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Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

money.cnn.com

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Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#41

Post by analog »

potatolicious wrote: post #6

Not 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.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#42

Post by analog »

alan_cx wrote: post #27

I kinda sit in the middle. We need this technology, and people like Musk pushing and investing in it. But equally, his attitude to criticism borders childish and is very off putting. What I don't get about any of this, from both sides, is that this is the early days of the technology and its clearly work in progress. As usual, early adopters pretty much know what they are investing in and expect and accept that there…

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.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#43

Post by analog »

joshfraser wrote: post #19

Tesla are getting a ton of free press out of this story. Sometimes I think they pick these fights on purpose just to get all the free PR.

I doubt they orchestrated the original article. Their choice is pick a fight or let the article stand. Picking a fight looks like the better choice to me, though personally I have no interest in reading someone else's bunfight.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#44

Post by eli »

willvarfar wrote: post #28
potatolicious wrote: post #6

Not 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…

Teslas are big sellers in Norway and Switzerland, yet (and I travel there often and even looked in Zurich showrooms) I don't hear them concerned.

If you drove the distance from Boston to DC in Switzerland, you wouldn't be in Switzerland anymore. The whole country fits inside New York State.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#45

Post by chmars »

willvarfar wrote: post #28
potatolicious wrote: post #6

Not 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…

Teslas are big sellers in Norway and Switzerland, yet (and I travel there often and even looked in Zurich showrooms) I don't hear them concerned.

Tesla sales numbers for Switzerland:

2010 = 44 / 2011 = 51

Source: http://www.auto-i-dat.ch/download/fahrzeugmarkt/Schweizer_Fa...

According to a media release from July 27, 2012, Tesla counted more than 130 Tesla cars in Switzerland:

http://www.presseportal.ch/de/pm/100020821/100722406/tesla-b...

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#46

Post by taligent »

analog wrote: post #42
alan_cx wrote: post #27

I kinda sit in the middle. We need this technology, and people like Musk pushing and investing in it. But equally, his attitude to criticism borders childish and is very off putting. What I don't get about any of this, from both sides, is that this is the early days of the technology and its clearly work in progress. As usual, early adopters pretty much know what they are investing in and expect and accept that there…

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.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#47

Post by willvarfar »

eli wrote: post #44
willvarfar wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teslas are big sellers in Norway and Switzerland, yet (and I travel there often and even looked in Zurich showrooms) I don't hear them concerned.

If you drove the distance from Boston to DC in Switzerland, you wouldn't be in Switzerland anymore. The whole country fits inside New York State.

I was particularly thinking about the evils of cold nights

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#48

Post by brudgers »

Every time someone reads this, a kitten gets run over:

"Instead, I found myself maneuvering around slower cars. Now, I normally spend most of my time on the New Jersey Turnpike out in the left lane going at least 10 or 15 miles an hour faster than I was in the Model S. But sitting in the middle lane, I was keeping up with traffic. I certainly didn't feel out of place -- except for the fact that I wasn't burning any gasoline."

It's supposed to be a performance car. A proper review should imply hoonage and speeds likely to raise the author's insurance premiums. It shouldn't take the Consumer Reports first impression of the Nissan Leaf as it's model. The Tesla S is not a fucking Prius.

The only thing more dull than hypermiling stories are hypermiling videos, and the only saving grace of this story is that we are spared those.

How Musk can act incredulous over assertions that the Model S is impractical for US intercity travel while acknowleding one hour fuelings every three hours is beyond me.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#49

Post by danielweber »

ZeroGravitas wrote: post #29
potatolicious wrote: post #6

Not 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…

Plugging in overnight would have made the NYT review a non-event. In fact, it doesn't look like the CNN review involved an overnight stop at all.

NB: Tesla claims you don't have to plug in overnight. Whatever other problems the NYT reviewer had, he wasn't cheating by leaving it unplugged overnight.

Re: Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S

#50

Post by chmars »

eli wrote: post #44
willvarfar wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Teslas are big sellers in Norway and Switzerland, yet (and I travel there often and even looked in Zurich showrooms) I don't hear them concerned.

If you drove the distance from Boston to DC in Switzerland, you wouldn't be in Switzerland anymore. The whole country fits inside New York State.

Random fact: Switzerland actually fits inside New York State 3.4225505632 times … :)
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