TS you are out of your mind. Cars are so cheap in US why would anyone dish out this much money to buy a car that is only good for going to the grocery store? You need to buy a tow truck at the same time. Elon Musk has been engaging in public catfights with critics and reviewers including Topgear and New York Times... he lost the suit in UK and his accusation against NYT reviewer appears to be doing him more damage.
some major questions cross my mind about the limited range of electric cars in general, and charging time required. especially in california with long distance driving.
for example, a 230-mile range car can make a round trip to pebble beach and back home in the bay area in 1 charge. making side trips along the way and to carmel may be bit of a stretch. a recharging station at pebble beach may provide relief and give confidence for daring the detours. otherwise, a driver becomes constantly anxious of the remaining battery life, which may spoil the unwinding purpose of the trip altogether. assume there are recharging stations at every 100-mile along the way, another problem arises. are there enough stations and parking spots available when a driver arrives hoping to find a station? the last thing a driver wants is to wait in line behind the wheel for hours to get a recharge.
going south to l.a. also crosses my mind. along i-5, the midpoint charging station is in harris ranch. at least, the ranch provides a great steak restaurant for a hefty lunch break. and there are other things and a shop to spend some waiting time while the car is being recharged. the problem remains with the long queue. what if a dozen tesla drivers are thinking the exact same thing doing it at the exact same time? and there are only a handful of charging stations. a 300-mile range car will never get to l.a. from s.f. without recharging at either coalinga, harris ranch or bakersfield along i-5. in fact, bakersfield is stretching it. and if all goes well, what about the destination in l.a.? los angeles is such a freaking huge sprawling city with sub-cities and towns that driving from one end to the other will deplete the charge. not all hotels or motels have electric car charging stations, let alone tesla-installed fast chargers. my friend's home in anaheim or santa monica may not have a 240v outlet and charger.
tesla plans to build their patented fast chargers all over in california at selected locations along popular routes. they have a roadmap to build fast chargers every 100-mile along popular freeways from california to new york. the problem is they are not everywhere like a gas station. a driver will have to plan his route, timing and driving with those charging stations in mind. for example, between san diego and las vegas, there's no charging station in san bernandino or barstow. if an sf driver decides to hang around in san bernandino or riverside for a weekend, he will have to drive to hollywood, san diego, or las vegas for the nearest charging station.
a portable charger with transformer/converter will come in handy, but it will be an extra heavy load to carry or drive around, taking away luggage space and draining battery life.
price-wise, it targets the luxury segment, so it's no object. reality is you don't drive this car to a mexican flea market, chinatown or the hood. it will get dinked, scratched, stolen or broken into. it's perfect for the elysium-type gated communities with large homes, multi-door garages, pools, self-contained amenities such as mall, spa and shops dedicated for the wealthy. definitely for early adopters and the successful, ready to splash and spin, despite what naysayers and detractors will say.
