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60kwh battery: to supercharge or not to supercharge?

Are you supercharging your 60kwh battery?

  • Yes, I'm paying the $2K upcharge for supercharger access.

    Votes: 14 41.2%
  • No, I'm going without and saving the money.

    Votes: 9 26.5%
  • I configured early and was grandfathered in to supercharging at no additional cost.

    Votes: 11 32.4%

  • Total voters
    34
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I recently finalized my Model S with a 60kwh battery. After I got over the exterior color decision agony, my next biggest point of indecision was whether to supercharge or not. I may well only have this car a year or two because I think there is a very good possibility that a Model X will better suit my needs, so I may sell it when the X comes out. I just can't wait for the X to drive a Tesla though, particularly since I think the X dates may slip like the S dates did so I might not have an X until mid-2014.

I don't think I will ever use the supercharger network during those 1 - 2 years of ownership, and certainly not enough to justify the $2K. I concerned about resale value though. Do you think that not having the supercharging capability will severely hurt resale value? I thought a way to get a proxy for this is to see how many of us 60kwh owners are planning to supercharge or not.
 
StephRob I think your situation is a little unique because the 60 is your second Model S, and because of that then no, the supercharger ability doesn't make sense. Certainly the resale value of a non-SC car will be less, but there are so many other factors affecting resale value it is probably best to configure what's right for you, for this moment in time.
 
i'd agree with Kipernicus that the difference in resale value is probably going to be less than the extra 2K you'd be spending on the car for something you won't use. When i was looking at the supercharge or not decision for the 60kwh battery (in the few days between when they announced it was going to be extra $$ and when they waived that for those of us who had already finalized) i think i would have been more likely to pay the extra 8k for the 85kwh battery than the 2k for 60 + supercharging. It just felt like a better decision. It really comes down to (at that point) whether the model is is going to be a road trip car or not. If not, then there's no need for the bigger battery or supercharging. If it is, then the 85 probably makes even more sense, esp with the reduced difference in price once you include supercharging $$
 
Consider what the supercharger network might be in 2 years though. If there are 50,000 Model S on the road by then, with 1,000 superchargers in N. America, no one may even want to consider a non-supercharge model. :) I wonder if it can be retrofitted however.
 
I was fortunate enough to get into the "early adopter program," as TM calls it on the contract. So, my perspective may be a bit off, but I have to believe this poll is leaving out the largest category, "I was planning to get a 60kwh, but I moved up to an 85kwh or down to a 40kwh due to the supercharger pricing." I don't mean to open the debate of TM's communication on this, but at the current pricing, I have to believe the 60kwh makes sense for only a very narrow audience.
 
My decision not to pay the extra $2000 for the Supercharger was less about the cost and more about their locations. The Seattle area has quite a few reservation holders so it was shocking to me that they do not have near term plans on placing a supercharger in the middle of the state to allow for East-West travel across Washington. The vast majority of my road trips are to Eastern Washington so this was a big disappointment for me personally. It looks like the NW is going to be well served for North-South travel but not East-West.

I figured that there might be superchargers on I-90 in about 5-7 years so my next Model S/Model X will almost certainly be equipped with one. In the meantime, the $2000 I save will pay for quite a bit of gas in my wife's car so it will have to suffice for the time being.
 
In the US I would also buy the supercharger option. Perhaps even in the UK or Germany.
However, living in Sweden I realize I have extremely slim chances of ever getting any supercharger stations built here by Tesla.
My best option would actually be an 85kWh WITHOUT the prepaid supercharger fee (and thus a $2000 reduction in price).