2021 Tesla Model S, is it now the best Tesla choice?

I’m not talking about the present, historically the Fed has raised interest rates too slowly once the economy starts heating up and the markets flooded with money = over inflation, the worst case ever was back in the 80s when they really had to slam the breaks in the economy and we had interest rates fir mortgages at 15%
They even admitted now they are going to hold rates longer and hope for inflation because without it we are doomed.
The entire world economy is in shambles, if it wasn’t for the US Debt and taking out loans on the young people’s future .. well ... anyway we are in uncharted territory ands it’s going to be an interesting ride over the next decade...

Yeah, the 80's were about 30-40 years ago. You mind as well talk about the great depression or WWI/WWII. Don't forget there was a good side to the inflation of the 80's, it decreased the national debt. That's one way to pay it off, inflate it all away.
 
Lest anyone be fooled, none of them can go 400 or even 300 miles at today's interstate speeds. 220 is the real world distance at 80mph. At which point you'd best have a charger in range. Yes if you deplete the battery you the longest range Tesla cars can reach in the upper 200's, under ideal conditions. For the rest of us that need heat or AC, have headwinds, crosswinds or hills, or operate in cold temperatures, and like to stay with left lane traffic, the range is 220 and no more.

There is a reason I pass every Tesla on the interstate. They go slow to make the next charger.

If true, that’s very disappointing. It is true that battery efficiency drops severely at high rates, no matter how low the impedance. And, heat generation rises rapidly, with the square of current. Especially in round cells where the heat extraction path is limited.
 
If I want to take my family skiing the Tesla models are not useful as the charging network is sparse in New England.

Those range numbers presume perfect conditions. I would be scared to take a 299 mile range vehicle up as I am guessing maybe you get 60-70% of range in cold (correct me) and loaded up and heat/defrost blaring. Plugging into a regular outlet gives me 3 -5 miles per hour range and potentially worst if car is parked at low temp?

I really hope these become viable but New England they are out if you like to travel even a bit in to ME, NH, VT.
Maybe I am naive.

Typically people who buy a Tesla and have a family skiing trip would take their other gasoline SUV / minivan. They would not only have one Model S or 3 in the family.
 
I kind of agree with most of what you said. The only thing that I do not is the "cash" statement.
its easy to get in and out of cash and if inflation takes off in the way you are saying using the word "big inflation" then getting into cash at some point will make the most sense. stocks will get hammered and interest rates will go through the roof and so will the interest you collect on your cash.
I agree, historically, with all the BS money printing, inflation should go through the roof, if it doesnt, we have huge problems in this country.
or....

The crash happen internationally. Like the Asia Financial Crisis, the Greece / Spain almost default their debt Euro Zone crisis, the US / China trade war Crisis, the Crimea Annexation Crisis.

If crisis happen USD will be fine as the safe haven currency, despite low interest rate and high inflation.
 
Maybe I am naive.

Typically people who buy a Tesla and have a family skiing trip would take their other gasoline SUV / minivan. They would not only have one Model S or 3 in the family.
So Tesla is really luxury toy at the moment if you can get away with a 1/2 vehicle in terms of capabilities. Similar is true of the Tesla SUV.
 
So Tesla is really luxury toy at the moment if you can get away with a 1/2 vehicle in terms of capabilities. Similar is true of the Tesla SUV.

I wouldn't call it a toy. It is good to have an EV that you can charge at a lower cost than gas, and it is quiet, and it is a well made car (if you don't have to DIY repair because parts will be hard to come by and electronics may not last, like the touch screen dash). SUV isn't going to work for a lot of people as well, so for a 2 car family you need to have 1 large and 1 mid size vehicle anyways.
 
So Tesla is really luxury toy at the moment if you can get away with a 1/2 vehicle in terms of capabilities. Similar is true of the Tesla SUV.
A Tesla is a toy. Just like a Corvette, Benz, Beemer, Lexus, you name it.
No one needs any of those cars. A Honda Civic, CR-V, Totota Corolla, RAV4 are cheaper and great vehicles.

But half a vehicle? I'm not so sure about that.
 
I wouldn't call it a toy. It is good to have an EV that you can charge at a lower cost than gas, and it is quiet, and it is a well made car (if you don't have to DIY repair because parts will be hard to come by and electronics may not last, like the touch screen dash). SUV isn't going to work for a lot of people as well, so for a 2 car family you need to have 1 large and 1 mid size vehicle anyways.
Gas is hovering around $2.00/gallon so ROI is
A Tesla is a toy. Just like a Corvette, Benz, Beemer, Lexus, you name it.
No one needs any of those cars. A Honda Civic, CR-V, Totota Corolla, RAV4 are cheaper and great vehicles.

But half a vehicle? I'm not so sure about that.
I could buy a Corvette, Beemer, Lexus and go as far or short as I like across the USA without much thought. Any of them could get me to Artic circle or tip of South America without issue (maybe Corvette low clearance would be a challenge as it verges on toy).

A Tesla and any EV takes some effort and planning/challenge or turns into a toy.
 
Gas is hovering around $2.00/gallon so ROI is

I could buy a Corvette, Beemer, Lexus and go as far or short as I like across the USA without much thought. Any of them could get me to Artic circle or tip of South America without issue (maybe Corvette low clearance would be a challenge as it verges on toy).

A Tesla and any EV takes some effort and planning/challenge or turns into a toy.
A Tesla tells you where superchargers are and plans trips based on them.
You can go pretty much anywhere without much thought, but distance trips will take longer.
Personally, I fly anywhere over a few hundred miles anyway, but that's just me.

I get up every morning with a full tank and never go to a gas station. I charge with solar panels.
For the vast majority of daily driving, a Standard Range Model 3 (263 miles EPA) is more than enough.

I get over the air updates making my car better every couple of weeks.
Maintenance schedule is rotate tires and change cabin air filter.
Tesla brakes are expected to last 100K miles or more.
Teslas produce zero tailpipe emmissions.
The Model 3 is one of the safest cars you can buy and is almost impossible to steal.

Teslas (and EVs) are different. If it doesn't work for you, fine.
 
The taycan made it around the Nurburgring,the model s plaid test car broke down repeatedly leaving mouthy Elon to eat his words when he challenged Porsche.
 
Gas is hovering around $2.00/gallon so ROI is

I could buy a Corvette, Beemer, Lexus and go as far or short as I like across the USA without much thought. Any of them could get me to Artic circle or tip of South America without issue (maybe Corvette low clearance would be a challenge as it verges on toy).

A Tesla and any EV takes some effort and planning/challenge or turns into a toy.
That's where you are. Around here it is $3.9-4.3 a gallon. The rest of the world pays 4x that, easily.
 
That's where you are. Around here it is $3.9-4.3 a gallon. The rest of the world pays 4x that, easily.
Rest of world pays quite a bit more for a car, and quite a bit more for electricity. Incentive is no greater in rest of world than it is here.
 
The taycan made it around the Nurburgring,the model s plaid test car broke down repeatedly leaving mouthy Elon to eat his words when he challenged Porsche.
The Plaid beat the Taycan's time by 10 seconds. Both cars are amazing.
The Tesla Roadster 2 will annilate the Taycan and probably any other prouction car at any price.
 
Rest of world pays quite a bit more for a car, and quite a bit more for electricity. Incentive is no greater in rest of world than it is here.

We pay more for gas, more for cars, less for electricity (than California). Quebec pays some of the lowest electricity rates in the world and EV uptake there is quite high as a result. I'm currently paying $0.128/kWh flat-rate for electricity, which I intend to lock-in (rather than going back to pre-COVID TOU billing) as on-peak rates are currently >$0.20/kWh. Driving the e-tron in the same drive cycle as the Jeep reduced my cost from ~$300/month in gas to ~$20-30 for electricity, so not an insignificant difference.
 
Took a 1K trip with a new Model S a few weeks ago. Using the 5/ 99 corridor.

It wasn't fundamentally different from driving my ice vehicles. There is no charge pre- planning or thought needed now.

The car only needed 1 stop per 460 mile leg - ironically the same stop Id make in my gas car (kettleman city for those interested in details)

At 75-80 the cars range is roughly equivalent to my ability to hold in coffee. Although the car needed 1 leg my bladder needed one sooner than the car needed energy so it got a 10 minute shot in the arm at Buellton. (Andersons peas soup joint)
It also picked up a nail and had a slow leak I needed to look at.

At Kettleman it charged fast enough so that by the time I took a whiz, got a snack, and answered a few emails - the car could make it to my destination.

On a 500 mile trip of you combine a meal with a charge there simply isnt much if any difference.
If you are the kind of guy that never eats a meal on a road trip it takes longer.

The 3 still charges faster - best I saw was 200KWH (still sizzling but not the 250 Ive seen with a 3)
 
Driving the e-tron in the same drive cycle as the Jeep reduced my cost from ~$300/month in gas to ~$20-30 for electricity, so not an insignificant difference.
Tesla cars typically run 5 cents per mile at 13 cents per KWH.

Here in South Florida, it's 12 cents per KWH, but taxes/fees drive that up to just over 20 cents, to make matters worse, the rate nearly doubles to 20 cents per KWH if a homeowner uses more than 750KWH per month.

Since most homeowners are close to that, charging an EV pushes the homeowner over the limit and it costs over 30 cents per KWH. 20c + 10c taxes/fees. The cost per mile turns out to be around 12-13 cents or more, depending on charger efficiency, AC use and speed driven. (we do a lot of high speed highway)

Interestingly, with gas at $1.95 per gallon at the local Costco, driving a Honda Accord Hybrid costs a tick over 4 cents per mile.
 
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And, to make matters a bit more interesting, Tesla charges nearly 30 cents per KWH at the Florida/Georgia interstate superchargers. So a Model 3 on my typical high speed highway, 800+ mile round trip, Florida to Georgia to Florida run (drains the battery fast) , will cost about 12 cents per mile. More than twice what a hybrid costs.

And it requires leaving with a full charge, (Tesla claims) charging twice on the way up, charging fully at the destination, and twice on the way home. For a total of 5 stops. The need to charge twice may be due to charger location and not range. 200 mile highway range is possible in long range Tesla's.

The Honda Accord hybrid needs to stop once on the way home.
 
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Tesla cars typically run 5 cents per mile at 13 cents per KWH.

Here in South Florida, it's 12 cents per KWH, but taxes/fees drive that up to just over 20 cents, to make matters worse, the rate nearly doubles to 20 cents per KWH if a homeowner uses more than 750KWH per month.

Since most homeowners are close to that, charging an EV pushes the homeowner over the limit and it costs over 30 cents per KWH. 20c + 10c taxes/fees. The cost per mile turns out to be around 12-13 cents or more, depending on charger efficiency, AC use and speed driven. (we do a lot of high speed highway)

Interestingly, with gas at $1.95 per gallon at the local Costco, driving a Honda Accord Hybrid costs a tick over 4 cents per mile.
Good points. Electricity is expensive in Silicon Valley, about 17 cents per kWh. One of the highest in the nation if I am not mistaken.
And I expect it to rise as PGE gets sued for burning down our forrests. Those poor execs gotta get their million dollar bonuses!
Petrol starts about $3.09 (cash) for rag; cheaper at Costco.

Our solar panels will net $60K easily over their 25 year lifespan. Probably much more as energy costs rise and I blast the AC.
My electricity cost is $15 per month to be on the grid, but they offset some of that is by the extra energy sent back and resold by PGE. Always less than $10; they have some kinda minimum chargers I believe.
Solar panels here are a no brainer especially with all the shiny new Corollas (aka Model 3) running around.
We don't use the Model 3 all that much (too many cars), but it gets me closer to the high solar up front cost to break even point faster.
It's kinda funny; I used to be a cheapskate and not run the AC... Things have changed, lemme tell ya. I still turn off lights (LEDs) though.

All good.
 
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