the primitive stages when it comes to full-electric cars. However, IMO, the Model S has potential to be quite practical for a lot of people.

For me, the biggest drawback would be long term battery life. I've experienced Li-Ion batteries in laptops where the life slowly decreases. Where once it was possible to get 6-hours out of a charge, after a few years it may only last an hour or two. Then how much will a new battery cost, and the labor to have it installed? The sheer size of the battery doesn't make it look like a DIY job. This could be a car you want to trade in every 2-years to avoid having to replace the battery.

[gregulator]

I agree with the love of simplicity of the drive train on the Tesla S. However, I think for EVs to take off, the car buying/refueling model needs to change. This is what I envision, and I believe there was a startup at one point trying to achieve this model:

-Standardize battery form factors
-Car is purchased, battery is leased
-Filling stations have robots that swap out battery packs
-Filling stations can compete for profits by trying to have the most energy efficient recharging methods (maybe wind some places, solar others etc)
-Battery leasing companies are responsible for recycling/maintaining batteries

Basically, the car owner doesn't have to worry about the battery pack, and filling stations cure long distance driving woes. Is this a huge infrastructure change? Yes. Are we going to sit around for the next big battery breakthrough? I don't think we should. The Tesla S is pretty damn close to current model gas vehicle usability, and with battery improvements, it will only get better.

With that said, I cannot wait to have an extra $90k, because I will definitely buy one!

[Ferzerp]

Originally Posted by JCH13

EVs are more than just luxury items. They are effective vehicles for commuting in. I am seriously considering an electric vehicle for my next car, I commute about 1 mile to work on a road that is unsafe to walk or bike on. An EV would suit 98% of my driving needs perfectly. EVs fit a role the same way a truck, SUV, or van does: they perform one specific function very well, but having another vehicle to round-out the motor-pool capabilities is still a very good idea. No one is going to be effectively driving cross-country in an EV for a while, I don't know of anyone deluded enough to believe that. But how many times does the average person drive for more than 150-200 miles a day? I do that maybe once a month. I take extended road trips 3-4 times per year. Heck, for the fuel savings alone it would probably be more cost effective to rent a car for those trips. TL;DR: EV's are not a luxury item just because they can't do everything an ICE vehicle can do (i.e. range), they have their place and I believe they fit it very well. Edit: from Tesla's website: "A fifty-percent charge in thirty minutes can be achieved with a Tesla Supercharger."

How is a $50k ($70k for the good range) second vehicle anything but a luxury item? Get the cost down to $20k and I can see that argument working.

[JCH13]

Originally Posted by Ferzerp

How is a $50k ($70k for the good range) second vehicle anything but a luxury item? Get the cost down to $20k and I can see that argument working.

Well, the MiEV is around $30k before rebates, minus a $7500 tax credit and it's in the low $20k range. The SMART ED (electric drive) is $25k before the $7500 tax credit, so it is easily under that $20k mark. These two cars have a lower range than the Tesla S, but for drivers like myself and many other commuters they would be just fine. The Model S is a luxury-brand EV, it's not necessarily prototypical of current EVs or what EVs should be, and it should not be construed as such.

EV conversions can be done for much less than $20k including base vehicle. This has the benefit of the owner knowing how to replace every EV component and low cost; but the drawback of no factory support or warranty. Clearly not an option for everyone, but it is the option I've been toying with.