Motor Trend names Tesla Model S car of the year.

[Docfeelgood]

I see your point.
I see a drawback with about 6 hours? to the fill up?
Would be nice to be able to pull up to the station and change the batteries rather than wait for a charge.
................something for the future.

[Dinner]

31 miles of range on a one hour charge from a 240v outlet.

A gallon of gas is cheaper.

No, if you agree to charge at night then many utilities give you up to 90% off the retail price. It's much cheaper than gas no counting the cost of the car itself.

[SlowwHand]

LA to Vega and back. They said they got 280 miles on one charge.

Fine. 280 miles on a charge. Go somewhere and live with that. It will look real good as it's sitting there getting it's battery charged.

[regexcellent]

Let's face it, if you can afford a Tesla, you can also afford another, more practical second car.

[SlowwHand]

One you can actually drive?

[regexcellent]

One you can drive cross-country. If you have the Tesla and its charging station thing, then the Tesla is practical for any driving that won't require refueling mid-trip, such as commuting or buying groceries.

I am excited for when batteries improve and this technology becomes standard. If there is indeed a market for high-end douchebag electric vehicles then that is a very good thing as it is providing capital for the research into electric vehicles for the average consumer.

[SlowwHand]

Which is what I said, a fine car for driving around town.

[Dinner]

Fine. 280 miles on a charge. Go somewhere and live with that. It will look real good as it's sitting there getting it's battery charged.

Officially it was 260 miles according to Tesla but they got 280 and it was still going when they stopped to plug it back in. BTW Tesla also sells an optional larger batter which they rate to 300 miles but if it holds up like the other then 20-30 miles further can be expected.

Tesla's FastCharge technology can get you a full recharge on the battery in just 45 minutes but it has to be a high current outlet. They've stated on their website that they think they can get the distance 400-500 miles in the next generation. That's almost twice the range in just two generations.

http://www.teslamotors.com/it_CH/forum/forums/model-s-45-min-fastcharge

[MikeH]

At 240 miles range I could do my daily commute for 3 weeks and charge overnight once every 3 weeks or so. I've never needed to drive further than 240 miles in a day - that range from where I live covers almost all of England.

So they are now in the ballpark for ranges that makes them useful for the vast majority of British Drivers.