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      12-15-2012, 06:40 AM   #78
Efthreeoh
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Drives: The E90 + Z4 Coupe & Z3 R'ster
Join Date: May 2012
Location: Virginia

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dozhdbog View Post
That's all well and good and I love crunching numbers quite a bit as well. As you point out below, considering the niche the Tesla resides in, the horsepower it has, and its size, the numbers work out much better when it's compared to something more in its class.

Not that a 528 is in its class, but it certainly swept it there in terms of energy consumption, 0-60 times, hp/tq, carbon footprint, etc, etc.

From motortrend:
During our drive, we used 78.2 kW-hrs of electricity (93 percent of the battery's rated capacity). What does that mean? It's the energy equivalent of 2.32 gasoline gallons, or 100.7 mpg-e before charging losses. That BMW 528i following us (powered by a very fuel-efficient, turbocharged, direct-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine) consumed 7.9 gallons of gas for a rate of 30.1 mpg. The Tesla's electrical energy cost for the trip was $10.17 (at California's average electrical rate); the BMW's drive cost $34.55. The 528i emitted 152 lbs of CO2; the Model S, 52 -- from the state's power plants.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz2F3R0TOaQ




We do know that Tesla warranties their batteries for at least 8 years/100k, so battery replacement before then can be covered.
Thanks. I had already read that article in August. I'd like to see the math on how MT calculated the CO2 emissions for Charging theTesla's battery (@52 pounds). I think it is low. I don't think they are counting for various tranmission losses to get the electricity into the battery. I'd go 20% total, so it's still way less than the Bimmer, and calcs for me around 66 pounds.

But back to the discussion regarding the battery. So if I run the numbers for my car at 100,000 miles it comes out as this: Notes; I estimated the cost of maintenance by just cutting it in half assuming a constant cost per mile for maintenance. My car was well paid off by 100,000 miles so I kept the same cost for the "Vehicle Cost" number.

Vehicle Cost (purchase price and loan cost)--------$39,554
Fuel Cost (real recorded data)----------------------$10,862
Maintenance (fluid changes, tires, brakes etc.)-----$4,353
Total Ownership Cost -------------------------------$54,796

Tesla S (Estimates):

Vehicle Cost (purchase price and loan cost)--------$69,892
Fuel Cost ($6.28 per charge, 1049 charges)--------$3,395
Maintenance (tires and brakes only)-----------------$2,800
Total Ownership Cost -------------------------------$76,087

If you did the math on the original numbers from my other post, the delta operating costs between the two cars at 194,000 miles was $10,512 (more for the Tesla). Working the math on the numbers above, the delta at 100,000 miles is now $21,316. So it shows that to make the Tesla work as a viable alternative to an ICE car you need to drive it to a very high mileage to amortize the initial cost (price) of the car. If the battery doesn't last up to the high mileage range (over 150,000 to 200,000 miles) then all bets are off. I'd bet the battery replacement for a 60KWh Tesla battery is near $20K.
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