Chuck, There is a very active Model-S forum at teslamotorsclub.com. Tons of people in the NoCal area that can answer your questions regarding rental, superchargers, etc
One flaw in your plan. Once you drive the Model-S you won't want to drive your conversion ;-) Take it from someone who has two cars in his garage. An EV conversion (my daily car for the past four plus years). And a Model-S (my dear wife's car, who would have never heard of Tesla if it was not for my conversion!). Barry Chuck Hursch <[email protected]> wrote: >Hello All, > >I'm just starting to consider renting a Tesla S for a week in November >around Thanksgiving. > >It's a bit of a story as to why I'm thinking about it, but the short of > >it is that coming to the SF Bay Area then will be a Filipina visitor >that I have come to know through a coworker who is married into the >Filipino community here in the Bay Area. This Filipina works at a >professional-level government position in Manila, but through our many >conversations (recommendation: buy phone stock!, no just kidding, >we're >working on getting the Skype, Facetime, or viper scene going), it is >pretty apparent she knows little or nothing about energy or EVs in >particular. I would like to remedy that ;^>. > >I had figured I would rent the Tesla a couple of days before her >arrival >at SFO in order to become somewhat familiar with the car, learn the >charging protocol, etc. Instead of having my co-worker and his wife >drive us down to the airport to pick up our visitor in their car, I >would drive them down in the Tesla. The Tesla S should have plenty of >room for four people and our visitor's baggage. Should easily be able >to handle the roundtrip distance of some 60-100 miles (by the time I >get >home). Our visitor would be staying at my co-worker's and his wife's >place in Richmond. My co-worker at one time owned a Prius hybrid, and >expresses an interest in such cars and EVs, so I think he would be >interested in the Tesla and being able to ride in one. > >I have a 120V/20A charging circuit in my apartment carport. I think >the >Tesla is capable of charging off of 120V, although it is a slow >process, >and the pack is large (80kwh), so I couldn't really hope to put a full >charge into it overnight, but I could make a decent dent. I understand > >there is Level 2 charging at SFO, so presuming it is available and more > >or less convenient, would try to make use of it for the 1-hr or so time > >we would be waiting for and picking up our visitor. > >Our visitor has also professed an interest in going out to Pt. Reyes >for >some beach and hiking time. This is about a 60-80 mile roundtrip from >my location in Marin, and if I went to Richmond to pick her up on the >same trip would add in another 30 or so miles. I think the Tesla S >should be able to handle this without much trouble. > >The stress test would happen when I take her to the Sierra crest for >her >first experience with snow. Say some snowshoeing or cross-country >skiing. It's a 7000' elevation gain from the Central Valley floor to >the top up I-80 with some steep grades. Probably 100 miles from Sac to > >the Donner Summit area. I figured after driving from the Bay Area to >Sac (90 miles each way), I would avail myself of one of the Tesla >superchargers to put the pack at 100%. I believe there is Level II >charging up near the crest, and a short boost of an hour or so might be > >enough to sustain travel nearby to a snowshoeing or ski area. I am >concerned that if we overnight up there, it will be cold, and from what > >I have seen, the lithium packs (like the battery in my cellphone) don't > >do well when the temperature drops. It could go below 0 degF, but in >November, it's probably not as cold as a month or two later. Of course > >on the return, we would get a good chunk of energy back regen-ing down >I-80. One more quick boost at Level III at Sac for the drive back >home. > >I've been driving my own conversion for some 19 years now, having >pushed >it out about a 40-60 mile radius from my home over the years, including > >the 55-mile drive to Stanford University for the 1997 SVEAA Rally >without charging and having some left over for a few laps. But this >Tesla dream/fantasy is on new territory for me, so my questions to the >Tesla gurus are: > >1) Is it possible to rent an S? I don't recall specifically seeing >rental places for S's, but I haven't been watching that closely, since >I >never had the occasion. Likely rent/day (I'll bet it's a good $100/day > >if not more)? Accessible location from Marin (I have to get my bod to >the rental location via bus or something)? > >2) Is that Sierra trip a likely "go" or is it a potential fiasco? >Charging infrastructure is one of my pet interests, but I am no Bruce >Parmenter with his level of knowledge and experience. I think the >Tesla >should easily be able to handle the Bay Area trips, and I would aim to >keep the car in the range 20-80%, which I'm really concluding is best >for the pack, with only using the pack's full capabilities for the >Sierra trip. > >My purpose in all this is to not only expose myself to new EV >technology >and infrastructure, where I might be going in not too many more years, >but also to impress the Filipina with it, not the least of which is so >that she takes her impressions home and talks about her great EV >experience in that faraway land of California!! > >Thanks, >Chuck >_______________________________________________ >UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub >http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org >For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA >(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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