Topic: Tesla Model S

[rrocket]

Commuted in the Model S again today.

Realized a feature I didn't know they had added to the car in a recent update, the car automatically moves seat and steering wheel out of the way on exit, and then back on entry.

Again, feature added overnight, just like getting new capabilities on a smart phone.

A lot of luxo barges had that decades ago....

A decade?

My 1997 Mark VIII had it. I think the official factory term was called "Easy Entry". Not only that, it depended on which key fob you used. It would preset to whichever driving position was set to the fob after you got in.

our Sorento has it too...well, just the seat, as the steering wheel isn't powered...the new Stinger has it though, on everything as the steering column is powered (it also resets the mirrors upon startup and all other preset settings).

Do you need to download a new app to get it to do that??

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

My MDX from a decade (almost) ago has that. Seat, mirrors, and steering column moves automatically.  I love it especially since my wife started driving.

I didn't particularly like it in my Mark. Since the seat moved soooo far back, I couldn't reach the ignition until it went back to the normal position.

Fortunately you could disable it.

Yeah I don't like the easy entry stuff because it compromises entry and exit for the rear passenger. I just like that I don't have to change all the settings every time I drive the MDX.

But doesn't the memory keys set up everything for you? Like your wife's setting in "1" as your setting in "2"?

[carcrazed]

Commuted in the Model S again today.

Realized a feature I didn't know they had added to the car in a recent update, the car automatically moves seat and steering wheel out of the way on exit, and then back on entry.

Again, feature added overnight, just like getting new capabilities on a smart phone.

A lot of luxo barges had that decades ago....

A decade?

My 1997 Mark VIII had it. I think the official factory term was called "Easy Entry". Not only that, it depended on which key fob you used. It would preset to whichever driving position was set to the fob after you got in.

our Sorento has it too...well, just the seat, as the steering wheel isn't powered...the new Stinger has it though, on everything as the steering column is powered (it also resets the mirrors upon startup and all other preset settings).

Do you need to download a new app to get it to do that??

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

My MDX from a decade (almost) ago has that. Seat, mirrors, and steering column moves automatically.  I love it especially since my wife started driving.

I didn't particularly like it in my Mark. Since the seat moved soooo far back, I couldn't reach the ignition until it went back to the normal position.

Fortunately you could disable it.

Yeah I don't like the easy entry stuff because it compromises entry and exit for the rear passenger. I just like that I don't have to change all the settings every time I drive the MDX.

But doesn't the memory keys set up everything for you? Like your wife's setting in "1" as your setting in "2"?

Yes, the memory key does that. I meant if our MDX didn't have that, it would have been annoying.
In the odd times when she drives the Civic, she changes everything and I can't even get in the car without pushing the seat good 6-8 inches.

[rrocket]

Commuted in the Model S again today.

Realized a feature I didn't know they had added to the car in a recent update, the car automatically moves seat and steering wheel out of the way on exit, and then back on entry.

Again, feature added overnight, just like getting new capabilities on a smart phone.

A lot of luxo barges had that decades ago....

A decade?

My 1997 Mark VIII had it. I think the official factory term was called "Easy Entry". Not only that, it depended on which key fob you used. It would preset to whichever driving position was set to the fob after you got in.

our Sorento has it too...well, just the seat, as the steering wheel isn't powered...the new Stinger has it though, on everything as the steering column is powered (it also resets the mirrors upon startup and all other preset settings).

Do you need to download a new app to get it to do that??

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

My MDX from a decade (almost) ago has that. Seat, mirrors, and steering column moves automatically.  I love it especially since my wife started driving.

I didn't particularly like it in my Mark. Since the seat moved soooo far back, I couldn't reach the ignition until it went back to the normal position.

Fortunately you could disable it.

Yeah I don't like the easy entry stuff because it compromises entry and exit for the rear passenger. I just like that I don't have to change all the settings every time I drive the MDX.

But doesn't the memory keys set up everything for you? Like your wife's setting in "1" as your setting in "2"?

Yes, the memory key does that. I meant if our MDX didn't have that, it would have been annoying.
In the odd times when she drives the Civic, she changes everything and I can't even get in the car without pushing the seat good 6-8 inches.

Oh! Right! I get it.

Ya, I do the same when I borrow the IS.

Move seat back FIRST before getting in.

[bye]

Back to my show and shine.   

New feature : While shopping today we enabled the "keep cabin temperature" button on climate control.   Car kept warm while we shopped, on return, the cabin temp was same as when we left.   

Tesla updated the car over the air and added this feature without any intervention or service required.

[rrocket]

Back to my show and shine.   

New feature : While shopping today we enabled the "keep cabin temperature" button on climate control.   Car kept warm while we shopped, on return, the cabin temp was same as when we left.   

Tesla updated the car over the air and added this feature without any intervention or service required.

How much was the battery drain?

Like before you went in it was A.  You were gone for B minutes.  And when you came back, battery was at C.

[Patrick_D1]

Back to my show and shine.   

New feature : While shopping today we enabled the "keep cabin temperature" button on climate control.   Car kept warm while we shopped, on return, the cabin temp was same as when we left.   

Tesla updated the car over the air and added this feature without any intervention or service required.

How much was the battery drain?

Like before you went in it was A.  You were gone for B minutes.  And when you came back, battery was at C.

Typically climate maintenance features like that require the car to be plugged in. Presumably he parked in an EV spot and was on a L2 charger while shopping. These features are interesting, but if EVs ever became more ubiquitous, we'd need to see a lot more chargers to make such items relevant.

[bye]

Typically climate maintenance features like that require the car to be plugged in. Presumably he parked in an EV spot and was on a L2 charger while shopping. These features are interesting

Not plugged in.   New feature.   Continuous climate control.   Remember, our Tesla has massive battery pack, enough to run our house for 4 days based on our usual daily energy usage.

The 2013 Tesla Model S climate control system uses 6kW peak for heating, about half that for air conditioning.

When the car has no-one in it, and it's 0C outside, and I run climate control, it can raise the cabin temperature from 0C to 20C in 10-15 minutes, using about 750 watt hours of electricity, around 1% of the battery pack storage.

To maintain temperature, it's about 400 watts when it's cold outside as the heater doesn't need to run at top speed, so the car uses about half a percent to maintain cabin at 20C for an hour as we shop.

[bye]

By the way, I am an engineering-type, so have installed a monitoring device:
https://www.fleetcarma.com

Have complete logs, charts, details of how car charges, consumes energy, etc.

They produce devices for most cars, and EV's like my wife's Tesla.
I will be installing a unit for my Smart ED soon.

[rrocket]

By the way, I am an engineering-type, so have installed a monitoring device:
https://www.fleetcarma.com

Have complete logs, charts, details of how car charges, consumes energy, etc.

They produce devices for most cars, and EV's like my wife's Tesla.
I will be installing a unit for my Smart ED soon.

Looks pretty interesting.

[bye]

Update.   Added another 3 charging sites to our list of visited sites.   My wife covered Pickering, Markham and Vaughn in the past few weeks.  There are 20 charging bays at each of these new sites.

Tesla Model 3 reservation now shows "mid 2018", so we have to make a decision to find a buyer for our existing Model S or keep it and have two Tesla's.   My wife firmly stated she's keeping her S.   

Looks like I am going to need to review the options on my 3, had wondered if I load it up, or not.   I don't see the need for the long range battery when my average trips are local.   The standard range is 220 miles at 100% charge, which is almost as much as our S gets on a 90% charge (226).   Long range is silly, 310 miles, no idea why I'd need that sort of range.   

The S with 256 at 100% is perfectly suitable for long distance travel as we've done 30000 km on supercharging alone in 2.5 years.

I get why Tesla is marketing the long range 3, but I actually think the standard range is suitable for 99% of all the driving I'd ever do.

[Noto]

With electric vehicles, longer range is always better - bar none.

You don't have to equip every trim with the longest possible range, but each model should offer it in order to convert those with range anxiety.

[carcrazed]

With electric vehicles, longer range is always better - bar none.

You don't have to equip every trim with the longest possible range, but each model should offer it in order to convert those with range anxiety.

For me, it's not range anxiety anymore.  It's the charging time necessary.

[dirtyjeffer]

With electric vehicles, longer range is always better - bar none.

You don't have to equip every trim with the longest possible range, but each model should offer it in order to convert those with range anxiety.

For me, it's not range anxiety anymore.  It's the charging time necessary.

what's wrong with charging it overnight at home?..you're sleeping anyway and that's when power is the cheapest (assuming you are in area with TOU billing).

[carcrazed]

With electric vehicles, longer range is always better - bar none.

You don't have to equip every trim with the longest possible range, but each model should offer it in order to convert those with range anxiety.

For me, it's not range anxiety anymore.  It's the charging time necessary.

what's wrong with charging it overnight at home?..you're sleeping anyway and that's when power is the cheapest (assuming you are in area with TOU billing).

It's more than fine for daily use.  It's only when it comes to travelling long distances.  I'd get one as a second car for commuting if the price is right.

[EV-Light]

With electric vehicles, longer range is always better - bar none.

You don't have to equip every trim with the longest possible range, but each model should offer it in order to convert those with range anxiety.

For me, it's not range anxiety anymore.  It's the charging time necessary.

what's wrong with charging it overnight at home?..you're sleeping anyway and that's when power is the cheapest (assuming you are in area with TOU billing).

Ugh....a Tesla would never be able to go camping with me. I’d have enough range to get there...but then I’d be stuck - there’s no where to charge.

If government is serious about transition us to electric they should be investing heavily in infrastructure - build charging stations every 5-10km on major highways, create a standard for the plugs instead of having 4-5 different ones, etc....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[carcrazed]

With electric vehicles, longer range is always better - bar none.

You don't have to equip every trim with the longest possible range, but each model should offer it in order to convert those with range anxiety.

For me, it's not range anxiety anymore.  It's the charging time necessary.

what's wrong with charging it overnight at home?..you're sleeping anyway and that's when power is the cheapest (assuming you are in area with TOU billing).

Ugh....a Tesla would never be able to go camping with me. I’d have enough range to get there...but then I’d be stuck - there’s no where to charge.

If government is serious about transition us to electric they should be investing heavily in infrastructure - build charging stations every 5-10km on major highways, create a standard for the plugs instead of having 4-5 different ones, etc....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Every 5-10km? That wouldn't happen unless we totally get rid of ICE cars.
With technology advancements, it will take significantly less time to charge even larger batteries in just a few years. Only then I'll take a seriously look at full-on EVs.
PHEVs are great for the time being, though. I would go for a PHEV if I was in a market for a new car.

[bye]

Report from recent March break family trip to cottage with 120V outside outlet available for charging.
Summary : Tesla 2x cheaper to "fuel" even in worse case conditions compared to gas SUV.


Efficiency on average speed 90 km/h, some 4xx series highway at >>100km/h, rest on non-divided roads at 80 km/h.
Distance ~200 km.
Temperature -13C at destination.

2013 Tesla Model S used ~65% battery for the 200 km driven.
This compares against 414 km "rated" (aka EPA) range of a fully charged battery (as reported on charging screen).

This means, as compared to EPA testing, driving the Tesla in cold winter weather uses approximately 30% more energy than the EPA test requires on average. 

Charging on 120V partially refilled battery, adding 30% over the span of a few days, 29 hours of charging as reported in "Fleet Carma" device portal.   Charging slowly uses far more energy than charging quickly due to the fact the battery charging and management systems are active (drawing energy for computers and other things) for a long period of time.   This is a situation where charging efficiency is lower than it would be compared to charging on 240V (and obviously supercharging).

29 hours of charging on regular 12A plug was 42 kWh of energy consumed according to Fleet Carma.
With the off peak and mid peak prices this is ~$6.

$6 to add 90 km of range in winter on slow charging, with poor charging efficiency, battery heating due to cold (-13C) reducing amount of range added, off and mid peak electricity, pretty much worst case we've ever seen for "cost per km driven".

In comparison, our previous Mercedes SUV was 14L/100 km, so about double the cost to drive in similar conditions in terms of fuel.

[rrocket]

^^You're comparing apples to oranges.

SUV vs Sedan

Also, 29 hours of charging is crazy!!   



Hope you had a nice vacation though!

[bye]

Yeah, the Tesla Model S sedan is way more engaging to drive, larger storage and much higher performance than the Mercedes SUV, but it's the only comparison I have handy that I know from experience.

Just realized that gas prices went up since the last time I filled up 4 years ago...

14L of gas is $18 today, so the Model S at $7 for the same distance is quite a bit cheaper for "fuel".

And yes 29 hours in 120V is the nature of staying at a more remote cottage location.
Charging in my own garage is easily done overnight, as 240V 24A (40A circuit) is much faster.

We've only ever charged at 120V a handful of times in the past year, always on trips as "opportunity" charging.

[bye]

Update:

Tesla have sent out two recall notices.
1.  Takata air bags.
2.  Power Steering pump bolts.

Will attend to those along with minor maintenance items that I have a list of to attend to while the car is under full warranty.

18000 km traveled since installing the monitoring device from Fleet Carma.
~5000 kWh consumed including charging loss.
About 40% of those are supercharged (ie. free) km.

So ~$300 in "fuel" costs to drive 18000 km.

Energy usage is around 240 wH/km, compared to 200 wH/km reported for my Smart ED.

The Smart ED is almost exclusively driven on city streets with average trip speed of 40 km/h (including stop lights and turns, total trip time divided by km driven).

The Tesla is at 90 km/h average speed over that distance, meaning, majority higher speed highway trips.
Very satisfied with the efficiency of the Tesla and Smart for their intended purposes.