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Comment by j_col | Hacker News Reader

Doesn't stop me from wanting to buy one (badly). If only they exported to Europe (hey, we send you our cars, so why not return the love?).

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Out of interest, what appeals to you about the Tesla S? It's clearly a lovely bit of technology but personally I can't get past the idea of the limited range (maximum of 300 miles) and obvious potential difficulties around recharging.

[NB I'm in no way implying that anyone has to justify their tastes in cars (or anything else) - I'm just interested!]

For one thing, that limited range is much less a concern in densely populated Western Europe. I'm Dutch and from my home town, I can drive not just to the nearest border but literally anywhere in the country. Admittedly that's only one way but also without charging at all along the way.

Second, the fuel prices are much higher. Petrol is $8.21 / gallon, so the fuel economics are very different.

Third, road taxes, VAT, car registration, etc. all offer steep discounts or zero-rates for electric vehicles.

How often do you actually drive 200+ miles in a single day? Personally I have averaged 8k miles per year over the last 5 years and renting a car for the single long trip 340 miles I have made over that time period is not exactly a big deal.

PS: People talk about how long it takes to get a full charge but if you can add 100 miles to the range in an hour while your stopped for lunch that bumps the daily range to 400 which would have more than covered me, but they can apparently get close to a full charge in 45 minutes.

Any chance you're from Europe? A saying that I appreciate having spent a large chunk of last year in Europe: "Australians/Americans think that 100 years is a long time, while Europeans think that 100 km is a long distance"

There is an episode of Top Gear where Clarkson shows off his newly purchased Ford Blow-job (or something). And the other presenters move in for the kill. Clarkson clearly knew what was coming ...

  - How many miles per gallon do you get?
  - Errr..
  - Is it 4 miles per gallon?
  - And how big is the tank?
  - Errr
  - Only enough room for 19 gallons?
  - Err, yes.
  - So thats 76 miles on one tank?
  - Err Yes
  - And how far away from the office do you live?
  - Err, 77 miles.

Yes, Clarkson was willing to buy a car that would need refilling every time he drove to or from the office.

Seriously, do not worry about "only 300 miles and I will need to charge it". People will buy it, and then go look for a plug in station.

Not the best example to pick - didn't he return his Ford GT for quality problems and describe the short time he had it as "The most miserable month’s motoring it is possible to imagine."?

While this is hilarious. It's important to remember that charging EV cars isn't as fast as refueling at the moment. Maybe eventually though.

> How often do you actually drive 200+ miles in a single day?

At least once a week we're close enough that 200 miles is our "with a reasonable safety margin" number.

BTW - when I'm driving 400 miles in a day, I don't spend an hour eating lunch on the way. (It's very hard to average 50 miles an hour, so 400 miles is around 8 hours. I've actually done far more, and you can't do that if you're off the road.) And, why are you assuming that the lunch place will have the relevant charging station?

It sounds like this car would not be a good fit for you. I would recommend that you not purchase one.

I was responding to the insinuation that needing to drive 200+ miles regularly is almost unknown and the claim that an hour-long charge is acceptable for long distance trips.

In other words "nobody needs what it doesn't do" is wrong as is "it can handle that situation".

"How often do you actually drive 200+ miles in a single day?"

I'm probably not an average driver - I don't drive at all during the week (walk to work and pretty much everywhere else, taxi to airport) but when I do drive to go walking/cycling/skiing the total I drive in a weekend is probably close to 300 miles - either in one day or parking car where recharging won't be available.

As a data point, I'm about to get rid of a car that has a range of about 240 miles or so (12 mpg). I drove it infrequently and for shortish distances so it didn't bother me at all.

You don't need to drive 200+ miles a day often to make it a requirement for a car. Emergencies, spontaneous road trips, trips to relatives, etc, are all unusual but crucial.

I think 300 miles is plenty for most people (for me definitely). Most people drive less than 30 miles a day. I could even drive from DC to Pittsburgh without having to recharge (about 240 miles).

Actually, Daimler-Mercedes bought 10% of Tesla a month before the U.S. government announced the loan. U.S. taxpayers are going to get the downside if the company fails but the European automaker gets the upside if it makes it. Well played.

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