One Billion Miles

This is a post about our Tesla Model S car.   Today marks the one year mark from when we first got the car.   I think its safe to say, we’re just as enamored with the car today as we were when we first got it.  

My husband and I had planned on looking at some statistics on the cost to operate the car at the year mark.   Interestingly enough, Tesla Motors just announced some statistics of their own, including over one billion miles being driven by Tesla car owners.  

In our first year we contributed 12,554 miles to that billion miles.   We charged the car a total of 3,871 kWh during the year.    What does that equate to though?

• The “pure cost” to operate the car for the year at the rates charged by our energy company equate to $387 to run the car for an entire year.
• The “actual cost” is somewhat higher, because there is a transfer loss of electricity from the power company side to the ultimate utilization point at which the car uses the energy to move the vehicle.   That loss is between ten and twenty percent.   So, the estimated cost to charge the car for the year is more likely $445
• Of the 12,554 miles we drove the car, about 300 of them were free miles, because we charged the car at free charge points or Tesla Motors Super Charger stations.   We do mostly local driving with the car, so our charging is done almost exclusively at home.

There are a lot of great options for cars in the market today.   There are definitely a lot better options than my eight cylinder, premium gas using, eighteen-miles per gallon vehicle we had prior to the Tesla Model S.   The hybrids and other electric cars are helping to make a change in our dependance on fossil fuels.   We’re very happy with the decision we made over a year ago to move to an electric car.  

The Big Boy Update:  My son is enjoying camp; but he’s not enjoying the classroom it’s being held in because it’s not the classroom he is in during the school year.    He was so annoyed by it yesterday he told me he wanted to throw Children’s House West down the hill.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   My daughter has wet her pants a lot today.  My husband suggested she might have an infection.   Getting out of her if it’s a sting or a burn and when it happens is challenging, but we’ve decided to apply yeast medication and take her to the doctor if that doesn’t clear it up straight away.   After an application earlier today, she seems better, so we’ll hope for the best tomorrow.  

Fitness Update:   Slapping Totally Allowed.   My neighbor and I ran a half marathon distance in the park this afternoon in ninety-one degree weather.   We were sweating and there were lots of horse flies.   We had a standing order to slap the other one silly if a fly landed on us.   I got one at one point, leaving a hand print on my friend that lasted for the next five miles.