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2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test
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2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test
Edmunds conducts a Long-Term Test of the 2013 Tesla Model S and takes a road trip.
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Not to say that if I were a Leaf or other EV owner I would be willing to put up with that much effort to travel outside a comfort range/zone.
A future update to the Nav system is where you would input your final destination and the navigation will plot an optimal route that would incorporate the Superchargers in your route. As it stands, you must navigate first to the Supercharger in the Nav system and then navigate to your final destination after reaching the Supercharger (No waypoint system in the nav yet).
Now the argument of 'What if there is no Supercharger that is convenient along my route' is valid and that will have to be addressed by the continued buildout of the Supercharger network over time. But the nav system makes it very easy to find and get to a Supercharging station (as long as there is one generally along the route you plan to travel). Tesla is working hard to have comprehensive Supercharger coverage around the United States and Europe. The West coast I-5 corridor is covered and the East coast is in progress. The middle of the country should be covered in the next 2 years and there is the possibility that third parties will step up and start installing Superchargers outside the Tesla network. I believe there are a few shopping malls that have announced plans to do so already.
It is really a fantastic roadtrip car (trips longer than 200 miles is how I'm defining roadtrip) that is no less convenient than a gas car for the majority of the population (As long as you have convenient Supercharger access along your general route). If you are one that wants to plant yourself in the drivers seat and power through to a destination, you will not be able to achieve that right now with the Model S (although Tesla has mentioned in interviews that it would be great to get the Supercharger times down to 5 or 10 minutes and there is also the potential for battery swap that would be less than a minute).
Besides, don't most people who can afford a Tesla usually fly to distant locations? If they take a car cross country or even someplace 1000 miles away, it's because they have time to burn and want to see the sites.