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Comment by kennethcwilbur | Hacker News Reader

I've been driving a tesla roadster for about a year. It's my daily commuter.

I plug the car into a regular 110V outlet. I typically get 30-50 miles of charge overnight, depending on what time I get home and when I leave. My commute is only 10 miles each way so it's 100% full most mornings when I get in.

I've verified the car can do 240 miles between cities but you have to set the cruise to 60 mph or below. I keep a gas car for long road trips and camping, etc., but I don't use it much.

The Tesla is very cool. Strangers stop me to talk about it multiple times per week. Customer service has been off the charts.

High recommend. Go buy one.

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I forgot to mention what is maybe the best part. Surprised the article doesn't talk about this.

When you drive an EV, acceleration is instant. Like, at the same time your foot goes down, your shoulders get thrown back.

Gas cars often take 0.5-2 seconds to get response from the engine, depending on the car & current conditions at the time you accelerate.

You get used to the acceleration in the Tesla after a while. But one year in, I'm still loving the instant response. That's what I really miss when I'm driving the gas car. It's just awesome.

The article does talk about this...

I think you're attributing to throttle lag something that is primarily attributable to torque (which isn't to say there isn't throttle response lag, just it's a minor component imo). Diesels are similar to EVs in the sense that you don't need to let the engine rev up or downshift to get that "throw you back" feel quickly. Depends on the car, obviously.

Depending on the engine computer (or lack thereof), a couple seconds of throttle lag isn't unreasonable. One of the things my flight instructor made a point to show me while learning to fly small planes (with carbureted engines, so the effect was magnified compared to what you'd see on a modern fuel-injected auto) was throttle lag on a balked landing (go-around). Most aircraft engines directly drive the propeller, so there are no transmission effects to confusing things. Shoving the throttle from idle to wide-open can actually cause a dip in RPM as the higher manifold pressure condenses formerly vaporized fuel and the fuel system tries to catch up.

Not many transmissionless or clutchless diesels in the world. It's not even close to the same thing.

As if most of us can afford one. When you take in to account the sticker price of these EVs, I'd rather keep my Civic and pay for gas.

You need to factor in that you don't have to pay for gas or most regular maintenance, and there are significantly fewer parts that will break over the lifetime of the vehicle. You also aren't the target demographic for the Model S -- it's aimed at the luxury and sports car markets.

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