Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum - Blogs

The Rules of Model S Road Tripping

Doug_G — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 02:55:55 GMT

On the Road!

Driving a Tesla is a bit different from driving a gas car, or even most electric cars. On a daily basis, there is no concern about �range anxiety�. Owners expect their car to have a full �tank� every morning, and have enough range to do whatever they want. After a while they never look at the gauge. What the new Tesla owner soon realizes is that they are far more convenient than a gas car.

Road trips, though, are perhaps a bit less convenient. Unless you are lucky enough to have Superchargers on your route, charging is suddenly a lot slower than filling a gas tank. Also charging stations may be few and far between. It�s not difficult to drive long distances, but it will usually take a bit longer than a gas car, and you have to plan ahead. On the other hand, driving electric is far less expensive than using gasoline.

I�ve compiled a list of �rules� that will help you make your Model S road trips as fun and anxiety-free as possible.

Rule #1 � Use Range Mode

Never, ever hestitate to use Range Mode. Ever.

Yes, there is a warning on the touchscreen about battery lifetime, but IMHO that warning is overstated. Tesla doesn�t want you leaving the car in Range mode for months at a time, because that will slightly increase the rate of degradation of the battery pack. We�re talking months here, not hours!

A few hours at 100% charge has NO measurable impact on battery pack lifetime, and may actually improve battery pack balance.

On the other hand, running your pack down to 0% is really not good for it. Drawing power at very low voltage means much higher current draw. This is more stressful on the cells. Sitting at a very low charge is not good for battery lifetime.

Suppose you skipped using Range mode, and now you�re falling short. The battery pack is approaching zero range. It�s not good for the battery. You could get stranded on the side of the road. Suddenly you�re feeling pretty foolish for not using Range mode!

So remember: 100% is nowhere near as bad for the battery as 0%. If you�re paranoid then do the Range mode charge just before you leave, to minimize the time spent at 100% charge. This isn�t actually necessary, but it may make you feel better.

Never, ever hesitate to use Range Mode. Ever.

Rule #2 � Be Conservative

Don�t assume you�re going to get the full �Ideal Range� or even �Rated Range� of the vehicle. No one gets EPA ratings in their gas cars. You actually can get EPA Rated Range in a Model S, but this depends on speed and temperature. Plan your trip conservatively. Learn how your vehicle works in different conditions.

Always plan for a range buffer � a safety margin to make sure you don�t run out of juice. You might want to start with 50 miles / 80 km or more at first. The bare minimum safety margin is probably 20 miles / 30 km. You just don�t know when you�re going to run into a detour, GPS glitch, dead or blocked charger, unexpectedly bad weather, or some other random problem (I�ve encountered all of these). A little extra range in your pocket comes in really handy when something goes wrong!

At first, it is probably a good idea to assume you can only get 2/3 of the promised range. As you gain experience with your driving your vehicle long distance (and remember winter is different!) you can prudently push beyond this. But start out with conservative assumptions and you will not get into trouble!

Rule #3 � Take it Easy

The most important factor is how fast you are driving. Increasing your speed from 55 to 65 mph will decrease your range by 15%. In freezing temperatures the effect is even higher. Similarly, dropping your speed to 45 mph will increase your range by over 15%.

Driving slower can actually speed up your trip quite dramatically, if you need to stop to charge. My rule of thumb is, �don�t drive faster than you can charge�. If the charging station you need to use can only charge at 30 miles per hour, there�s not much point driving there at 80 mph. You�ll use a lot more energy getting there, and have to charge for far longer. This means your total trip time will be much longer. In this case, driving slower is actually faster. Of course if you have access to a Supercharger, then it doesn�t matter how fast you drive � as long as you actually make it there!

Rule #4 � Slow Down Early

If there�s any question at all, don�t start by blasting along high speed. If you start out at 80 mph you�ll be burning energy a lot faster. Then you�ll realize you�re getting into trouble and slow down, but by then it is too late. If you had instead started out at 55 mph, and then realized you could increase to 65 mph, you�ll not only arrive a lot faster, you�ll actually arrive!

Start slow. See how it goes. If you have extra range, you can start speeding up. Don�t burn off all your power early, then desperately try to squeak it in. That is the road to failure.

Rule #5 � Watch the Temperature

Your range also depends on the temperature. At lower temperatures there is more wind resistance, the rolling resistance of your tires goes up, and the efficiency of the battery pack goes down. In extreme temperatures the battery pack will require heating, which will also reduce range due to the extra power draw. You may also see less range in extremely hot temperatures, although this will not be nearly as bad as cold.

The biggest impact is in freezing temperatures. Your range could be 20% lower than Rated Range in highway driving. If the car has not been preheated, and the battery pack and cabin start out extremely cold, then you could see substantial additional power draw when you first start driving.

Rule #6 � Try Drafting

Drafting trucks really does work. Just do it safely. Pick a nice big truck that is driving at a constant speed, and pull in behind it. You don�t need to be right up close � don�t do something dangerous. If you are comfortable driving one second behind a large truck, you can get as much as a 15% improvement in range, or equivalently drive 10 mph faster for the same energy. Even driving a more conservative two seconds behind will help your range. Be aware that a strong crosswind may reduce the effectiveness of drafting.

If the truck driver is getting edgy � e.g. you can see him looking in his mirror, suddenly changing lanes for no reason, etc., then he�s not comfortable with you back there. You may be a safe distance back but he probably can�t tell. Just go find another truck.

Tip: Inter-city buses often drive faster than trucks, and are just as effective.

Rule #7 � Saving Power: What Works, What Doesn�t

Many people think they can save power by shutting off the radio, seat heaters, headlights, not charging their phone, etc. Don�t bother; none of this matters!

It takes over 15,000 watts to move the car at highway speeds. Turning off any of these devices might save you a dozen watts. You might save hundreds of feet of range this way. In short, simply slowing down 1 mph will do far more than turning off every device you can find.

There are only two things that matter: your speed, and cabin heat. Of these two, speed is by far the more important factor.

The cabin heating and cooling (HVAC) does have the potential to consume significant power. Fortunately the Model S has a selectable �Range Mode�. WHen you turn this on, it limits the power to the HVAC. I have found that the difference between running with HVAC off and using Range mode is relatively small. The only exception to this would be when you first start the car in extreme cold conditions. In that situation, you can preserve significant range by preheating the car.

The upshot here is �you don�t need to freeze!� If you are stretching things, slow down 5 mph instead. This will get you farther than turning the heat off, and you�ll be a LOT more comfortable! Always use your seat heaters. They take a miniscule amount of power. With the seat heater running you can reduce the cabin temperature a little and still stay nice and toasty. That will save some energy.

Rule #8 � Preheating in Winter

Even in extreme cold, the Model S is amazingly efficient at keeping the cabin warm. This is because it uses a heat pump. But when the car first starts up, it needs to use a resistive heater to warm the cabin, because the system is too cold to use the heat pump. This takes a lot of power. Worse, it will also need to heat up the battery pack. The combination of full cabin heat and full pack heat can consume 12 kW. That�s equivalent driving at 50 mph, and you�re not even going anywhere yet. Obviously if you need to drive a long distance, you want to avoid this.

The trick here is to preheat the car while it is plugged in. If you use the Remote App on your phone to engage the cabin heat, it will also engage the pack heater, AND it will draw power from the AC charger. Even better, try to arrange it so the battery pack is still charging, and that will help make it nice and toasty.

Tip: if you already have a full Standard Mode charge, flip it to Range Mode. This will force the car to start charging. If you don�t need a Range charge you can dial the current back� but if you�re concerned about range in the first place, you should use the Range mode!

Rule #9 � Don�t Expect All Charging Stations to Work!

ICE'd!

Don�t just assume because you can find a station on PlugShare that you�re safe. Surprisingly often stations in these databases don�t even exist! �We�re planning to install one next year.� The station might be only available to employees at that location, or only available 9 to 5, or only to vehicles purchased at that car dealership. It might be broken. It might require a special card to access. It might be busy when you get there, or blocked by an ICE car (ICE�d).

Always call ahead if you can. Ask if they can reserve the spot for you (an orange cone in the spot really works!) See if the database has a picture and details on charging. More importantly, always have backup plans.

Some campgrounds, especially KOAs, have 50A outlets and are willing to permit EVs to charge, possibly for a fee. Again, call ahead. Ask for �50 Amp� � the owners don�t know what 240V is, and they don�t know what a NEMA 14-50 is.

More power is always better � some J1772 stations only provide 24A, and often their power source is 208V instead of 240V. Sometimes it�s just better to go to a campground. Or see if another Tesla owner from the forums will lend you a plug!

Rule #10 � The Freeway Isn�t Always Best

Given that the Model S can go much further at lower speeds, you might want to consider slowing down and smelling the roses. Sometimes the obvious route isn�t best. There�s a county road I often take that bypasses a much higher speed limit freeway. The thing is, it�s a beautiful drive, it�s never busy, and it�s much shorter. It not only takes 30% less power, it takes the exact same amount of time as the freeway!

Rule #11 � Keep An Eye On Range

Turn on your Energy App and set the display to Average. It always resets back to Instantaneous for some reason, which is pretty useless. Average will give you a good idea of your power consumption, and it will show you how far you can drive at that consumption level. That is your �Projected Range�. Tip: If you want to drive the �Rated Range� distance, be sure to keep the average below the �Rated� line.

Now enter your destination into the GPS. The GPS will show you your distance-to-go. Make sure that your Projected Range is larger than the remaining distance, by at least your safety buffer. If this is your first road trip aim for 50 miles / 80 km safety buffer. The minimum buffer you should ever aim for is 20 miles / 30 km.

If you find yourself coming in below your buffer, just slow down! Also check that you�ve turned on Range Mode to reduce HVAC power. Don�t bother trying to conserve power in any other way; the power draw of everything else in the car is insignificant in comparision. You�ll just reduce your comfort for no benefit.

Keep an eye on that difference between Projected and distance-to-go. Make sure it isn�t creeping down on you. If it is creeping down, back off the speed just a little.

If you�re coming up short, find a place to charge. Do it right away � there are many more options when you still have range. Don�t wait until you�re in trouble.

Rule #12 � Anything Else I Can Do?

There are some little things you can do�

Check your tire pressures. Summer tires are supposed to be at 42 psi, and winter tires at 45 psi. Raising the pressure a little more will improve range a little. Don�t overdo it or you�ll wear out your tires and reduce your traction. Never exceed the maximum pressure printed on the sidewall. Note that these pressures are supposed to be set when the tires are cold, not after driving. You should check your tire pressures once a month as the cold pressure will change with the seasons.

If you need to stop, then as much as possible use your regen braking instead of the brake pedal. This will put energy back into the pack instead of wasting it heating up your conventional brakes. Try to avoid stopping at all, because even regen braking isn�t 100% efficient.

Use your cruise control. If you get going faster than you intend, you will use a lot more power than intended. If you are constantly speeding up and then slowing down you will use significantly more power without actually getting there any faster. Some have pointed out that regen braking downhill may not be 100% efficient, but if you get going too fast wind resistance will be much higher and that can be worse. So it�s probably best just to put on the cruise control in most circumstances.

Be aware of elevation changes. If there are large elevation changes along your route, then be aware that going uphill takes energy. The effect is approximately 10 miles range per 1000 feet altitude (50 km per 1000 m). You do regain a lot of that energy when you go downhill. In theory you could get pretty much all of it back if the slopes are gradual and you are never using regen braking downhill. At worst expect to get 85% of your energy back.

One other thing to keep in mind � it will take a little more energy to drive into the wind. In most areas of the USA and Canada we have westerly prevailing winds. I�ve often noticed that I get more range going Eastbound than Westbound. Strong crosswinds will also reduce your range.

Made it Home!

This All Sounds Complicated� Is an EV Right For Me?

Buying an EV does have some compromises, but it also has many benefits. EVs are better than gas cars in many ways, including cost of operation, energy efficiency, smooth and quick acceleration, instantaneous torque, quiet operation, you always have full range every morning, no standing out in the cold pumping smelly gas, and much more.

There�s one road trip I do each year where I don�t take my Tesla. It requires traveling through an area that is something of a charging station wasteland. I just rent a car for the trip. Sure, I could keep an ICE car in my garage, and pay for insurance, maintenance, depreciation, etc., but I�d only ever use it a couple of days a year. Yes, I really miss my Tesla when I have to drive an ICE, but it�s nice to be reminded once in a while just how much better the electric driving experience really is!

The Model S is a very capable vehicle. I have driven at -20C (-4F) in a nasty blizzard, and gone 304 km (190 miles) on one charge � with plenty of reserve. The Model S really can do long distances in rather adverse conditions, if you understand its limitations. The laws of physics take no prisoners!

With the Model S I can zoom away from a red light faster than almost anyone, but I�ve also learned a new appreciation for the slower road trip. Maybe that�s not such a bad thing.

Appendix - Charge Rates

Some have asked about how much time is required to charge. This depends mainly on how much current the charging station can deliver, but it also depends on the voltage, temperature, and whether you are doing Standard or Range charge. Range charge is only 10% more energy, but the car slows down the charging rate more and more as it approaches completion. Generally speaking, because they take a long time full Range mode charges are usually only done overnight. If your next charging station isn't pushing your range, then you should probably stop charging when the power starts ramping down (except at a Supercharger).

You will find voltage varies pretty widely. Large commercial sites (buildings 10,000 square feet and up) typically have 3-phase power, and their source voltage is only 208V. Residential locations can have source voltage as high as 240V. Note that the voltage can drop under high load, particularly if the charging station is far from the electrical panel. I've seen differences of over 20% charging at two nominally identical stations.

You will find charging is slower in extreme cold, due to the need to heat the battery pack. If the car is cold soaked it will have to preheat the battery pack before it starts charging. In fact, below -10C (14F), 110V charging doesn't increase your range at all, as all the energy is spent heating the pack.

Remember: these numbers are rough guidelines. Mileage will vary!

Power Available Time Required Approx. Rate (mi)
Approx. Rate (km)

110V 12A (Level I) > 60 hours < 4 miles per hour < 7 kilometers per hour

220V 12A 27-37 hours 8 miles per hour 13 kilometers per hour

220V 24A 13-19 hours 17 miles per hour 26 kilometers per hour

220V 30A 11-15 hours 21 miles per hour 33 kilometers per hour

220V 40A 8-11 hours 28 miles per hour 44 kilometers per hour

220V 60A (Dual Chargers) 5-7 hours 42 miles per hour 67 kilometers per hour

220V 80A (Dual Chargers) 4-6 hours 56 miles per hour 89 kilometers per hour

Road trip around town in a 60kWh Model S

Vexar — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 03:11:41 GMT

My darling wife had the brilliant idea of doing this yarn shop trip. I'd be hard-pressed to drive 75+ miles out of town then turn around, so it seemed like a great way to rack up miles without totally freaking out when the battery indicator goes from green to icky yellowish-green. Her version of what happened is here. Most of what she wrote was about the yarn shops. To me, it was a road trip with low risk. Minneapolis/Saint Paul has dozens of level 2 chargers around, so no matter what, we would have gotten home.

This is the string of stops we made:

Even with freezing temperatures and using the defroster, we pulled off 305 watt hours per mile, and that's with the car sitting in a parking lot for an hour, cooling the battery. That's a far cry from the 250 watt hours per mile that Tesla says we can expect for road trips, but it's a good metric for freezing temperatures.

One point of note: we didn't really overcharge it. 194 miles was what it read when we started, so that's a standard charge plus a mile or two for all intents and purposes.

The car behaved very well. Most of the time, the watt hours per mile was under 300, but the rush hour traffic did ding that rating a little. I have found that cranking the seat heaters up and avoiding blowing air does wonders for minimizing range impact, but as the post mentions, I got still cold, and the window defroster was used for visibility. Also, the food at that diner was horrendous, I truly felt unwell for days, so please stay warm when you do long trips. I hadn't seen my friend in maybe four years, so it was potentially worth the food faux pas. Cuisine in Mahtomedi is, in my opinion, a good way to ruin the floor covers in your car.

We did make one stop at a gas station, The Trestle Stop. It's so named for the trestle adjacent to it, and it is a popular stop for railway engineers.

Although we didn't buy any gas, I did leave a note for the owner, an old friend of mine. He wants to offer something for electric car customers as well, and hasn't seen my Model S yet.

The main reason I wanted to do this was of course for range anxiety tempering, but I also wanted to try out some tricks with my new phone (acting as a wireless data tether for the laptop), and try to work on a laptop in a car while it is rolling. The ride on the Model S is so cushy, I actually felt I could do this again. Considering my wife knits while I drive, I had high expectations. We stopped with a reported 19 miles remaining.

My initial goal with my Model S is to go from Plymouth, MN to Fargo, ND, as the Supercharger network doesn't hit us for a few years. In an 85kWh, this is reasonable in a single shot. In a 60kWh, I'm going to come up short, and should stick to driving to Duluth, MN. I just don't think I can plan a 227 mile road trip and expect to pull off 260 watt hours per mile.

I have learned a bit and developed a lot of confidence. Also, I sincerely hope that Tesla Motors puts any charging stations in a 500 mile radius from me as far away from greasy diners as possible. About the only thing I can say regarding that Four Seasons diner is that when they renamed from three seasons to four, their tag line should have been "Winter is coming."

If you are thinking of repeating my adventure, I strongly advise you only do it if you like yarn shops. Most of them were geared towards women, and I found very few of the yarns were in the "LL Bean" or "London Fog" palette. Explosive yellow and OMG Pony Pink was resplendent. Took me half the day to find something I'd wear, and it figures that the shop owner is a man.

Tesla Model S - The #1 "Large Luxury Car" Brand in America

CapitalistOppressor — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 17:18:34 GMT

Photo Credit: toto_48313 - Tesla Motors Club

HybridCars.com recently published "Will Tesla Model S Be Americas Best-Selling Plug-in Car in March?" which basically argued that Tesla was on the verge of becoming the best selling plugin in America. For a long time now, this sort of story, which seeks to compare the Model S with cars like the Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf, has generated a certain amount of consternation on my part because those cars are quite different from the Model S.

The base price of the entry level Model S is a full 50% higher than that of the Volt and more than twice what the Leaf now costs. The Model S is a much larger car, is much more luxurious and has far better performance. Other than the fact that all are capable of plugging into a wall, the cars have nothing in common with each other. You might as well compare a Nissan Versa with an Audi A8.

In fact, there are vehicles that are quite a bit like the Model S in virtually every respect other than being powered by gasoline. Depending on who is doing the classification the Model S could fit into a number of different categories, but the best fit is probably one that GoodCarBadCar.net defines as "Large Luxury Cars".

These are large luxury sedans priced in the $70,000+ range, and the segment is dominated by major players like the BMW 6 Series and 7 Series, Mercedes-Benz S Class and Lexus LS. Other entries include the Porsche Panamera, Audi A8 and Jaguar XJ. For all practical purposes, these vehicles represent the cars and companies that the Model S is competing against, and having seen the report by HybridCars I was curious as to how well Tesla is doing compared to it's actual competition.

Of course you immediately run into the problem that HybridCar's (and others) have run into, which is that Tesla does not routinely report it's sales figures. Unlike major automakers, Tesla only provides that information when it releases its quarterly financial results. From those, we know that Tesla �sold� about 250 Model S�s in the third quarter, which ended on September 30th, and approximately 2,400 cars in the fourth quarter, which ended on December 31st. What is interesting about those numbers is that by averaging 800 cars per month in the fourth quarter of 2012 Tesla was carving out significant market share in the Large Luxury Car market.

Since December 31 we have received no official sales figures from Tesla. With the first quarter of 2013 about to end we are left to read various tea leaves to try and guesstimate sales for the Model S. HybridCars.com (using an unknown methodology) estimates that Tesla sold 1,000 vehicles in January and 1,400 in February. I�m not sure what brand of tea they were drinking but those numbers put Tesla Motors into an dogfight with BMW for 1st place in this market.

According to the sales estimate that they cited in their comparison with the Volt (and listed on their "Dashboard") the Tesla Model S is very close to matching the combined North American Sales of both the BMW 6 Series and 7 Series during the first two months of the year. In January BMW sold 1042 cars in this class, and upped that to 1,511 in February.

Source -
January 2013 Large Luxury Car Sales In America
January 2013 Large Luxury Car Sales In Canada
February 2013 Large Luxury Car Sales In America
February 2013 Large Luxury Car Sales In Canada

The only hole in this argument is that HybridCars is using a Tesla sales estimate of unknown origin and accuracy. Curious to find out whether this could possibly be true, I set out to find some tea leaves of my own to read. And as is commonly the case when dealing with the Model S, the go to source for information is our own Tesla Motors Club. Among the myriad types of data that we track on this site is a spreadsheet that contains the VIN numbers and actual delivery dates for hundreds of our members. Based on that document I created this graph, which is tracking actual delivered cars (as opposed to reservations).

There is a lot of data here, and the VIN number does not correlate 100% to sales because the company has produced a number of cars for testing, store displays and test drives. Furthermore, you can�t just look at the highest VIN delivered by a given date, because there are inevitably many cars in transit. Instead you have to look at the entire cluster (lowest to highest) and find the best fit to determine the likely number of delivered cars by a given date.

From this graph, and using these methods, we can infer that for the first two months of the year Tesla has delivered approximately 3025 cars. We know this because the data in late February is clustered around the trendline and strongly suggests ~5,800 total delivered cars of which 2,650 were delivered in 2012. I�ve arbitrarily assigned another 125 cars to company use, leaving 3025 delivered in 2013. Broken down by month we see ~1,325 sales in January and ~1,700 sales in February. These numbers are broadly consistent with publically reported Tesla production figures of 400+ cars per week which Tesla reached sometime in the middle of December (the factory took a week off in January to rest its workers).

The VIN data strongly suggests that Tesla is currently enjoying a sizable lead in the in the North American Large Luxury Car market. We'll obviously get some additional clarity at the next shareholders meeting, but from my seat it looks like Tesla, to this point in 2013, is sitting atop the most prestigious market segment of the most prestigious market in the world.

North American Large Luxury Car YTD � 9,179 (excluding Tesla); ~12,204 total

Tesla Sales/Market Share YTD ~ 3,025/~24.8% (est.)
BMW Sales/Market Share YTD � 2,553/~20.9%
Daimler Sales/Market Share YTD � 1,912/~15.7%
Lexus Sales/Market Share YTD � 1,903/~15.6%

North American Large Luxury Car January Sales � 4,656 (excluding Tesla); ~5,981 total

Tesla Sales/Market Share January ~ 1,325/~22.1% (est.)
Lexus Sales/Market Share January � 1,088/~18.2%
BMW Sales/Market Share January � 1,042/~17.4%
Daimler Sales/Market Share January � 964/~16.1%

North American Large Luxury Car February Sales � 4,523 (excluding Tesla); ~6,223 total

Tesla Sales/Market Share February ~ 1,700/~27.3% (est.)
BMW Sales/Market Share February � 1,511/~24.3%
Daimler Sales/Market Share February � 948/~15.2%
Lexus Sales/Market Share February � 815/~13.1%

Addressing factors that cause range anxiety

ChadS — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 01:53:22 GMT

My wife and I are extremely happy EV owners. We regularly take road trips in our EVs, and we don�t have range anxiety. We did when we first got the cars - at the time, we didn�t know anybody else that owned one. It didn�t take long for us to get over it, so we are confident that new owners will be fine with practice. But we are afraid that many potential owners are missing out on all of the advantages of driving electric because of this fear. Fortunately, there are many ways around it.

What is range anxiety?

Range anxiety is the fear of not having enough fuel to make your next fueling stop. It can happen in any car; here are some personal examples from gas cars:

� driving across South Dakota many years ago with a strong head wind, my car�s mpg was greatly reduced. By the time I realized it I did not have enough gas to make it to the next gas station; so I ended up stranded on the side of the highway
� while driving to work a few years ago, I discovered that my daughter had not used the money we gave her to purchase gas AND she had driven farther than she was supposed to; the needle was far below �E�. I made it, but was very nervous as I had an important meeting to get to
� while driving a rental car in New Zealand a couple of years ago, we drove through a very long string of towns that looked big on the map but did not have gas stations. The car�s range meter stopped guessing at remaining range before we found a station

Regardless of fuel type, this is only an issue on trips where the next fuel stop isn�t until somewhere near the range of the car.

The simple and obvious solution is: always refuel any vehicle well before it runs out of fuel. All you need to know is when the vehicle will run out of fuel, and where to refuel it. The bad news is that most gas drivers don�t know the true range of an electric car OR where charging stations are. The good news is that both of these issues can be easily addressed with information. Changes to the cars and more charging stations can definitely make things easier, but are not required for consumers to overcome their anxiety and enjoy electric driving.

Related issue � charging time

Charging time is a separate issue, but it nevertheless impacts how gas drivers view range anxiety.

Charging an EV takes longer than filling a car with gas. Unlike range anxiety, this can�t be addressed with education - even with Superchargers, driving on a long trip really takes longer because charging is slower. Of the many oft-repeated �downsides� to EVs (they are slow, ugly, pollute just as much as gas cars, cost twice as much to own, are the only type of subsidized car, etc), this is the only one that is real.

Of course, no downside matters unless you experience it. For day-to-day driving you charge at night; and if time matters on a long trip, you can fly or take another car (if you don�t have one, buy a PHEV instead of a BEV). It�s that simple - anybody can electrify most of their driving without EVER having to wait for a charge.

Yet charging time is a double whammy on range anxiety. First, it causes new BEV drivers to be more likely to take a close-to-the-limit trip rather than wait for sufficient charge. (Solution: always have a plan for where you will stop if things looks too close). Second, while driving on a trip near the edge of a BEV�s range, fear of having to wait for a charge causes them to worry more than if they were driving a gas car with the same fuel margin. (Solution: with experience will come comfort).

Factors that contribute to electric-specific range anxiety

Aside from the issue of charging time, there are many interdependent psychological factors that make gas drivers, justified or not, more fearful of running out of fuel in electric cars than they are in gas cars. All of them contribute in some way to uncertainty in the two things they need to know, but don�t - how far the car can go, and where to charge:

� Novelty. New technology always inspires worry. When gas cars were new range anxiety was a big problem; many people favored horses, bicycles and steam-powered cars because they already knew when and where to fuel them
� Functional fixedness. Gas drivers are used to driving to empty and then stopping at a gas station to fill their tank all the way up, so many assume they will operate a BEV the same way. This is why the first two questions are usually �how far does it go� and �how long does it take to charge�. Many people really think they will regularly be waiting for a full charge
� Lesser analogues. Many battery-powered appliances don�t have energy gauges; they just �run out� of power without warning. Consumers unfamiliar with EVs are afraid they may do the same thing
� Optimistic marketing. Range has long been touted as the primary EV disadvantage. To show how useful their car is, marketing departments like to trumpet the biggest range number they can get away with. That works great until a consumer takes a drive and doesn�t get anywhere near that range. (The same thing happens with gas cars and mpg, but that is not surprising to consumers simply because it is more familiar). Then word gets out that EVs don�t meet their claims � expected for existing technology, but killer for new technology
� Optimistic and/or unreliable instrumentation. Once consumers get in an EV, they note the range meter and are initially comforted � until they note that it varies when underway. Or even if it stays steady, it doesn�t accurately reflect their mile usage. They later report their concerns to other gas drivers, creating a nasty feedback loop
� Sparse infrastructure. Charging stations are usually less numerous (or at least less familiar, as electricity is widespread and outlets work too) than gas stations
� Charging standards wars. It is hard enough for a consumer to try to figure out where to find charging stations. Imagine their dismay when they find out they can�t use all of them, so they have to learn about all of the different types before they can buy a car or take a trip
� Oversharing owners. When a gas driver expresses range anxiety, many helpful electric drivers leap in to describe range calculations, EVSE finder apps, outlet types and power ratings, and hypermiling techniques in great detail. The overwhelmed gas driver ironically becomes more anxious as they think they have to learn all of this stuff before they can drive a BEV
� Media meme. How often do you see an article about electric vehicles that doesn�t mention range anxiety? Of course gas drivers are worried about it; it�s all they hear.
� FUD. Some people want the electric vehicle industry to fail. So they spread stories � some missing the point, some exaggerated, some blatantly false - about all the problems you will have when you buy one. This won�t work once everybody knows somebody that has one; but while they are still rare, this is effective

That is a lot of stuff to address. Nobody is going to sit around while you cover each of these issues one at a time. We need simple messages that they can grasp quickly. We need to focus on making it easy for them to know how far the car will go, and where they can charge up.

Experience helps�but comes too late

Through experience one becomes very familiar with the car�s capabilities and learns how to find charging stations. I am never afraid of making my destination, and I never have to slow down or turn off the heat. That�s great for those of us that have owned an EV for a long time, but how do we make new owners comfortable? Even more important, how can we make potential buyers comfortable enough that they are willing to become new owners?

There is no silver bullet that will take care of every situation. But there are several simple suggestions that can help a great deal in some cases. Different things work best depending on the situation, so I have created this flowchart to help us to decide how best to help. After the chart, I�ll talk about the different points in it.

Range Anxiety flow chart

Expanding on points in the chart

Too many people are falling all the way through the chart, and ending up in a BEV with an optimistic range meter on a long trip and no knowledge or experience. We want to try to catch them at one of the earlier phases where range anxiety is less of a problem.

1. Would you consider a PHEV?

For people just starting to consider how to fit a plug-in in to their life, start here. A PHEV will automatically electrify most of their driving, but they don�t have to do ANY thinking, because it is still a gas car. They can go anywhere at any time, and don�t have to ever charge it anywhere other than in their own garage. This instantly takes care of range anxiety AND charging time.

This may seem an obvious point, but it is almost always be overlooked by gas drivers that are eager to find a reason to dismiss electricity as a fuel. Throw the idea out there to get them thinking, hey, I can do this. Note that many people don�t understand that a PHEV has a gas engine and operates exactly like a gas car on long trips; you may have to spell this out.

Once they understand this point (make sure they have absorbed it! It can take a while) then you can point out that BEVs have a few advantages over PHEVs � and they can still allow you to take gas trips too; you just have to switch vehicles. I personally prefer BEVs; but PHEVs serve some great purposes (BEVs really don�t work for everybody), and one is that they are an easy stepping stone to get anxious people to consider BEVs!

2. For long trips, can you fly/train/bus/rent/swap?

For the last seven years, I have driven a small two-seat car. Not once has somebody asked me, �What if you suddenly need to take 3 people somewhere� or �How do you make Costco trips?� There is no such thing as cargo anxiety, because everybody understands that you can use another vehicle on the rare occasion that the need arises.

Yet when it comes to long trips, it seems difficult to understand that you don�t have to take the EV if it�s not the best-suited car for the trip. You have to spell this point out; often more than once. If they can take another vehicle on a trip, then they never have to figure out their exact range, or look for charging stations, or wait for a charge. They can just drive their wonderful electric car around town, charge at home in the garage � and take a gas car on long trips. This is very nearly the same as the �PHEV� answer, just using a hybrid garage rather than a hybrid car.

My wife drove a short-range BEV for years and never once looked for a charging station or waited for a charge � she only charged it in our garage at night, and on the few days she needed to go farther, she took my car. She would laugh when people asked her about the �inconvenience� of electric cars, because it was the most convenient car she had ever driven. Believe me, if she can do it, anybody can.

3. Are you willing to learn range factors and calculate your own range?

If you are at this point with a person that is not yet an owner, you should make clear that this is optional. If they find this too confusing, they can always refer to the two points above, or skip to the next one.

A fair number of new owners � though far from all of them - are excited about their car and willing to learn how it operates. The more they know, the more use they can get out of their car and the less likely they are to get in trouble.

They will need to learn about the effects to speed, acceleration, elevation, wind, water and debris on the road, and temperature. There are many details in this post: Putting some numbers on the factors that affect range

4. Can you follow tips on BEV road trips?

Some owners (I hesitate to use my wife again) really don�t want to learn anything new when they buy a car. They just want to get in and drive. They don�t want to do any math; they just want to know how far the car will go. This also applies to most potential customers that haven�t purchased a car yet; they are less eager to spend a lot of time on this. They would rather just know some simple limits.

A simple answer is: you can �count� on a BEV to go 2/3 of the EPA range. On a good day, when driven right, they can exceed the EPA range; but that�s a trick to save until after they have experience. For now, only take the BEV on trips shorter than 2/3 of the EPA range. Take another car for longer trips, or buy a PHEV if you only have one car. If 2/3 of EPA range is not enough for common trips, this BEV is not for you (just like a Miata is not the right choice if you have to drive the kids' carpool 3 days each week). Try another BEV or a PHEV.

If you ever do take a BEV on a road trip and stop to charge, keep charging until the car�s EPA range indicator says that you have at least 150% of the miles necessary to make it to the next stop.

5. Does your car have an always spot-on (or slightly pessimistic) range meter?

Some people (like, say, certain auto journalists) really don�t want to learn anything new � not even quick tips. They just want to get in and drive. They want the car to tell them how far it will go (in fact, some seem to be testing the range meter more than the car). Fortunately for them, most EVs have a range meter designed to tell them exactly that.

Unfortunately for them, most of those range meters are deliberately optimistic. It�s easy to understand how this can happen; marketing departments that are used to selling well-understood near-commodity gas-powered products want to tout the best possible numbers to ensure their product gets purchased instead of the competition�s nearly identical vehicle; gas buyers don�t really expect the numbers and are understanding when they are not met. But this is exactly the wrong thing to do in an emerging, poorly-understood, highly differentiated market. It is less important to win a buyer from the competition than it is to gain a buyer (in the early days, even of the competition�s products!) that is happy after the purchase and influences other buyers. Running out of electricity because you didn�t achieve the range estimate is worse than having to spend more on gas because you didn�t achieve an mpg estimate. BEV manufacturers are really messing up here.

Many vehicles have a �projected� option that helps � at least, when conditions are constant. If you are driving across Kansas, this could be an extremely useful too. If you are driving across Washington over a couple of mountain ranges, it can make things even worse as the estimates fluctuate wildly up and down.

Tesla already offers more than one range estimation mode, including EPA range. I wish they would add a �conservative� or �solid� option based on 2/3 of the EPA range. Or better yet, a number settable by the driver. Best of all, they could integrate range estimation in to the navigation system, and have it take in to account elevation, traffic and weather conditions and tell the user how much range will be left if they travel at various speeds.

6. Does your car display kWh or SOC instead of miles of range?

Until the auto manufacturers have either truly accurate or at least consistently pessimistic range meters, I honestly think the best thing is to not display range at all � display a measure of remaining battery capacity instead. Sure, that will scare somebody getting in to the car for the first time. But that is a good thing - they will definitely be cautious until they learn how it works! No more running out on your first road trip because the car told you it would make it. No more journalists with tow trucks blaming the car rather than themselves. And it�s certainly something drivers can easily learn; it�s exactly how most gas cars have worked for decades.

For a Tesla Model S 85kWh cars, they could guide new owners by saying that they should generally expect 2-3 miles of range per kWh of capacity depending on speed and weather. Owners just starting out (or journalists just trying it out) should not count on more than 2.

Summing up

There are many ways to resolve range anxiety. The best solution depends on each individual�s situation.

Most people that already own a plug-in will be willing to talk to other owners and/or do some research, so they will generally be fine � we can help them, but they will seek us out, so we don�t have to reach out to them. Some people HATE plug-ins and aren�t going to buy one until everybody else has one, so there is no need to worry about reaching out to them either. The important people to reach out to are ones that have some interest in plug-ins, but need more information before they will feel comfortable buying one.

I think the best first answer for this type of person is: �PHEV�. It will automatically electrify most of their driving, but they don�t have to do ANY thinking, because it is still a gas car! They can go anywhere anytime, but don�t have to ever charge it anywhere other than in their own garage. Throw the idea out there to get them thinking, hey, I can do this. Note that many people don�t understand that a PHEV has a gas engine and operates exactly like a gas car on long trips; you will have to spell this out.

Once they are comfortable with the idea of a PHEV, if they have multiple cars in their household you can throw out the idea of a BEV. You can point out that a hybrid garage works just as well as a hybrid car - and then they get more electric range, have less maintenance, a better-packaged car, etc.

It helps to keep in mind that some gas drivers that obsess about range anxiety do so because they understand the social benefits of the cars and feel they should get one, but they don�t want to get one because they don�t realize that there are personal benefits too � they assume that driving electric is an inferior experience. They are looking for an excuse to avoid a car that they don�t want. Take them for a ride first; the conversation is much easier once they are trying to figure out how to make it work, rather than arguing about why it can�t work.

Action items

What can we owners do to help potential buyers get past range anxiety and buy a car?

� Take them for a ride. It is easier to convince them when they want one
� Point out that anybody can electrify most of their driving, but still use gas for long trips by buying a PHEV or having a hybrid garage. They never have to look for a charging station or wait for a charge

What can BEV owners do to avoid range anxiety and communicate confidence to others?

� Always have a charging point planned within 2/3 of EPA range
� Always charge to 150% of your next destination
� Learn factors that affect range

What can automakers do to reduce range anxiety in their customers?

� Offer a range gauge that takes external factors in to account and gives real range
� Failing that, don�t display range! Sure newbies will be scared � but they will be cautious
� If you insist on displaying a non-predictive range � offer a �safe range� mode

What can the press do?

� Stop focusing on electric road trips, which is the least-likely use for a BEV. Focus on how fun, convenient and inexpensive they are for the majority of driving; and how it is not necessary to make EVERY future trip on electricity
� Stop mentioning range anxiety in every article about plug-ins. People have heard it already; it�s not news

Elon Musk 2013 TED interview

doug — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 20:28:15 GMT

Elon Musk in conversation with TED curator Chris Anderson, recorded February 2013. Click through to watch the video below and be sure to comment.

Source: TED

LIVE: Elon Musk speaks in Norway about Tesla's European plans

doug — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:26:36 GMT

Tesla CEO Elon Musk is about to give a talk at the ~~US embassy~~ Tesla store in Norway. We expect he will announce important information about the European launch of the Model S as well as Tesla's European Supercharger plans. The talk begins at 7:30pm CET, 10:30am PST. Watch with us live here and comment below.

Update: The event is now over, but you can watch a recording of it below. Things get started after the 00:25:30 point. Elon said Norway will have the first Model S deliveries in Europe. Also starting with a network of four, he says Norway will have the first superchargers outside North America and, as in the US, will be "free forever."

Also discussed in this forum thread: Tesla Norway Event (Oslo March 6th)
Thanks TMC member Nuvolari for setting up the stream!

Almost completely uneventful long weekend drive

ggr — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 01:22:18 GMT

After all the hoo-hah recently about superchargers, and running out of electrons, I thought I'd post something completely boring about a perfectly successful long weekend trip from San Diego, out and about in Los Angeles, and back.

My wife Pat, her father Richard, and I left about 11:00 Friday from San Diego, and had a perfectly comfortable drive up to Hawthorne airport. We started with a not-quite-complete range charge, and made it with about 100 miles and one hour to spare. I had an appointment with an ex-colleague in the area at 14:00. Our plan was to have a quick bite to eat at Nat's Cafe at the corner of the airport near SpaceX, but it's closed! It will reopen soon under another name. This is a pity, because my daughter Nat ate there with us after the Get Amped event there. There was a Wendy's not far away though, so that kept us fed.

About 13:30 we proceeded to the supercharger. I pressed the button, and the cylindrical door opened, and the heavy cable fell out and hit the side of the car! Beware; stand in between the car and the supercharger when the door opens! Leila, the design center manager, said they might fix the ding for us. I continue to love Tesla's customer service.

As we walked to my meeting, I turned around and saw a large cluster of Tesla employees admiring the color of the BGC.

We left at about 15:00 with a full range supercharge. Drove to our hotel (the Angeleno), which happens to be just off I-405 in the section that was down to two lanes last weekend. Drove that night to a party to celebrate finishing the Bar exam. Drove back to the hotel. They only do valet parking, but with a nice enough car they'll just leave it alone, which was good. Saturday morning we drove to Pat's graduation ceremony, at the Skirball Center just north of the hotel. Drove back to the hotel. Later that evening, drove to another party in Santa Clarita, about 35 miles north, and back again. Sunday morning, drove Pat's father to a church in Venice, and while he was busy recharging we drove back to Hawthorne and recharged too. We had about 80 miles left when we got there, left with about 200 miles (all ranges are standard), back to the church to pick up dad. This was the closest thing to a "gas station visit" I've made in years! Drove to the Sidewalk Cafe on Venice Beach for brunch with some friends. Drove back south without worrying about range, cruise control set to 78 (mostly). Waved to Hawthorne on the way past; we didn't need it any more. Got home with 65 miles.

Later that night, as we were going out to celebrate yet again, dad was all confused, and asked how come we had so much range left? Of course I'd plugged in as soon as we got home, using our solar panels to partially charge the car. He was stuck in the mode of letting the tank get empty before stopping somewhere to fill it.

What is this "range anxiety" people talk about? About 450 miles, a few dollars added to our electricity bill.

SpaceX CRS-2 Mission to ISS

doug — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 09:08:03 GMT

It's become a bit of a tradition for many of us here at Tesla Motors Club to cheer on the exploits of SpaceX. This morning the Dragon capsule makes its third visit to the International Space Station and its second official resupply flight. Follow the mission LIVE with us here and leave your comments below. The launch is scheduled Friday, March 1st at 10:10am EST. Coverage starts at 9:00am EST.

Image Credit: SpaceX .

Is this the final flatbed?

mpt — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 18:42:18 GMT

As a procession of Tesla Model S cars roll out of the Millford Supercharger in Connecticut, I can�t help being somewhat proud of the Tesla brand.

These owners have taken a weekend out to get together and demonstrate that �Owners� can genuinely use this car.

You may critique this observation by suggesting that these owners are really �Enthusiasts�, a different class - people that obsess over technical specs, diagrams and charts. Well, they are to a certain extent, most EV owners are - to get to EV ownership you have to cut through a lot of misinformation but, that said, at the end of the day, these owners just read the instructions that came with the car and used common sense to get the best out of their new automotive appliances.

I began to wonder if other auto-brands had such a loyal following. It turns out that, following a quick Google search, they do. Actually, most major brands have a loyal band of followers keen to support their marque, and usually defend it against other marques - is that friendly rivalry between the Subaru Impreza and Mitsubishi Evo owners?

I knew there was a difference here though. I dug in, and when I found it, I thought, yeah, that�s why this feels different - this race to support the brand is being supported by a far wider audience than just Tesla owners - this is the �EV� brand at work.

Key organisers and followers of the event drive all kinds of cars, battery-EVs from Tesla, BMW, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda and Nissan to plug-in hybrids from GM and Toyota, to, well, people without EVs - this is a much bigger deal than just Tesla Motors alone.

This road trip has become the focal point for a bigger question, that of journalistic integrity. I�m sufficiently satisfied that, as we�ve seen before, a salacious and link-bait-worthy headline can be drummed up quickly and easily by taking an electric car, focusing in on the last remaining product feature that doesn�t far exceed gas cars and then staging a media event to highlight that. I for one am tired of that, and the good news appears to be that you are too.

The New York Times article has given the EV community something that it could never and would never have asked for, a damning critique too far.

With the credibility of the New York Times reporter blown, millions of motor enthusiasts are waking up to question the crazy notion that electric cars don�t work - they read the crazy and start to question it.

The New York Times article may well be the last article ever written that ends with a flat battery on a flatbed... the notion itself, has simply, gone flat.

Michael Thwaite
Tesla Motors Club

TMC Members Recreate NYTimes "Failed" Roadtrip

doug — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:05:15 GMT

Tesla Motors Club (TMC) members are currently retracing the New York Times� East Coast Supercharger test drive that over the past week has hit the headlines worldwide. You can follow their real time progress via the map and @TeslaRoadTrip twitter feed below.

For those that have been living under a rock, on February 8th John Broder from the New York Times published a story where, while testing Tesla's East Coast Supercharger route, he managed to run a Model S out of energy and had to be recovered by flatbed truck.

In the controversy that followed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk accused the review of being "fake" and published log data from the car showing discrepancies between the NYT account and what the car recorded. Mr. Broder claims these logs are inconclusive.

Inspired to prove what the Model S is capable of, seven (or more) TMC Members are retracing Mr. Broder's route. This time by getting a full 100% charge at the Milford, Connecticut Supercharger, they plan an overnight stay in Groton, CT (like Mr. Broder) before returning to the Milford Supercharger which the NYT journalist failed to reach.

Related Forum threads:
NYT article: Stalled on the EV Highway
Recreating the NY Times Road Trip - We're on This Weekend!

Consumer Reports' First Drive of the Tesla Model S

TMC — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 04:08:01 GMT

Consumer Reports borrows a Tesla Model S to do a first drive review. While praising the exhilarating performance, CR suggests that Tesla may have gone a bit too far with features such as the touch screen and the retracting door handles.

[Video] Tesla Model S is Motor Trend's Car or the Year

doug — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 01:29:44 GMT

[Updated: Tesla's official edited video of the event added above. Raw vids still available below.] Perhaps the worst kept secret for the past week, the Tesla Model S picked up Motor Trend magazine's prestigious Car of the Year award for 2013. This is the first time in 64 year history of the award that a vehicle has won that doesn't run on gasoline.

At an event in Manhattan, where guests included members of the media and some invited Tesla customers, Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk accepted the award on behalf of all Tesla employees. Musk commented, "I really think [someday in the future] we'll be able to look back and say this is a point at which the gears of history moved and this is going to be [seen as] an important day."

Video from the event was streamed around the country to Tesla employees, but TMC members were also fortunate to get a live feed from other members that attended the party. Check out the raw video below (things start about the 8 minute mark):

Motor Trend video:

Feel free to comment below. We are also discussing the award in the forums here (Motor Trend Car of the Year 2013) and the Manhattan event here (Special Event with Elon in NYC on Nov 12?).

Sources: Motor Trend,Ben Goodwin

[Video] Jay Leno reviews the Model S

doug — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 07:23:50 GMT

A little more than a week ago we were teased with the above image (via twitter) showing the Model S in Jay Leno's famous garage with the promise of a video review would soon follow. Today Jay follows through on that promise with the latest episode of Jay Leno's Garage. Click through to see the video.

In the first half of the video, Jay does a walk-around of Elon Musk's black Model S, discussing the design with Tesla Motors Chief Designer, Franz von Holzhausen. In the second half, the pair take a dark blue Model S out on the highway as well as on local roads. Watch the video and tell us what you think in comments.

Jay has previously reviewed the first production Tesla Roadster, as well as the Roadster 2.5.

[Video] Model S - The Quickest Sedan Built in America

TMC — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:04:43 GMT

Motor Trend's Ignition video series reviews the Tesla Model S, concluding "it may very well be the most important new car since the [Ford] Model T."

From Fremont to LA, SuperCharging all the way

DrComputer — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 07:43:20 GMT

So now that I�ve had two nights to sleep, I figured I�d document my first few days with the car, from factory pickup to the drive back to LA. Here we go�.

Factory delivery:

As some of you may know from my previous posts, I�ve got to take a deja-vu visit to the Tesla Factory in Fremont, CA. I was told to fly up on the weekend of October 13th only to get bad news that my car had a minor rear window glass problem that delayed final delivery to the following week. I got the �it�s really ready this time� e-mail on Tuesday the 16th, so I had Tesla book me another flight to pick up the car on Friday the 19th.

Renee, EricVFX�s wife was in town on business so I invited her to come get the car with me. We stopped by the Palo Alto office first and had lunch with fellow SoCalGreenSpeed.com member and Roadster owner (and now Tesla employee) Scott. He gave us a nice �behind the scenes� tour of HQ. Got to see a bunch of happy Tesla faces and lot of activity in the product testing and manufacturing department. After the tour it was time to fetch a few more friends from the area and head to the factory for the tour and car delivery.

Since it was a Friday and not Sunday like my last factory visit, the place was brimming with employees and lots of activity. We had to dodge forklifts left and right as they were moving stuff all over. Saw almost-completed cars in the 700 range on the floor this time. After our mile long trek through the cavernous factory floor it was time to head back to the Delivery Center to actually take possession of my car. Sitting in bay two, right next to my car, was an almost identically configured S. There was another group of happy new owners getting their demonstration of the car systems. When we looked closer it was another SoCalGreenSpeed member Tim from Santa Barbara. He was there with his son who was getting his new S. It was exciting to see another familiar face with an EV grin. Lauren, my assigned delivery specialist, proceeded to take my check for the balance and then demonstrate the features of the car. When we got to the frunk she said �double click on the frunk on the key fob and see how it opens.� When I opened it I got a pleasant surprise and found a Tesla jacket along with a �goodie� basket with a bottle of champagne and various road snacks (chips, a PEZ dispenser, etc). I thought that was a thoughtful touch. Since I am a tech guy and Roadster owner we just breezed through all of the �how to use the car� stuff and she sent us on our way home. It was late on Friday afternoon so I ran into a bunch of traffic heading back to Sunnyvale where I dropped off my friends and spent the night.

The drive home:

Upon taking delivery I asked about the needed firmware upgrade to allow for SuperCharger access. Lauren assured me that the tech department would push out the update no later than 10pm on Friday night so it would be ready for my Saturday morning road trip. I checked in on the car at 10pm and there was no update message. I checked again before I went to bed around 11:30pm and still no message. I just figured they were working late and that I would wake up and find the message on the screen. I didn�t sleep much that night knowing that my new car was sitting out front waiting for my fun drive home so I went outside at 7:30am and checked again for the update screen� no dice. Since it was early on Saturday morning I figured I�d e-mail people before trying to call (I had Lauren�s cell # from the previous day). I got a response back about � hour later from her. She passed it on to Neil who is the Delivery Program Manager and he got Joost involved. It took a while but they finally got the firmware pushed out to my car by around 11:30am. I installed the update and then headed out from Sunnyvale at about 1:15pm for the trip home.

From Sunnyvale to Gilroy was only about 45 miles so I didn�t use much charge but figured I�d stop at all of the SuperChargers along the way. I arrived about 2pm and found the SuperChargers next to the Sony Store. Although I�m not a fan of the large "phallus" unveiled at the Hawthorne event, Tesla needs some visible branding at each of the stations. Since the car was 70% full when I arrived, it never ramped up to much more than 100 MPH charge rate. I wandered around the outlet mall for about 45 minutes before heading off to Harris Ranch. I left with about 232 of range miles on the charge screen and a bag of Sony purchases. I set the cruise control for 80MPH for most of the way figuring I didn�t really care about getting the best WH/mile since I was going to stop at all of the stations.

I got to Harris Ranch at about 4:30pm with about 50% charge and 100 projected miles left. There is only one SuperCharger spot next to the bathrooms at the Shell station. One thing that Tesla really needs to do is put bump stops or visual guides to line up the car in the spot. The SuperCharger cable is VERY short and you must be perfectly aligned to make it fit. Since I was at 50% charge this time the car began to charge at the max 300MPH rate. I stayed a bit longer than necessary since I got caught in a bunch of �Tesla time� talking to about 15 people that walked over from the gas pumps to look at the car. I wish I had grabbed some S brochures from the factory before I left. I filled up to about 75% SOC after about 50 minutes, unplugged and headed back on the road.

As a side note, the SuperCharger main box is right next to the charge cable at Harris Ranch. You can look inside the vent grates on the box and see the unit is liquid cooled with a large heat exchanger. The cooling fan on the unit ramps up in proportion to the charge rate of the car. I know this is geeky but as a tech guy I like this stuff. Although it might be some electrical ordinance, there is a very clearly labeled master off switch on the Eaton power box that any passer-by could flip to stop your car from charging. I guess this won�t be too big of a deal once the phone app is available.

I set the cruise again for 80 as I made the 100+ mile haul along the very boring and very straight section from Harris Ranch to Tejon Ranch. I did have to test the speed limiter once on that stretch (the previous statement is false if you are a law enforcement officer reading this post). By this time it was getting dark and every bug in the world seemed to aim straight for my windshield. The light sensor in the car is a bit too aggressive and turns the screens to night mode well before it gets dark enough to see them. I�m sure Tesla can adjust the sensitivity. Since my windshield was now covered in bugs, I figured I needed to stop by a gas station to clean it before pulling into the SuperCharger. It was strange pulling up to a pump to clean the windows, but I did it anyway. I did have a strange issue where the door handle extended but the door wouldn�t open when I tried to get back in the car at the gas station after cleaning the windshield. I had to lock and unlock the car with the key fob before it would let me back in (Tesla confirmed this is a known issue being addressed in a new firmware release).

I pulled into the SuperCharger spot about around 7pm with about 25% charge and showing about 40 estimated miles left. Once again it took two tries to line up the car correctly with the cable. There are two active charging spots and the rest are just blanks for now. The station is missing some of the nice �window dressing� of the one shown at the Hawthorne premiere. There are no LED lights above the stalls just some run-of-the-mill home depot florescent lights.

The cool push button sliding cover on the pillar charge cable has been replaced with a manual door (I�m sure far more reliable). And once again there is very little branding except for the word �Tesla� written sideways on the charge posts. All of the SuperCharger equipment at Tejon Ranch is hidden behind a nice rock wall on the left (no phallus here either). Interesting note that at Harris Ranch and Gilroy there is a sign attached to the back of the charger that says call 877-79-TESLA for support but at Tejon Ranch is has the added time restrictions of 10am-10pm. What happens if you have a problem outside of those hours? Since there was a Yogurtland next door I figured I�d get a snack before heading out on my last leg home. I charged for about 45 minutes again and left with about 75% charge.
It was disconcerting to watch the projected range drop dramatically as I climbed up the Grapevine. Since I�ve driven my Roadster up to Lake Arrowhead before, I knew that this would happen and then you will get wildly large range numbers when you come down the hill. The S did the same thing. At the top of the hill it said I had 80 projected miles left, by the time I got to the bottom in Valencia it projected over 250 miles left. Since my mother lives in Canyon Country and it wasn�t that far out of the way I decided to stop by before heading home. I arrived to her place at about 8:45 and let her test drive the car. I then got back on the road and got home at about 10pm.

Overall I could have only stopped once at Harris Ranch to charge if I drove more conservatively. If you want to average 80 then you probably need to stop at two of the three stations. I�m sure if someone does the math it is probably more efficient time-wise and charge-wise to drive slower and charge less, but it�s far more fun to drive fast, charge more often and have �Tesla time� with curious admirers. It was fun to pave the way as the first �real� customer to try out the SuperChargers from the Fremont factory back to Los Angeles. Although I usually choose to take a Southwest plane when heading to the Bay Area, it was so much fun driving the S I might have to drive more often. DrComputer signing out.

A Week With the Model S

cinergi — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 22:42:16 GMT

I received my Model S Friday, October 12th. I�ve put about 700 miles on it (400 miles the first weekend), given lots of rides, and taken copious amounts of video. I�m ready to comment on the car itself.

I rode in the Model S twice last year, several more times a few months ago, and I�ve test-driven it. Now, having owned a Roadster and being fanatical about keeping up with what there is to know about the Model S, I mostly knew what to expect. And the rides and test drives were no doubt really good.

However, none of that prepared me for driving my own in my own familiar territory. Since I traded in the Roadster for the Model S and since Tesla can�t sell directly in Massachusetts yet, I was driving a rental Nissan Versa for 9 days in between (to make a long story short). In the back of my mind, in a very non-serious way, I was beginning to tell myself that I could get used to driving a car like the Versa � no bells and whistles, no pickup, putting gas in it, having a transmission, etc. etc. I had somehow managed to start forgetting how much I disliked driving a combustion-engine vehicle.

The raw comedy in my head started seconds after I drove my Model S about a tenth of a mile from where it was delivered back to my apartment (so I could go deal with paperwork and other delivery-related stuff). My soul was catapulted to a place I didn�t know existed. I couldn�t believe it � I�d already driven one for 8 minutes, rode in several for at least 30 minutes, owned a Roadster for two years � yet I dropped my jaw and left it behind me when I casually drove the car to my apartment for all of a tenth of a mile. �OH � MY � THIS � YOU � WOW!�

The car is indescribably smooth. And it�s impossible to capture why that�s so important. I�ve told countless people about how awesome the instant and smooth continuous torque that the Roadster has is � yet they never get it until they�ve ridden in one. Let alone drive one. This takes that aspect of the Roadster and magnifies it ten-fold or more. It�s truly surreal. You might as well have stepped into a time machine before getting into the car. I�m not kidding, and I�m not exaggerating.

So lets transport our thinking past the delivery and into the week of driving (yes, that first bit was just a tenth of a mile). I�m driving a fully-functional, full-size, gorgeous, fast, refined futuristic car � a car that really goes 265 miles (at 65 MPH) on a full electric charge. That electricity (at my home) costs me about an eighth of the cost of gasoline. That charge is free when I do it at one of Tesla�s Supercharging stations. Let me say that again. When they�re fully deployed, I can take a 6,000-mile road trip to California and back for free. No gasoline. Nothing. Zip. Oh, and it�s solar-powered. Yeah.

I have the performance edition of the car � which means I go from 0-60 in 4.4 seconds. It means I stay with (or beat) an M5 doing 0-100 MPH. It means your face melts into the back of your head when I floor it. It means that some of my passengers scream and grab on to me and beg me to stop when I floor it. It does all this effortlessly (I don�t have to be a Nascar driver and shift like a pro to get these numbers � or use �launch control� or risk breaking my transmission) and silently. You�re thrown back into your seat, and you stay there until I let up. There�s no intermissions during that run to 100 MPH. No shifting. Nothing.

I can also drive the car like a normal human being � e.g. when I have eggs from the grocery store in the car somewhere. And it�s pure grace. I still can�t get over it. And that�s after having owned a Roadster for 2 years. The Model S takes that and refines it so much that you need an electron microscope to find any imperfection. And I have one (figuratively speaking of course). So if you�re starting to gag from the gushing on this side � know that I will be covering the issues with the car down below.

The car has 21″ wheels (optional). They�re � huge. But they don�t affect ride quality at all; this is probably in part thanks to the air suspension. The car sticks to the ground like it�s on rails. It puts down 416 HP (443 lb-ft of torque) and gets it all to the pavement. It brakes exceptionally well. The traction control is amazingly fast and accurate. Much faster to respond than the Roadster.

So the car is a dream to drive. OK. You�ve heard enough of that. Did I mention there�s a seventeen-inch touch screen for controlling virtually all aspects of the car? That�s in addition to the beautiful LCD screen behind the steering wheel. You aren�t lying if you said that this is a computer on wheels. It literally is. The touch screen lets you have an enormous Google Maps display. It lets you browse the Internet. What, what? Yes, the car has built-in cellular data. So that means you can also stream Slacker radio right in the car. It also means Tesla can give you software updates remotely. It means they can remotely diagnose your car. Chew on that for a while. Chew on what software updates means on a car that�s controlled by a touch screen. A system without physical buttons. They can (and already have � several times since they started shipping) make your car better over time. They can add features to your car. For free. This thing is so extensive that the instructional video I made of it is 55 minutes long (and I skipped a couple features)! But don�t let that scare you. It�s pretty intuitive. And my trepidations over not having physical buttons were unfounded. I�m quickly getting used to it. And I know Tesla has the ability to refine it further as time goes on. They already have a proven track record for doing this.

Using media in the car (FM/AM/XM/Streaming/Bluetooth) works out relatively well. I�ve had a few bugs in this area (choppy bluetooth streaming, not connecting to my phone, FM not working at all) � and sometimes I have to reboot the system to clear it out (note that you can reboot that system while driving. It�s completely independent). It also sounds pretty good to my ears. Best stock system I�ve personally had. The browser is more like a gimmick right now. It doesn�t work particularly well, but it�s fun to pull up cnn.com on it. I assume this will be improved � but there are more important things to improve first. The backup camera (HD quality, comes with the tech package I believe) is ridiculous. Very high resolution and works quite well in the dark. Very nice. Google maps is fantastic to have in the car in that large format. Unfortunately it�s slow to download the image tiles so if you�re using it to browse the area, it can be a little painful. It keeps up with driving (if you have it following you) just fine. I blame the 3G speed and poor reception. I hope 4G (real 4G � as in LTE) comes soon. The turn-by-turn Navigon GPS (which interfaces with Google maps in the car) works very well. The only nit I have about it is that the volume for it is independently adjustable � which makes it difficult to keep up with changes in volume from the media you�re playing, or from road/wind noise (especially if you roll the windows down). But hey, that�s just a software update away from being fixed. Controlling the car (opening/closing the sunroof, turning lights on/off, etc.) is also straight forward. And I don�t often visit those screens except for the sunroof. And that�s my last nit for now on the 17″ screen. It needs to be easier to get to the sunroof control, especially if you�ve selected something else in the controls screen before (software update can � oh, you get the idea).

The interior is Spartan. It�s sparked quite a bit of debate. �Not enough cupholders!� �Where do I put my cellphone? My change? My sunglasses?� etc � So this is a personal taste thing for sure. And I wasn�t sure how I�d feel about it. I like it. A lot. It reduces the sense of clutter or being cramped. It opens the car up. I feel � cleaner. And that�s even without the cubby area under the 17″ screen that I�m waiting to have installed (because it wasn�t ready for production when my car was built). The two cupholders in the car (yup, only two) function relatively well. But they�re awkwardly placed. Given that I�m not trucking a family around or taking road trips with 4 other people in the car, it doesn�t bother me. But I can definitely see it it would bother others. Tesla�s working on a solution, but it�s not clear what that the choices will be.

The visibility from inside the car is limited � though coming from a Roadster, it�s fantastic to me. It�s all about perspective. The one thing I will say is that the top-to-bottom rear field of vision is ridiculously narrow. I have to drop my head down (and I�m short!) when looking in the rear-view mirror in order to see more than 3 cars behind me.

The cabin lighting is reasonable. It�s all LED-based and I personally like the way it looks. It might be too dark for some � e.g. if you�re trying to read. I�ve not tried that yet. The lighting in the rear trunk is completely useless, however. It�s impossible to see anything in the dark. The front trunk may also be equally poorly-lit � I haven�t checked yet.

The key fob is a fantastic touch to the car � it�s a scaled-down version of the car itself with no physically-apparent buttons. Great out-of-the-box thinking there. I love that I just leave it in my pocket when getting in and out of the car. When approaching the car, I just gently press the door handle which causes it to extend and then I can get in. Getting it to unlatch is little weird at first (though less so for me � the Roadster had a similar unlatching mechanism). The car is now alive and in accessory mode. The HVAC is already on (if you left it on) and your music is playing and the interior lights are on. Simply sit in the car and press the brake pedal and the car is now fully on � it�s literally ready to go. No ignition. No keys. No button-pressing. Getting out of the car is similarly frictionless � just put the car in park and exit the car. It shuts down and locks as you walk away. I�m still getting used to that. But boy did I start appreciating it when I was running errands the other day and constantly getting in and out of the car. Pretty cool stuff.

The door handles. OK, they�re neat. They get lots of attention and �wow�s� and draw people in. And for that reason, I�m happy they�re there. But they need some work. The handle will go on to a retract timer (5 seconds) when you shut the door. And if you don�t immediately catch it (e.g. you just realized you need to open the door again), you have no chance. You grasp the handle and tug but nothing happens. You let up the pressure a little bit and you see that the car is trying to pull the handle in. You freak out and rip you hand away and the handle snaps back into the car (there�s no danger of losing fingers here). Then you have to compose yourself and try the normal door-opening dance again. And sometimes the tug won�t open the door and you�re left wondering how to get into the car. Unlocking the car manually with the key fob seems to cure that condition. And they collect fingerprints. LOTS of fingerprints. Best have a clean rag around at all times to shine them up.

So what�s wrong with the car? There are several items on the list for service to look at (may turn into a software bug / fix). Here are a few: day/night mode is over-sensitive, wiper (while set to auto) tends to wipe once when turning the car on, soft �whine� during acceleration that�s supposedly supposed to have been fixed from the beta cars, light buzzing (from the audio system?) when touch screen is dimmed (not audible while driving), and a few others � all pretty minor stuff. As far as software issues � a few of those, too. Some are a little more annoying but nothing debilitating. For example, bluetooth streaming isn�t always stable (can cut out, and I�ve had it disconnect from my phone while streaming several times now), FM/AM radio audio stopped working, the driver door *opened* when unlocking the car, and losing data connectivity even though I showed 3-4+ bars of signal. Most of these are cured with a reboot. The good news is, I�m emailing the Tesla ownership team about them as I find them and I hear back usually within a business day.

Despite a long list of (minor) issues which I know are being worked on, I thoroughly enjoy driving the car. The second day I had the car I took a no-reason random drive to NH and back (all highway). While driving, I was constantly struck by how calm and serene the drive was; by the fact that I was driving a full-size, fully-functional, �normal� car for all intents & purposes � but it was an EV and has all the benefits that go with it. I was emotionally moved by what it meant. It�s real � this car is real. I was driving it. This isn�t ground-breaking � that was the Roadster; it�s world-changing. What this car represents to us, to the world � to our children � is nothing short of a miracle. I feel blessed to be more than an observer in this unfolding � I�m directly involved in it. It�s why anything �Tesla� makes up 50% of my vocabulary and why I spend so much time not only learning what I can, but sharing what I can. And in that vein � please find and subscribe to my YouTube channel where I have posted an insane amount of video of the car (and will continue to do so): Ben Goodwin - YouTube � You�ll also find photos here: Photos - Google+

That�s it for now. I�ll try to keep posting my �review� of the car as I get more time with it. In the meantime, don�t hesitate to ask questions � I�ll try to respond to all of them.

Reposted from Fearless Bit.

CA Grants $10M to Build Model X

TMC — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 23:33:48 GMT

Tesla Motors has received a vote of confidence from the California Energy Commission in the form of a $10 million dollar grant which is designed to support the production of the Model X. According to Forbes, California government officials in Sacramento praised Tesla Motors for creating manufacturing jobs and advancing automotive innovation.

Comment below or on the forum.

Source: Forbes .
Image: Tesla Motors .

Model S First Drive Review

ggr — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 23:17:45 GMT

Well, it's not a FIRST drive, but it's a first DRIVE, if you get my drift. I started this morning in San Diego/Clairemont in the BGC, south on the 5 then east on the 94, which is a nice, windy road up into the hills, usually with not too much traffic. (There is often a photographer on one of the nice curves, and he caught a nice pic of me above.) Left at Campo, then Sunrise Highway (Scenic route S2) through Mount Laguna to Julian. Had a nice chicken pot pie at the Julian Grill for brunch. I've never seen Julian so crowded! I don't know if there was something special on, or if it is just that it's apple harvesting season.

I started with a not-quite-full standard charge. Range showed as 200/170 (that is, 200 ideal, 170 estimated based on driving; I use this convention below). By the time I got to Mount Laguna, I'd done about 90 miles (a little over half way) and it showed 65/35. Now I'd have been really worried at this point if I hadn't done the drive in the Roadster before... so I knew I'd get a lot of that back going downhill. Mount Laguna is at about 6,500 feet, from effectively sea level at home. When I stopped for lunch about 15 miles later at Julian (5000'), it showed 60/58.

From Julian I headed north briefly to intercept Winola Road. It's extremely tight, fun curves, and avoids the ridiculous traffic on the main road out of Julian. Unfortunately, I got stuck behind a rolling roadblock, and discovered that you can't use cruise control below 25. Rejoined the main highway (78/79/67) for about 10 miles. At Witch Creek the range showed about 55/130.

Then turned left onto Old Julian Hwy, which is perhaps my favorite piece of road, since it's beautiful, nice surface and a nice combination of straights, sweeping curves, and tight curves. It's also a favorite of motorcycles, which is always a giveaway of a nice road. I got in with a bunch of about 8 high performance bikes, two were new Ducatis, and others I didn't recognize. Once there was no traffic in front of the bikes or me, we pretty much matched performance for the length of the road, until it comes into the back of Ramona. I think the guy on the Ducati bringing up the rear was surprised when I stayed a constant distance behind him. I think we might have gone over 55 once or twice. I wasn't thinking about range during this part of the drive.

I tried to take a short cut through the suburbs of Ramona, and blew it. The Google Maps interface definitely isn't as good as dedicated drive mapping software. When you zoom out (to see the big picture), the street names become too small to read. Anyway, after the blast on the Old Julian Hwy, and getting lost, I started to worry about range (finally, you say :-) ). I dialed in the home address, and the map said 35 miles. Range said 39/50. This is now getting a bit close for comfort. Back onto the 67, Scripps Poway Parkway, 163, Balboa, I stayed behind every big slow SUV/pickup I could find. Even a couple of carlengths back I've discovered that the drafting gains are worth it, and no-one gets angry at you for driving too slowly, since there's a bigger target in front.

I made it home with 10 miles to spare, never having needlessly driven much below the speed limit. I know from Roadster experience that if I'd really gotten into trouble, all I had to do was take (well chosen) surface streets at 40mph or below and I could have stretched a lot further. There are also chargers at Santa Ysabel (just down the mountain from Julian) that I laughed at as I passed, and a charger at work about 10 miles closer than home that I could have used if I got desperate. There is also a Nissan dealer in Poway I think. So at no point was I actually anxious about range. For new electric drivers, I highly encourage you to get out and experiment.

Final trip meter reading: 161.7 miles, 52.9 kWh, 327 wH/mile. Note that this almost exactly agrees with the 170 mile estimated that I started with and 10 miles left at the end. What a car! The drive took about 3.5 hours, not counting brunch, and I had a blast.

Photo: motofoto .

Model S vs Roadster

ggr — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 23:11:00 GMT

So, for 10 days I've been driving both the Model S and the Roadster. I thought it was time to maybe talk about the relative merits. This blog appeared in its original form here.

First, I have to say that either/both are just so far ahead of anything else that there's little competition. I had no hesitation trading in a Mercedes AMG for the model S, mostly because with the roadster around, the only time the Merc was driven was for road trips or when 4 seats were (desperately) needed. I've driven a friend's Ferrari, and it was as much fun as the Roadster, except it is off the road half the time for expensive maintenance, and having fun with it was actually hard work. Anyway, don't take anything I say as denigrating either Tesla.

The Roadster is still just plain fun to drive. The S is big, feels like a banker's car. Add to this the seats: the Roadster hugs you, while you slide around in the S's seats. I am thinking seriously of having the S's seats reworked to have better side bolstering. Added later for the blog: it's mostly just that the seats are bigger, so my love handles just don't quite touch both sides at the same time.

The performance feels about the same overall. Roadster is lighter, and easier to throw around, and the steering feels more sensitive and direct. I think the S actually handles better, and at freeway speeds is faster and more responsive. Admission: I almost had an accident in the S on the first day, I was checking over my shoulder to change lanes and when I looked back in front, the car in front had stopped. I jerked the steering wheel and missed him by maybe an inch. The steering in the S is very light! In the roadster I'm not sure I could have turned the wheel quickly enough.

Mileage: the difference between "ideal" and "estimated" range is smaller on the Roadster. (Note: this was written before the software update that decreased the estimated miles from 300 to 265.) I think this is because it's much lighter. In my 12-mile commute, which has lots of fast starts at lights and some fast freeway legs, I often use about 400 Wh/mile, versus about 300 for a freeway run from San Diego to LA. But in the S, 450-500 for the commute compares to about 320 for the freeway. I think this is for two reasons. Accelerating all the weight of the S must take more energy, and I do have to hit the brakes more often because the regen isn't as powerful. Also, the S is the kind of car where you really do just run the climate control all the time, but I almost never do in the Roadster. On low-speed suburban roads with lots of traffic lights I think this makes a big difference.

The Roadster feels like a toy, missing a lot of creature comforts, noisy, impractical, but fits like a glove. The S does feel like a luxury car, albeit a not-quite-finished one. I'm looking forward to some software updates, for things like timed charging. The speedometer display has developed little dots in places, where clearly there is a stray pointer in the software (probably the nav display, since that's when they appeared). But having said that, some things are brilliant. I love that when you put it in reverse, not only do you get the camera, but you can set the side mirrors to angle down to see lines and curbs. I had this feature in an older Merc, but it disappeared in the newer one.

The Roadster was a game-changer in electric vehicles. The Model S is a game changer in vehicles, period, and will only get better.

I used to hate creep. Now I'm not so sure. The formula isn't quite right in either car, though I still prefer no creep.

The Roadster is impractical (and yet somehow I used to drive it 29 days out of 30). The S is supremely practical and luxurious, and yet the Roadster makes cow-eyes at me and I drive it anyway, at least on warm sunny days. We'll see what happens when the weather turns cold. I think the S will win over a Roadster with a roof on.

I must say I/we feel privileged.

[Video] Model S smokes BMW M5 in drag race

TMC — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 01:54:48 GMT

Automobile Magazine pits the Tesla Model S against the well matched BMW M5 in a drag race.
Click through to comment or follow the discussion in the forums.

Toyota RAV4 EV - Extended Test Drive

ChrisHenryOC — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 05:49:02 GMT

This blog entry appeared in its original form here.

I recently cancelled my Model S reservation (with sadness), and began a nearly Quixotic quest to find the EV that's right for me and my family. (You can read more about my cancellation in this thread if you're interested.) As part of this quest I started looking at the available fully EV options out there as well as the Chevy Volt. I'm not considering the Prius PHV as the range is an embarrassing 11 miles in EV mode, and the product seems to have only been launched in order to allow owners to get single-occupancy carpool stickers (at least in CA). The primary contenders were the Leaf, the Volt, and the Focus Electric.

RAV4 EV, under the hood.The current Leaf is out for me due to the charger size and the lack of liquid cooling on the battery. It was however the leading contender after I had test driven the three due to the relatively roomy inside. I'm not as concerned with handling (2008 Prius driver = lowered standards), and the controls interface was pretty intuitive (for me). Was thinking that I would wait for the MY2013 to see if Nissan improves the charger and battery. Rumors are strong that the charger will have increased capacity and there are rumblings that the battery may get some much needed attention as well, although that could purely be wishful thinking on the part of future owners.

The Chevy Volt was essentially ruled out because it would be tough for me to do my 42 mile daily commute in pure EV mode without needing to use the ICE to extend the range. Also, the controls interface is just plain ugly and I found it unintuitive, and would certainly not enjoy trying to train another driver (my spouse, for example) on how to use all of the buttons.

The Focus Electric has probably the best controls interface, but the tiny interior rules it out as my 8 year old son isn't going to get any smaller. It's also very peppy and has good range. I was truly sad to eliminate this one from the list.

The problem with all of the above is that they are all impressions based on Internet reading and limited test drive time. I decided that I would try and find rentals, if possible, to do more of an extended test drive. After nearly two weeks of trying to find a rental in SoCal, I was starting to get frustrated. The rental options are pretty limited, if available. I found one place in Hollywood that would rent a Volt to me for $140/day plus taxes, etc. and the Nissan dealer would rent me a Leaf for $100/day. My cheap bone was aching while considering these options and on a whim, I called the Toyota dealer near my house to see if they had any RAV4's available for test drives. I'm still not sure how I made that connection, but that's what happened.

The agent replied that they didn't have any for test drives yet, but have one available for rent if I'd like to do that. The rate he quoted over the phone was $35/day for the rental (they ended up charging me $55/day). Oh hells yeah! Sign me up. I arranged to pick it up the following Wednesday morning and drove it until Friday evening when I sadly dropped it off at the dealer.

I did have a nice start to the adventure the first morning. About 2 minutes after I pulled out from the dealership, I saw a guy driving the first Gen RAV4EV in front of me on Harbor Blvd in Costa Mesa. He waved and I gave him a thumbs up. A nice start indeed. Old school and new school coming together.

Overall, it drives like a small SUV, with no funkiness, other than a willingness to accelerate quickly whenever desired. The ride is a little rougher than I'm used to in my Prius, but I definitely liked sitting higher and having the exta headroom. In Sport mode it accelerates like most EVs and generates that EV grin. Not to the same level as a Model S, but still a nice happy grin.

My biggest complaint at first was about the way the rental vehicle doesn't come with the 110V charger. The rep at the dealer said that this was because of two reasons: the charger is a thousand dollar item that they don't want to replace, and that they are worried someone will plug into crummy wiring at home and burn their house down. The first reason seems more plausible, and the second is frustrating because I think it shows ignorance about charging, breaker boxes, etc. Do Toyota's lawyers think we've all got 1970's fuse boxes with copper pennies stuck in them? (not that you can find either these days)

I had hoped to use level 2 charging stations near my house and the use the 110 to trickle charge over night to take advantage of at-rest time. However, now I've got to sit at a charging station while the car "fills up". Oh we'll, cost of doing business and being an early adopter I guess.

Rear cargo area with the seats folded downSome additional impressions:

There is absolutely no loss of cargo space or passenger space with the EV version of this car. The Volt, Leaf, and Focus Electric all take away space in order to facilitate the EV components. That reduction is most noticeable in the Volt and Focus Electric. The Rav4, like the Tesla Model S, has quite a bit of storage and passenger space. Of course, there's not Frunk, but that's a small price to pay.
As I noted above, the rental did not come with any sort of charger. Not having any sort of charging options with the rental at home do heighten range anxiety. Of course, the ultra-slow rate of charge on 110v (the Toyota web site quotes 44 hours for a full charge at 12A/120v) could also create range anxiety in unfamiliar users. That said, if the 41kWh battery is charged in 44 hours and gets ~100 range, the 110v would charge at about 2.2 miles per charging hour, providing about 22 miles on an overnight 10 hour charge. It's not much, but it would decrease the amount of time a person would spend waiting at public charging stations for the vehicle to charge.
With the A/C on Eco Low mode, the mileage estimate on a full (not range-extended) charge drops from 92 miles to 72 miles. I'm thinking that the EPA testing had the climate control turned off. Still, 72-75 miles of range in a given day with the climate control turned on is easily within my parameters.
On the last day of the rental, I figured out that the Eco-Low and Eco-High climate control settings were opposite of what I was thinking. Turns out that Eco-High uses the least amount of energy, and Eco-Low cools faster and uses more energy. I guess the nomenclature they were going for was the Low and High describe "how Eco" the setting is rather than the energy usage.
The center-console controls are taking some getting used to. The little "home" button below the display is right where I tend to rest my thumb while looking for buttons on the touch screen and I keep accidentally hitting the home button.
The "B" driving mode engages the regenerative braking a lot like the Model S does. It also provides more aggressive regen during braking than in standard mode. I find myself switching frequently back and forth between regular and "B" mode depending on the driving situation. The gear shifter is right below where my right-hand hangs from the center arm rest and is easily manipulated during driving. The only thing I've had to get used to is the location has changed from my 2008 Prius, and I keep reaching for the center dash to change gears and bumped the seat heater button accidentally a couple of times.
Turns out the seat heaters are very effective and heat up quickly.
I was not able to do any testing of the Entune applications or the EV specific features available for the Prius Plug-In and the Rav4 EV. You need to have the Entune app installed on your smartphone (free, and easy to get) as well as an Entune account (free, but needs a VIN to associate with the account). I felt it would be rude to pair the rental vehicle up with an account I might create, so I didn't try that.
The radio tuning happens entirely using the touchscreen. When on the radio screen, you have to open another popup window to tune or change volume. Pretty clunky. I've been driving since the mid-80's and I really like analog knobs for tuning and volume control. They are always in the same place, and I can reach for them without needing to look. It's also much faster to spin the volume know down than to press the volume button on the steering wheel, or find the volume setting in the touchscreen. The tuning issue and general usability are things that could be fixed with a software update, but I'm not going to hold my breath
The cloth interior is a problem. It's a very light color that goes nicely with the rest of the interior. However, for my purposes, it's a challenge because, well, I have a son. He makes messes. As an example, he got a replica jersey of the Argentina national soccer (football) team with light blue and white stripes for Christmas last year. It was permanently stained in less than 24 hours. Light colored cloth seats will get trashed by my family (including me). The good news is that most dealers have someone who can re-do the interior in leather pretty quickly and not too expensively. I'd much prefer Toyota include leather standard, or at least as an option, but they don't. Probably the same thinking that went into the Leaf's recycled interior. Leather, however, should be standard on a car that costs $50k. Seriously.
Because the Rav4 has a 41kWh battery, you need serious juice in order to charge it. The standard 220 volt, 30 amp chargers would take 8 hours for a full charge. Toyota has selected Leviton to provide a 220 volt, 40 amp charger that does a full charge in 5-6 hours. I talked briefly with a Leviton rep on the phone who told me that they do not offer the 40 amp charger as a standalone purchase, and require that it be installed by them, but the 30 amp charger can be purchased by itself. I wonder if I could adapt Tesla's

0 to 50 acceleration. Click image to see video.
I turned in the Rav4EV on Friday afternoon and was sad to see it go. I had a blast driving it, and getting back into my 08 Prius was a let down. I've always felt that my Prius was roomy inside, but after driving the bigger car since Wednesday, the Prius definitely felt small inside. The sense of loss was also heightened when I looked at my gas gauge and had to spend nearly $50 filling up the gas tank after dropping off the Rav4.

Here are a couple of questions posted to the original thread that might be interesting to other readers:

rabar10 wrote:Thanks for all the details and pics, Chris! How much "coaching" was included or offered when you picked up the RAV4-EV for rental? Agree that not having any EVSE included means missing out on one of the big EV advantages - filling up while parked at home.

There was some coaching on the basics of the screens, but not a lot. The sales rep had attended a course on the car and had previously test-driven one. That said, he is very much an ICE guy that is working to be more familiar with EVs, and there were areas that I was already more informed than him. This isn't a knock on him, but I've test-driven a Model S, a Nissan Leaf, a Chevy Volt, and the Focus Electric, as well as obsessing about EVs in general for a while now. There are a number of little detail questions I'd like to get some answers to, but finding knowledgable people at the local dealership has been a challenge. As an example, a sales rep at the Huntington Beach Toyota dealership told me that she didn't think the Rav4EV would be for sale in California.

jcstp wrote: Thanks for all your details! What is your verdict? Is it a buy, a lease or not considering for now?

For me, it's a buy, not a lease. I'm hoping that this is a vehicle that lasts for many years, and an outright purchase makes a lot more sense for me. With my Model S refund, the sale of my wife's 2005 Prius, some other savings, and the tax credits, I'm hoping to only end up financing about 23k on long term financing. (I understand that I won't get the federal credit until I file my 2012 taxes). Talked to the wife tonight and she's on board with the purchase as well. I think we might be full-steam ahead here! :biggrin:

Ampster wrote: I am a newby here, but I drove a RAV4 EV at the Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica which I attended with a friend. My friend went to the nearest dealer in the evening of our test drive and put a deposit on one. It took me a couple days more to get the fever. The RAV4 EV did rock my world. I had just completed the conversion of a 1973 VW Super Beetle and was figuring that I needed my existing ICE SUV for the occasional day trips that I take that are around 100 miles. The RAV4 EV caused me to reexamine that assumption. I also put a deposit down a few days later and hope to get one before year end so I can take advantage of the tax credit.

My friend and I both have solar panels on our roofs so our incremental energy costs are zero. I love the simplicity of driving my Super Beetle and the incredible torque I feel when I pull away from a signal or stop sign. I live in a small beach town in Southern California and there are several free parking charging stations that I have used, not for range extension, but for the free parking which is always a rare thing in my little town. I think the RAV4 EV will be the perfect complement to my other EV and I am excited about the idea of not being dependent on gasoline for locomotion.

If you call around, there are dealerships that have them in stock right now. No need to go onto a waiting list. I got an email from the Tustin Toyota dealership and they have one of the blue ones in stock for sale.

Please don't take my numerous issues listed above to indicate that I'm not happy with this vehicle. In a lot of ways, it's a 2.0 product, and shows that in some of the choices Toyota made. As most people know, version 3 is usually where you start seeing the real advances. That said, I think this car could easily be a 6-10 year car for my family, especially with aftermarket leather installed in the interior. I'm calling Leviton this week to get an assessment done for installing a charger at home, and if all goes well, hope to be driving around fully electric in the next 30 days.

Hmmm. Now I need to see about a vanity license plate. :biggrin: Wonder if there's anything good left.

Full gallery of photos here.

SpaceX CRS-1 Mission to ISS

doug — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 21:38:00 GMT

Many of us at Tesla Motors Club are also SpaceX fans. Follow the mission LIVE with us here and leave your comments below. The launch is scheduled Sunday, October 7th at 8:35pm EDT. Coverage starts at 7pm EDT.

Image Credit: SpaceX .

Tesla Model S Enjoys Major Exposure in the Sunday Times

TMC — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 06:30:03 GMT

Gracing the cover of the Automobile section in last Sunday's New York Times (September 30, 2012), Tesla Motors scored a multipage spread including a glowing review of the Model S as well as an account of a 530 mile roadtrip using Tesla's newly launched Supercharger network.

The review entitled One Big Step for Tesla, One Giant Step for E.V.'s by Bradley Berman argued that the Tesla Model S is one of the few cars that actually may deserve to be labeled as a "game-changer". Berman goes over some of the many great qualities of the Model S such as its excellent balance and handling (despite its 4,600 lbs), huge user-friendly touchscreen, and its ability to receive over the air software updates. Name checking two of the companies known for great design Berman teases, "If the Model S is Aston Martin on the outside, it�s Apple on the inside."

The review wasn't 100% positive, however. Berman complains:

Yet Tesla sometimes takes its urge to reinvent too far. When parked, the outside door handles completely recede into the body. This makes opening the door a multistep process, and it can take two or three attempts before working. Other design imperfections include an artsy visor that�s too small to block the sun and mirrors made of fun-house plastic rather than, well, glass. And the trade-off for industry-leading aerodynamics is limited rear visibility.

Despite these annoyances, he concludes that none are likely to dissuade a single potential buyer. The coverage is yet another marketing coup for Tesla considering the company has yet to pay for mainstream advertising.

Source: NYTimes .
Image: TheAustin .

Car and Driver's In-Depth Video Review of the Model S

TMC — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 02:08:56 GMT

Car and Driver Magazine released a 16 minute video in which editor Csaba Csere does a comprehensive review of the Model S. Car and Driver previously published a brief First Drive Review back in August.

Source: Car and Driver Youtube Channel .

Let the adventure begin

efusco — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 03:38:21 GMT

Tesla Roadster #750 next to my Prius in Nixa, MO by efusco

I'm buying a Model S, hope to take delivery within the next 2 months (1 would be great, but probably unrealistic). The moderators just created this new blog section and based upon my long (9 year) ownership experience with my Prius I know that buying a new sort of high tech vehicle is full of adventures, good and bad. I'll start my story today with why I chose to go electric, and most importantly why I chose to buy a Tesla Model S....

I'm an ER physician. Growing up we drove what we could afford, gas was cheap and I never really gave a second though to what my gas mileage was so much as considering any sort of alternative energy vehicle. In 2000 I moved from Alaska to Southwest Missouri. Gas prices were still pretty low and I was still driving a Ford Expedition I purchased in 1996-97...great SUV, very roomy and comfortable and powerful.

My commute was/is about 15 miles each way and the Expedition got ~12-13MPG, so I was burning up at least 2 gallons of gas a day, often more, just going to and from work. At some point around 2002that fact struck me as pretty stinking wasteful. Mind you environmental issues, cost, tree hugging, the Middle East situation (despite 9/11) really didn't factor in, it just seemed stupid to be burning that quantity of gasoline. Sometime in late 2002 or early 2003 I saw a blurb in a magazine about some car called the Toyota Prius hybrid, it had some cool technical information about how it worked and how it got such great gas mileage and I was really intrigued by the technology and the logic of it all utilizing the battery as an energy buffer to permit the use of a lower power highly fuel efficient ICE. I test drove a 2003 Prius and a Honda Civic Hybrid. Found them both to be "OK", but they had some impracticalities, lacked some power/speed and room and I had a family with twin boys that were likely to only get bigger and the Expedition was still running well.

Then in May of that year the 2004 Gen II Prius was announced with a complete radical redesign and dramatically improved fuel economy, room and other specs and I was sold. I managed to 'steal' a Prius Pioneer slot to grab one of the first Gen IIs on the road and took delivery in Oct. 2003. Many of the people on this forum know me from my long-time moderation on Priuschat as I've been a Prius "Maven" and am even a "Prius Expert" on Toyota's official Prius Facebook page.

Me in Vanuatu a couple years back. by efuscoAs the Prius proved itself, the battery proved it's long-term durability and as I watched hybrid and EV technology grow I started wanting more as regards efficiency. The aspects mentioned above (environment, foreign oil, tree hugging, etc.) became more important to me as I became immersed in the alternative automobile culture. I kept waiting for Toyota to produce a legitimate Prius Plug-in hybrid or, ideally, a Prius EV...but that never happened and it was made clear to me that they had no intention of doing so unless and until forced to by compliance standards. At some point I watched "Who Killed the Electric Car" and I was livid. Gas prices were continuing to go up with no sign of stopping, the situation in Iraq and Afganistan were not improving and the skys were getting no cleaner and I began looking more and more in to Plug-in conversions, EV conversions and watching the EV horizon. Unfortunately none of the available options were practical or reliable for someone who needs a reliable family vehicle with enough range to accomodate the relatively rural area where I live and to take longer trips about once or twice a month.

I knew about the Roadster and watched that drama unfold, but clearly that was not in the budget and had no room for a family. I knew about the possible "White Star and Blue Star" plans, but who knew if that would every really happen. In 2009 when word started coming out that maybe it really was going to happen I waited and as soon as Tesla announce, in March, that it really was going to happen I made my deposit and have been committed every since.

I don't believe EVs are for everyone and even doubt they'll be the most common personal transportation in 20 years, but I do believe we, who have the financial wherewithall and the willingness to be early adopters need to be the ones who take the reins and drive this technology foreward so that it can come down in price, improve in quality and become accessible to a much wider audience to start addressing all the concerns mentioned above. We're early in the "alpha" phase of this with the available EVs and plug-ins, but the Tesla is a huge step into the "Beta" stage.

At this point my garage is wired with a NEMA 14-50 outlet and a 100amp line (that was a bit of an adventure too) all set for the Tesla HPWC as soon as those are shipped out. I've got a copy of the owner's quick guide and I'm ready for my car, as soon as Elon is ready to deliver it to me.

Supercharger unveiling event

doug — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 02:54:07 GMT

Updated. Elon Musk unveiled the Tesla Supercharger tonight near the Tesla design studio in Hawthorne, CA. Showing footage of existing stations already installed secretly in California, Elon briefly described how Tesla plans to role out a nationwide network at various rest stops along interstates throughout the country. [Click through to watch the uncut video.]

The function of the rather large and phallic looking device which Elon dropped the curtain on wasn't quite explained. However, the implication was that it is a large bank of batteries which are charged by the solar panels and then is used to provide up to 120 kW of power to charging Tesla vehicles. According to Musk, these Superchargers will allow Model S owners to drive for three hours, charge for free during a 30 minute rest stop, and continue on their way. "Travel for free, forever, on sunlight," Mr. Musk said.

Update: TMC member spatterso911 who attended the event reports the following:

1. The superchargers will produce more energy than can be used by charging the car. They are connected to the grid, thus will contribute energy to the grid. Solar City is providing the installation of the PV panels.

2. The large monolith IS functional and contains the hardware and components used by the supercharging system. In some locations, due to local ordinances, they cannot build the monolith, so it will be placed in non-descript boxes near the charging station. It may not be the final design, and looked significantly different 3 days ago. Apparently Elon's space alien idea got shot down in favor of the "rocket ship".

3. Batteries are used to store energy (same or similar to Model S) and are also located near the charging stations. They are NOT located in the roof of the station due to weight.

4. There will be 2+ stalls per station. They will calculate based upon population density of Model S/X/Gen III units sold in that area, increase the number in areas with greater population.

5. The superchargers do not affect battery life according to one of the supercharger engineers. They will charge in standard mode, ramping the charge down as the battery exceeds 50% charge so that the battery is protected.

6. The supercharging stations have a single on/off button on them, which, when pressed, reveals the charging cable (same Tesla connector). Pressing the charger handle button opens the charge door on the car exactly like the standard charging cable. Once you dock the cable after charging, there is a pause, and then the door closes, hiding the charging cable. I have video and pictures of this in action.

7. 100-150 miles is a reasonable separation distance. This is how they plan to distribute the supercharging stations.

8. It is a DC supercharger.

9. Roadster owners will not be able to use the superchargers. Some owners were very upset to learn this and requested that 70 A charging stations be installed at the supercharging stations. They suggested placing inverters with the charging stations so that the DC current can be converted for the roadsters. George stated that they will consider this, but made no promises.

10. The superchargers will remain absolutely free to any Tesla vehicle with the appropriate charging hardware. This means that 60 kWh equipped with supercharger hardware, and 85 kWh vehicles will be able to freely charge anywhere within the network of superchargers. The superchargers will not work for vehicles not equipped with the supercharger hardware. I'm sorry I didn't ask if any previously built vehicle can be outfitted later with supercharger hardware for a fee.

Watch the full uncut video below (things get started about the 2 minute mark):

Video streaming by Ustream

Album: Supercharger Unveiling

The Beginning.

bonnie1194 — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 05:01:43 GMT

I didn�t know I was on an EV journey. I was just looking for a fun car. Something that would perform.

My BMW 540i had been totalled on I80 by a texting teen. I thought I�d be practical (a lapse in judgment), and I bought a really nice Prius. Serious lapse. The Prius did everything it was supposed to do. And it had the really cool tech package, leather seats, and was a nice slate gray. There really was nothing to complain about. But it didn�t go fast. It didn�t perform. I had to slow down for curves.

When I bought it, I�d momentarily forgotten how much I enjoy driving a car that performs, a life-long love affair that started in 1975 with a restored 1961 Porsche 911T. It's kind of hard to be happy with a Prius when what you want is a car that responds, that grins and speeds up when it sees a tight 20 mph curve. No excitement. Reliable. Boring.

Then I saw a video of the Tesla Model S. I literally sucked in my breath. Ohhh!! Who cares that it�s an EV?? I WANTED it. Breathtaking car and if it performed the way it said it would, it would be mine. Well �mine� when it finally would go into production, possibly a 1+ year wait. Whaaat? Okay. I still wanted it. So I signed up for the Tesla newsletter, was pondering sending in my $5K deposit � and received an email from Tesla, telling me they would be giving Roadster test drives in the area and did I want one. Yes, I did. I did want one. And I said yes, knowing what would happen. I would fall in love with the Roadster and decide to buy one and � I was right.

That was Nov 2010. Unlike early Roadster owners, I only had to wait three months. But it was a LONG three months. I watched every video on YouTube. I lurked on TeslaMotorsClub.com, learning about EVs and Tesla and my new ride from Roadster owners and other EV enthusiasts. My coworkers started to avoid me in the hall, with the certainty of experience telling them I�d likely want to tell them about the Roadster. (Sorry!) I had a 240v/40amp outlet installed in my garage. I posted pictures of my new outlet on FB. I cleaned out my garage.

I picked up my Arctic White Roadster Sport 1194 in February 2011 in Menlo Park. It was waiting for me with a big red bow on top. Sitting through the paperwork was agony. I. Just. Wanted. The. Key. I impatiently sat through the obligatory walk-thru (I�d already memorized the manual and learned much more from the forum members. So give me the key already!)

I signed paperwork. More paperwork. (And yes, I acknowledged the need to keep the battery charged.) I think my pen ran out of ink before they let me stop signing paperwork. Yay. Off I went.

I went out for lunch with a friend. We admired the car from the window of the restaurant. I took pictures of the key and posted on facebook. (Yes, I know that is a beer next to it. It was not my beer.) We walked outside and admired the car. I ran a couple of errands. And then I began my 145 mile trek home, with approximately 180 ideal miles. Oops!

So I behaved. At first. I drove more slowly, less pure acceleration � until the actual miles started to creep up to the ideal miles. Play time! I made it home with about 20 miles to spare and a silly grin on my face.

I connected the charger and saw a beautiful blue light come on, begin to blink, the light turned yellow ... and my new car was charging and would be full again by the time I got up in the morning.

I was unaware that my electric journey had begun.

Roadtrip: The Rest of the Story

bonnie1194 — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:23:16 GMT

Oh where to start ... Good times in Portland with a bunch of wild and crazy Model S reservation holders. Easy charging. Accommodating hotel. Easy drive from Portland to Tacoma, WA ... blah blah blah. Let's cut to the chase: I'm home in Loomis, my car is cell-less in Seattle. And I should have it back later this week, via the Model S Express.

Three days in Portland

I was wondering how the heck I was going to easily charge my car while in Portland, without hanging out at the Tesla store and using their chargers at night (not that that's a bad thing). Imagine my surprise to find two Blink chargers on the side of The Round office complex parking lot. No charge (but I needed a Blink card). And no problems charging at all. I'd leave work at the end of the day and my car was fully charged. Pretty sweet. ... I did have a couple of weird error messages on the trip while charging, but the car charged fine and the messages went away. (Remember this part, it's important.)

TIP: If you see an error screen, take a picture before dismissing it. Then you can email it to Tesla Service. A picture eliminates the whole "well, I think it said that something was wrong with the electrical doohickey thing," - which typically leaves Service thinking you're an idiot. (There's plenty of opportunity to offer additional proof regarding if you're an idiot or not, but at least take a picture to make the error easier to troubleshoot.)

After my work week was done, I met up with several of you from the TMC forum for dinner and swarming the Tesla Portland store in Washington Square. Tesla was accommodating, but looked oh-so-dubious to all of us piling in one of the cars and taking over the store. -waves at Tesla employees and says THANKS!- I'm sure we sold some cars for them that night. I tried to get Troy to come over to the restaurant and pay for our dinner, but somehow the text messages didn't seem to get through until it was too late. Yeah, okay, I know. He ignored us. pffffyt. (That's me riding shotgun. I've let the others self-identify.)

I did use one of the charging stations located in the Tesla garage space. Looking mighty lonely there with no Roadsters, no Model S. I'm sure that's been remedied with a test drive Model S by now ... and oh. More of those strange charging error messages. But once again, the car was fully charged, ran great, error messages went away. Awesome.

Tacoma / Seattle

I headed up to Tacoma to hang out with my college roommate in Tacoma, now a family doctor in the Tacoma area. (It's great reconnecting with old friends!) We hit the art galleries in Seattle, drove along the coast, ate great seafood, and played lots of Scrabble. (She beat me every. single. time. I'm not used to that. Just sayin'.) I found chargers in all sorts of places. Parking garage at the Museum of Glass. Parking lot near the grocery. Wherever I stopped it seemed a charger was nearby. And those damn charging error messages made a reappearance sometimes.

Again, the car was charging, everything was good. It was Labor Day weekend, so on Tuesday morning, I called Menlo Park and said 'hey, had these weird errors, anything I should be concerned about?'. Tesla Service seemed concerned (as in 'you can still drive the car?'), so I took it to the Seattle Service Center (just 30 miles away) to get checked out. (Oh hey, don't you think that California|Oregon|Washington should have some sort of reciprocal agreement regarding use of HOV lanes? Yeah, me too. Driving 30 miles to Seattle with an empty HOV lane next to me was torture.)

So let's stop for a minute before everyone goes OMGOMGIknewyoucouldntcountonanelectriccar. Stuff happens in ALL cars. I've had issues one time or another with ICE vehicles, too. My car was fully charged, operating perfectly. Error screens went away. So... all good here? k. Moving on.

Lots of questions between Seattle and the engineering team and the final resolution was easy. Tesla didn't feel comfortable letting me drive the car home, even though there didn't appear to be any identifiable issue. So after negotiating that I could have the car back for the events over at the Seattle Center (the original reason for the roadtrip), I left the car behind and headed back to Tacoma. I returned the car to Tesla after the last of the events ended (more on that below) they sent me back to Tacoma in a nice town car, I flew home the next day.

So here's what I know -- the charging errors didn't seem to impact the car performance or range. But I was uncomfortable & so was Tesla in letting me drive home when we didn't know exactly what was wrong. I do know that after we decided I shouldn't drive home, the charging error screens came back. So the right decision was made. I do have a new battery now. :) I suspect that's more so that the engineers can do further failure analysis to understand what caused the problems, more than the fact I needed a new battery. My old battery was pulled last Thursday. A new one was put in on Friday and my car charged all weekend. Tests were run today, more will be run tomorrow, and then if all goes well, they will bring my car back to me (800+ miles) on Wednesday. Yay. (And since so many are currently concerned about warranty coverage, this was all done under my warranty. No charges, no money out of my pocket.)

I'll write more on the Beyond Oil event at a future date. Thanks to Chad Schwitters for inviting me to join the crew in Washington. I was able to meet more forum members there (shout out to Vincent, Tom, Kathy, Ron, and others). And I saw some pretty cool electric vehicles. In the meantime, here we are all lined up waiting to go onto the grounds around the Space Needle. That's a lot of electric cars in one place. It was pretty amazing to witness so many cars moving in silence ...

Roadtrip: Sacramento-ish, CA to Seattle, WA - Day Two (8/29)

bonnie1194 — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 06:24:51 GMT

Total miles driven on Day Two: 323
Total time start/finish Day Two: (6 hrs driving, 3:35 hrs charging)

So let's recap. My last blog entry ended in Yreka, CA. When I arrived, I'd blown through a lot of miles. (So here's a tip - when you know you're going to be charging overnight, the phrase 'drive conservatively' seems to disappear. Have fun! Enjoy the electric ride. The battery will be full in the morning.)

Here was what I arrived with at the end of Day One:
Odometer: 15171
Miles Driven: 156
Ideal Miles: 35

And after a full night of charging, I woke up to:
Ideal Miles: 238
64 kWh
Charge time: 5:40 (it wasn't the advertised 70 amps, but who cares? I was sleeping)

Day Two, destination is Portland, OR - we have an office in Beaverton where I'll work a couple of days before continuing on the rest of the trip.
Conveniently, my room at the Comfort Inn the night before overlooked my car. When the Roadster is locked, the charging indicator lights go dark so it doesn't draw undue attention to the car (blue=good connection, flashing yellow=charging, green=fully charged, red=problem). So I could stand at my hotel room window, press the key fob and unlock the car, check the charging status, lock it back up. Vastly entertaining.

Reloaded the car, grabbed some coffee, and started playing the 'hmmm, wonder if I really need to stop at the next charger?' game. If I drove conservatively, it's possible I could make it to Eugene instead of Canyonville. Tip: DON'T PLAY THAT GAME, JUST TOP OFF WHENEVER YOU HAVE THE CHANCE. (Sorry for the shouting.) Seriously, on a roadtrip, you should always have enough charge to make it one charging station beyond where you're planning to stop. It's called mitigating risk.

Elevation climbs can be a bit nerve wracking. Your estimated miles drop rapidly. You start wondering if you'll make it. Then as you start back down, regen kicks in and your miles skyrocket. I started in Yreka at about 2700 feet, climbed to 4310 ... and then dropped to 2000 over a short span of freeway.

Charge stop #1: Canyonville, OR - 70 amp Tesla charging station

Upon arrival,
Odometer: 15295
Miles driven: 124
Ideal Miles: 105

Did I mention that the charging station in Canyonville is at a restaurant and a ... casino? (Thank you, Chad, for selecting this location & working with the casino to have it installed. Brilliant!) Did I mention that the charging station in Canyonville is not only at a casino, but at a casino with ... a SPA?? YES! There is a spa at the casino hotel. Okay, you have to take a shuttle from the restaurant location, but besides gambling, you could get a pedicure, massage, facial, etc. You could. So what did I do? -sigh- I sat in the restaurant and did some work. Sad, really. (But watch me on the way home.)

Really nice charging spot, plenty of shade ... I met a lot of people here, wandering by, curious. A lot of Roadster owners, myself included, keep a small stack of Tesla brochures in the car. People appreciate walking away from the conversation with something in their hand to show friends. It's also a great way to end the conversation, "Oh hey, I've gotta go - but would you like this Tesla brochure?"

My final destination for the day, Portland, was just over 200 miles away. With conservative driving and less passes to cross, I could probably make it without another charge. But I'd hate to arrive in Portland with the battery nearly depleted.

So I stopped the charge before the battery was completely full (better for the battery & the last few miles of range take longer to charge - so made sense to pack it up). Besides, looking at the VDS in the car, I could see that the power to the car wasn't 70 amps, but rather ranging from 42-62. Maybe I'd have better luck at the next stop.

Car status when leaving Canyonville:
Ideal Miles: 228
37 kWh
Charge time: 2:35 hrs

Charge stop #2: Eugene, OR - 70 amp Tesla charging station

Upon arrival,
Odometer: 15295
Miles driven: 124
Ideal Miles: 105

Sequential Biofuels. Yep, a station for your ICE. Who knew I'd love this place? Fantastic stop.

Where to start ... when I pulled up, one of the staff came out immediately (like before I got out of the car) to uncoil the cable and bring the plug to me.

Inside, there was an organic espresso/coffee bar, tons of homemade snacks and pastries, a counter bar, and free wifi. And the people were the best. Every single person in and out of the station wanted to know more about the car. Not a single 'oh nice if you can afford it' snarky comment - all positive, all 'this is the way we need to go'.

Yay, Eugene, OR. You all rock.

Oh yeah - and the advertised 70 amp really WAS 70 amp.

Portland wasn't that far away, so again, I didn't fully recharge the battery. Stats when I left Eugene and all my new friends at Sequential Biofuels:
Ideal Miles: 181
20 kWh
1:23 hrs charge time

Destination: Embassy Suites Hotel - Washington Square, Portland, OR

Upon arrival:
Ideal miles remaining: 40
Odometer: 15494
Miles driven: 108

That *might* be evidence of a little fun acceleration and playtime on the final leg of the trip. I can't remember. :)

One last thing before I wrap up this entry: When you stop at a restaurant, check into a hotel, whatever ... ASK 'is there a place where I can plug in my electric car?'. I did that checking in at the Embassy Suites, even though I already knew there was no place to plug in. And guess what? The response was 'we really should have a place for guests to plug in.' YAY. That's the right response! The maintenance guy set up a 110 plug for me at night, reserved the spot so I could park there - and the hotel manager contacted me the next morning to get more information on installation options.

Roadtrip: Sacramento-ish, CA to Seattle, WA - Day One (8/28)

bonnie1194 — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 22:42:09 GMT

About a month ago, Chad Schwitters (fellow TMC forum member/ChadS and President of Plug In America) contacted some of us to see if we would be willing to drive our EVs (EV=electric vehicle) to Seattle for the Beyond Oil Conference on Sept 7th. (I like roadtrips, so I�m always an easy mark.) My company also has an office in Portland, OR & the engineering team had asked me to bring my Roadster to Portland (i.e., begged and whined) so they could see it first hand.

So it seemed like a reasonable trip. Drive from my home in Loomis, CA (near Sacramento) to Portland. Work at the office for a couple of days. Head for Seattle where I conveniently have a couple of close friends. Hang with them over Labor Day weekend and beyond. Attend the conference & then head home.

House/Pups sitter in place. Mail stopped. Stuff for work, hiking, friends, conference packed. Car charged in range mode. Tire pressure checked.

And yet, I still couldn�t get out of the house until noon. But I only needed to drive to Yreka, about 300 miles, where there was a hotel with a 70amp charger. Charging overnight at a hotel is a win � no time spent waiting for a charge.

This is my second all-electric roadtrip. The Tesla Highway makes it easy to travel up and down the West Coast. It is a string of charging stations (the blue markers are 70 amp) from San Diego to the Canadian border, allowing a Roadster to travel the entire coast.

A section of the Tesla Highway:

Day One: Loomis, CA to Yreka, CA

Total miles driven today: 280 (I had a late start!!!)
Total time on the road today: 7 hours (2:09 hrs charging, 4:30 driving, plus a rest stop to stretch legs)

Some tips:

ALWAYS have a hard copy of charging stations in the car with you. Reception isn't always *ideal*. I kept a printout of the Tesla Highway with addresses and phone numbers in the car.
Whenever possible (like always), keep enough range that you can get to a backup charger, if the charger you want is occupied or inoperable.
Range mode and cruise control are your friends, your lead foot is not your friend. 'Nuff said.
Don't stress the miles you lose to elevation gains ... you gain a lot of them back when you go downhill.

---------

Since a few of you on the forum asked that I keep track of some basic info, here's what I started with in Loomis:

Odometer: 14891
Ideal Miles: 241
Elevation: 100

Did I mention that I had a late start (noonish)? ... but I knew I wasn�t driving far, so� (Plus, when you see the �sad dog� faces, it�s hard to walk out.)

First stop to charge: Orland, CA - 70 amp Tesla charging station

When I stopped:
Odometer: 15015
Miles Driven: 124
Ideal Miles: 91

My first stop was at The Berry Patch restaurant, in Orland, CA. Near the restaurant is a CVS Pharmacy, Dutch Bros coffee, Taco Bell, and a gas station.

The owner (Jack) told me that a Nissan Leaf had charged there. Huh? It's a Roadster connector, 70 amp. Turns out the Leaf owner had an adapter, had said it cost about $1000. Jack The Owner thought he had a photo of it, but didn't have it available when I was there. Maybe on my way back?

This was on Tuesday - I hit it right during PG&E peak for electrical rates. Small business, and I know Jack The Owner was a little stressed over what I was adding to his electrical bill. (Questions like, "So how long do you think you'll be charging?" were kind of a clue.) So I picked up a stack of thank-you notes at CVS, wrote one out for him, stuck some cash inside, and left it on the counter on the way out. (Nice guy, very interested in EVs.)

Since I knew I only had to drive to Yreka, I didn't fully recharge the battery. When you know you're spending the night where you can charge, it doesn't really matter what range you have left when you arrive, as long as it is greater than zero miles. :) (I also called ahead to confirm the charging station was operational and available.)
Charged 2:09 hrs
34 kWh
Ideal Miles: 208

-----------------------

Second (and final) stop to charge: Yreka, CA - 70 amp Tesla charging station

Comfort Inn
Yreka, CA
Elevation: 2700 (high point was 3400) , lots of miles chewed up, but much recovered on the downhill leg.

Upon arrival:
Odometer: 15171
Miles Driven: 156
Ideal Miles: 35

The folks at Comfort Inn were extremely accommodating. They gave me a room that overlooked the charging station (tucked behind the hotel). There is a Taco Bell next door. (Not a fan, but hey, you might be interested - no judgment here - what you eat on a roadtrip is your business.) Free WiFi.

Continuing reading, Day Two.

Power Available	Time Required	Approx. Rate (mi)	Approx. Rate (km)
110V 12A (Level I)	> 60 hours	< 4 miles per hour	< 7 kilometers per hour
220V 12A	27-37 hours	8 miles per hour	13 kilometers per hour
220V 24A	13-19 hours	17 miles per hour	26 kilometers per hour
220V 30A	11-15 hours	21 miles per hour	33 kilometers per hour
220V 40A	8-11 hours	28 miles per hour	44 kilometers per hour
220V 60A (Dual Chargers)	5-7 hours	42 miles per hour	67 kilometers per hour
220V 80A (Dual Chargers)	4-6 hours	56 miles per hour	89 kilometers per hour