As far as the environmental impact of a car goes, it’s my feeling that having one all purpose vehicle is more environmentally sound that having two cars, one for commuting and one for everything else. I like to drive in the boonies. If there are no charging stations in the boonies then I’d need another car for going to those places. Having two cars means that twice as much manufacturing was done and steel and other commodities used and eventually twice as much space in the auto graveyards will be used. My one car is 8 years old, has over 100,000 miles on it and is still running. I’ll keep it until it can’t be fixed to run any longer.
Of course, it is all individual. Our cars are 17 years old and 12 years old. We are due for a replacement any minute now. The 2000 truck will stay, unless someone starts making EV trucks… The other car is used by Mr. to commute to work. I take the bus. So in our situation, it makes sense to own an EV. And frankly, we plan to spend as much of our money as we reasonably can while we are alive - what’s an inheritance? If we could start out family penniless, so can our kids. After all, their greatest gift is zero student loans. 
Tesla Model S pricing goes from $68,000 to $167,500 or something like that, much more than double…
For comparison, the Chevrolet Bolt has an MSRP range of $37,495 (base model, no options) to $43,905 (all options).
@BunsenBurner - Depending on how long your commute is, the plugin Prius might be your best bet. 25 mile range, and 50+mpg if you need to use the gas engine.
Anyone have experience with the Volvo XC90 hybrid?
Any info from owners about the self-driving feature in adverse conditions.
snowstorm
ice storm
unpredictable actions from nearby drivers (LA and Boston, but kisses and hugs I love those cities)
city gridlock on holidays (Chicago and New York)
Is there a portable charge option where you can add 5 or 10 miles from something you can keep in your trunk?
@MaterS, I’m on Hardware version 1(HW1) which has fewer sensors and cameras than HW2, but since Tesla 8.0 came out, there was increased reliance on radar as opposed to previous reliance on cameras, so adverse weather does not affect Autopilot as much as I would have expected. I have personally experienced one time when radar “knew” that the car ahead of the car I was behind had abruptly hit his brakes, even though I (and the camera) couldn’t see it, and slowed down to avoid a collision. The car is front of me swerved and just barely avoided an accident, but our car slowed much less violently. HW2 is calibrating and gaining “fleet knowledge,” but I expect it will shortly be far more capable than my car.
Unpredictable actions, like the above example, and swerving drivers, are handled fine on the highway. I don’t use Autopilot when I’m in a city (NYC, in my case); I don’t think it’s ready yet.
Re portable charge: other than a generator, or an electric outlet (you can get a very slow charge from 120V outlet), there is
. All Teslas come with Roadside Assistance, but I don’t know the details.
“Range anxiety” is a problem, but Tesla provides loads of information about how much energy you’re using and how much you will probably use in getting to your destination. At first, the graph is daunting, but after a while you glance at it and take it in.
https://services.edmunds-media.com/image-service/media-ed/ximm/?quality=85&image=/tesla/model-s/2013/lt/2013_tesla_model-s_ip_lt_1114132_600.jpg
Employers and businesses will be able to slowly add enough capacity to handle the need. My employer (with a workforce of over 5k at our location) recently added about 40-50 charging spots. They aren’t free; you need to pay a small amount for the charge. It’s mostly the more limited range vehicles (e.g. Leafs, plug-in Priuses, etc) that utilize the chargers so that they can either have enough juice for the round-trip commute or top up so that they don’t have to go to the gas engine. I rarely see Teslas or even Volts charging at the work spots; they have enough capacity to charge at home overnight. And all of those spots are filled up.
Business spots will have even more turnover, since most shoppers won’t be leaving a vehicle in a charging spot for 8+ hours at a time. I see plenty of for-profit charging stations at parking lots in our area.
I’ve been told that this might end up being an issue for residential use but I don’t remember details. Regardless, who’s to say that we’ll all have our own electric cars? We’re moving towards a future of driverless cars which could be summoned a la Lyft and Uber. We’re counting on it for our senior retired years. 
I often see Teslas around my neighborhood and near LA as well
I probably see at least one once a day.
This semester I have noticed a Tesla parked on certain days at my school so someone there probably has one or is borrowing a family member’s Tesla
When I graduate and get a real job after university I want to buy a model 3!
Do any of you Tesla owners here know if you have to replace the battery 10 or so years from when you buy it? My dad’s always asking about that and I’m not sure myself. I never hear people talk about that.
@otoribashi , it’s still a bit early to know, because older battery technology (Roadster) is what has that long a history.
6% degradation in battery capacity is expected after 100,000 miles with the newer batteries. The Tesla battery warranty is 8 years and infinite miles. Price per kWh keep coming down, are below $190 per kWh now, and a reasonable estimate is $80/kWh within 10 years. The largest capacity battery available now is 100 kWh, so let’s say 10 years from now $8000, less the recycle value of the old battery ($1000?).
The labor involved in battery replacement is reported to be minor.
@ixnaybob is it still possible to use the car when the battery needs replacing or is it a binary thing where it works and then it just doesn’t work anymore and you need to replace it immediately? (for example: is it like a shoe that wears down gradually and still usable or is it like a heel that just flat out breaks and is unusable once it reaches that limit)?
Battery degradation commonly shows itself as loss of capacity, resulting in loss of maximum range. I.e. it is like the “fuel tank” of your vehicle gets smaller if the battery degrades.
@otoribashi , the oldest Tesla I personally know is 8 years old (a Roadster), and his battery is still going strong. I have read about one or two full battery replacements, under warranty, and those apparently were defective in a very noticeable way and were replaced in the first few months of ownership. Interestingly, there are many more 12V failures, a small battery much like the one in gasoline cars, that Tesla uses for various power needs.
Degradation, as @ucbalumnus says, is like your laptop over time. Tessa’s battery software is pretty good, trying to maintain a healthy temperature (the battery has its own cooler and heater) and charge (the battery likes to be between 10-90% charged).
In one of the more recent Grand Tour episodes (it’s Top Gear rebooted with Clarkson, Hammond and May on Amazon Prime video), Jeremy and Captain Slow went head to head on a road trip with Jeremy’s Golf GTI vs. May’s BMW i3.
May ran into a lot of problems with malfunctioning charging stations, and was trounced by Clarkson’s GTI. I know the show is notorious for exaggerating issues with electric cars, but the charging stations did really appear to be not working very well, and he had to hunt around for one that was working.
I don’t think as a family we’d ever go all electric, but I can certainly see one of us having an electric car. Not the BMW, though, I find it aesthetically unappealing and more like a tarted up Leaf than anything substantial.
@IxnayBob - so would you say that the Tesla appeals to people who in the past have driven a high performance car such as BMW, Audi etc versus those who have driven a Prius or Volt?
I know tons of Prius drivers and many Porsche, BMW and Audi drivers. The German car drivers aren’t interested in a Prius because driving to them isn’t about just getting from one place to another. Driving for them is a pleasure.
This came through my email today - figured it would be of interest to some here.
http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/car-technology/videos/a32605/tesla-model-s-p100d-ludicrous-acceleration/?src=nl&mag=rdt&list=nl_rdt_news&date=021317
@mom60, according to my service manager, there are distinct categories of Tesla owners, and they are changing. The high performance seekers are there, and probably will always be there. The environmentalists have been held back because of the high cost, but some of them could afford Tesla, some have stretched, and I expect many more will be in the ranks of Model 3 owners. The camp I belong to, while loving the performance and appreciating the environmental benefits, is wanting to be part of the paradigm shift to rational transportation (i.e., a nerd type).
Most of those groups have been tolerant of Tesla’s growing pains. The service manager tells me that he sees many “newer” Tesla owners, the “status seekers” and conspicuous consumers; he characterized them as impatient, not reading the manual, and unaware of the “fleet learning” involved with their new cars. We agreed that they are entitled to want perfection for their expensive cars, I do also, but they do seem to be a PITA to him
Mr. B did not like that Toyota decided to go the hybrid route instead of going full plugin back then when they could. So no hybrids here.
@doschicos, I had to chuckle at the use of the term “face-melting acceleration” in that article. That’s pretty accurate, even in my slower X (heavier and only Insane mode, not Ludicrous, than the car in the article). When I demo the acceleration, people have a visceral reaction (queasy stomach) and feel their skin moving back on their face. I don’t do it often