Do you charge it mainly at home or at charging stations? What is your typical charge time at a charging station? Do you usually charge it all the way or just enough to get home so you can finish charging there?
How do you use your EV? Mainly as a short range daily commuter? Do you think you could get by with the EV as your sole vehicle?
What is your plan for when the battery loses capacity? Does Tesla have a policy for that?
Do you find your EV wears out tires faster than your ICE vehicles?
Do you use the heat and A/C much in your part of the country, and how do they affect the range?
Please forgive all the Qs...I’m just curious
Currently I’m still charging at charging stations. I have yet to get around to installing a home charger. Florida Power and Light has a bunch of free charging stations around and I use those when I’m out to dinner, or at a local brew pub.
The rest of the time I use the Tesla superchargers.
We keep the charge level between 20% and 80% unless we plan to drive a long distance, like Key West, then we’ll charge it to 100% before we leave.
Typically, we put the car on the Supercharger that’s at the local Target, then we’ll go in and do some shopping while it charges.
We use it as a commuter car, maybe 40-50 miles per day, but we’ll also take it on long trips, like to Key West (372 miles). There are plenty of superchargers along the way and the software does a great job of recommending charging stops and charging times while you’re on your long drive. You can put 200 miles really quickly, so it’s not a big deal.
Yes, for us we could get by with just an EV if we wanted.
The long term studies show that the batteries are still well above 80% capacity after 200,000 miles, and that would be kinda like switching from the long range version to the standard version, so it would just become our second car.
By the time I put 200k miles on it there should be a pretty easy solution for replacing batteries too. Not worried about it at this point.
I have not had the car long enough to need new tires, but they are wearing fine and don’t seem to be wearing out quicker than normal.
Yes, A/C is a must in Florida! I have not seen noticeable range-reduction from the A/C usage. Sentry Mode will reduce your battery range, so we only use it when we’re parked somewhere where we need toe car to record its surroundings. It’s not a huge difference, but it is something to be aware of.
Also, if you’re wanting to continuously drive 90 mph on I95, then you’ll see range reduction!
All in all, we’re super happy with the purchase. It’s super quiet, super fast, the safety features are incredible. I’ve never felt safer in a car in my life. Truly amazing American ingenuity at play here!!
I can answer some of your questions you posed to rivercat. I've owned an EV for over 4 years, and use it as a daily driver.
Charge it mainly at home. There have been a few times I charged it at shopping malls or casinos when far from home, but I prefer driving it no farther than half of the car's range so I can return home without recharging on the road. Because of using a charge station at places that I spend few hours at, it isn't inconvenient. I own several vehicles, would not consider only having just an EV. My gas truck is good for hauling or long distance drives; so is my gas sports car (trips between 300 to 2000 miles away). But I save a lot of money not having to buy gas all the time. The EV is ideal for local shopping or cruising near town, and can carry a lot of goods. My truck is used for large stuff.
Tire wear is a false claim by EV haters. No more wear than other vehicles, the tires roll and wear depends on how you race (I have a heavy foot in my sports car).
I don't need heat and A/C much, here in the SF Bay Area, and has minimal effect on EV range. I use it as much as I like because of ease of recharging at home.
As for battery capacity - so far after 4 years I still have 100 percent capacity. Warranty guarantees replacement for 10 years if the battery pack goes bad. Before then I'll probably upgrade to a newer model.
I find that there is a lot of false information on both sides of the EV vs ICE debate. EV's are not for everyone. ICE cars can be problematic for many things going wrong and costing owners thousands of dollars in repairs, while EV cars often trouble-free in maintenance. My EV service visits every 6 months run about $35 each time, while my ICE service visits cost hundreds of dollars, sometimes almost a thousand dollars (and then there is the high cost of gas which the cars suck up constantly).