Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

That Little Water Pump

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.

Martin

Tesla Founder
Aug 17, 2007
76
0
Have you ever noticed the sound of a water pump running in the back of a parked Tesla? It runs pretty much all the time, and makes the coolant gurgle in its overflow tank in the back of the car. I got curious about it and did a few experiments to determine how much energy this little pump consumes. The answer was a bit of a shocker.

Read about it in my most recent blog.
 
Last edited:
Someone should have caught this one at the EP/VP stage.

This proves that you just can't carry out fault-finding in a blame-culture. :wink:

What a pity Tesla didn't have a "product architect" who was actually focussed on the product.

(Wow! Have I just fallen off the wagon or what!)
 
Last edited:
Someone should have caught this one at the EP/VP stage.

This proves that you just can't carry out fault-finding in a blame-culture. :wink:

What a pity Tesla didn't have a "product architect" who was actually focussed on the product.

(Wow! Have I just fallen off the wagon or what!)
Malcolm,

I'm starting to worry that you may have come over to the "dark side"... :biggrin:

ATB,

Chris
 
Someone should have caught this one at the EP/VP stage.

It is unclear to me based on Martin's description if that is the case or not. Is it possible that Martin's specific car has a defect?

As best as I can tell there are 3 possibilities:

1) Martin's Roadster has something wrong with it that others do not.
2) Drivetrain 1.0 has something wrong with it, but they have fixed it by now
3) There is a design defect that will plague all Roadsters.

3 (and to an extent 2) are things that should that have been caught earlier -- but I haven't heard anyone suggest on this site or Martin's that he may just have a broken part which needs replacing.

If it is true that this is a design fault which plagues all Roadsters, they should have caught it before now, and they had better jump on fixing it quickly. Seems like something that should be able to be patched in firmware...
 
I did ask if once the DT 1.5 hardware was in place, they could easily download newer software, but apparently this is not the case (depends on the definition of easly, I suppose). So maybe it can be done at servicing time.

Martin, is this something you ever noticed on the EPs/VPs before?
 
The only comforting thing about all of this is knowing that the Roadster is only Gen I. The next Gen (Whitestar) should be far more refined. It took 100 years and fierce competition for gas cars to get where they are today; EVs are still only in their infancy.
 
If something isn't working as we'd like it to, it doesn't necessarily mean it's a design defect. I've taken a vehicle into the dealership before where something wasn't as I expected, wanted, or felt was reasonable and was told 'working as designed'. However I would guess that if enough folks were to complain about this particular situation, it would be addressed as a design improvement.
Personally I would have expected that the cooling pump would only be working while the vehicle has been activated or is being charged, but we each have our own opinions about how something should work.
 
Sorry Chris. I forgot to take my pills :frown:

It would seem something of a stretch to describe a device which can discharge half of the energy in the battery all by itself, in just over 7.5 days as a "feature".

This is like having the courtesy light stay on FAR too long, or a small hole half way up your gas tank. Once people start using that sort of analogy, Tesla will have to move quickly. It's money down the drain.

Even daytime running lights (on ICE vehicles) are a bit daft, but at least you can turn those off when you exit the vehicle.
 
Last edited:
Tesla Motors - think

Two factors shorten calendar life considerably: lifetime average temperature and time spent at high states of charge. Batteries would last the longest if they were stored in a refrigerator at a very low state of charge. They age the fastest when stored in a hot place at a full state of charge
Well the pump certainly limits the time the battery spends at a high state of charge. About 72 hours max at 80% or above
 
Last edited:
As a photographer, I can tell you that's a violation of copyright.

Martin needs to put in a copyright notice on his website like:

"all photos are copyright ©2008 Martin Eberhard, any use/distribution without the expressed written consent of Martin Eberhard is strictly prohibited"

[ probably stick a fine of say $300K per violation ]

So, the above will give you legal contract which will be useful in pursuing damages. I know of somebody (fool, small company engaged in all sorts of illegal/unethical activity) who infringed on a photographer's photo (notorious for suing people), & got sued for $300K. I think it was settled for $30K. One photograph. Those morons infringed on me x2 (photo & video), so I guess I will be suing for $600k..maybe getting $60K. Another moron (wealthy famous guy, wife is a famous TV actress) stole 2 of my videos & wantonly posts web photos on forum posts. This guy is really gonna get it. I could actually buy a Roadster (& have extra left), by pursuing claims from this "collateral damage".

Putting photos on a website without a visual watermark gives some people (mistakenly), the impression that they can be used freely. I think this is what happened in this case. I just heard from someone, who claimed there is some thing floating around that says "any photo that's put on the web is free game". The whole Intellectual Property thing on digital media is in flux these days.

"develop it..PROTECT IT!"
-- S.H., unofficial legal counsel for my Jumplive.com multimedia project

Every company has a product, brand-name ("intellectual property") that needs to be protected.

"If you don't Control the Media..THE MEDIA WILL CONTROL YOU"
-- xx, as Champcar was failing (PR Dept totally dropped the ball)

This incident needs to be nipped-at-the-bud, otherwise other media will follow suit. There also needs to be an active media campaign (say with a viral medium like iTunes video-podcasting) to combat the "false claims of Tesla founders"
 
It is unclear to me based on Martin's description if that is the case or not. Is it possible that Martin's specific car has a defect?

As best as I can tell there are 3 possibilities:

1) Martin's Roadster has something wrong with it that others do not.
2) Drivetrain 1.0 has something wrong with it, but they have fixed it by now
3) There is a design defect that will plague all Roadsters.

3 (and to an extent 2) are things that should that have been caught earlier -- but I haven't heard anyone suggest on this site or Martin's that he may just have a broken part which needs replacing.

If it is true that this is a design fault which plagues all Roadsters, they should have caught it before now, and they had better jump on fixing it quickly. Seems like something that should be able to be patched in firmware...

I fly R/C airplanes, & the NiCad (or NiMh) batteries get really HOT after a flight. Is it possible that the batteries have issues with post-drive heat dissipation? Maybe the algorithm for cooling batteries is too agressive.

"Don't attribute to Conspiracy, which could be explained by Incompetence"
-- Napoleon

Maybe it was a software hack (intentional), as more spite against Martin. Prolonged late delivery, accident, etc.