Anyone have a Tesla or other EV?

Say Nay · ‎03-12-2010

I was curious if anyone owns a Tesla or other EV (electric vehicle) and why you purchased it. Did you want to save money? Did you like that it produced lower emissions than traditional vehicles? Was it because you got a good deal on the purchase? Have you had any issues with your vehicle? Has it met your expectations?

I'm seeing more EVs and am tossing around the idea of getting one. There are public charging stations here and there but it's still limited so that's a concern I have. I've checked the other boards and would like input from the posters here. TIA.

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Tinkrbl44 · ‎08-23-2010

No, but in the future I will consider a vehicle that runs on both electric AND gasoline.

One thing I've never gotten an answer to is .....

if I drive my gas operated car into a gas station to fill up, it'll take me about 5 minutes. If I had an EV that needs recharging, HOW LONG does it take to completely re-charge? An hour? two hours?

I'm not planning to buy a car any time soon, so I expect more tweaking and improvements will happen. No rush over here.

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

Teslas start at $70,000. I don't think anyone who buys a Tesla does so to save money. Teslas are for people who like gadgets, beautiful cars, the environment, status, and take pride in being on the cutting edge of technology, not for people looking to save money on gas.

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brii · ‎06-20-2010

A friend of ours has a Tesla. He says everybody should drive one. LOL

He has 3 cars.

Personally, I think it's more of a status thing.

ChynnaBlue · ‎05-22-2012

@Tinkrbl44 wrote:
No, but in the future I will consider a vehicle that runs on both electric AND gasoline.

One thing I've never gotten an answer to is .....

if I drive my gas operated car into a gas station to fill up, it'll take me about 5 minutes. If I had an EV that needs recharging, HOW LONG does it take to completely re-charge? An hour? two hours?

I'm not planning to buy a car any time soon, so I expect more tweaking and improvements will happen. No rush over here.

Charging totally depends on the make and model. Charging can take from minutes (Tesla Supercharger) to 6 hours. You can charge at home, but you have to get a special charger installed. I know the Nissan Leaf charger starts at $1000 to DIY the install.

My office has free charging stations, but they are limited. I live in an apartment, so I have nowhere to install a charger at home. That means if I take a few days off work, I have nowhere to charge the car AND I'm fighting for the free spaces at work.

I would absolutely consider an EV, but charging stations will need to become much more prevalent before I do. I bought a Honda Civic Hybrid in the early years and when the hybrid battery died, it was a $3500 replacement. Newer hybrid batteries are more efficient and, I know in the case of Toyotas, now feature module cells so you can replace a cell and not the entire costly battery.

I did save money on gas, but the car was more expensive to purchase and to repair. I was an early adopter because I wanted to send to send a message to the automobile manufacturers that they needed to take better mileage and alternative fuels more seriously and I still feel good about that.

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Mothertrucker · ‎01-30-2015

My brother has a Tesla. He likes it..Doesn't love it, compared to other cars he has owned...having nothing to do with its method of propulsion...He has been in the battery business all his life and his company made many early gas to battery conversions for years, back to the 1970's..My fav was a Kharrman Ghia..loved to drive it..I had just gotten my license, and was so excited every time I got a chance!

Regarding the time it takes to chargeart of The beauty of the electrics is that you can charge them while you sleep, in your own garage, when electrical costs are lower.,

Chevy Volt has a gas engine as back up, the Spark electric EV does not..The new Bolt will have a 200 mile range and is electric only....

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

I don't own one & never will. It's too expensive. It's almost twice as much as I paid for my car. Even if I were a millionaire I would not buy one. I think I would rather have a car that runs on natural gas. I just checked the CNG location map & there are more stations now then I thought. Looks like there are more here in Ok.

patbz · ‎03-10-2010

I don't plan on buying a fully electric car anytime soon (200 miles range isn't enough, not enough chargers etc). I am however on my second Prius hybrid (200 k on first and 120k so far on second). Great car and well worth the money.

pommom · ‎03-10-2010

An upscale shopping mall in Dallas - NorthPark - takes reservations for test drives. My DD & SIL signed up a few weeks ago, took the test drive and are ruined for life...they fell in LOVE with it. Even though this car may not be in their future, they had a great time. The Tesla rep was fun and quite generous with their time in it.

My SIL confirms that it does go from 0 to 60 mph in seconds.

If your face brightens when you meet a friend, you have struck gold. - unknown

CinNC · ‎10-05-2012

I have a very old Hybrid Highlander - 2007. I love the acceleration/pickup - it's like driving a sports car w/the battery assist. The diry little secret is that due to the weight of the electric batteries and the type of tires it takes, the tires need to be replaced much more frequently. I have 77K miles on it and am on my 3rd set of tires. The factory ones lasted the longest - got almost 40K out of them and I buy tires recommended by the Toyota dealer. The batteries are rated to California standards which is 180,000 miles.

A friend suggested I go back to the manufacturer and try to get some money back since the tires aren't living up to warrantee.

Not sure if this is similar on pure electric vehicles.