Its just the fact that you can't charge the thing up in 5 minutes and keep going that bugs me.
It's definitely not practical everywhere in the country but in a place like LA it is. They offer supercharging stations which give you 150 miles of range in 30 minutes. That's great... They just need to build out that infrastructure.
savings are one thing, but when your spending 80,000 on a car, are you really worried about saving all that much?
Have you ever met someone that has an assload of money and is a penny pincher? People that can afford cars like these generally weigh their options carefully (assuming they're not just buying for status). Plus a car is a fixed cost; fuel is not so while I might accept the fixed cost of the car, eventually it will be paid off. Fuel is something I'll pay for for as long as I own it so yeah, to me that does make a difference. In LA where you'll never get the highway mileage out of any car because of traffic and where gas prices are generally the highest in the country, a compelling argument can be made for a car like this.
You can go and buy a Hybrid for less then half the cost, or a diesel VW. I doubt that you will save 50,000 in the 3-4 years of ownership, especially since no one really knows the true long term durability.
But it's not all about gas mileage. I would never consider a car like that because most are based on economy cars and performance isn't really close to the lower end Model S, let alone the performance model. Likewise, you don't need to make up for a $50,000 difference. The base Tesla is a high end car with the latest features and is only $62,500. That's a pretty good deal for a car like this and it does a 14.2 1/4 mile and a 5.9 0-60, much better than a standard hybrid, plus it's not an economy car. On top of that, you get an $11,000 tax credit between the state and fed which makes the base car $51,500. So you're barely paying $50,000 for the car, let alone having to make up a $50,000 difference in price.
I'd go for the Performance model which is $87,000. A comparable performing car (M5) starts at $90,000 and tips the scales at $100,000 once you equip it the way you'd want it equipped. Plus for the sake of my comparison, it would be an absolutely abysmal daily driver in LA. I'd lose my ass on fuel costs.
Teslas are still just a gimmick to me until they offer an affordably priced one for the masses.
I don't think they're trying to appeal to the masses just yet. Under it's skin the Tesla is a great performing car with high end finishes and luxury options on par with Audi and BMW. It's not supposed to be an electric Ford Taurus; it's supposed to be an electric BMW 5 series and I think it does a great job at that. Compare the prices of a base model BMW 5 series (which is slower and far less optioned) to the base Tesla S and if you're in a market where owning an electric car is a feasible alternative, it's not only something to consider but it becomes impossible to ignore. And it's for this reason that I see 5 - 6 a day when I'm out in LA.
Theres no way a tesla would actually compare to your 535i overall, and being the gearheads most of us are, they leave you with no room to tinker.
I disagree. I'd trade my 535 for a Tesla S Performance in a flash. I think you need to give the car another chance or do some more research on it. My arguments are obviously based off of someone who lives in a region where a car like this makes sense and if you do, I think this is a hard car to marginalize.
The only difference would be gas costs. You'd have to drive a lot in order to make up for the cost difference.
How? You're comparing a Model S to a cheaper electric/ diesel car. Compare it to an equal level model from another company and you're not paying significantly more and if you look at my comparison, you're often paying slightly less for a better equipped car. So the fuel saving are often completely realized as cash in hand (minus the additional cost on your electric bill).
