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vfx

Well-Known Member
Aug 18, 2006
14,790
52
CA CA
A place for fun and exciting Roadster ownership tales beyond the driving experience. Talk about reactions to the car, racing, and amusing stories that may be specific to Evs. ...And close calls.
 
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From Maison Fluery's Blog "Tesla #215 First Impressions"
...So my father in law is here and we want to take the car for a drive. I have been driving it for a while but the car won't start now. I keep turning the "on key" but no noise comes on and we both think "damn, the car is dead".

We call road-side assistance, it is good to know that someone picks up the phone and offer to drive me to the shop. He thinks I live in Silicon Valley. I say I am in ATL he says "hah that would be difficult". I wait with some muzak. I finally realize 'wait, I have no engine, the car is not supposed to make any noise'. Tommy and I go back to car, I press the peddle the car takes off. I feel like a redneck. ...
 
He also says:

Some people trail the car on the highway to take pictures, some make V signs. I am not used to that but could get used to it really quick.

I wondered if that was
gallchurchill.jpg
or
gallgallagher-toe.jpg
:smile:
 
Yes, I recall that quote from the early days too.

The other thing that seems to persist is that "ICE car sound effects" through the speakers concept. I heard multiple people from TM talk about that idea from day one, but then others kept bringing it up year after year as if it was a brand new idea.

Not just Tesla, many other brands.

Here are a few random examples:
Fisker Karma Electric Car To Blast Out Fake Engine Sounds (Verdict: WHY?) - Gizmodo Australia
Worst. Accessory. Ever. Play V8 engine noise through your car stereo
drive blog: Should an electric car have an artificial soundtrack?
What Will the Chevy Volt Sound Like? | GM-VOLT : Chevy Volt Electric Car Site
Lotus fits speakers to electric cars to put the 'vroom' back into silent engines | Mail Online

I think it is one of the EV initiation rituals to get a big thrill out of the concept, and then later realize it is rather silly.
 
Today is a gorgeous day in the Seattle area -- finally!! -- so I took the hardtop off for a trip to Auburn. 90 miles of sunny highway driving in the new Roadster! Range numbers aren't too good doing 70 mph on the highway. Started with 188 mi ideal range and ended with 63. So 125 "ideal" miles to get 90 actual. Came back the long way to do Paradise Lake Rd and take some other nice curves in the area.

The highlights of the trip were all the people on the highway cruising past and slowing down to get a better look. One passenger in a passing car was taking pictures. Some guy in a "riced-up" Nissan sedan came rumbling past making a lot of noise, then slowed and hovered around awhile before taking his exit. It is satisfying to cruise around not feeling inferior to anything that rolls by. Maybe if a Koenigsegg CCGT happened to whoosh past, I'd be a bit envious. (But I'd still have the moral high ground!)

When I got home I took advantage of the sun to take some more glamour shots: (the Radiant Red looks way better in the sun!)
Forestmoon Gallery
 
Hi Scott, welcome to the site. Thanks for sharing the pictures and please keep the stories coming.

Also, please let us know how it goes with that front plate mount - particularly if there are any cooling issues with that location, which has previously been mentioned as a concern.
 
So Scott I am a little bit confused by your post. Are you saying that your guage read 188 miles when you left on your trip and 63 miles when you finished it but you only went 90 miles ? That would be more than 35 miles lost per hundred. Am I reading that correctly ?
 
extrapolating those numbers into my scenario of needing to drive 170 miles on the highway and knowing that I usually drive about the same speed - 70 mph.

I get the following calculations:

125 (guage range) x 170 (desired range) / 90 (actual range) = 236 (necessary guage range for the trip) Meaning that a 230 mile pack would be just shy of what I need to make the trip in the Model S and would have to go for the 300 mile pack.
 
Kevin, I don't think there are any big surprises here - it's been noted before that the real world range is less than the EPA range. Scott's experience tallies well with both the real world / actual ratio that Martin posted on his blog from the first trip he made after taking delivery last year and the range graphs that JB posted on the Tesla Motors site back before Christmas.

Until we see some test data, it's difficult to say if the Model S will have the same performance relative to the EPA figures that the Roadster has, but I think it's safe to say that your case is going to be borderline.
 
Dave,

I can not say that I am SURPRISED by these numbers. But they are a little more drastic than I had in my head. I think I was thinking it would be closer to half of these numbers. I just never carried through on the math until now. I think this will push a lot more people to the 300 mile pack. I think that pushing a 230 mile pack to do 236 miles is not a good idea :rolleyes: this makes the choice for me between 230 and 300 miles an easy one but not the one I wanted to make....
 
I think tesla should publish expected highway miles. Anyone that is pushing the distance envelope should be acutely aware from the beginning that highway miles are GREATLY reduced from the EPA range. Ie. if you have the 160 mile pack do not expect more than 100 miles on the highway. 230 mile pack do not expect more than 145 miles and 300 pack do not expect more than 189 miles. This will keep the customers well imformed enough to continue to be happy with the car. And everyone's expectations will be low so that customer satisfaction will be high.
 
I think tesla should publish expected highway miles. Anyone that is pushing the distance envelope should be acutely aware from the beginning that highway miles are GREATLY reduced from the EPA range. Ie. if you have the 160 mile pack do not expect more than 100 miles on the highway. 230 mile pack do not expect more than 145 miles and 300 pack do not expect more than 189 miles. This will keep the customers well imformed enough to continue to be happy with the car. And everyone's expectations will be low so that customer satisfaction will be high.

Agreed, I think one could use the EPA test concept to determine a highway range and a city range. You'd want classic start/stop city conditions. I'd like to see numbers for a relatively flat 65mph highway trip as well.