Tesla Model S

[ZetaVI]

Intriguing. I've seen more than a dozen Teslas in the past few weeks. I know they have a store in a local high end mall but I didn't expect so many to afford them.

[robwbright]

http://www.theatlanticcities.com/tec...tomorrow/8978/

"It's 209 miles from the parking lot of a Chili's in Barstow, California, where we are, to the parking lot of a Carl's Jr. in Kingman, Arizona, where we need to go. I'm in a rented Tesla Model S, a sleek, battery-powered electric vehicle, with a travel companion. We're just about fully charged, and the car estimates it can travel 247 miles before we need more juice. That's a buffer of 38 miles, which should be more than enough to reach Kingman. We'll soon realize it isn't...

[After trying and trying to get a tow and ending up in a hotel miles from the car]

Four hours later we're awake again, on the phone to AAA. They can't find anyone who's willing to take on the liability of towing a fancy car. After hours of calls back and forth, they say they've finally found a truck willing to jump and tow us. We convince a local cabbie to drop us off on the side of the interstate where we left the car 8 hours earlier, but our hero truck never comes. I call AAA after an hour, and they promptly hang us out to dry, saying, essentially, "Sorry, we aren't willing to take on the liability of helping you." We have entered an episode of The Twilight Zone written by Franz Kafka."

[stugray]

You should have called whoever you rented it from....

[suaveflooder]

Damn! That sucks!

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by stugray

You should have called whoever you rented it from....

Hey now, let's not be reasonable here. The writer clearly has an opportunity to slander Tesla and AAA instead of admitting that he's an idiot.

[sklimo]

[Kimsey47]

Did anyone who commented read the article? lol

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by The Article

I'd been driving as I normally would, not realizing that higher speeds and the rising elevation would drain the battery faster — that "estimated" range really is just an estimate.

The guy's an idiot. "What do you mean driving fast and constantly uphill will drain the battery faster?! Why didn't the car estimate the mileage based on where I would be going and how I would be driving?? Why didn't anyone tell me that they really meant 'estimated' when they said 'estimated'??"

He's basing "The Road Trip of Tomorrow" on one experience where he didn't even understand the concepts of what he was doing. "There aren't enough recharging points!" Of course not, it's a brand new technology that hasn't been widely adopted yet. And if he's testing out the car on a long range trip that is "unthinkable in a car powered only by a battery," why did he not have a backup plan in case his test failed?

Sorry. Grade A dumbass.

There's a reason Jeremy Clarkson was able to go 800 miles on a single tank of gas in an Audi A8 TDI. Because he knew what kind of economical driving style would be required the entire time. He wasn't just cruising along obliviously.

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by The Article

I'd been driving as I normally would, not realizing that higher speeds and the rising elevation would drain the battery faster — that "estimated" range really is just an estimate. In any effort to save battery life, we turn off the stereo and dim the huge touch screen control panel. I figure out the cruise control and drop it down to 63.

If he'd read any of Tesla's ADVERTISING literature, it clearly states that the advertised range is done at 55 mph. Any idiot can figure out that as you go faster in these transmission-less cars, you'll drain the battery faster than at lower speeds. Just like your car drinks gasoline faster at higher revs (well, higher intake loading, which is part of what equates to rpms). Thing is, a gas car has a transmission to drop the revs but keep the speed.

This driver got stranded by failing to think.

However, AAA really was a douche about the whole thing.

Originally Posted by The Article

Eventually Hertz and Tesla manage to get somebody out to save us. The tow truck driver, assisted by Tesla's roadside service guy on the line, figures out how to jump the car and give it enough juice to turn on and robo-shift into neutral. Fifteen minutes later it's on the back of the truck on its way to the parking lot of a Carl's Jr. Tesla generously picks up the $165 tow charge, and by the time our driver drops us at the Supercharger station, his company has become the go-to tow service for any other Tesla in need of roadside assistance in the Kingman area.

^^ Now THIS is customer service from Hertz and Tesla. AAA failed flat out, but these two companies seem to actually go the extra mile to get this brainless wonder who doesn't even examine all that Tesla has immediately available on their website (I learned much of what I know about Tesla from spending an hour on their website and an hour talking to a Tesla rep in person after a Model S test drive) back on the road. Bravo for them!

Also, that tow driver basically made his company look VERY good and probably will garner good business from anyone driving an EV in that area who needs help.

The Model S really isn't the car for me, but as a company I really REALLY like Tesla. These guys are legit and their entire outlook is one I like and heartily approve of.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

The guy's an idiot. "What do you mean driving fast and constantly uphill will drain the battery faster?! Why didn't the car estimate the mileage based on where I would be going and how I would be driving?? Why didn't anyone tell me that they really meant 'estimated' when they said 'estimated'??"

He's basing "The Road Trip of Tomorrow" on one experience where he didn't even understand the concepts of what he was doing. "There aren't enough recharging points!" Of course not, it's a brand new technology that hasn't been widely adopted yet. And if he's testing out the car on a long range trip that is "unthinkable in a car powered only by a battery," why did he not have a backup plan in case his test failed?

while i agree with you, i think the situation makes a great point.. a good road trip doesn't currently involve number crunching and saving fuel for later.. you just drive, and there's gas stations everywhere, so it's not a problem.. but with ev's, charging stations aren't as prevalent, so everything about the road trip needs to be economical..

[argonaddict]

Im not sure why the author could'nt wrap his/her brain around the concept that a tougher load will consume more energy. Gas or electric. The car range estimate also constantly adjusts so he/she could actualy watch the range drop quickly.

Tesla has a nation wide charging station network,with more stations opening up weekly. The car can be charged at home,public charging stations,hotels etc. it's not a big deal.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

Any idiot can figure out that as you go faster in these transmission-less cars, you'll drain the battery faster than at lower speeds. Just like your car drinks gasoline faster at higher revs (well, higher intake loading, which is part of what equates to rpms).

I think you might be a little off here. Fuel consumption is much more a function of load than engine speed, an electric or petroleum motor will use far less fuel bouncing off the redline in neutral than cruising at 2,000 rpm in any gear. When considering freeway speeds the aerodynamic load increases exponentially with speed.

There's a big difference between 55 mph and 70 mph, driving through the central valley I wouldn't be surprised if he was cruising at 75+ without thinking twice before he started to panic.

I guess I mean to say, the transmission isn't the problem here, an electric motor will use relatively the same amount of energy at high or low rpm, unlike a combustion engine. A change in gearing would only reduce friction losses (consequently a minor reduction in NVH).

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

I think you might be a little off here. Fuel consumption is much more a function of load than engine speed, an electric or petroleum motor will use far less fuel bouncing off the redline in neutral than cruising at 2,000 rpm in any gear. When considering freeway speeds the aerodynamic load increases exponentially with speed.

This is true, but as your post demonstrates, to get into even more than a very basic, not-really-thorough side note, would require going down a rabbit trail and I didn't want to get myself too diverted from the main point of the topic.

Though this could demonstrate that fuel economy in an internal combustion engine has more variables than there are in the basic energy economy of an electric motor. Which still means that idiot should have known better.

Hell, he didn't even have to know about it, but just read Tesla's readily available literature, not even delve into their enthusiast forums.

[robwbright]

"It handles like a Ferrari that got porked by a Luck Dragon."

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s