"a route 30 miles longer that avoided New York City, and it's battery draining traffic congestion, altogether." I would have thought that slow, stop-start traffic is the ideal conditions for an electric car, both in terms of driving pleasure and energy use compared with traditional cars.
Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
51–60 of 98 posts
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#52Not really a surprise - I don't think there was really any doubt about the performance of the Tesla in normal weather. The NYC area right now is well above freezing, approaching +10C in the daytime, nowhere near the deep freeze that occurred during the NYT drive. This still doesn't put to rest the expected (but somehow controversial) concerns about lithium battery performance in cold weather. This concern IMO needs t…
Diesel also needs special considerations in colder weather (the fuel becomes too viscous at lower temperatures). Just a different set of problems to petrol, not a dealbreaker imo.
I had to wait about a week for the weather to warm up before the glow-plugs were enough to start it.
However, I believe a Tesla is a different case. I always keep my car's fuel tank above half-filled to preserve the fuel filter (and you should too). While the Tesla might lose some charge during the day in a parking lot or overnight, I can't imagine it would be a seriously substantial amount.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#53Not really a surprise - I don't think there was really any doubt about the performance of the Tesla in normal weather. The NYC area right now is well above freezing, approaching +10C in the daytime, nowhere near the deep freeze that occurred during the NYT drive. This still doesn't put to rest the expected (but somehow controversial) concerns about lithium battery performance in cold weather. This concern IMO needs t…
Diesel also needs special considerations in colder weather (the fuel becomes too viscous at lower temperatures). Just a different set of problems to petrol, not a dealbreaker imo.
Modern glow plugs are also much better. In my VW TDI, at 10F the glow plug cycle is only about 3 seconds, and then it fires right up. No glow plugs need at all above 35F.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#54"a route 30 miles longer that avoided New York City, and it's battery draining traffic congestion, altogether." I would have thought that slow, stop-start traffic is the ideal conditions for an electric car, both in terms of driving pleasure and energy use compared with traditional cars.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Are we forgetting the data from the NYT review clearly showed Broder driving around in circles in a car park? It didn't. It showed him driving .6mi after exiting the highway but there is no proof that he was driving around in circles in a parking lot.
It might not prove he drove in circles in a parking lot, but you have to admit there are discrepancies in the data that have not been explained fully by the NYT editor that don't prove he didn't deliberately try and drain the battery all for having the scoop review that tries and dispels Tesla's claims of efficiency.
Let's not start nitpicking, that stop was new for the reporter. He stopped once on the different side of the highway (North bound) and on this side of highway (South bound) the tesla station was in a completely different place.
So yea, it's very plausible that he was looking for it.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#56Regardless of how much warmer the weather is than when Broder drove the car. If Broder had charged the car completely instead of partially regardless of the obvious drop in capacity in colder weather he still would have made it. CNN have just proven the car is capable, cold weather aside nothing would be much different here. Are we forgetting the data from the NYT review clearly showed Broder driving around in circle…
Yeah, if you need long range, don't play with electricity.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
The experience with Top Gear has probably influenced the reaction here. I don't find it childish to strongly defend your product if you believe a journalist has written a hack job on it.
>I don't find it childish to strongly defend your product if you believe a journalist Childish really is the best word for it. It wasn't a measured, intelligent response. It came across as a "beat the journalist up" because they posted a bad review. Reminds me of the sort of thing you see bad restaurant owners do when they respond to diner's complaints.
I disagree completely -- a better analogy would be that a restaurant owner gets pissed off because the reviewer complains of a fly in his soup when circuit cameras reveal this was never the case.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#58Regardless of how much warmer the weather is than when Broder drove the car. If Broder had charged the car completely instead of partially regardless of the obvious drop in capacity in colder weather he still would have made it. CNN have just proven the car is capable, cold weather aside nothing would be much different here. Are we forgetting the data from the NYT review clearly showed Broder driving around in circle…
> Are we forgetting the data from the NYT review clearly showed Broder driving around in circles in a car park? It didn't. It showed him driving .6mi after exiting the highway but there is no proof that he was driving around in circles in a parking lot.
While that might qualify as "driving in circles", it did not appear to be intentional, and is a valid issue that one might have.
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#59Not really a surprise - I don't think there was really any doubt about the performance of the Tesla in normal weather. The NYC area right now is well above freezing, approaching +10C in the daytime, nowhere near the deep freeze that occurred during the NYT drive. This still doesn't put to rest the expected (but somehow controversial) concerns about lithium battery performance in cold weather. This concern IMO needs t…
I thought one of the benefits of electric cars was that since you had them plugged in overnight you could program them to automatically heat the car to a pleasant temperature for when you went outside to drive, taking energy for this directly from the charger, rather than the battery. And that if your schedule was a bit more unpredictable you could activate this via a smartphone app as well. Does the Tesla not do tha…
Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe it presently does. In fact, I believe that's the reason why the battery charge level dropped overnight in Musk's presentation of data and why, according to some folk, plugging it in to a normal power socket isn't enough to actually charge it as the battery pack draws more power than the socket can supply simply keeping the thing warm. Such a process will of course drain the battery which still achieves the…
Would better thermal insulation help? Or it is already best economically viable?