Good write-up on your blog, thanks.
Thursday will mark 4 years with our LEAF and ~21 months with our Tesla S85. We've had zero issues (knocking wood) with both cars.
The LEAF went through a set of Ecopias in 30k miles. I have about 18k mi on the Tesla 19" Goodyear all-seasons and they appear unworn.
In my limited winter driving experience, the Tesla's seat heaters are all I need. My hands never got cold enough to wish I had a heated steering wheel but to each his own. The side window defrost on the Tesla seemed insufficient to me. I was 50 miles down the road before I could use view both side mirrors.
The LEAF is my wife's daily driver and she loves the size and the way it drives. So much so that she hasn't wanted to trade it in for any other EV but, wishes for a bit more range, like an actual 100 miles.
I
can get 265 miles out of the Tesla and 74 miles out of the LEAF (when new). My wife continues to use the LEAF "miles remaining" gauge (aka GOM), which is nearly worthless. Rather than use that somewhat arbitrary '265' number though, I have found the Tesla's rated range estimate to be accurate and crucial on long trips when used in conjunction with the "Trip" display which provides a Wh/mi value since the last charge.
I just returned from 10 days of skiing in Park City, UT which was about a 700 mile trip one-way, mountainous terrain, 80 MPH speed limits, surface conditions from snowy to wet to dry. It was -8 deg F when we started home and I had a heavily loaded car with a roof rack full of skis. The very low temp hammered my Wh/mi. I Supercharged 5 times on the way home (~13 hours door to door) and sometimes pulled in with ~10 miles remaining. Usually, I Supercharged long enough to have about 50% more rated range miles than the next stop, e.g., charge to 210 miles if the next SC was 140 miles away. Watching the Wh/mi I could easily assess how much extra juice I had. Rated range (210 miles in this example) requires I keep it under ~280 Wh/mi. To make it 140 mi I needed to keep the Wh/mi under ~420. With the road conditions and natural tendency to match the prevailing traffic speed, I had a hard time staying under 420 Wh/mi!
It was a shock to see that but it was better to be shocked in the first 30 miles and adjust accordingly than in the last 30 where I'd need a tow (or medication). "Adjusting" just meant slowing down to ~65MPH. Nothing dramatic like turning off heat. Using these gauges, I had no range anxiety at all on this trip.
Perhaps Tesla will eventually update the SW make it a feature of the Nav system to signal the driver if the Wh/mi + SOC won't get you to your next destination. Coupling in
EVTripper data would be worthwhile as well.