NYT article: Stalled on the EV Highway

[dave]

I have to admit that I was also surprised by the vampire loss, and the cold penalties when I received my car. My previous Tesla research had not prepared me for them, and I only become educated by religiously keeping up with this forum.

[Todd Burch]

Tesla developers are going to have to work hard to reduce power loss. The current losses are...well...not good.

[Trnsl8r]

Sorry, but I thought it was a very fair article. The reporter was in practically constant contact with Tesla professionals and they let him down. NOBODY mentioned how fast the cars lose range if parked overnight in freezing weather and this information will not be found in any Tesla literature. IMO, Tesla deserves the review.

I'm with you. Plus (apparently) conflicting information from TM. And someone should have told him to turn climate control OFF, not down... and plug in overnight, even to a 110.

[aviators99]

I hope Tesla react proactively to this...<snip>

Sort of an oxymoron, no?

[smorgasbord]

Instead, the doofus left it outside in the bitter cold over night, too lazy to plug in even a freaking 120V that would have effortlessly prevented any loss.

When I parked the car, its computer said I had 90 miles of range, twice the 46 miles back to Milford. It was a different story at 8:30 the next morning. The thermometer read 10 degrees and the display showed 25 miles of remaining range — the electrical equivalent of someone having siphoned off more than two-thirds of the fuel that was in the tank when I parked.

He had twice the miles he needed (90), but lost 65 of them overnight. That's a 72% drain. Even as a Roadster owner of 19 months, I would not have expected that. I guess I'm a doofus, too.

Or, Tesla has a cold weather problem. I don't know where he stayed, but it's certainly possible that a 110volt outlet was not within reach of where he could park.

[dtich]

Well. Yeah. Chargers are far apart. Slightly more conservative planning is called for. And absolutely cold weather drivers need to plug in every night. It's a battery after all, your laptop and cellphone will do the same thing in the same temps....

That said. I feel like he pushed it to the dramatic limit on purpose. It's new tech with new infrastructure and he purposefully (I feel) skirted the edges to see if he might fall. Which he did. Oh well. Be more careful next time. Not much sympathy from me.

[dpeilow]

If true, then a 72% drain overnight is utterly unacceptable. To everyone rushing to say he should have plugged in - sorry, that's not always possible.

[Discoducky]

It might not have avoided the issue(s), but why can't rated range take into account a normal amount of cabin heating and range loss due to lower ambient temperatures. That way the rated range showing before he left would have been less than the actual mileage travelled. Also, when leaving the car unplugged in colder ambient there should be a warning of range loss prior the screen going off.

[gregincal]

I also agree this is a fair article. Superchargers point the way towards being able to do road trips in an electric car, but at the moment it still takes a bit of planning. My whole point in getting the 85kWh battery was that for pretty much all of my driving I wouldn't have to worry about range at all. If I was doing longer trips on a regular basis I'd get a diesel (not a hybrid, which also doesn't help for road trips). The bad part is that Tesla didn't know enough to properly warn the journalist.

[patp]

I think this article and other winter issues - ex. Winter Driving Experiences - Page 84 are showing one major thing. Tesla is a California company... They really need to have winter/cold performance as part of their DNA. There's no way they can do this without having a dedicated team that lives day to day with the car in these conditions.