[underwater]

You say "still doesn't come anywhere close to solving the problem". But in really it just doesn't solve your specific problem. Tesla have chosen to tackle for the common case; if they tried to be everything to everyone they'd never have reached production.

Don't forget that the Model S costs around $50,000. Most buyers can afford maintain a second car for the kinds of trips you're talking about.

[clarky07]

I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility. As Musk just pointed out the other day, they are in a do or die 6 month period right now, and might not survive. The other electric car options have mostly been failures. Clearly I'm not the only person who would like to have a bit more utility for my 50k.

Keep in mind that you don't get 250 miles of range unless the place on the other end can charge your car for you. You only get 125. That's really not that far.

[enraged_camel]

>>I'm just suggesting that the general population doesn't have 50k to spend on something that only provides one very specific utility.

I doubt that. Take a look at this:

http://www.autospies.com/news/Study-Finds-Americans-Own-2-28...

The average American household owns 2.28 vehicles. The percentage of households that own three or more vehicles is a whopping 35 percent.

Furthermore, the most common pairing of vehicles in American households with two to four cars is a full-sized pickup truck and a standard, mid-range vehicle. The latter can basically be a Tesla.

[clarky07]

first, I have 2 cars with a combined value of less than 10k. that's a far cry from 50k on 1 car. second, no it can't. That's the one they use to do the traveling I'm talking about. They don't take the pickup on the road trip.

[enraged_camel]

Mid-range is typically around 250 miles, which the Tesla can do.

As for budget, sure, the Tesla is a bit on the expensive side, but it is not difficult to afford for middle-class families.

[jfb]

Of course, the model with the 85Kwh battery is significantly more than $50k.

[clarky07]

all the other mid range cars can do another 250 in 5 minutes.

[enraged_camel]

Irrelevant. The point is that if your destination is less than 250 miles away, then it doesn't matter whether the car charges in 5 minutes or 50.

[Arelius]

And the Tesla's value drops over time also. I don't know the exact set of cars you own, but I imagine that together they were likely worth more than 50K new.

[michaelt]

The article says:

  We drove from Fontana on the eastern edge of the L.A. 
  basin to San Diego and all the way back to L.A.'s Pacific 
  edge on one charge. Five hours of continuous driving.

The 233 mile, 5 hour trip was done on a single charge.

To me that's pretty far - I could tolerate a 1 hour break every 5 hours.

[jfb]

But that's not yet in the cards. Realistically, you need to be talking about 2.5 hours as the effective range, as almost nowhere will have the full speed charging setup.

[michaelt]

I was thinking someone who drove 5 hours to visit family would be staying over night and could do an over night charge. I'll admit this may not always be the case.

I certainly agree that serious range and uptake will need serious charging and generation infrastructure.

[clarky07]

Even overnight isn't enough though. It's 30 hours to charge in a normal outlet, and you then you have to take over their garage.

[michaelt]

Ah, the article says the Tesla home charger takes 6 hours for a charge, but I guess it needs to be wired directly to be breaker box or something.

[CapOpp]

"one very specific utility". Driving a long distance is the niche need, not driving every day and saving a ton of money doing it.

Musk said Tesla might die, but it has nothing to do with sales. They have sales coming out of their ears right now, the problem is ramping up production to get cars to people who are throwing their money at Tesla.

[dclusin]

Another problem here as well is the case of poor people. They don't have a lot of money and often times have to travel great distances just to get to work. I know of people who work for Stanford and aren't highly paid professors/doctors/lawyers/etc and routinely commute 60-100 miles each way.

[Locke1689]

They'll have to wait. Early adopters always pay a premium