I've been a long time fan of Tesla, like many others I'm an enthusiast, avid forum reader, and stockholder, and have been working my butt off to advance my career enough to be able to afford a Model S. Recently this became a possibility..... until the other shoe fell. I now can pretty comfortably afford it, and on top of that I get reimbursed for my mileage, but due to the client based nature of my job my daily commute can be easily 200-300 miles round trip per day, and although there is theoretically 1 supercharger on my route (San Juan Capistrano) I wouldn't always be able to rely on being able to charge. On top of that, I am a renter with only a 120v outlet in my garage. I just don't think I can make it work. Oh well, if I decide to move, or end up closer to my clients (mostly in LA) I'm sure I'll be able to make it work, but for now, I'll just have to live vicariously through all of you on the forums.
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I am not really sure what kind of response you want from us. It seems you want the car, you can easily afford it, if you are going to buy a 100K car. From my view you have few easy options since you probably will get there eventually. You can buy a house or you can find a place to rent (which garage space) where the landlord will you give you permission to install whatever is needed to charge your car 40A.
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I just realized you have a garage. Have you ever tried talking to the landlord in upgrading and getting tesla equipment to charge the car? Since you going to spend 100K on a car, whats another 1K to you?
Gizmotoy
Active Member
Even if he did, a 300-mile commute makes a Model S pretty unsuitable for his situation. Every day would be interrupted by a wait to charge somewhere to make it home. That's going to get real old real fast.
Can "comfortably afford", does that mean you have the cash on hand, or can secure a sufficient line of credit?
The choice would be easy for me... get out of renting, and get into assets, like owning your own home.
Tesla car is an asset, but depreciating.
Tesla stock is an investment, but high risk.
Get a house to live in, this is probably your best bet.
300 mile commute? Get a house closer to where you need to be every day.
A 300 mile territory... that you're covering... ya, maybe not electric for you.
The choice would be easy for me... get out of renting, and get into assets, like owning your own home.
Tesla car is an asset, but depreciating.
Tesla stock is an investment, but high risk.
Get a house to live in, this is probably your best bet.
300 mile commute? Get a house closer to where you need to be every day.
A 300 mile territory... that you're covering... ya, maybe not electric for you.
Gizmotoy
Active Member
That's often easier said than done in major cities in California. I know I could buy a few nice houses outright where I'm from in the Midwest for the price of the 20% down payment on a single place out here. A solid goal, to be sure, but the real estate market is at the peak of a giant boom out here.
I was going to suggest that, but he said he's client-based, so he's driving to wherever the clients are. Think Realtor or something like that where it's not really possible to "move closer to work" because your work is unpredictable and all over the place.
It's a community. He wants to vent and get some support.
Matt M, I feel ya man. You'll find a way.
I don't think it would work either. 120V is awfully low unless your commute is really short (5 miles or less). Having a "full tank" every morning is one of the real joys of the Model S and not being able to do that takes away one of the major benefits. Moving closer will help--perhaps to an EV friendly place.
davewill
Active Member
I missed where the "shoe dropped". Did the job suddenly change? Anyway, as long as you're doing those kind of miles, you'll have to settle for a hybrid of some sort.
I wasn't really asking anything from anyone, just kinda expressing my bummed out-ness to my situation with fellow Tesla lovers. Yeah I could speak to the landlord, that's certainly an option, but regardless if 1k is a drop in the bucket, it's still kind of spending cash on something you don't own (which I know is sort of what renting is). Getting out of renting and owning is certainly something I can consider, it just is a tradeoff, since I currently live a block from the beach in San Diego, and any real estate for sale right now around here with either a driveway or garage is $750k-1mil. So part of the decision is car vs where I live, and right now living next to the beach better fits my lifestyle.
Yeah I work as a security consultant and cover from the San Diego/TJ border, up to San Luis Obispo which is a 345 mile area, and while it's somewhat common that a client has charge spots, it's not something I can COUNT on being available, not to mention I frequently have to jump all around LA from client to client without much of a break. Supercharging certainly helps, and in the long run very likely might make it more feasible, but that's the future, and I just as easily might be a homeowner by then as well.
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In some ways yes it did, focus shifted from clientele in San Diego and Orange County, to more in North LA. But my original point was I finally had a career I was working so hard to obtain, so I could not just make it work financially, but actually do it safely financially (20 x 4 x 10 rule).
I do currently own a plug in hybrid, it gets the job done, but one day in my future hopefully I'll be able to work out an all electric.
artsci
Sponsor
A 200-300 mile commute each day is brutal, whether in an ICE or Tesla. You're spending a major part of your life in a car every day. It's really non of my business, but if this is a permanent state of affairs my advice would be to live much closer to your place of work.
You might be able to make this work and could save a ton on money in gas savings but would need careful planning and definitely at least a NEMA 14-50 at home. Probably best to enjoy the beach until you are able to move and get a garage you can upgrade. Good luck.
Yeah it's rough, up at 6AM most days, home around 8. Audible has been making a killing off me on books on tape. My current job situation is essentially a year of lots of on site visits which can last all day long in god knows where, but it's also designed to be a feeder job (lasting approximately a year) into one where I am better able to schedule appointments that fit my travel habits. Mostly just a waiting game, all electric just doesn't quite fit me yet, but hopefully in the next year or 2 it will, and I'll get to enjoy the experience like so many others here.
maddog1762
Member
You can always use the dryer outlet for charging if it is physically close to the garage. Not infrastructure needed. No problem. 200-300 miles per day now thats an issue. you will need to be on a SC rout.
How much do you get reimbursed per mile? At the 2015 IRS rate of 57.5 cents/mile and 200 miles a week of driving, you'd have a positive cash flow with a 48 month loan on the car, unless you're looking at a P85D. I drive almost 200 miles/day, but get no tax deduction or reimbursement because it's my commute.
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200-300 miles a day, 5 days a week, in Alaska, where your road hazards include a bunch of moose and a gazillion caribou, is tough but doable.
200-300 miles a day, 5 days a week in southern California? Guid Gawd Mon - it's not worth it!!! Live your life - don't do that!
200-300 miles a day, 5 days a week in southern California? Guid Gawd Mon - it's not worth it!!! Live your life - don't do that!
200-300 miles a day commuting to work in Southern California and I'd agree with you. What's happening here, though, is that he's driving 200-300 miles a day from customer to customer as part of his job. He's being PAID to drive a Tesla! Not only that, but his mileage reimbursement should more than cover his payments on the car.
I get the federal rate and make about $2k a month in mileage. currently I drive a plugin Prius so even after fuel costs I make about $1800 net
At 200-300 miles/day you'll be stopping for gasoline at a minimum every other day, more likely every day, anyway. NEMA 14-50 or better at home plus a 15 minutes lunch+supercharger stop per day is pretty doable, IMO, and no more of an inconvenience than the constant gasoline stops.
If I had that kind of brutal commute with a supercharger somewhere in between I would jump on the Model S in a heartbeat. A prius plugin is pretty pointless for your commute. It gets what, 8 miles to a charge? Regular prius would be cheaper.
Edit: A better solution, as others have mentioned, if you have the means to buy a Model S you likely have the means to move closer to your work. I'd suggest doing that first (and getting a place you can install a HPWC) if you're not up for the supercharger stop per day scenario.
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