Gas Station Blues




Posted this earlier, now gone:

"Here there must always be one designated pump for full service. Not the whole set/station."

Honestly.. no. Sure I'm all hyped about getting eventually a model S (when they finally come over to europe), driving electric, helping it to change the game a bit and so on...

But who cares about those 5 min wich are normaly right on the way to where I go, you eaven can fit in a bit of shopping in that time... America also has reeeealy cheap gas prices, I never get all your complaining about it. And as I'm one of those who drives a cheaper car now I'll never 'safe' any money on driving a Model S.

Also while with the Model S I'll charge at least 95% of all the energy from home. I do worry about the other 5%. There are possibilities to charge up the car in most parts. But as we are still early adapters you'll have to drive some extra miles to get there.. and stay there for some time. Superchargers will not be widely available any time soon here I guess.

So I feel that charging your car outside your home will be one of the greatest disadvanteges of the car.

Which would you rather spend: gas for 50 miles at $8, or gas for 300 miles at $3?

Europe is tiny. Distances are short. Infrastructure is everywhere.

Near Toronto, in the '60s a friend's parents visited from Germany, and took a "short" drive to St. Catherines, mostly between farms and vineyards along the way. They couldn't believe all the "empty land", which to us seems heavily occupied. It's all in Southern Ontario, the little projection down around Lakes Ontario and Erie, the densest population in Canada.

They wouldn't have survived the shock of a train or car ride right across Ontario, or up north through Sudbury, etc. Which is barely as far north as the Can-US border across the Western Provinces.

North America is bigger than you can possibly imagine. Fuel at European prices would make life almost impossible for many.

North America is bigger than you can possibly imagine. (Brian H)

If that's not meant to be insulting, it sure sounds like it. Quite presumptuous in any event.

Fuel at European prices would make life almost impossible for many. (Brian H)

Bullshit. Not impossible at all, but different. How different, seems to be beyond your imagination.

I still stop at gas stations (SIG vin076). I actually get a perverse joy in pulling up to a pump, getting out of my Model S, Using the restroom, buying a soda and getting back in the car, then silently speeding away. I think to myself "Big Oil can kiss my......"


You've picked up some vulgar, distasteful American english. Sorry.


Do appreciate your "help" on the form...just not the disrepectful language.

sagebrushnw, point taken.

Christian has a good point. Gas is very cheap here in the US. Gas has been cheaper than bottled water. Cheap gas leads to different behaviors and economic situations that make us slaves to gas. I think that is what begrudges many of us the most.

Gas is so cheap that it costs us less money to drive 70+ miles round trip to work than to live close to where we work. I have known people that have done 200+ mile round trips to work because it was the most economical way for them to accomodate their life and work. (That was easier to do before all the traffic congestion.) That cheap gas drives a lot of addiction to fuel consumpton. Most of the West Coast was built after the car was invented so everything is spread quite far apart. At one point my spouse drove 40 miles north to work and I drove 30 miles South to work. Frequent trains are non existent where we are as well. (Hurry hyperloop!)

One of the many things I love about Europe is the ability to get around the cities and towns so efficiently by foot and by public transport or train. Our car culture is very isolating, inefficient and unhealthy on many levels.

Frankly, I am more excited about no longer being a slave to gas than just the annoying trip weekly trip to the gas station.

Luckily, my new car will be mostly running on hydro power so I won't be supporting any oil spills, excessively polluted runoff from roads, airborne pollutants, coal mining and political horse-pucky (is that less vulgar and acceptable?) that I disagree with.

8-) !

@brianH I am S181and VIN 402, took delivery almost a month ago.

I am going on a long drive this weekend, 700 miles(1126 km) or mayby 1158 km=900 miles, depends on if I feel like going to Barstow, what 's there but the supercharger (the reason for that trip).
900 miles is almost the distance between Paris and Rome, but I am just doing a trip in California, things are more spread out in the west here, and Americans have cheap gas compared to Europeans and most other places in the world, so we are spoiled in a way, all is relative.

Love how convenient it is to travel by train in Europe and Japan. Love driving in Europe, not the gas price there. But the Mode S is a big car and I would probably get stuck in some narrow old town or parking elevator.

But the Mode S is a big car and I would probably get stuck in some narrow old town or parking elevator. (portia)

True. That's definitely a concern for many European buyers (myself included), see discussion on power-folding mirrors...

The train system in England is great. Just walk to the local town's train station, hop on, get to the bigger station and take a faster train for longer distances. The car culture here is killing us. If we had trains, I would only need one car. I even shifted my hours to leave work after 6pm. No good, traffic has gotten more congested.

Anyway, back to gas stations. I wanted to add that I always make sure I do not pull into a Diesel pump isle. There is always a puddle of split diesel on the ground. Step in that, track it into your car and it stinks for awhile. Plus there are even lines to wait for gas nowadays. Not sure what is going on.

I would love to get a Tesla, it is pricy, if the Bamster can push for a $10K point-of-sale tax incentive, that would help. Financing through Penfed at 1.49% for up to $70K helps too. I confirmed, Penfed will approve a loan for the Model S.

I hear you guys. I paid close to $60 for a tank of gas in my Hyundai Accent just the other day.

My wife likes to rub things in when she knows something is bothering me. The grimace I made when I put my card into the pump must have given her the idea to ask, "How much longer for the Tesla, again?". Trollface.jpg...

Volker.Berlin - just to balance this out. As another American, the term you used (IMHO) has a #2 rating on the way to "vulgar and distasteful":

1) Bullcrap (shortened to "Bull" sometimes)
2) Bullshit
7) Vulgar and distasteful

That term is used often by many Americans in daily life, and even in business situations if the speaker and receiver are friends and they are having a private conversation.

Probably bullcrap is better used for a public forum, but you've got a long way to go before you get to #7.

I know, off topic, but he has explained that this forum helps him understand the English language better and we're a pretty diverse group when it comes to all sorts of things, including cursing.

Getting Amped Soon, now of course I'm curious to learn about the terms that would go into slots 3 to 7...! ;-) Where would "Bollocks" fit in your scheme?

Is a mere "BS" more acceptable than the full-blown "Bullshit!"?

Oh and one more thing, because sagebrushnw put the word "help" in quotation marks, most people would read that as him being disingenuous or sarcastic.

When making a critical comment, "Thanks so much for the help," is generally interpreted much differently than "Thanks so much for the "help"."

In spoken English, this difference would be implied by speaker's tone or facial expression, and that would convey whether their statement was sincere or not.

I've actually never heard the word Bollocks used in conversation so I would guess it and B.S. are both #1's.

For me, #7's are terms that degrade a person's racial or ethic background, or their sexual orientation. These are particularly distasteful to me because they cut to a person's core being, which is something they had no choice in or control over.

I'm going to really get blasted for being off topic so I'd better make this my last post on this.

Possible cure;

I’ve considered stopping at a pump in my Roadster only to then speed away laughing manically for all to hear a number of times (but figured that it wouldn’t be a good Tesla PR move).

--- Cherif

You make my point. Distances are not a matter of choice in N.A. They just are. And unless you've driven or ridden a train or bus across a significant % of the US or Canada, you can't really 'grok' the distances, even if you're a native. I've never encountered an ex-European who was other than awed while getting used to the idea.

European solutions like trains just don't wash in N.A. The adjacent destination points are just too far apart. Ask any transportation flow analyst, anonymity guaranteed. They'll admit that it makes little sense to try to duplicate small-country rail.

Remember this?
Riding on the City of New Orleans,
Illinois Central Monday morning rail
Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.

One rider per car. Not a paying proposition.

what is N.A.? North America?

Yes. Big lump that gets in the way of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic mixing, except for the minority that sneaks across under the ice. ;)


I was unaware that Americans were the only ones who use potty words.


I recommend getting a compressor for your garage. I have an excellent one that plugs into a 120v outlet and will inflate a large tire quickly. Extremely handy.

My statement to V.B. on being a help on this form was sincere, NOT sarcastic. The use of rude or disrespectful language on a forum or in public is not necessary and shows a general disregard to others and a lack of self respect. What people say in private or among close friends, is another story if the people involved don't care. In any language there are appropriate and inappropriate words and/or phrases. Don't let your mind get lazy. There are many ways to get a point across without using degrading words.

Make up a word that is "expressive" but not offensive. How about "dingafits"? "Bullroar"?

Enough said.

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