Continuing our Tesla Model S UK test drive with the very knowledgable Mark. We get into the nitty gritty of really trying to use an EV as an only car here in England. Something that was mostly unrealistic until now.
Electric Car Community
Electric Car Community
Continuing our Tesla Model S UK test drive with the very knowledgable Mark. We get into the nitty gritty of really trying to use an EV as an only car here in England. Something that was mostly unrealistic until now.
Nice test drive! I enjoyed it very much. I do wish the Tesla rep had answered your question better about the super chargers- for long trips, they really are a boon- if you do drive someplace that is 250 miles away, filling those batteries is going to take a loooong time- not sure one night would be enough- though that may only be a concern if you had to drive the same distance the next day. Still- the super chargers will make that concern moot.
As far as I know, for your wife- city driving in an EV should yield greater range, not less. Think of it this way- car manufacturers are going to implement start-stop technology in more cars, to stop the engines when the car stops, to increase city gas mileage. EV’s already do this- when an EV is not moving, it does not waste any electricity to drive the motor, though it does use a minor amount for the accessories like the radio and A/C or heater.
As for coal-fired plants providing electricity- not ideal, but still better than burning gas in a car- efficiencies of scale by burning it in one location. And you can always improve where your electricity comes from- whereas an ICE vehicle will always burn fuel.
I may be misrembering, but I believe the Tesla supercharger stations supply most if not all of their electricity via Solar Panels. Oh- and a 30 minute charge at a supercharger station will put 170 miles back in the batteries: http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger
Good luck with the decision- a hard one;-)
Paul C. has it right. The MS is dramatically more efficient than a diesel or gas car in stop-start traffic, basically because there is no “idle”. eMPG is minutely lower in general city than highway use, but you’d be hard put to measure it. And as far as “economical”, as a general rule the MS costs for “fuel” between 10-30% what an ICE car does to drive per mile, depending mostly on your local prices.
IOW, the large penalty an ICE car suffers in urban traffic has no equivalent in EV or MS experience or expense.
For comparison, a Tesla Model S test drive or two from your fellow-countryman, Robert Llewellyn: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2UE7sNBfA&list=UUzz4CoEgSgWNs9ZAvRMhW2A