Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!

2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited September 2014 in Tesla

image2013 Tesla Model S Long-Term Road Test

The HOV-lane access stickers arrived for our 2013 Tesla Model S.

Read the full story here


Tagged:

Comments

  • bassrockerxbassrockerx Member Posts: 24
    thats maddening that a single person can have acess to the carpool lane just because the powertrain is electric instead of gasoline. especially since it is a luxury vehicle.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    I hate to admit it, but the HOV access stickers were a major factor in my decision to buy a Model S. I have since grown to appreciate it in myriad ways, but being able to get home to my family 30 minutes faster was a big draw.
  • hybrishybris Member Posts: 365
    Stickers like that are like Apple products. When you first look at them they look like a great thing, but then you see the side effects and the men behind the curtains and you see these things for the evil that they represent.

    In this case its the government pushing in a powerful but indirect manner for people usually higher income people to get electric vehicles. So we the poor and middle class people get watch the rich and famous blow past us because they could afford a "Clean air car" and not worry about all the downsides that still haunt the electric cars.
  • dunning15dunning15 Member Posts: 0
    $24,200 for a Prius is out of reach for the poor and middle class? Sure it's not 100% electric but it can get the green stickers and you can ride solo in the HOV lane. These all-electric vehicles don't put pollution into the air. I've heard the myriad arguments about electricity being more inefficient to generate than gasoline and that it's all from coal and I have my feelings but you can't dispute that what comes OUT of the Tesla through the tailpipe over the next ten years I'd own it will help the world. And for that I deserve to ride in the HOV alone. What I don't like is that Tesla ONLY makes electric vehicles so why any stickers in the first place? The stickers are $8 and if you can afford 60-100K for a Tesla you probably can afford the $8 for the stickers but to put three of them on the car is silly. It mars the clean lines and look of the vehicle. Why not some kind of designation on the license plate itself to state it's electric or hybrid? To me it's just more government silliness.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @hybris,

    There are very few traditional "downsides" to owning an EV in CA. Given that our energy overwhelmingly comes from renewable sources there isn't the carbon footprint that many Eastern states have to deal with. Likewise, the Model S in b
  • bassrockerxbassrockerx Member Posts: 24
    Im complaining because it is a six figure car. And also i dont believe anyone should be allowed to ride solo in the carpool lane. It defeats the whole purpose of the carpool lane. 24 grand is too mich money for the poor and middle class. The poor and middle class dot buy brand new cehicles.
  • dunning15dunning15 Member Posts: 0
    I understand your point. But what is the true purpose of the carpool lane? You say it defeats the purpose to ride solo. So the purpose is to have multiple people share a car. Why would this be? So that there is one less car on the road eating gasoline and spewing exhaust and contributing to the nasty cloud of smog that sits over our large cities. So if you're in a car that isn't spewing exhaust and consuming gasoline why wouldn't you be allowed to ride solo in the HOV lane?
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    There are two reasons for carpooling. The first, as mentioned, is to reduce pollution. The second is to decrease congestion. Seen this way, it would seem counterproductive to let single person vehicles in the carpool lanes, but electric vehicles really make up a small fraction of traffic. So if the local government wants to promote electric vehicles like this until numbers grow, I don't see a problem. I hate say this guys, but if we're really going to get concerned about local and global pollution, traffic congestion, and the problems of effective urban roadway planning; we need to see a decrease in automobile use, not just a switch in drivetrains. We don't even need advanced technology to solve most of our problems. A better bike infrastructure for example, and people willing to ride on it, would help urban centers more than most think.
  • legacygtlegacygt Member Posts: 599
    Tesla designs a beautiful distinctive car and then people have to slap these stickers on it. Pretty bad.

    I agree with the others that say HOV lanes should be off limits to anyone driving solo. People driving cars with alternative fuels or powertrains should still be encouraged to carpool. First reason is congestion. Driving solo is the problem, whatever vehicle you're driving. The second reason is the gain in efficiency is a false one. If I have a Camry and a Camry hybrid in my driveway, the difference in fuel efficiency is relatively small, yet one gets me in the HoV lane. If I have a Suburban and a Civic in my driveway, the difference in fuel efficiency is huge, yet neither gets me in the HOV lane.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Where is my popcorn smilie? Loving the "Lord of the Flies" arguments of people trying to claw their way to the top of the horrible SoCal traffic situation, talking about how much CA energy comes from renewable, etc. I live in Western New York (an "Eastern state"), home of the largest hydroelectric plant in the U.S., and I never have to put up with horrible traffic. Quadricycle and bassrockerx are right - you're not going to solve congestion by allowing vehicles with one occupant to use the HOV lane. And this brings up another problem with plug-in EVs: an ICE car can easily be the only car that a family owns. Plug-in EVs can be an only car for only a small percentage of car-owning families, i.e. plug-in EVs tend to foster multiple-car ownership. Multiple-car ownership = more cars on the road. Rinse, repeat.
  • fordson1fordson1 Unconfirmed Posts: 1,512
    Also, LOVE the photo of the rich-man car with the "outta my way, proles" stickers on it. Great "CA"-ricature of the Golden State, but I think it really needs a longer wheelbase to make the owner a genuine Limousine Liberal.
  • duck87duck87 Member Posts: 649
    @hybris: Forget the Tesla, California has a plethora of $200/month and $1000 (or less) down lease special electric cars to choose from now. If it gets me home 1/2 hour faster as Mercedesfan puts it, well HELL YEAH, I'd definitely do it. As much as I like
  • dunning15dunning15 Member Posts: 0
    Interesting. Rich-man car. Limousine Liberal. Get outta my way.

    A fully loaded Toyota Sienna minivan is $43,100. The 60kWh Tesla Model S is $71,070 and in California you get $7500 back from the Fed and $2500 back from the state so your cost is $61,070.

    So for a $17,970 difference you can either be a completely innocuous Soccer Mom in a non-descript minivan or a Limousine Liberal yelling at everybody to get outta your way in his rich-man long wheelbase screw-the-whole-world power-trip machine.

    Those darn rich people. They want everything for nothing and don't care who they step on to get it.
  • spdracerut_spdracerut_ Member Posts: 19
    Governments use 'incentives' to drive public habits. In this case, the goal is reduced fuel consumption. Therefore, reward those people who are able to aid the situation. So, plug-in hybrids and pure EVs get HOV access as an incentive. Eventually, those incentives will go away as they have for standard hybrids. FYI, you can still get HOV for natural gas vehicles here in CA.

    There are alternative methods for government to drive habits. One is fuel costs. Why does everyone in Europe drive small and fuel efficient vehicles? Because fuel is typically double the price as compared to the US. In London, you have to pay a congestion tax to drive into central London. In Singapore, they 'encourage' people to use public transportation by taxing cars so much, the price is triple what a car costs here in the US. Yeah, I had a friend who bought a VW Golf with the 1.4L twin-charged engine for $90k. A Honda Civic goes for around $80k or so. In Hong Kong, if my memory serves me correctly, they control congestion by only allowing cars with even number plates to drive certain days and cars with odd numbered plates to drive the other days. In Japan (not sure if currently, but at least 10 years ago or so), you had to prove you had a place to park a car before you could buy one. How do you guys like those examples of laws to drive public behavior?
  • hybrishybris Member Posts: 365
    I haven't seen commenting this good since the Inside Line days!

    Glad I can still ruffle feathers with my common sense.
  • mercedesfanmercedesfan Member Posts: 365
    @fordson1, hydroelectric power is NOT green energy. Strictly speaking it is renewable, but it also happens to be one of the most environmentally devastating types of power. The effect on marine life after construction and the destruction of ecosystems du
  • bassrockerxbassrockerx Member Posts: 24
    At this point they should do away with the carpool lane altogether because it is not being used for carpooling and is just congesting the other lanes. most of the people who would buy the ev or hybrid vehicles would buy them reguardless so why let them ride solo in the carpool lane? crushing high vulumes of traffic to a snails pace increases pollution by more than the difference between weather a few individuals purchase a low emission vehicle or a high emission vehicle to have a lane of traffic that is under utilized and is off limits is a waste of resources, an inconvenience for everyone and bad on the environment. the goal of the carpool lane is to reduce cars on the road letting somone ride solo in the carpool lane does not take cars off the road.
  • quadricyclequadricycle Member Posts: 827
    @mercedesfan: Hydroelectric power is green energy, and is incredibly useful all over the world. However, as you stated, great care must be taken in the planning and construction of such projects. Really though, there can be poor implementations of anythin
Sign In or Register to comment.

Helpful Tools

Most popular vehicles