Looking for some input from Liverpool/Syracuse Model S owners...

I'm down in Ithaca. I've facilitated the purchase of a Model S for my father and the a co-worker (who now owns two). I own a Plug-In Prius myself, and grew up just outside of Baldwinsville.

My father parks and charges primarily outside. He had a Clipper Creek charger installed on an outdoor wall. No problems there.

Cold weather depends on who you ask. My father had a very different experience than my co-worker. The difference, I believe, is that one parks outside, and the other parks in a garage that is heated ambiently from the attached house, and rarely goes below 40 degrees. My father had some issues with the door handles activating in cold weather, and fried the windshield wiper motor when the wipers froze. They sent a ranger to repair that and I gather they have changed the software to prevent that in the future. When the car is really cold-soaked such as being parked outside in February, it can't regen as the battery is too cold. In theory this improves as the car warms up, but the less than 20 mile drives he routinely makes never seemed to warm the battery enough to make a significant difference. This has a large impact on range, and our pre-purchase worst-case estimate of 170 miles range might not be low enough for a car parked outside in hilly country in a winter as cold as this.

Despite my encouragement, he also declined to buy snow tires, and had a lot of trouble getting up the small hill that is his driveway. I think he is going to buy snow tires and wheels for next year, in part for the traction, and in part because his OEM tires are worn out at 14k. Snow tires will at least split the wear across two sets. My co-worker has snow tires and has no complaints about traction. Still, in this area, the dual-motor version might be a nice thing.

For your commute I would not expect any issues, and there should be no issues with discharge during the day. You should have plenty of range to even have the car warm itself for you before you leave at the end of the day. Any charging stations Oswego is likely to install may or may not be of use to you. If they are free, they might be worth using just for the free energy. If they are pay, they are typically too slow to make them worthwhile in a Tesla unless you have no choice. Makes charging more expensive than gas.

To calculate the cost of driving the Model S per mile, use about 300wh per mile in the summer, and 400-500wh per mile for winter. You need to know your electric rate. At 300Wh/mile you can go 3 1/3 miles per kWh of electricity. Round to 3 as there are charging losses, etc. At .12/kWh that's .04/mile cost, which matches the $4/100 miles you were quoted. More in the winter, say up to .06/mile or about the same as your Prius costs you now with cheap gas.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Poopsy said:

Thanks zhenya for the info. Appreciated. Did a search on a Clipper Creek Charger, looks promising. I actually received a call from Tesla in Toronto last week. Apparently they saw my questions and decided to call me as well. Got some good info from them. Now I just have to make the final decision to order one, or get another Prius and keep saving my money for one. Maybe for the Model 3 they say may be out in several years, but it doesn't seem like the range will be as good in the Model 3. I just need to do it now. Thanks again!

Click to expand...

No problem. Both my father and my co-worker ordered through the Westchester store downstate. Might make more sense to deal with them. In both cases the cars were delivered to them here in Ithaca.