May 2016 we finally switched to all electric driving, after realizing that we put most miles on the short distance electric car and the 2014 Honda Odyssey was collecting dust for anything less than 150 mile distance.
Our gas station is our home 🙂 looking good freshly painted under a rainbow…
Why 150 miles ? Because that is about twice the distance of the eGolf on a single charge (84 miles) and charging once in the middle of a trip was preferable to hobbling around in even a fairly new gas car, because of the electric drive being so smooth it is closer to gliding, acceleration with instant torque, and a feeling of efficiency even when driving it without regard for consumption, knowing that the solar panels on our roof produce more than we would consume.
First snow in Tahoe was creating a mess. Thankfully with all wheel drive and lots of energy to keep warm and comfortable, we did not need snow chains for our 20″ continental LX m+s tires that we use all year round. Loving how the falcon wing doors form an umbrella to keep the snow out when we got in and out of the car to throw snowballs while legacy gas cars stopped in front of us for hours to get their snow chains on, get towed to the side when they ran out of fuel idling for hours or slid around on summer tires. Thankful for having all those superchargers on the way so we did not have to worry about range, despite the cold and heating while standing taking its toll.
So in May 2016 we traded in our 2014 Honda Odyssey 8 seater which we had loved until we discovered electric driving. Suddenly when going back to driving it, everything feels wrong, it smells bad, hobbles and wobbles, unevenly accelerates. You get spoiled by electric driving so quickly. So we loaded the Odyssey with luggage for its last partial vacation trip, drove it down to Fremont, and traded it in for a Tesla Model X 90D. We moved the luggage and went on our first vacation trip into the Sierras, about 400 miles round trip. There was a slight feeling of regret that we got the 6 seat version instead of the 7 seat version because that meant a 3-people family that was going to the same destination had to take their Volt instead of riding with us, but since it was a long weekend it may be all for the better. And we prefer the faster getting in and out of the six seater compared to moving seats forward and backward to access the last row in the 7 seater.
Topping off on a standard electrical outlet gets us 20 miles over night added. Not really needed since we filled up on the supercharger along the way to arrive with good range left, but definitely a plus.
We have done many road trips since then, some more far than 1000 miles round trip. Supercharging makes it easy to go the distance and knowing that it is already all paid for makes it easier to pay a meal at Harris Ranch Restaurant while filling up for free 🙂
So far the car has been nothing short of amazing. And my wife finally lets me take the eGolf again 🙂
Highlights:
- never again make time to drive to a gas station, oil change or smog check appointments, just plug in at night and full in the morning
- preheat car cabin in the garage, start from iphone while having breakfast or when arriving close to parking lot, no poisonous fumes emitted. Works on both cars.
- silent gliding smooth ride with superb acceleration and excellent traction control in adverse weather conditions
- long distance trips much easier thanks to autopilot taking over micromanaging tasks while I focus on the overall traffic situation and adjust speed or advise it to do a lane change for me. feels like half the distance driven on arrival
Downsides:
- don’t forget to plug it in over night 🙂 Thankfully the phone app sends notifications on charge start and stop so if you set it to start charging at 9pm you can set an alert in your calendar to double check that the notification of starting came in
- tesla model S and model X are still very pricey, this will only change 2017 when the Model 3 comes out.
- makes you realize how bad gas cars are in comparison and you are spoiled forever, the idea of going back to gas cars is like handing in your iphone for a rotary phone  landline.
- You get annoyed when driving the non-tesla and the driver door does not close for you automatically
Update:
In January 2018 I finally replaced the VW eGolf with a Tesla Model 3, which is such a tremendous upgrade, and a relief to never have range anxiety again. The sound system is amazing, autopilot is a life and sanity saver, and the promise of FSD makes it a future proof investment, or if anything, a great toy that gets more and more interesting over time through software updates. Summoning it across parking lots out of its parking spot towards the entrance where you wait under cover in the rain, sentry mode camera recording as part of the alarm system, Netflix and Youtube watching while parked, all those are features I did not even dream about getting when I bought the car and that arrived over time as free software updates in my garage over wifi in the night as Tesla figures out from customer feedback what else would be awesome to do with this car.
Even now in 2020, I still am looking for excuses to drive, this car is so amazingly balanced power and weight wise, it makes you giggle when it turns on a dime around the corner.
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