I have always planned on buying a 40 KW Model S. On an average day, I drive about 70 miles, and about once a week I drive 100 miles. The 160 mile range of the 40 KW seemed like a perfect fit for me. There are a few cities about 100 miles away from my home, that have public chargers available, so my 40 KW would even allow me to visit them.
Then I heard about range mode / normal mode charging. I figured that would not be a problem, as most days I would be fine in normal mode, and I would only need to charge in range mode for my trips to the neighboring cities. Thats what range mode is for, and it would be infrequent enough that it would have little negative effect on my battery.
The lack of DC charging on the 40 KW is a negative, but as there are no DC chargers within a 300 miles of my house, and I doubt Tesla has any plans to deploy them in my region any time soon, this was not really a big deal to me.
What really has me concerned is the Rav4 EV. It has a slightly bigger battery, is less aerodynamic, but probably weights only a little more. It is advertising a 100 mile real world range. Let's assume the Model S 40KW is not going to do much better, since it is internally very similar. If the Model S only has a 115 mile range, and I loose 20% of that when not in range mode, I have 92 miles to work with. Right off the bat, one day a week must be in range mode just to complete my daily drive. The rumor I am hearing is that the battery is warranteed to be within 80% or original range. At the end of my warantee, I would be at about 73 miles range in standard mode. To give myself a little bit of leeway for error, I would have to charge in range mode every single charge. The end result would be a battery that is useless shortly after the warantee runs up.
Right now, with the info I have, it would seem like my best option is to lease a Model S, with the plan of getting a bluestar when my lease is up. I dont think that the 40 would be a good choice for me 100,000 miles down the road, and the price point on the 60 KW is out of reach for me (even the 40 is a major stretch) Hopefully Tesla has the leasing options figured out by the time my reservation number comes up.
Am I the only 40KW buyer who is starting to get a little bit of range anxiety? I am starting to worry that the 40 KW is a product that is destined to fail, and is only being made to offer a car at the magical "under 50K" price point.
Then I heard about range mode / normal mode charging. I figured that would not be a problem, as most days I would be fine in normal mode, and I would only need to charge in range mode for my trips to the neighboring cities. Thats what range mode is for, and it would be infrequent enough that it would have little negative effect on my battery.
The lack of DC charging on the 40 KW is a negative, but as there are no DC chargers within a 300 miles of my house, and I doubt Tesla has any plans to deploy them in my region any time soon, this was not really a big deal to me.
What really has me concerned is the Rav4 EV. It has a slightly bigger battery, is less aerodynamic, but probably weights only a little more. It is advertising a 100 mile real world range. Let's assume the Model S 40KW is not going to do much better, since it is internally very similar. If the Model S only has a 115 mile range, and I loose 20% of that when not in range mode, I have 92 miles to work with. Right off the bat, one day a week must be in range mode just to complete my daily drive. The rumor I am hearing is that the battery is warranteed to be within 80% or original range. At the end of my warantee, I would be at about 73 miles range in standard mode. To give myself a little bit of leeway for error, I would have to charge in range mode every single charge. The end result would be a battery that is useless shortly after the warantee runs up.
Right now, with the info I have, it would seem like my best option is to lease a Model S, with the plan of getting a bluestar when my lease is up. I dont think that the 40 would be a good choice for me 100,000 miles down the road, and the price point on the 60 KW is out of reach for me (even the 40 is a major stretch) Hopefully Tesla has the leasing options figured out by the time my reservation number comes up.
Am I the only 40KW buyer who is starting to get a little bit of range anxiety? I am starting to worry that the 40 KW is a product that is destined to fail, and is only being made to offer a car at the magical "under 50K" price point.