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Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

I just drove from Chicago to Tampa, stayed for two weeks in FL, and then drove back over the last two weeks. I did both sprints straight through in a 2008 Infiniti G37, which has a six-speed auto, V6 engine, and 20 gallon tank. At an average speed of 85 mph, the car averaged about 24mpg, giving me a range of around 420 miles per gallon (with ~60 mile reserve).

This is an edge case of course. I'm 31, and drove the entire ~15 hour drive at once with breaks only for fuel/bathroom at the same time. If I owned a Model S, I'd just fly.

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It's not an edge case, but neither is it really a sensible comparison.

You have to look at the model s like the first macintosh. It does some revolutionary things very well and it's an astounding achievement. It will however take a few years to overtake the mainstream. It would be a little short-sighted to go on about how the Apple II is so much more practical, even though it was at first.

So you spend $325 on gas for that trip. Which is about a third of the monthly payment required for a Model S.

I used to really want a Model S, but I just don't think paying for that much battery is worth it as long as your commute isn't over 60 miles. Instead of a Model S, you can lease a Leaf for city driving and buy luxury gas car for road trips, both combined for a smaller total payment. Plus you now have two cars!

People seem to be missing your point, time is money. To those with lots of money time necessarily isn't as much money. Hence, the Tesla buyers have the luxury of time.

Going on a vacation for us means, the less time we spend getting there the more time we have on vacation since we have to work it in between what work allows.

Still I cannot believe even on this site all the people justifying stopping every couple of hours for thirty minutes. Even traveling with dogs that isn't necessary. Top it off, all those stops extend the trip which means yet another hotel.

Plus my number one issue, the supercharge network governs how you do your trip, which routes you take. That can simply put some locations out of practicality.

That's 1.44 metric tons of CO2 emission. A Tesla may not be as practical, but it extends the longevity of our planet for damn sure.

[EDIT] I used this website to calculate http://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx?tab=4

I offset the carbon emissions through Terrapass (http://www.terrapass.com/). It's not perfect, I know, but I can't afford a Tesla at the moment without liquidating my TSLA stock.

Total cost to offset ~2 metric tons of CO2: ~$20 (http://www.terrapass.com/shop/)

That's an interesting service, it makes me wonder what other indulgence-style businesses could exist for wealthy people ...

  +--------------------------+------+--------+
  | Name                     | Qty. | Price  |
  +--------------------------+------+--------+
  | Littering                |    1 |  $6.95 |
  +--------------------------+------+--------+
  | Water lawn in drought    |    1 | $34.95 |
  +--------------------------+------+--------+
  | Let's do this mega-trip  |    1 | $19.95 |
  | in a sports car! And     |      |        |    
  | drive really fast too!   |      |        |
  +--------------------------+------+--------+

Guilt is so 2006.

Since when are services built on sound science "indulgence-style"? It wasn't like I drove to Florida on a vacation; I was taking care of a family member. I'm not supposed to go because I'm releasing ~2 tons of carbon? Bah.

There's nothing wrong with driving far distances, it's just that money negating pollution is silly to me, as incongruent as a tithe forgiving sins. You can't just wring automobile emissions out of the sky, and a donation doesn't change the fact that the extra car on the road causes other cars to slow, producing more emissions, increasing demand for road infrastructure and such.

Doesn't that already exist? Where I live, there's a fine for all three of those things.

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