2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

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2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

We can now drive our 2013 Tesla Model S from Mexico to Canada thanks to new superchargers in northern California and Oregon

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mfennell

But, but, I can't go to [place X] from [place Y], which I have to do every [z] times per [period]! The Model S is useless and has no future!

duck87

@mfennell: Said no one (on this website) ever? Did you stumble to your computer in a Halloween candy induced haze and mistake us for Autoblog commenters?

actualsize

Go to http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger and move the slider to see how soon the XY issue will be handled. And it's been my experience that they meet or exceed this schedule. Also, most of us have more than one car. We choose which one to take based on many factors. The more time I spend with EVs, the more I'm convinced most 2-car households could easily own one EV. And I'm including anything with at least 80 miles of range in that statement. Purchase price is the sole barrier, in my mind.

fordson1

"All I need now is a set of winter tires." No way are you getting 21" winter tires. So you also need some winter wheels in probably 19" size...which ain't cheap. So say $1,700 all told including mounting and balancing to use this car for the trip and take advantage of the free Supercharger network. That's a real bargain. @mfennell: hey, if your long-distance driving is limited to traipsing back and forth along a couple-hundred-mile-wide corridor extending north and south only through 3 of the 50 states, you're in luck.

fordson1

Dan, I ran the slider as far as it would go and according to that, in 2015 you'll still be charging up at the RV park near your folks' house and you still won't be able to duplicate your Lexus GS350 Texas road trip using the Supercharger network. The part about having one EV in a 2-car household, I mostly agree with. And now back in the present, tell us what's up with this car's final drive. Because nobody's taking it on any road trip until that's dealt with.

stoneymonster

@fordson1 Last time I took a long trip to my folks' house (using superchargers), I charged overnight at their house. Most people have 220 in their garage.

dan319

I had the same problem while visiting my in-laws in Virginia from Pennsylvania. I needed a way to charge my S85 while in VA to be able to get back home. My father in law has an old three prong NEMA 10-30 for his dryer which of course works off 220 Volts. I purchased a NEMA 10-30 adapter from Tesla, bought 25 feet of three strand 6 gauge cable and added a plug and a receptacle to the ends of the cable that created effectively an extension cord for my Tesla mobile charging cable. That would give me a total of 45 feet or so to get to the dryer outlet in his house from his driveway for an overnight charge. I blissfully set off for Virginia knowing that if I screwed up on building the cable, I might be stranded in VA an extra day. Everything worked like a charm. I needed to set the charging rate to 24 amps (which the Tesla does automatically, anyway, when it senses the NEMA 10-30). Be aware that for dryers purchased after 1996, you're dealing very likely with a four prong NEMA 14-30 connector.

qwaszxxx121

There have been quite a number of Model S Long term updates with no mention of what that ominous sound was you guys reported a couple weeks back. An update was promised.. any word about what it was. I assume it was checked out..

actualsize

Once again, Tesla is stonewalling on the answer regarding the powertrain noise and its source. They recovered the entire part and swapped in a new one. It was not disassembled and inspected at the service center before our very eyes. I assume it was sent back to HQ. The beat goes one while we attempt to extract an explanation, WHICH MAY NEVER COME because it's bad PR for them and they know it. As for the topic of this post, 21" winter tires are available from Pirelli through Tirerack. Sure, we don't need them all year in SoCal, but other readers might be interested, so we do it anyway (if I can get budget approval). And yeah, I need to plug in at my parent's place when I get there. Of course I do. No one said the Supercharger network would be the only source of electricity you'd ever need. That's not what it's for. It just gets you up the road and, someday, across the country. Once you arrive, it's on you to charge at local sources, just like it is at home. The point is this: Tesla has something that no other EV has: the ability to go places. Not everyplace, but it's a quadrillion times more road-tripable than any other EV. (I do not include the Volt and its ilk in the definition of EV)