EVolution
It’s been a while since I’ve written about my Tesla and I think it’s about time for an update on my driving evolution in the land of the EV. I have now crossed the threshold of 10,000 miles on my Tesla X odometer after only about 60 months of ownership. That averages to about 170 miles/month, but since all but the last 18 months were spent in absentia, it would be more accurate to use about 280 miles/month since I moved here full time. Now that I am driving it weekly to teach my class at University of San Diego, I would suggest that I am probably averaging 450-500 miles/month which is starting to almost feel like normal usage. I must note that while we have yet to do any big trips in the new red Mercedes, we have almost 5,000 miles in three months, so we are averaging 1,670 miles/month, which is more than the lease allocation of 1,250 miles/month. The solution is clearly to ramp up Tesla usage and slow down Mercedes usage. It used to be that I so much more enjoyed the Tesla to the Mercedes that it would have been an easy request. But the new Mercedes is such a great car that it is now a toss-up which I would rather drive.
The most compelling reasons for using the Tesla besides that it is a lot of fun to drive are that it is cheaper on a per mile basis since I charge it at night during super off-peak times and with my solar and Tesla battery configuration, I pay next to nothing for electricity at the margin, and it requires almost no maintenance. My Tesla does not need a service check-up until I hit 125,000 miles. At the current pace I should book ahead for a spot in the 2040 schedule. I may have to book an aide as well since I will be 86 years old at that time. I suspect I may have it into the shop sooner than that for tires or some such thing anyway.
Lately I have been doing the drive to University of San Diego at about 5pm so I am going against traffic and it really is quite a breeze in the X. I stop for a large diet soda and then park in the garage directly below my classroom. I get there by 6pm, teach from 7-10pm and then jump in the car and whisk myself effortlessly home in the dead of night with little traffic at all. The Tesla is a great car for that kind of driving because it has a nice streaming sound service that gives me free radio of my choosing, I can either set the car on autopilot altogether or just the auto-speed capability (which is what I prefer since my hands stay on the wheel) and simply enjoy the ride. Night driving has always been fun to me since it seems so peaceful and that is especially so in the whisper-quiet of the Tesla X interior. One other thing, since I tend to dress up a bit to teach (slacks and a dress shirt, which is as fancy as I get out here), it makes me feel like a player in the game, whatever game that might be. It’s the one time each week when I can say that I relate to what I did for forty-five years, getting all suited up for battle and having at it. I wonder as I drive the Freeway whether people see me and assume I am some high-powered executive heading home after a typically long day at some fancy office. It connects me to my heritage.
I used to be hesitant to use the Tesla for mundane chores,especially if they involved the garden store or the nursery, but not long ago I got something shipped to me with a big piece of flexible but sturdy foam. It makes the perfect trunk liner so that I can cleanly transport plants and bags of mulch here and there without a concern that I am trashing my expensive car. I keep it rolled up in the garage and just pop it in if I’m heading for some dirty errand. That way I am using the Tesla more than before and treating it like the car it is rather than some precious specimen to be prized. I believe I have mentioned that I have put $100 down as a deposit on a Tesla cybertruck. Assuming that becomes available in 2022, the current ETA, that will mean that I am trading in a six year old car with about 15,000 miles for a pickup truck that can use the same charging station I had installed in my garage five years ago. The best part of getting a Tesla cybertruck besides the obvious hauling capability will be that the model I expect to buy, and that will be the first one available, is the Double Engine model All-Wheel Drive which boasts a 300+ mile range, a 50% improvement over my X.
I ordered my Cybertruck this summer, which is pretty late in the cycle. There are purportedly 1.25 million orders already lodged for one of the three models of Cybertrucks on offer. Sure enough, there is a website that will estimate your delivery date for your cybertruck based on exactly when you placed your order. According to that website, my July 24th order should be fulfilled in August of 2025 or four years from now. What that says to me is that Tesla really is the new king of the road and despite impressive production gains, they can barely keep up with demand. That is a businessman’s dream come true. I think I will just hang onto my foam pad and use my X for a few thousand more miles. Once the Cybertrucks start hitting the streets, I am sure there will be a way to get one of them faster than four years from now. Everything is always available for a price. You don’t suppose some people plunked down their $100 deposit on the sheer chance that they might make a buck on their queue position?
As I read about the release of the Cybertruck I will pay close attention as to whether it is all that it is supposed to be and how the reviewers feel about it. I am also keeping my eye on the mundane F150 EV model that is also being geared up. I don’t like not being able to use my Tesla charger, but I’m sure there will be some sort of fix for that. If I have the power running to that wall, I’m sure someone will be glad to install the proper adapter for an EV F150 if I want that to happen. I am totally sold on the EV revolution when it comes to a vehicle to use around the town and close to home. I would like to think less about my range limitations, so more range is good. But until they perfect instantaneous charging or battery replacement (something that is bound to happen soon) I will still keep the Mercedes at the ready for any trips that take us beyond a few hundred miles. It just isn’t cool to have your mind wrapped up in range anxiety if you can avoid it. I continue to contend that until that basic issue is addressed in a compelling way, people will all choose to have one EV and one fillable tank. Now when that tank is going to get filled with Hydrogen instead of gasoline is the real question we should all be asking, but I suspect that is even further off in the EVolution.