If filling up your tank takes 2 minutes (1 minute filling + 1 minute overhead), you can tank 350 miles per minute. The Tesla S gets 265 miles in 1.5 minutes, which is 175 miles per minute. So your car can be refilled twice as fast as the Tesla S when measured in miles. Furthermore, you need to recharge the Tesla more often.
At least, Elon is honest about it and says "this is about convincing the people that are skeptics". (And not about making a fair comparison.)
Most US drivers are not getting 700 miles from a 12 US gallon tank (58 US MPG). The average fuel economy of US cars is 24.6 MPG.
An Audi A6, in the US at least, gets 33 highway MPG and has a 19.8 gallon fuel tank.
And yes, of course you charge the Tesla more often. You charge it every night when you come home, and it's ready with a full charge the next morning. That's just a totally different usage pattern from only filling up when it gets low like you do with a gasoline powered car.
I'd bet that most Tesla drivers will never have to stop to recharge, mostly because they will use their Tesla around town, and will take long trips in another car or fly, because Tesla owners are wealthy.
Note that imperial gallons are substantially larger than the regular kind. A 10 imperial gallon tank holds 12 US gallons, and so 700 miles from a 10 imperial gallon tank is actually about 58MPG. Still very high, of course.
It's not my fault that one of the units is just the name of the other unit with a modifier. It's not like "gallon" is shorthand for something longer and more formal.
> I'd bet that most Tesla drivers will never have to stop to recharge, mostly because they will use their Tesla around town, and will take long trips in another car or fly, because Tesla owners are wealthy.
That's probably true, but much of the recent marketing around battery swaps and transcontinental charging networks is aimed specifically at road trips. I suppose one would argue that they're working on this infrastructure now for the future when much more affordable EVs are available.
At least, Elon is honest about it and says "this is about convincing the people that are skeptics". (And not about making a fair comparison.)