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How ridiculous would it be for a car company to give you a lifetime unlimited supply of gasoline along with the purchase of your car? Absolutely ridiculous. Gue

How ridiculous would it be for a car company to give you a lifetime unlimited supply of gasoline along with the purchase of your car? Absolutely ridiculous. Guess what? That's exactly what Tesla does. http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger Unlike gas cars, you start off with 200 miles of range EVERY MORNING since you charge overnight. Most Americans also only drive an average of 40 miles a day. And for those long trips, you have Superchargers.

reasonishy 11y ago
They recently told people to stop using the supercharger so much. I'm doubtful it's a viable business model long term.
tw04 11y ago
How ridiculous would it be for a car company to give you a lifetime unlimited supply of gasoline - but you have to wait in line 30 minutes for it every time. And oh by the way, it's an hour from your house, and you'll use a third of a tank getting there and back. And there's only like 200 stations total worldwide. So... awesome, right? Oh, and we built the cost of those stations into the car, so it's not REALLY free. yawn
- giarc 11y ago
  I can't comment on some things (like the line ups at super charger stations) but other things I can. You say "it's an hour from your house", if you are at your house, why wouldn't you just charge at your house? 200 supercharger stations worldwide, but that's not counting electric vehicle charging stations, plus the station in your driveway. All gas stations are further away than the tesla station in the garage. Yes, the cost of the vehicle includes the cost of building supercharger stations, but then again, the cost of gas includes the cost of building stations too, so maybe a bad comparison. I see where you are going with your arguments, however they don't all apply. I think the most valid thing you said is perhaps the line ups, but again I can't comment on that, not to mention gas stations have line ups... so there's that.
- sahaskatta 11y ago
  There's some confusion, let me address a few points: 1) Superchargers aren't geographically positioned for daily routines, but rather strategically located between major cities across the country for long range trips. 2) There's a lot more places to charge than Tesla's 200 Superchargers. U.S. Department of Energy currently states that there are ~10k public charging stations ( http://www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/?fuel=ELEC http://www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/?fuel=ELEC ). This also doesn't even count the many private chargers on commercial property provided by employers to their employees. (ChargePoint's commercial network has 20k stations as well.) 3) Most people will charge at home and start with 200 miles of range each day vs. filling up a 350 mile range gas tank once a week. 4) The cost to install a charger isn't excessive: my parents spent about $600 to get an 80 amp breaker outfitted into their 25 year old home. The work was complete in a half day. (When they visit my home, they were able to plug directly into my 240V dryer outlet to recharge.) Even with the cost of install + cost of electric factored in, it's still 3-4x cheaper to travel the same number of miles on gas each year.
- greglindahl 11y ago
  You don't have to "wait in line 30 minutes for it every time". Please: make your point without exaggerating.
  - tw04 11y ago
    The recharge takes 30 minutes... >What should I do if all Supercharger stalls are occupied when I arrive? Check to see if current users have left contact information on their dashboard and give them a call. Most customers charge for 20 to 40 minutes. http://www.teslamotors.com/support/supercharging http://www.teslamotors.com/support/supercharging
    - greglindahl 11y ago
      It is not the case that you have to "wait in line 30 minutes for it every time". I've waited in line for 5 minutes, twice, out of the couple of dozen times I've supercharged. The other times there was a free charger when I arrived.
      - tw04 11y ago
        If you waited 5 minutes, you were at 3/4 of a charge. Physics dictate how fast you can charge a battery, and it isn't faster than 30 minutes if you're at 1/4 or less. I can only ask: why would you bother recharging at 3/4 of a charge? I've literally never in my life stopped to top off my tank at 3/4 of a tank of gasoline.
        greglindahl 11y ago
        "Wait in line" means I'm unable to get to a charger because they're all occupied by other cars. That explains why your comments are so confusing.
        tw04 11y ago
        Filling up my gas tank takes roughly 90 seconds. The only equivalent is "waiting in line". There wouldn't ever be a circumstance in which it would take 30 minutes to fill my tank.
frandroid 11y ago
Considering the warning letters they sent to frequent supercharger users, what Tesla gives is not a lifetime supply of Gasoline. What they provide are charging way points for long distance travellers. You're still supposed to charge at home.
deleted 11y ago
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blakeyrat 11y ago
Yeah, but do they do the home charger installation free? (I'm seriously asking; I don't know.) As someone who doesn't have power to his 1927 garage, this would represent a pretty huge cost for me and was a major reason for my choosing the hybrid Fusion over the Energi plug-in. I mean you just plop out "you charge overnight" as if it happens by magic. Someone has to come and install that appliance. And it's gonna cost money, perhaps a significant amount of it.

reasonishy 11y ago

They recently told people to stop using the supercharger so much. I'm doubtful it's a viable business model long term.

tw04 11y ago

How ridiculous would it be for a car company to give you a lifetime unlimited supply of gasoline - but you have to wait in line 30 minutes for it every time. And oh by the way, it's an hour from your house, and you'll use a third of a tank getting there and back. And there's only like 200 stations total worldwide. So... awesome, right? Oh, and we built the cost of those stations into the car, so it's not REALLY free. yawn

giarc 11y ago
I can't comment on some things (like the line ups at super charger stations) but other things I can. You say "it's an hour from your house", if you are at your house, why wouldn't you just charge at your house? 200 supercharger stations worldwide, but that's not counting electric vehicle charging stations, plus the station in your driveway. All gas stations are further away than the tesla station in the garage. Yes, the cost of the vehicle includes the cost of building supercharger stations, but then again, the cost of gas includes the cost of building stations too, so maybe a bad comparison. I see where you are going with your arguments, however they don't all apply. I think the most valid thing you said is perhaps the line ups, but again I can't comment on that, not to mention gas stations have line ups... so there's that.
sahaskatta 11y ago
There's some confusion, let me address a few points: 1) Superchargers aren't geographically positioned for daily routines, but rather strategically located between major cities across the country for long range trips. 2) There's a lot more places to charge than Tesla's 200 Superchargers. U.S. Department of Energy currently states that there are ~10k public charging stations ( http://www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/?fuel=ELEC http://www.afdc.energy.gov/locator/stations/?fuel=ELEC ). This also doesn't even count the many private chargers on commercial property provided by employers to their employees. (ChargePoint's commercial network has 20k stations as well.) 3) Most people will charge at home and start with 200 miles of range each day vs. filling up a 350 mile range gas tank once a week. 4) The cost to install a charger isn't excessive: my parents spent about $600 to get an 80 amp breaker outfitted into their 25 year old home. The work was complete in a half day. (When they visit my home, they were able to plug directly into my 240V dryer outlet to recharge.) Even with the cost of install + cost of electric factored in, it's still 3-4x cheaper to travel the same number of miles on gas each year.
greglindahl 11y ago
You don't have to "wait in line 30 minutes for it every time". Please: make your point without exaggerating.
- tw04 11y ago
  The recharge takes 30 minutes... >What should I do if all Supercharger stalls are occupied when I arrive? Check to see if current users have left contact information on their dashboard and give them a call. Most customers charge for 20 to 40 minutes. http://www.teslamotors.com/support/supercharging http://www.teslamotors.com/support/supercharging
  - greglindahl 11y ago
    It is not the case that you have to "wait in line 30 minutes for it every time". I've waited in line for 5 minutes, twice, out of the couple of dozen times I've supercharged. The other times there was a free charger when I arrived.
    - tw04 11y ago
      If you waited 5 minutes, you were at 3/4 of a charge. Physics dictate how fast you can charge a battery, and it isn't faster than 30 minutes if you're at 1/4 or less. I can only ask: why would you bother recharging at 3/4 of a charge? I've literally never in my life stopped to top off my tank at 3/4 of a tank of gasoline.
      - greglindahl 11y ago
        "Wait in line" means I'm unable to get to a charger because they're all occupied by other cars. That explains why your comments are so confusing.
        tw04 11y ago
        Filling up my gas tank takes roughly 90 seconds. The only equivalent is "waiting in line". There wouldn't ever be a circumstance in which it would take 30 minutes to fill my tank.

frandroid 11y ago

Considering the warning letters they sent to frequent supercharger users, what Tesla gives is not a lifetime supply of Gasoline. What they provide are charging way points for long distance travellers. You're still supposed to charge at home.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

blakeyrat 11y ago

Yeah, but do they do the home charger installation free? (I'm seriously asking; I don't know.) As someone who doesn't have power to his 1927 garage, this would represent a pretty huge cost for me and was a major reason for my choosing the hybrid Fusion over the Energi plug-in. I mean you just plop out "you charge overnight" as if it happens by magic. Someone has to come and install that appliance. And it's gonna cost money, perhaps a significant amount of it.