Any regrets ordering 70D vs 85D?

Nope, love my 70D. Had it a little over a week, over 500 miles driven already .

Lots of threads on this topic, lots of arguing back and forth... for $10k you get an extra 30 miles, faster 0-60, slightly faster supercharging times, and slightly better highway MPGe. Is it worth $10k? That's your call.

Consider your longer term use and whether the normal and expected degradation in battery range would cause concern. My 2-and-a-bit year old / 50,000 mile S85 has about the same capacity now as a new 70.

mknox said:

Consider your longer term use and whether the normal and expected degradation in battery range would cause concern. My 2-and-a-bit year old / 50,000 mile S85 has about the same capacity now as a new 70.

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You have a ~10% degradation in 50k miles? From what I read elsewhere on TMC, the worst people have had is close to 8% at 100k miles...

sagaboy said:

Just a simple question? Need some help rationalizing spending an extra $10000 on top of which I can't change it without loosing my deposit

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I think it depends on your driving radius/needs/habit once more. You don't get THAT many miles more in an 85. In general, wake up and charged to 90% you have around 216-218 miles available to use. In future say quite a while if you lose 10%, you may have closer to 200 long-term. That is still more than enough for almost all daily driving for most people, even in cold/hot climates where using HVAC a lot or loss due to cold weather.

I personally only keep my 70D lately charged to 70%, start with around 170 miles available each day, but since live in city I use like 20 or so per day. Definitely fine for me.

And on speed/others I'd say:
- The 70D still feels very fast. Especially in what you use most 0-30mph often, 0-60 is fine also as very fast. Passing is fast, etc.
- I personally don't floor it often at all, I mean who wants to drive around all the time at least being roughed up. I like a comfortable drive.
- Traffic in most places these days doesn't let you use anywhere need the full performance of any of these models.
- The rest of the car for the most part is exactly the same. A loaded 70D is nicer than a not loaded 85D inside.
- Finally, I've seen on forums that technically the 70D seems to be the most "efficient" of all MS models up to this point due to weight, motors, voltage, all combined.

-T

sagaboy said:

Somethings not right though cuz in 8 years you'll have a range of 280km.

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Battery degradation is not linear. The biggest hits are seen in the first X miles, and then it tapers off (I can't find the thread offhand, something like 5% for the first 50k miles, and then 1-2% for each 30k additional miles)

Some folks with the 60 have regrets not ponying up for an 85, but it's a more significant spread (208 v. 265). What was the price differential between the 60 and 85 RWD?

What percentage of buyers selected the 60 (& briefly, 40)? Anecdotal evidence suggests it was like 10-15%? But the 70D is a helluva EV. 240 miles and plenty fast. Elon said at the shareholders meeting the 70D is 30% of Model S orders.

Personally, I see no reason for buyers remorse from that subset. 70D is an awesome car.

sagaboy said:

How much would it cost to upgrade? Mknox.
Somethings not right though cuz in 8 years you'll have a range of 280km.

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I don't think it's linear. I've heard the degradation tapers after the initial drop in the first few years. When new, I could get exactly 265 Rated Miles at 100% SOC. Today I get around 217 Rated Miles at 90% and 242 Rated Miles at 100%. I've tried all the "tricks" to see if I could improve these numbers (charge to 100% to "balance" the pack, do some deep discharge/recharge cycles to recalibrate the estimation algorithm etc.) That's around 9% of degradation so far.

No buyer remorse at all with our 70D. Only thing I wish we've gotten is the power liftgate. Didn't think we needed it but didn't realize the manual liftgate is so much harder to close than typical sedans.

There is no 'wrong' model S configuration. They all have their pluses and minuses. Many other posters upstream have discussed them. The gap has narrowed quite a bit with the introduction of the 70 and cessation of making the 60. During the 60 vs 85 debate the only thing that I personally noticed is that there was never a person that had an 85 regret that he/she had not gotten a 60. The reverse was not true.

I should get mine later this week and I am telling everyone about it too
NO REGRETS! and even if ever did, I'll have 100 $100 bills to wipe my tears with.

85D vs 70D -
1. Its faster, but 70D is plenty fast, and that little bit extra you'll almost never use it.
2. Under ideal conditions the range is 30 miles more. This really makes a difference if superchargers were 25 miles apart, and it makes NO difference for in town travel.
3. It will mean you have to stay at a supercharger for an extra 10 minutes. Mostly everyone says the car is done charging before you are done pee'ing.
4. It is more efficient in town compared to 85D. 85D is more efficient at 65mph. Practically this means, you'll save a fraction of a cent every month.

To each their own, but I'm hella happy I saved the $10K and downgraded my order from 85D to 70D before it was confirmed.

Besides the $10K you save, there is the extra sales tax savings of $900 for me and insurance and registration is slightly cheaper. I pick up my 70D next week and have no regrets at all.

I try not to second guess myself, but I kind of wish I had bought the plain 85 instead of the 70D. For only $5k more you get the bigger battery. If you don't really need AWD, you get the benefit of a MUCH larger frunk. The frunk in the 70D is very small due to the second motor and sound insulation.

I have 2,000 miles on my 70D so far. I love it. I would not have gotten the 85D even if it where only 3k more. I have zero use for the extra battery or increased speed. The 70D is plenty.

Sosius said:

I try not to second guess myself, but I kind of wish I had bought the plain 85 instead of the 70D. For only $5k more you get the bigger battery. If you don't really need AWD, you get the benefit of a MUCH larger frunk. The frunk in the 70D is very small due to the second motor and sound insulation.

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Keep in mind there's more too it than what you've listed here. As a former S85, current P85, and soon-to-be S70D owner, we found our original '13 S80 was frequently traction limited, even with the 21" wheel/tire combo. Frankly, the amount of torque available was almost always tempered by the lack of traction, especially from a stop or when turning, and the constant intrusion of the stability/traction control is/was a pain.

What sealed the deal for us with the 70D order was that the 0-60 time is actually LESS than that of our original Model S 85, thus demonstrating one of the many advantages of having all four wheels driven . . . .

I don't think you can go wrong with a well-optioned S70D (yet environmentally-friendly/non-leather interior, of course) as it has so much more standard content, and the AWD which many don't realize is critical to making our high-powered electric cars GO.

Can't wait for it to arrive.

Interesting. I don't drive that much. About 4000k a year. I was thinking that time is the enemy of the batteries not miles driven. That would be a real bonus if the battery degrades based on mileage but I doubt that is the case. Looking forward to buying a used one very soon.

Just picked up my wife's S70D on Monday at the factory (but only have had it to drive for a couple of days as it went right to my detailer for CQuartz). It is a great car--plenty of performance (...a shade better than my S85), no worries about range (...yes, in the SF Bay Area with lots of charging infrastructure), good price point. Do miss the larger frunk, though. You won't be disappointed.

It's easy to get distracted by obsessing over range, time to supercharge, or over mpge. You'll run across tons of comments about MpgE even though it's a completely irrelevant stat. It's meaningless when you're actually driving the car. How you drive and how fast you go dictates it's efficiency. Not some formula derived by a couple eggheads.

Instead decide whether the additional performance is worth it. If performance is what you seek than the 85D is a great middle ground between the 70D and the P85D.
Or if you're going to regularly be on the edge with range. If you really need range the 85D is the ticket.

In my 2600 miles of the 70D so far neither range, or performance has made it into my top concerns. Yet, I agonized it over and over when trying to decide which one.

Everything I love and hate about my 70D is the same for the 60 all the way to the P85D.

I will say that I'm glad I got the 70D because I had to buy a bunch of stuff for it.

1.) HPWC
2.) Chademo Charger
3.) HPWC Install
4.) Center Console
5.) Xpel Ultimate Paint Protection on the front
6.) Xpel ultimate paint protection on the bumper to protect it when I load/unload stuff.
7.) Hotel cost for my supercharge addiction.
8.) Crap that I bought at the outlet stores because of course Tesla decided to put the superchargers right next to them. Apparently leave your wallet at home is the best policy.