Quote:
Originally Posted by chumley
That's a bit harsh 
Really, I think some are just missing the point completely and judging from the examples must just be from a different demographic or live somewhere different.
This isn't a car that requires analysis via spreadsheet. When the next model comes out that is being billed as the more practical, affordable alternative then sure, compare away. NO ONE who buys this car does an analysis on cost per mile any more than the people who bought the original roadster at 2x the price did.
Even if you exclude the group of people who can't afford to buy a 5 series or E class but can somehow come up with enough $$ to lease one, there's still plenty of 1%'ers to keep them busy building cars for the next couple years.
As far as cool factor, again some of you guys have no clue and spend too much time reading car magazines. I'm fortunate enough to live in a very affluent area. An area that is the polar opposite of the pretentious flash of places like Miami. Maserati's, Aston Martin, Bentleys are daily sightings and are far less unique than the Tesla is and, believe it or not, attract far less attention. Probably won't be that way forever but "cool" to the group of people that can write a $100k check for what will likely be a 4th or 5th car has nothing to do with 0-60 times or even sticker price.
The guy I know who's getting one around the end of the month is dumping his S63 AMG for it and he's a guy who has owned more cars than most people will in 2-3 lifetimes. He likes the way it looks, he's driven it and by the time you get to that level, you're looking for something new. Time will tell whether it sticks. |
So your spreadsheet comment is targeted at me, and I'd like to counter the comment. I believe you are mistaken.
Why wouldn't the Tesla S be a car one analyzes with a spreadsheet? I think it is exactly a car to be analyzed by a cost of ownership calculation. The S is the first electric car that comes close to offering sufficient range to possibly use it as a primary car. It is a 4-door sedan with a 3-row seating option for a larger family. The Tesla company is supposedly building a network of supercharger stations across the country on major interstates to support the use of the car for long-distance travel. So the car is being offered not as some rich-dude toy, or electric-vehicle curiosity tidbit, but as a legitimate replacement for an ICE-powered vehicle. All the information provided on Tesla's website is geared toward convincing the buyer why owning an EV is a financially viable option. In fact, the Tesla website has very little "green technology" crap on it and is fully geared toward the cost of ownership to use an EV instead of a petrol-powered car. So if one were considering switching from a petro-powered car to an EV, it's a natural consideration to evaluate the cost benefit of switching to EV. What Tesla's website doesn't say is, "Hey, we've built a fucking really cool car, so just buy it because it's really fucking cool."
Originally the S was being offered with three battery sizes in 45, 60, and 85kWh, all priced about $10K apart from each other. Tesla apparently hasn't recognized enough orders for the 45kWh version and has decided to drop that "trim" level. Apparently the 140-mile range is not a viable alternative for people considering EVs (dang, there's that comparative shopping thing again!).
The 60kWh trim offers usable range for a semi-reasonable price of just north of $60,000. My thought was I'd never buy a $60,000 car for the commute I put my car though, which is 170 miles/day and about 33,000 miles a year. However, considering the Tesla S's supposed lower operating costs for fuel and theoretical near-zero maintenance cost (I thought), the total life cycle cost equation could balance out with a high purchase price vs. low operating cost. Hence the need to layout the calculations and compare the numbers.
Sure, there are much less expensive cars that will fit the bill for my commute at a far less total life-cycle cost, but the trade off is generally $15K - $25K cars are not vehicles one would want to spend 20 hours a week commuting in. And for my particular commute that starts in the boondocks with excellent back-country roads (BMWs were made for) and heads to a large city with all the traffic that garners, my preference is to have a nice driving car to help entertain me during the commute. My E90 fits those needs perfectly, but it would not have been my 1st choice. The issue was my car was 18 months and 22,000 miles old when I changed commutes, which considering the deprecation hit, it was not best economical choice to change vehicles at the time. Yup, the Tesla S is not in the same class as a 3-Series, but it's the only car Tesla offers right now, so it is the one I used to compare switching to an EV. Hence the need to layout the calculations and compare the numbers.
Most wealthy people I know do cost benefit analysis on most aspects of their lives; it’s why they became wealthy…