My experience with the Tesla Model 3

Stg2Suby

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turbo392

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I don't think stability control has improved much in the last 15 years. I mean even my 11 year old Subaru would have the same results with my foot to the floor and steering with one finger while I'm sipping a coffee. The only difference is I would need to move the car back to its lane afterwards.
 

Stg2Suby

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Meh whatever. Watched it several times and looks to me like autopilot screwed up when it hit the slush and steered hard right. Twice it steers right actually.
 

Cyle

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Meh whatever. Watched it several times and looks to me like autopilot screwed up when it hit the slush and steered hard right. Twice it steers right actually.

Agreed. Or they did it on purpose to try and make it look like autopilot saved the day. If the vehicle was cruising along in a straight line it never would have suddenly went sideways that badly.
 

Cyle

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I find it hard to take seriously when they lack basic math skills. It is impossible to tow 35k safely when it has a payload of only 5000lbs.

Show me a test of where it was has towed 35k for 100,000km+ without any mechanical failure, accidents, etc with a decent range and then it might be decent. Even with the so-called 500 miles empty range, pulling that kind of weight it would cut it down to 1/3 or even 1/4. 150ish mile range is a waste of time.

I really hope the cameras for mirrors is simply concept only (doubt it), the idea of vehicles not having mirrors is so stupid it's not even funny. And will cause so many lawsuits when they malfunction and cause accidents.
 

ABMax24

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I think that electric truck might have better range towing than many people think. When towing in a hilly area with a gas or diesel you pull hard up a hill. On the way down you either downshift, use the exhaust brake, or conventional brakes to slow down wasting the energy used to get up the hill. An electric would use the motors to capture that energy and put it back in the battery. I think it would be really cool to see a real world test of this.
 

5Lgreenback

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I find it hard to take seriously when they lack basic math skills. It is impossible to tow 35k safely when it has a payload of only 5000lbs.

Show me a test of where it was has towed 35k for 100,000km+ without any mechanical failure, accidents, etc with a decent range and then it might be decent. Even with the so-called 500 miles empty range, pulling that kind of weight it would cut it down to 1/3 or even 1/4. 150ish mile range is a waste of time.

I really hope the cameras for mirrors is simply concept only (doubt it), the idea of vehicles not having mirrors is so stupid it's not even funny. And will cause so many lawsuits when they malfunction and cause accidents.

They are playing the same games with payload/ towing ratings that all the current truck manufactures are doing and having been doing for ages.
 

jhurkot

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So is this a pretty typical month for you? About 4 to 5K?

Not usually this much, a couple long trips racked it up fast.

As far as cold weather goes the rated 500km range is more like 350km. There are a few things that will absolutely kill you in the winter.

1. Driving fast, cold air is denser and takes more energy to cut through.
2. Starting with a deep freeze battery. You can get around this by setting your charge time to start at say 2am so that your battery is warmed from charging right before you leave. A heated garage is really nice. You won't have max power output or regenerative braking with a frozen battery and don't bother trying to supercharge with a cold battery it will be severely throttled (only 20kw compared to 120kw).
3. Heat settings. Max defrost will use 6kw of energy. It will defrost your windshield in 5 minutes easily but I only use it to get the ice off first thing. Then run the cabin heater as low as I can with the heated seat cranked. The seat uses 250watts so this is the most efficient.

The navigation is getting better at taking into account temperature on your trip (not just the temp when you start but the temp at various stages in your trip). My daily commute is about 90km and I am using typically 18kWh of energy (45km each way, sits outside at night but inside a heated garage during the day while it charges). On a planned road trip starting with a warm battery I think I could get 400km. For reference sake the chevy volt would use 13kwh one way (45km) and 1 litre of gasoline in these kinds of temperatures.

Went away for a week and let the car sit at calgary airport for 8 days in -5 to -10. The battery was at 87% when I left and 72% when I returned. Lost slightly less than 2% per day sitting idle.
 
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adamg

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This raises a question, do the Teslas all have conventional brakes in addition to the first line regenerative brakes?
 

jhurkot

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This raises a question, do the Teslas all have conventional brakes in addition to the first line regenerative brakes?

Yeah it’s got normal brakes. As the battery warms you get it back in increments (0,33%,66%,100%). It takes a while to get back to 100% when the battery gets cold soaked over night.
 

JMCX

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I was down to Phoenix recently and Teslas were everywhere. I wonder if the AC taxes the system as much as heating?
 

jhurkot

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The A/C uses similar energy to the heater but the battery is going to be a lot warmer in the summer. The best EV mileage I've ever seen is in that 18-22 degree range where you don't need the A/C cranked and have optimal battery temperature. The range calculator on the tesla.com website shows that at similar speeds the heater uses more than the A/C.

My mom and dad are in Arizona right now so I can ask them about it. There is something called cabin overheat protection that will automatically start the AC if it gets too warm. You can also leave the A/C running while the car is parked if you want.
 
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