[limbery]

I had the opportunity to take a test drive of a Model X and Model S today as Tesla had the grand opening of a supercharger station (first on Vancouver Island) and got to chat with a bunch of other EV enthusiasts. I think I was the only Volt there. I fell in love with both cars of course but I also have a new found appreciation for my humble volt too! With my adaptive cruise control and auto parking etc. I've got real value considering the cars I drove were 2 ½ to 3 times the cost of mine. I actually didn't like the lane assist in the Tesla as it seemed to be trying to always take over the steering rather than just give a little nudge like my Volt does. If it wasn't for the wife factor, I'd probably take the plunge but for now I'm happy with my Volt.

 

[limbery]

Enjoying driving my Volt with that extra 70 grand still in the bank now....I find to emulate the feel of the Tesla, the Volt in Sport mode while in L seems to feel the most like it. (of course seriously, the model S which is a full size car drives and rides much smoother than the Volt and of course has more pickup and comfortable seats but like I say, that 70 grand in the bank feels pretty comfortable too LOL)

 

[TheBlueFlash]

Enjoying driving my Volt with that extra 70 grand still in the bank now....I find to emulate the feel of the Tesla, the Volt in Sport mode while in L seems to feel the most like it. (of course seriously, the model S which is a full size car drives and rides much smoother than the Volt and of course has more pickup and comfortable seats but like I say, that 70 grand in the bank feels pretty comfortable too LOL)

If you are on a Volt budget, then a CPO Model S isn't out of the question. They frequently pop up on Tesla's pre-owned site for around $40-45K. A $40K CPO Model S is only a few thousand more than a Premium Volt.

 

[Neromanceres]

If you are on a Volt budget, then a CPO Model S isn't out of the question. They frequently pop up on Tesla's pre-owned site for around $40-45K. A $40K CPO Model S is only a few thousand more than a Premium Volt.

Not in Canada. A "cheap" CPO Tesla here is minimum $65K which is at least $20K more than a brand new fully loaded Volt.

 

[JRRF]

A Tesla would be great. But you still wind up with range anxiety.

A neighbor has an X, but never even parks it in the garage -- can't open the rear doors there!

 

[hallcp]

I road in a Model S too. I was disappointed that the rear seat head room was about the same as the Volt, no better. By way of contrast, the Bolt has nice rear headroom. Salesman demo'd ludicrous mode and I had my eyeballs pushed back in my head! But I'm not trading in my Volt until somebody comes out with a wagon or mini-SUV (the Bolt is too small) that can carry more than my Volt. That probably rules out the Model 3 too, but maybe the Model Y???

 

[limbery]

I road in a Model S too. I was disappointed that the rear seat head room was about the same as the Volt, no better. By way of contrast, the Bolt has nice rear headroom. Salesman demo'd ludicrous mode and I had my eyeballs pushed back in my head! But I'm not trading in my Volt until somebody comes out with a wagon or mini-SUV (the Bolt is too small) that can carry more than my Volt. That probably rules out the Model 3 too, but maybe the Model Y???

The model X would do you for cargo and headroom. (actually the model S has tons of cargo space with the rear seats folded down...way more than a Volt)

 

[Sean Nelson]

I road in a Model S too. I was disappointed that the rear seat head room was about the same as the Volt, no better.

Oh wow, that's pretty bad. It was the terrible rear seat and rear visibility that turned me off the Volt and onto the Bolt.

 

[limbery]

Since my initial test drive of the Tesla model S, I actually seem to be enjoying my Volt even more! I know it's weird, but I keep thinking just how great the Volt is for way less money. I just watched an in depth test drive and walk through today on youtube of the model 3 which is about the same size as the Volt and although it has some very nice sophistication's in it's appointments compared to the volt, I'm driving my car today whereas I'd probably waiting for at least a year to get one of the model 3s. I've had my Volt for about 6 months now and it's even more fun to drive than when I first got it as I now know all the little things about how it works.

 

[Qinsp]

Oh wow, that's pretty bad. It was the terrible rear seat and rear visibility that turned me off the Volt and onto the Bolt.

I also found the Model S lacks rear seat head room for adults. It is also somewhat clumsy to access and egress into the rear seats, and there is very little storage areas.

It's not terrible, but if folk are thinking it's what Americans call a Large Sedan, it really is not.

As far as P series goes, I'm used to cars that are quicker and faster than 10.8 @ 124. I found I only use full power on the track, and don't go to the dragstrips much anymore now that they closed 4 of them in our area. I love the concept of an electric sedan that is wicked quick, but I can't see that it would be of much use to us anymore. We would be just buying a badge and wishing it was 10 years ago.

 

[sosmerc]

Enjoying driving my Volt with that extra 70 grand still in the bank now....I find to emulate the feel of the Tesla, the Volt in Sport mode while in L seems to feel the most like it. (of course seriously, the model S which is a full size car drives and rides much smoother than the Volt and of course has more pickup and comfortable seats but like I say, that 70 grand in the bank feels pretty comfortable too LOL)

I feel the same way. For the money, the Volt is a bargain. My biggest concern is reliability and where and how to get qualified and quality service. I live hours away from a Tesla service center, but only about 20 minutes away from a Chev dealer. And there are many Chev dealers all around where I travel. All cars need service and these high tech cars seem to have lots of issues that can create a different kind of "anxiety".....are we going to make it home?!

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

One of the big reasons I'd love to have a Tesla today is for the super charger network. No other BEV is able to make a round trip to a city that's 120 miles away in a reasonable amount of time. The Leaf (including the new one) wouldn't make it at all, and there's no fast chargers on the way. The Bolt would definitely make it there, but the only fast chargers available are Chademo and Tesla. So I'd have to wait at least 3 hours to get enough range to go back home.

 

[voltjjm]

I just made a 630 mile drive in 8.5 hours with my gen2. I can't see how that could ever happen with a Tesla, no matter how cool they are.

 

[JRRF]

I just made a 630 mile drive in 8.5 hours with my gen2. I can't see how that could ever happen with a Tesla, no matter how cool they are.

Since that's about the limit for an individual without significant rest, when they have a 500+ range battery then I guess a BEV will be all you need.

 

[hellsop]

Since that's about the limit for an individual without significant rest, when they have a 500+ range battery then I guess a BEV will be all you need.

Lagondaboy talked about that on one of his recent videos. Basically, he said that once you get EVs with 500 miles of range, then the whole paradigm of charging shifts. You stop caring about racing to build FASTER chargers, because a full range is about as much as you can really go in a day anyway, and start caring about the convenience of those chargers, even if they're only 50 kw or so. Because those will still pile on 100 miles every 30 minutes, so even if you're going to drive 600 or 700 miles in a day, you're still not going to run out of charge, because a 30 minute break for a piss and a fastfood lunch will give you enough of a charge to keep on later. AND, there's that much more room in the bottom half of the charge range that you get tremendous amount of flexibility of WHEN you stop and still don't face throttled charging as you might charging a half-full 200 mile vehicle with 75 miles (50% charge to 90% -- which might be 45 minutes to an hour) to make sure you can get to the next charging station that's 120 miles away AND over a big hill, a 500 mile vehicle with 100 miles left can charge up to the same additional 75 miles of range in 15-20 minutes and at the same small charger. It's a whole different set of planning parameters.

 

[saghost]

I just made a 630 mile drive in 8.5 hours with my gen2. I can't see how that could ever happen with a Tesla, no matter how cool they are.

All about how fast you drive.

Big battery Teslas charge at about 400 rated miles per hour under ideal conditions, so averaging ~75 like you did should be possible if you drive 100-120 mph and the stations are perfectly placed. (You did say could ever happen... )

It's certainly true that there are corner cases where a Tesla won't work well (though if I'm in that much of a hurry going that far, a plane is probably faster yet.)

 

[JoeReal]

All about how fast you drive.

Big battery Teslas charge at about 400 rated miles per hour under ideal conditions, so averaging ~75 like you did should be possible if you drive 100-120 mph and the stations are perfectly placed. (You did say could ever happen... )

It's certainly true that there are corner cases where a Tesla won't work well (though if I'm in that much of a hurry going that far, a plane is probably faster yet.)

Certainly lots of tickets, maybe automatic arrest and jail time if they clocked you over 100 mph in California.

 

[saghost]

Certainly lots of tickets, maybe automatic arrest and jail time if they clocked you over 100 mph in California.

As I thought was clear from the tone of my post, it wasn't a serious suggestion for a lifestyle choice - just an observation about possibilities.