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Autobahn Driving

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Hi from the other side of the pond
A few of us who enjoy more than driving to the local Starbucks or trying to impress our mates like to push the Model S on the track and we all have the same issue with the limiter kicking in after a few miles.

There was an article published back in 2013 when Elon was in Germany, he hinted that there was going to be a software upgrade for the German market.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news...er-autobahn-tuning-for-top-speed-over-130-mph

We were hoping this statement may also address the limiter issue
As this was back in 2013 did anyone hear any more regarding this announcement is any owners in Germany perusing this?

Thanks
 
Nothing happened since then, but my Model S drives just fine on the Autobahn. I go to Germany a couple of times a year and speeds of 160km/h are no real problem.

Honestly? The Autobahn isn't the motoring heaven anymore. It's crowded and the speeds seem to be significantly lower then they used to be before.

Might be that fuel is becoming expensive or a change of thoughts? But when driving 140km/h you still overtake the majority of the people driving there.
 
Hi from the other side of the pond
A few of us who enjoy more than driving to the local Starbucks or trying to impress our mates like to push the Model S on the track and we all have the same issue with the limiter kicking in after a few miles.

There was an article published back in 2013 when Elon was in Germany, he hinted that there was going to be a software upgrade for the German market.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news...er-autobahn-tuning-for-top-speed-over-130-mph

We were hoping this statement may also address the limiter issue
As this was back in 2013 did anyone hear any more regarding this announcement is any owners in Germany perusing this?

Thanks

I guess the upgrade is not only a software but a hardware upgrade in the form of the S/P85D, which is made available to the whole world rather than the German market only :wink:. Those will do 250km/h, similar to most high end German brand cars. I wonder for how long it will be able to stay at that speed though :)

My experience in Germany is the same as Widodh, although at night when there is less traffic you will find more people at higher speed. Problem is also that there is a lot of road construction going on, so often the stretches where you can fully push your car are short.
Anyway, the whole point of speeding for time saving is moot with a Tesla, as you'll have to charge longer as well. The ideal speed for time savings is about 130km/h when you have 250 - 300km between superchargers, to around 160km/h if you have about 150-200km/h between chargers. As a result, the 210-ish km/h top speed is not really a limitation (except when you just accelerated past that ICE, only to have him overpass you later when your limiter kicks in). This speed bracket also turns out to be the speed that most germans drive on the autobahn when there are no speed limits posted.
I guess most Germans feel the high gas/diesel prices as well and avoid speeding to save gas, and it's also less tiring to drive at lower speed (and I guess when you are allowed to drive as fast as you want every day, it's just not so much fun anymore).

All in all, the model S as it is right now is perfectly fine for the German autobahn. I own an S, not a P, and looking at it as a sporty family car, it is more than capable enough for Germany, I don't need anything better than that. If you want to compare it to an M5, AMG or Maserati or other high powered ICE for long fast drives cross country (assuming no road construction and traffic), then yeah thats a different story... A larger capacity battery would probably be necessary that doesn't heat up so much.
 
My experience in Germany is the same as Widodh, although at night when there is less traffic you will find more people at higher speed. Problem is also that there is a lot of road construction going on, so often the stretches where you can fully push your car are short.

I suppose that you are mostly driving in North-Rhine-Westphalia, as you are from the Netherlands? The autobahns are very congested and restricted there. Go e.g. to Bavaria and you will still see long unrestricted stretches of autobahn.
 
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I tried the German Autobahn two days ago, in a rented Model S (straight 85). Compared to Hong Kong where highest speed limit is 110 km/h on selected roads, I was really impressed with the Model S performance.

I tried a whole string of superchargers as well as some other charging, will write a more detailed post about it in another thread at some later stage - but in short, the power and torque of the Model S is awesome on the Autobahn, I was really impressed - and some Audis and BMWs got a bit ashamed. Imagine, a large BWM up your tail, while you are passing - and cannot pass any faster because someone is in front of you passing slowly yet he is being pushy by being very close - then when the traffic in front pulls in, and you floor it, the poor ICE "performance" car behind you is just hundreds of yards behind you, as you go from 130 to 200 km/h before their engine is even done revving up to speed :rolleyes:

Of course, that game ends for the current Model S as the speeds go above 200 km/h