Some people think that 30 minutes is too long to wait for a charge

[AnOutsider]

I think there's 3 things to emphasize:
- You only need this when you're traveling beyond range.
- For daily use, you have more than enough range so you don't need to stop.
- In exchange for extra "refueling" time on long trips, you, apparently, get to drive an awesome car.

This is the big one IMO. Plugging in when you get home is easy to work into a routine, and it doesn't feel like a trip to the gas station. Even if I forget (which I've done many times): #1 I can just go out to my garage and do it #2 I'd likely have enough range for daily use the next day anyway.

 

[sp4rk]

Near me, the Dominicks and Jewel have started a co-op marketing program where, when you spend $x you get gas for 5c less. Or something like that.

So here come me through the check out line and the very nice check out people ring me up then tell me how much I can save on gas.

"Thanks, but I drive electric." The look on their face is quizzical, priceless. I deliberately say it, nicely, to "plant the seed".

 

[hockeythug]

Is that at Costco? Their gas stations are always like that due to the cheaper price.

 

[David_Cary]

As an occasional ICE driver, I drive past any gas station with a line. Let us not forget that I have that option where SCing does not.

Anyone who values their time so little to wait in that is a fool. I mean if they were truly poor, that would be fine but those are not all clunkers.

30 minutes is still not fun.

 

[Mayhemm]

Keep in mind that charge times can (and will) improve in the coming years. The crowded gas station situation can only get worse.

 

[fluxemag]

Ah the old Costco gas line, how I don't miss that. My old G37 couldn't quite make it a week to refill. All three Costco's in my area were about 5 miles out of the way round trip, but typically 10-30 cents cheaper. So I would go, and I would wait in lines much like the one pictured. It would be Thursday after work when I just wanted to go home, or Friday morning when I was already running late and I'd just stop at the Shell station on the way (who had an extra credit card fee, and Premium was 30 cents more than regular per gallon. $70 was a typical fillup, about every 5 days. So when people tell me plugging in is a hassle I see it just as an earlier poster does, code for I can't afford a Tesla so I'll rationalize that getting gas is better. The savings in gas, registration fees and maintenance make my Tesla cost the same to own as the G37 even though it cost $20k more upfront. That's the argument that got my wife to sign off.

Supercharging, which I do not have, probably needs to be faster. 20 minutes compared to 30 is a great improvement. I know when we drive from PHX to SD, the last thing I want to do is stop for a long time. It was always a challenge to see how quickly I could gas/go and get drive-thru. But Supercharging is most certainly not free, it's prepaid.

 

[AnOutsider]

A line like that isn't worth it to me. The whole going far out the way to save 10-20 cents never made sense to me. In an extreme example: 30 cents difference with a 20 gallon tank = $6 difference in gas bill. Is that enough to warrant driving out your way or waiting on long lines? Heck, if we use Tesla's cost of time calculator at $100/hr, you'd make out ahead paying more and spending less time.

 

[texex91]

I am really starting to appreciate how nice it is to just plug in at home, and skip the gas station. After a few weeks of ownership, it's amazing how much I hate having to go to the gas station to fill-up my ICE vehicle.

Have not taken a 'long trip' (over 300 miles) yet, but with Superchargers now dotting the majors in Texas (Columbus between Austin and Houston opens this Weds), it will make that a breeze. I don't see myself buying another ICE after realizing the true benefits of EV. Just wish X would hurry up, so I could dump my SUV.

 

[EdA]

Having only supercharged 6X in 16k miles and only seen other Tesla's at 2 of those stops - I'd like to add that if you can arrange your supercharger stop with a mealtime, 45 minutes is fine (allows for some Tesla time) but if you're not on a meal cycle then 20 minutes is too long (even with Tesla time).

So we're spoiled so far on the east coast with no (as seen by me) supercharger congestion. Only one of my supercharging stops was on the weekend, and that was past Labor Day so the summer crowds were gone...

 

[PokerBroker]

You really can't compare a 20 minute SC stop to a five minute gas station stop without adding all the gas station stops in between that were avoided while primarily charging at home. You may only use a supercharger once a month whereas you may have stopped at a gas station 5 times over the course of a month. I have yet to charge at anytime other than overnight and have 4000 miles in less than two months on my car.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

You really can't compare a 20 minute SC stop to a five minute gas station stop without adding all the gas station stops in between that were avoided while primarily charging at home. You may only use a supercharger once a month whereas you may have stopped at a gas station 5 times over the course of a month. I have yet to charge at anytime other than overnight and have 4000 miles in less than two months on my car.

Good point!

+ the more you drive electric the more you realize how bad gasoline, and burning it smells

 

[texex91]

You really can't compare a 20 minute SC stop to a five minute gas station stop without adding all the gas station stops in between that were avoided while primarily charging at home. You may only use a supercharger once a month whereas you may have stopped at a gas station 5 times over the course of a month. I have yet to charge at anytime other than overnight and have 4000 miles in less than two months on my car.

Now that's a very fair and good point.

And 5 times is a minimum I stopped at gas stations--LOVE home 'fill-up's'

 

[shady]

I have to say...I agree with them. 30 minutes IS too long to wait to fill-up. The only thing that would change my mind is if the fill-up were for free....OH WAIT.....!!!!

Just think what that line would look like if there was a sign saying FREE GAS ALL DAY TODAY!!!!

That puts in all into context!

 

[swaltner]

A line like that isn't worth it to me. The whole going far out the way to save 10-20 cents never made sense to me. In an extreme example: 30 cents difference with a 20 gallon tank = $6 difference in gas bill. Is that enough to warrant driving out your way or waiting on long lines? Heck, if we use Tesla's cost of time calculator at $100/hr, you'd make out ahead paying more and spending less time.

15 years ago, I finally talked my mom into not driving out of her way to buy gas for exactly this reason. She would drive several miles out of her way to save 2 cents/gallon before I went through the math with her. Due to limited variation in gas prices (at least in the midwest), it's "never" a good idea to go out of your way to buy gas at a station that you aren't driving by already.

My pickup will take 20 gals if I let it get fairly low. I might save 3 or 4 cents per gallon by driving to a different store. That's 80 cents total saved on the fill-up. My cost per mile on this vehicle over the 10+ years that I've owned it is 68 cents per mile. So, if the gas station is more than 3/4 mile out of my way, I've spent more than I saved to get to the different gas station. This factors in all expenses (vehicle depreciation, gas, insurance, tags, taxes, maintenance, repairs, upgrades). If you just factor in the price of the gas for driving, if the gas station is about 2 miles out of my way, I've spent more on gas than I'll save on the fill-up.

About the only time that it's worthwhile driving out of your way to a gas station is on the days that the gas price spikes (our gas prices drop 15 cents over the course of ~10 days and then spike 15 cents overnight - almost all in unison). If you use something like GasBuddy, you can sometimes find a gas station that hasn't jumped yet and get the cheaper fill-up. Out side of this situation, there's never enough price variation in my area to drive to a different gas station.

 

[dhanson865]

I get 500 miles to a tank on my 2005 Prius so I don't get gas but once every two weeks or so.

I get gas at a gas station that usually has half the pumps empty, I consider it inconvenient if by chance all the spots are filled in such a way that I can't pull straight in because my gas fill is on the wrong side making me back into a spot instead. I never have to wait for a pump to open up but occasionally the time spent waiting for one on the right side is about the same as the time I would spend turning around and backing into a space.

That said I still have to go out of my way a couple of miles to get gas and I spend 5-10 minutes filling my tank just to get the 8 or 9 gallons of gas I used. I always pump at the slowest speed because the Prius fill tube will cut off the pump if the flow is too fast or at the wrong angle.

I'd much rather be charging at home/work so I don't have to make a trip to anything other than the endpoints of my normal commute (travel no extra miles for fuel), not have to stand and monitor the pump, not have to deal with the gas fumes or in the worst case dripping/spillage.

I'd say the time spent fueling isn't as much of a downside as the convenience/cleanliness factor.

Plugging in a tesla would be clean and quick by comparison

 

[mattjn]

Why are you all so up in arms about topics like this? Some people don't want to stop for 30 minutes every 200 miles on a road trip, and they would be correct in my opinion. That is too long of a wait, even if there were superchargers everywhere I needed them. I get it, you all love the Model S and Tesla and think they can do no wrong. Not everyone is going to agree and there is nothing wrong with that. Using pictures like that to say that an ICE car is worse is crap, unless there was a hurricane or some other natural disaster coming or a gas shortage, which I've never experienced, I've never waited in a line like that for gas. It takes less than 5 minutes to fill my tank up, I don't want to stop and get a coffee or whatever for 30 minutes every time I need to refuel. Some people may not agree that the Model S is the best thing since sliced bread, and guess what, you all will survive that. Get over it.

The pretentiousness and snobbery of this community is outstanding.

 

[ckessel]

I don't want to stop and get a coffee or whatever for 30 minutes every time I need to refuel.

It wouldn't be every time. It'd only be when you're taking extended road trips.

 

[mattjn]

and that is something that happens, I will not spend 80K dollars on a car I can not use 100% of the time. Other people think the same way, I don't understand why people on this forum get so defensive about that.

 

[ckessel]

and that is something that happens, I will not spend 80K dollars on a car I can not use 100% of the time. Other people think the same way, I don't understand why people on this forum get so defensive about that.

Oh, I understand it. I think it's far less relevant than detractors claim and used as blown out of proportion FUD against EVs.

If it was genuinely a case where someone's time is truly so critical and valuable they're willing to pay many thousands of dollars to save a 20 minutes a few times a year, they really should be chauffeured so they can concentrate on whatever it is they do that makes their time so valuable.

If their time isn't that insanely valuable, and there's probably no way to put this without offending, then that sort of extreme impatience doesn't say very good things about their character.

 

[texex91]

I guess since I have two cars and I'm one person, it would almost be impossible to drive my Tesla 100% of the time. I use my ICE for bad weather days, airport parking, etc. So as much as I would like to drive it everyday, I don't.

NOW, what I am thinking about doing is possibly buying another S (maybe even a demo) and sell ICE, and that way I always have an S to drive. Just keep P+ for nice days and other occasions, ans use the second S as the back up car.

If the X were out then that would be the choice, but with it over a year away, maybe second S is the way to go.