Lessons from Eight Years with an Electric Car
Tags: Electric Car, Electric Vehicles, Tesla

Lessons from Eight Years with an Electric Car Craig Follow Jul 29 · 6 min read

The pros, cons, and what needs to happen next

My 2013 Tesla Model S on the day I picked it up

Eight years ago today — July 29, 2013 — I took a bus from my home in Cincinnati to Columbus, Ohio to pick up my new car, a 2013 Tesla Model S. There was no way to obtain the car locally since, at the time, Ohio had but one Tesla service and delivery center. It was located in an out-of-the-way office park, a far cry from the showrooms that have appeared in many major cities around the world since then, and one of the Tesla employees was gracious enough to pick me up from the bus stop and drive me the few miles to their office.

In 2013, the Model S was quite different than the version of the car Tesla sells today. Below is a list of some of the major differences.

Since I got it, it’s been my daily driver. It is every bit as comfortable and reliable as the day I picked it up. Actually, it’s more so. Tesla’s over-the-air software updates have added features over the years that substantially improve comfort, convenience, and, well, fun.

My daughter learned to drive in the Model S and now greatly prefers it to driving a gas-powered car. The regenerative braking, which enables something akin to “one-pedal driving,” is responsive and convenient, and honestly, makes driving more enjoyable than constantly having to switch between the accelerator and the brake pedal. And not having to replace the brake pads has been nice. EVs brake mostly by turning the motor into a generator, slowing the car and recharging the battery — a triple win when you think that it saves energy, reduces maintenance costs, and eliminates brake dust from contaminating the environment.

The fact that the car doesn’t have a transmission with multiple gears in it makes it smoother to drive and ride in as well. Beyond the comfort, it means less maintenance over time, since transmissions can be quite expensive to repair or replace. Coming from a long history of exclusively manual transmission sports cars, giving up shifting was initially a source of frustration. But after a couple of weeks, I learned to just enjoy my ability to concentrate on speed control and steering; shifting gears really is more of a distraction than a help when driving in a spirited fashion.

Over the past 8 years, I’ve driven it nearly 70,000 miles (my commute is just over 4 miles each way and COVID had me working from home for nearly 16 months). I’ve driven it all over the Eastern half of the United States, including several trips exceeding a thousand miles. I’ve seen Superchargers go from rare to nearly ubiquitous. In mid-2013, there were just 15 Supercharger stations in North America. Today, there are over 1,100 of them and more get added every week.

Tesla’s North American Supercharger network (from https://www.tesla.com/supercharger)

Beyond Superchargers, the only way to quickly charge the car in 2013 was a plug at my home. I had an electrician install a 50A outlet (similar to what an electric dryer plugs into) in my garage so I could charge when needed. Today, however, level 2 chargers are found lots of places, from hotels to parking garages to restaurants. Keeping the car juiced up is, honestly, never a problem. That said, as the ranks of EV owners increase exponentially, we are going to have to provide better infrastructure to support the transition away from gasoline.

The subtitle promises discussion of “pros, cons, and what needs to happen next.” I’ve already talked about many of the pros of electric cars in general, and my Model S in particular. An important one that I haven’t mentioned is the knowledge that I’m not contributing to climate change when I drive (my home’s electricity is sourced entirely from renewables and occasional carbon offsets). Another is not having to stop at gas stations on a regular basis; being able to get into the car each morning with a full “tank” is honestly delightful. Yet another pro is just the quietness of the car. Without a gas engine making loads of unnecessary noise, all I hear at highway speeds is a bit of wind/tire and the conversation I’m having with my passengers or the music I’m listening to. Newer Model S cars have greatly improved the cabin silence and even include active noise cancellation. Pretty amazing stuff.

As far as cons, there are only two. First, charging times are still a little long when on a road trip. Sure, after driving for 3+ hours, I’m ready to stop, go to the bathroom, and maybe get something to eat. In the time it takes to do all those things, I can charge up for another 3+ hours of travel. However, if I’m in a huge hurry and want to just stop, pee, and get something from a drive-thru, the charging time will frustrate that. But charging times are dropping swiftly. Today, there are 800V cars available that will charge from 10% battery to 80% in about 15 minutes. That is not going to add substantially to the time it takes to travel long distances. Even now, the record for an EV traveling coast-to-coast across the US is under 44.5 hours. Granted, that’s a full 17 hours or so longer than the gas-powered record, but that was set using a specially prepped car with extra gas tanks and travelling at hyperlegal speeds topping 130mph in places. So probably not a reasonable comparison. Safe to say, even today, you can get anywhere you need to be in the continental US in a reasonable amount of time in an EV. But, as mentioned, we will need to keep expanding EV charging infrastructure if we’re going to keep up with consumer demand.

The second con of having an EV is dealing with bigotry, especially from those who fear change. Video of diesel pickup trucks maliciously coal-rolling electric-car drivers are easy to find. Some self-proclaimed “car guys” proudly proclaim they’ll never own an EV because they somehow believe that an exhaust note is awesome. Sadly, they don’t realize that that noise is just wasted energy. Why they would prefer converting the gas they’re burning into noise and heat instead of torque and horsepower escapes me, but they apparently can’t let go of the historical characteristics of performance cars. That’s despite the fact that the quickest (0–60 mph) production car in history is now an electric car or that the record-holder for the quickest sprint up Pike’s Peak is also an electric car. The future is electric, but some are resistant to let the past go.

What needs to happen next? I’ve alluded to several things already. First, more charging infrastructure. Second, faster charging technology (e.g., batteries and on-board power systems). Third, and possibly most importantly, awareness. There are lots of misconceptions out there in the public’s mind about EVs, and virtually all of them reduce uptake of this important technological change. It’s sad that certain political elements, and even some auto manufacturers who’ve underinvested in EV technology, are actively trying to throw roadblocks in the way of electric vehicle adoption. Climate change is very, very real and reducing the amount of carbon thrown into the air by transportation will be essential to mitigating its harm. Since cars, trucks, and buses aren’t going away any time soon, EVs are an important part of doing that.

Would I buy an EV today to replace a gas car? Without a doubt. Over the past 8 years, I’ve realized that an EV can handle the daily driving chores of the vast majority of Americans. And as they continue to get more affordable and charging infrastructure improves, there is less and less reason to buy a gas-powered car. For now, however, my 2013 Model S is still a delight to drive, incredibly reliable, cheap to operate, and a car I hope to keep for a long time to come.