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Screw range anxiety, I have mpg anxiety!

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Lyon

2016 S P100DL, 2016 X P90D
Supporting Member
Dec 26, 2011
2,005
216
Eugene, Oregon
I'm really looking forward to the day (about a year from now, unfortunately) when I can accelerate off the line at a stop light or make a quick pass on the highway without being concerned about how much gas I've just used! I currently drive a car with pretty poor mileage so maybe it's more pronounced for me, but I know, that unless I drive really gently, I'm going to get bad mileage!

I know that it won't be FREE to charge the Model S, but it will be so much cheaper that I'll actually be able to enjoy spirited driving again!
 
I have this to some extent, but not with small things like zipping from a stop light, but when it comes to road trips. Going the 120 miles (240 round trip) to my parents and back isn't cheap in an ICE. It'll be barely pocket change in my Model S. Granted, there's no way it'll be cheaper overall than a $20k ICE, but it'll be nice not to really care about miles driven from an expense point of view.

The wife and I are talking potential road trips, especially with Tesla talking about populating the I-5 corridor with quick chargers.
 
In my Suburban I feel like I can watch the gas gauge drop if I punch it off the line. But for road trips it's the same way; I can get to Portland much faster if I go 73-74mph but I pay for it in terms of gas usage. It I set the cruise control at 65mph I get better mileage but it takes longer to get there. It's also nice to be able to pop over into the right lane to pass a left-lane-but-going-slow driver without wondering if it's really worth the gas.
 
Totally feel ya. I bought a Chevy Volt as an interim vehicle. I've gone over 10k miles and used about 17 gallons of gas. I hate it when the gas engine kicks in and I try to plan my trips accordingly. Like going to the airport to pick up a co-worker I went from Santa Clara to Redwood City. Ate breakfast and charged for one hour. Then went to South San Francisco and charged for a few more hours while I read a book and hiked up Sign Hill Park. Then picked up my co-worker and drove in the slow lane home to make sure the gas engine didn't kick in.

Two weeks ago I went to Fremont to visit a friend and instead of speeding down the highway I took the slow side roads and accelerated slowly and braked slowly to capture as much energy as possible since going to their home and coming back was just beyond my EV only range. Took me 45 minutes to get there instead of 30 minutes.

I can't wait to drive normally and not have to plan my day around my "gas-anxiety".
 
I got a rental car today. I had reserved an "economy" car...but they offered a Chrysler Town & Country minivan. I asked for the smallest car they had available...turned out to be a Jeep Liberty!

Ugh...I drove from SeaTac, to Bellevue, then to Everett today...used a QUARTER TANK of gas!!!

If I drove this thing all the time I'd have "Jeez I gotta go to the gas station AGAIN" anxiety!
 
By car...
Distance from SeaTac to Bellevue: 17.0 mi.
Distance from Bellevue to Everett: 28.3 mi.
Total: 45.3 mi.

2011 Liberty | Gas Mileage and Driving Range | Jeep
2011 Jeep Liberty
19.5 gal. tank
4x2: 16city / 22hwy
4x4: 15city / 21hwy


Consumed fuel: 19.5 gal / 4 = 4.875 gal.
Consumed distance: 45.3 mi.

Aggregate MPG: 45.3 / 4.875 = 9.29 mpg


Shows how much the EPA ratings can be off vs. typical driving -- even with mostly highway driving.
 
By car...
Distance from SeaTac to Bellevue: 17.0 mi.
Distance from Bellevue to Everett: 28.3 mi.
Total: 45.3 mi.

2011 Liberty | Gas Mileage and Driving Range | Jeep
2011 Jeep Liberty
19.5 gal. tank
4x2: 16city / 22hwy
4x4: 15city / 21hwy


Consumed fuel: 19.5 gal / 4 = 4.875 gal.
Consumed distance: 45.3 mi.

Aggregate MPG: 45.3 / 4.875 = 9.29 mpg


Shows how much the EPA ratings can be off vs. typical driving -- even with mostly highway driving.

Well there were a few extra miles in there...I think the ODO was around 60-some odd miles...but still...yikes. Talk about frequent trips to the gas station...
 
I can relate to the false advertisement for fuel economy
when I calculated it for my Firebird it was 8 mpg (rated at 18 combined)
another car was 21 mpg (rated at 24)- should note that 95% was highway driving
other car was 32 mpg (rated at 35 for all highway driving)

I wrote a blog about this a few years ago how the EPA estimates based on engine size and weight of car. Really the EPA number is kind of a bogus number or "best guess" based on ideal driving. I think Honda and the EPA got in trouble a few years ago when their numbers were way off the real world numbers.
 
We had the upfront investment in a PV system, but now it is "FREE" to charge the Roadster and will be "FREE" to charge our awaited Model S.

I would LOVE to do a PV system. I looked into it and my neighbors' trees block too much of the sun to get anything meaningful out of a PV system. He wasn't interested in cuttin them down, go figure. I even offered to pay to do it! ;-)
 
Trees

I would LOVE to do a PV system. I looked into it and my neighbors' trees block too much of the sun to get anything meaningful out of a PV system. He wasn't interested in cuttin them down, go figure. I even offered to pay to do it! ;-)

Depending on where you live - your neighbor might have to cut down/back the trees if YOU require it for a solar system.

8.5 years and counting!
 
Depending on where you live - your neighbor might have to cut down/back the trees if YOU require it for a solar system.

8.5 years and counting!

Interesting thought. I haven't heard anything about that here and the PV system sales-man didn't say anything about it. I gotta say, I have mixed feelings about such a rule and would definitely think twice before invoking it to require my neighbor to cut down his trees. On the other had, the blasted things do pretty much blot out the sun for most of the morning.
 
Interesting thought. I haven't heard anything about that here and the PV system sales-man didn't say anything about it. I gotta say, I have mixed feelings about such a rule and would definitely think twice before invoking it to require my neighbor to cut down his trees. On the other had, the blasted things do pretty much blot out the sun for most of the morning.
This is off topic I guess but how many panels did he say you could put up without cutting trees down? My parents installed a very small 10 panel system that only accounts for about 10% of the house. Doesn't make a big difference but it's enough energy to indirectly offset about 60 miles of driving a day.

As to this thread, I agree. Being able to gun it in an EV does have the added bonus of begin faster than most ICEs and not using a drop of gas.
 
This is off topic I guess but how many panels did he say you could put up without cutting trees down? My parents installed a very small 10 panel system that only accounts for about 10% of the house. Doesn't make a big difference but it's enough energy to indirectly offset about 60 miles of driving a day.

As to this thread, I agree. Being able to gun it in an EV does have the added bonus of begin faster than most ICEs and not using a drop of gas.

I can't recall of the top of my head, however the biggest question was whether or not I could get the system to qualify for the tax credit. To do so, I would have to have access to a certain percentage of the available sunlight on my roof in any given day. The trees pretty much obscure the whole roof area until 10 or 11am so it pretty much took me out of the running for the credit. I've been thinking about what you're suggesting though; it would be nice to offset my driving or, perhaps, my driving and home AC use.
 
If you have an issue with partial shading, look into micro-inverters. That way each panel will produce what they are able, vs the weakest one in the string being limiting.

Thanks! I'll look into that. I'm going to revisit the pv issue pretty soon, even if I can't power the whole house I can still offset some of my driving.
 
Getting back on topic I guess I have been lucky as my cars have been able to reach the EPA. To be fair we have little traffic in our area and I typically drive the speed limit on the interstate. If I do drive 5 over I do see a difference in fuel consumption.

A bigger challenge for me is achieving ideal miles on the roadster as the car wants to to FAST.