Counting Teslas while you drive?

[phxazcraig]

I can't be the only one doing this, right? I am a new EV owner, since August, in my first ever EV. (2023 Model Y). When I drive, I count other Teslas.

Before I bought the Tesla, I just wasn't aware or particularly interested in EV's. My general knowledge was both lacking and dated, about 10 years obsolete. Then my nephew had me drive his Model 3, and I was definitely interested. Not because it was an EV or a Tesla, but because it drove FAST - I love the driving characteristics of an EV. Fast forward a few months, and with price drops and tax rebates I had my MYP.

I live in a big city (north side of Phoenix), and I'm suddenly aware of other Teslas, so I started counting how many I see on a drive. My 'Tesla Count' makes me more aware of how many Teslas are out there, and also where they are concentrated (or absent). Scottsdale is a real Tesla hotbed. If I drive to my dentist (30 miles), my Tesla Count has hit 55. Go to the grocery (2 miles) and I might see 5-6, mostly parked. I've also started noticing Rivians, Lucids, Ford Lightnings and Mach-E's, and various other makes. It's been an eye-opener. There are way more EV's on the roads than I ever thought. And the Superchargers are much older than I knew, with a lot of them 10 years or so old now.

I'm about to do my first overnight road trip, to California, and now I'm started to look out for non-SC's, like Chargepoint, EVgo and (ugh) EA's. I'm suddenly only interested in hotels with overnight charging available. (Or an SC next door). And I'm researching things like chargers at McDonald's in Carlsbad NM.

And I'm seeing some realities, like the difficulty of taking my Tesla on routes where I routinely road-tripped on motorcycles for decades, due to lack of charging. (Navajo Reservation).

 

[ucmndd]

Good luck counting on that California road trip. They aren't called California Camrys for nothing

My Model S felt like driving around in a space ship here when I picked it up in 2016. Now there are like 5 EVs on my street alone.

 

[Pianewman]

Roadtripping? Do NOT count on destination chargers at ANY hotel. Too few, spaces ICEd, etc. It's just not worth the disappointment, confusion and hassle.

I've done well over 25k miles E, N, and W of DFW, always on interstate highways, or on highways with Navigation supported Superchargers. Never a range anxiety issue.

I've carried a CCS adaptor for 20k miles, and have never used it. I'm sure there WILL be an opportunity to use it, though.

 

[fholbert]

I can't be the only one doing this, right? I am a new EV owner, since August, in my first ever EV. (2023 Model Y). When I drive, I count other Teslas.

I live in SoCal, can't count that high.

A couple months ago my friend drove his F-250 from Tucson to Irvine. He said after hitting the state line he'd never seen so many Tesla's.

 

[larryk]

When driving we are always calling out, red one, blue one, white one, white one, white one...

 

[jjrandorin]

Good luck counting on that California road trip. They aren't called California Camrys for nothing

live in SoCal, can't count that high.

Without exaggeration, I think its pretty much impossible to stop at a traffic signal in any decent size city in CA without seeing at least one other Tesla beside your own. I used to count them when I first got mine in 2018, but there isnt any point now.

Every third driveway seems to have one, and that might be a slight exaggeration, but not by much.

 

[21miDay]

I used to count them on the way to work. That was years ago. Now I count them at stop lights. They are all over now. I have fun parking next to other Teslas at the store to start a herd.

 

[Jerry Ham]

As others have said - there are a ton of them in California where I am. You can't count them. When I first got my Model S in 2017, there were hardly any and we would actually WAVE to each other. Now? Pretty much every 12th car on the road is a Tesla. I was at an intersection in Monterey a few weeks ago and the car in front of me was a Model Y, the car to the right of me was a MYP like mine, and the car in front of that was a Model 3. They are just everywhere. What we count is the number of Tesla vehicles with a front license plate. They are required in CA and most Tesla drivers are scofflaws on that rule. Lots of other vehicles with no front plate, but it is a pretty large majority on the Teslas. We actually put a wrap license plate on ours - it is made from vinyl wrap material and sticks on and requires no frame.

 

[EVRider-FL]

I stopped counting years ago, but I do notice when I don’t see any in a particular area, which doesn’t happen much unless I’m out of the country.

 

[dm121721]

Buy a package of these and give one to each family member. The first person to see a tesla counts it on their clicker. The highest tally at the end of each month gets a prize and all clickers get reset to zero.

Amazon.com

 

[ChrisInVegas]

We played this game here in Las Vegas when we first ordered ours. It was fun for a while, but there are just soooo many of them, the game stopped being a challenge. ;-) We have a MYLR and a Lightning, so we thought it would be fun to count Lightnings. Outside of mine and my neighbor's Lightnings, we go weeks without seeing another one.

The part of town definitely has an impact on the number of Teslas you see. When we drive through Summerlin (nicer area of town), it feels like 1 out of 5 cars are Teslas.

As for charging... the non-Tesla network is a nightmare, but pretty soon that won't be a problem for us when we can charge at Superchargers!

 

[Geech72]

Change it up a bit and only count the ones without curb rash

 

[David99]

I do it.

I remember doing it on one of the busiest freeways in the US, I405 in Souther California. I remember in 2014, I saw one other Tesla every 10 minute and though, that was cool. Today, on the same drive I cannot count them any more. Too many lanes with Teslas constantly.

 

[andaconda]

Do NOT count on destination chargers at ANY hotel. Too few, spaces ICEd, etc. It's just not worth the disappointment, confusion and hassle.

I call ahead and have the hotel put a cone out for me, letting them know about what time I will arrive. They are always very accommodating.
As far as counting other Tesla cars - I don't count them, because in Montana, you can go days without seeing one. But when I do see one, I wave to them. After having the model Y for nearly 3 years now, we're still the only one in our town with an EV.

 

[FastEddieB]

We have far fewer Teslas in the SE, but that number is going up rapidly.

About a year ago, I had a bet with the wife as to how many we’d see between Tallahassee and our home near Knoxville. She guessed 12, I guessed 22. An hour or so into the drive a transporter went by southbound on I-75 with about 8 Teslas on it. We debated whether to count those, but ultimately decided not to. We also don’t count those at and around Superchargers. In any case, the number actually ended up being 17, splitting the difference between our guesses, and so we called it a draw. Undoubtedly that number would be far greater today. They’re still sparse in rural areas, but getting quite common in and around cities.

 

[FastEddieB]

Change it up a bit and only count the ones without curb rash

You might as well count unicorns!

 

[gtae07]

We have far fewer Teslas in the SE, but that number is going up rapidly.

Definitely. Used to be quite the rarity; now I see one almost every time I leave the house (and I'm excluding the ones arriving at/charging/leaving the nearby supercharger). There are several parked in our neighborhood alone.

I think as word-of-mouth spreads more people are considering them; I get lots of "oh, really? That's not what I expected" when they ask questions about the car, especially WRT charging and traveling.

 

[bruce4000]

In addition to Teslas, I also count non-Tesla EV’s to see if the “competition is coming” but I still see very few.

 

[Pianewman]

I call ahead and have the hotel put a cone out for me, letting them know about what time I will arrive. They are always very accommodating.
As far as counting other Tesla cars - I don't count them, because in Montana, you can go days without seeing one. But when I do see one, I wave to them. After having the model Y for nearly 3 years now, we're still the only one in our town with an EV.

Who are "they"? I can't imagine every hotel, even most hotels, would do this, but I'm glad it has worked for you in the past!

 

[fholbert]

Definitely. Used to be quite the rarity; now I see one almost every time I leave the house (and I'm excluding the ones arriving at/charging/leaving the nearby supercharger). There are several parked in our neighborhood alone.

I think as word-of-mouth spreads more people are considering them; I get lots of "oh, really? That's not what I expected" when they ask questions about the car, especially WRT charging and traveling.

Since Buying my MY I see a Tesla every time I leave the house too.

First from the outside, then from the inside.