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Well, except they say the Model 3 will have 215 miles of range, like that was the final EPA number (hint: the EPA number hasn't been released) The reveal event said that was the minimum they were shooting for, not the final EPA result (no mention of that, so 2nd error).

247 Rated Miles, 69.1kWh, 294Wh/mile according to EVTripplanner.

Yes, it follows the same route. I put the same route into EVTripPlanner by dragging the route it to the same roads figured out from the LA Times Article. If you take the default/direct 101 route it predicts considerably higher energy usage.

EVTripplanner says it would take 205 Rated Miles @ 244Wh/mile to do the route in a 60 with 19inch wheels (all default settings). 57.4 kWh needed. Those numbers are very similar to the numbers nearly all the Bolt press drivers got.

That is true. Their numbers are impressive. Which is a good thing. And probably why this bugs me. They already did it, they got great EPA numbers, no need for a below EPA test speed route to make it look extra super efficient. The Bolt already is impressively efficient. Guess it just irks me...

The more I look at the route they took, the more I am convinced they did everything they could to stay off a normal, 65 mph freeway. 101 flow of traffic is usually 70+ They only hopped on to 101 when it was necessary to transfer to different small highways. Some of these back roads are the type...

Yup, fits with Green Car Reports as well. They said their trip took 6hrs, so factor in lunch and that fits perfectly.

That link shows 101 the whole way. Here is their route, as I constructed from the LA Times first drive article. Monterey to Cambria: On the Pacific Coast Highway 1, Lunch at Cambria Cambria to San Luis Obispo: 1 San Luis Obispo to Pismo Beach: 101 (Maybe 10-14 miles if I remember correctly)...

I was kind of hoping to see Tesla or Elon tweet something to the effect of: "Welcome to the rEVolution @chevrolet! Who's next @nissanusa @bmwusa @mbusa ?"

Since today is the Chevy Bolt EPA range reveal day, I thought I'd point out how generous Tesla is throwing in 2 rear USB ports for free. For the Chevy Bolt two rear USB ports are part of the optional Infotainment Package (only available with the Premier Trim, no go with the base LT Trim) :D

It can probably see stop signs (they aren't that different from speed limit signs), but the consequences of missing a stop sign are much higher. I think they made a decision to avoid that trouble by not trying to stop at stop signs. Perhaps they could just include a Stop Sign icon on the dash...

The EPA tests are biased to low speed driving, not much real world highway type stuff. So the route kinda mirrors the EPA test. Still 238 EPA rating is pretty great, and that is certainly worth a lot. The first 200+ mile range EV from a company other than Tesla is a big deal, and a worthy...

Fair enough. I didn't say they were going to make any money on them ;). Either way, it should steal most new Leaf sales, and other 80-100 mile new EV sales, as those vehicles are similar price. Plus it will probably get lots of Prius buyers in CA, just for carpool stickers alone. The Volt is...

From that article: "Our six-hour drive route took us 235 miles from Monterey, California, south to Santa Barbara, largely along the scenic coastal Route 1." (EDIT: Route 1 or PCH is a 55mph road, but large sections are closer to 30-35mph) 240 miles/6hrs = 40mph. Now they did jump on to 101 for...

I predict Chevy will sell every Bolt they can make. Lots of cars around that price range have weak 4 cylinder engines and terrible auto transmissions. Electric motor + reduction gear paired with a large battery will be such a huge upgrade in performance and refinement/NVH it isn't even funny...

Green Car Reports first drive report said they used 58.7 kWh on their drive, so pretty close to 60kWh usable. Breakdown on the screen was 99% Driving, 1% Climate, 0% Battery Conditioning EDIT: "Our six-hour drive route took us 235 miles from Monterey, California, south to Santa Barbara, largely...

From the first drive reports it's looking like usable battery capacity is close to or equal to 60kWh. The first drive reports are from Monterey CA to Santa Barbara CA, about 240 miles. I'd love to see their actual route, to get a better figure on average speed. Sounds like they took the Pacific...

Under the price, there is a window that shows how close of a match inventory cars are to your configuration. How long has this part of the website been up? I haven't seen it discussed. (Sorry if I missed it - Mods feel free to merge thread, if I made a duplicate)

238 miles on 60kWh is pretty nice. That averages out to ~250Wh/mile, if the full 60kWh is available. Wonder what the total usable capacity is. Looking like this car will do well for Chevy. Hopefully they figure out how to sell it. They still seem pretty clueless about selling the Volt.

That energy usage is crazy high, especially for such low speed. AC uses very little power. A mile should take around 300Wh. At 60mph I can usually get 250-270 Wh/mile. At 1.3kWh/mile you are over 4x normal consumption.

The investigation letter from NHTSA included a bunch of demands for information relating to autopilot, including that Tesla had to communicate any planned changes to the autopilot software with them.

Solar City's installation costs are dramatically higher than the local installation costs in Germany and Australia, so they wouldn't be able to compete. Unless the merger with Tesla cuts costs in a huge way, they won't have any presence in markets with low installation costs.

Maybe it is just my imagination, but in my car the accelerator pedal gets stiffer/heavier/harder to press at very low state of charge. I always thought the increased effort was a nice, subtle way to influence more efficient driving at low charge situations. Could probably be used to provide some...

NDEW is always a source of endless Tesla moments, and is always a blast. Highly recommended showing your car or giving test rides. The EV community is one of the main reasons EVs are finally starting to take over, so have some fun and participate. I like to park my S near the entrance and open...

Ideal amperage depends on state of charge, and battery temp, and type of battery (larger batteries charge faster). Fastest portion is very low SoC and warm (not hot/frozen) battery. I've seen 300+ amps on a nearly empty battery. Amperage will reduce as SoC increases.

The customer service person will usually flag them as needing service. If you can call in it is certainly worth doing. I've called in damaged connectors and they usually send out a tech to replace them within a few days.

Google has been doing this for years as well on their test vehicles. Still a nice upgrade for owners of autopilot cars. From the transcripts of the call it sounds like the location and radar signature are white-listed. So if there was something else at the same location, it wouldn't have the...

Isn't the audible alert the 2nd stage of the alerts? The first is visual only (which will be enhanced with greater visibility), then the next escalation is the audible, as I understand it. So it shouldn't be problem I don't think, unless you always miss the 1st alert for it's entire duration.

They look like the connection points for the heating element that goes across the camera. At least they connect to both ends of that heating element.

The engineering is impressive. Most of their design choices, however, lead to a sub-par vehicle. See weird doors, low range, under-powered REX, weird styling, etc.

I suspect the person doing the scheduling doesn't realize this is a potentially serious issue, hence the Oct appointment. They will see you same day/walk-in for serious stuff. Just show up and ask for someone to check it out.

I suspect BMW is very proud of the i3. In many ways (mostly related to construction techniques) it is probably the most advanced car out there. Too bad brilliant engineering of all the constituent components doesn't guarantee an excellent end product.

You could also compare it to the two mechanical release buttons that fold down the Model S 60/40 seats. The buttons are large, and extremely easy to press. (I usually notice the levers and pulleys of rental cars are a pain compared to the nice large buttons of the Model S). Even with the...

Pull over for your safety message usually means a serious problem. Only reports I remember seeing of that message are before a fire (like the intial highway debris fires, before the underbody armor addition.) Get it checked out ASAP. The car/supercharger closely monitor the connection and will...

Lots of cars (particularly nicer ones) have paddle shifters. They've been around for years. Perfectly common term. Especially for people who enjoy cars.

Correct. Original UI displayed this useful info. It was removed when they revamped the UI.

The "Apple or Samsung? Shampoo or Conditioner? N. Korean election" in the ticker is a nice touch.

So he saw the unfinished Model 3 reveal interior and UI and decided he didn't want that? Or has Woz somehow seen the final interior and UI?

If Tesla puts the charge ports on both sides of new cars, it will create situations where it is possible for someone at a Supercharger to charge in such a way to block another space while they charge (I guess it would only block cars with a single charge port, but still a bad idea). The...

I like the "no-strip" as well. No need for busy chrome pieces. At least a few cars these days seem to be removing that design element. Look at the Audi A4,5,6, Q5, etc. No strip. Plus it's one less part that needs to be installed (lower cost), one less thing to leak/get misaligned, etc.

8.0 is coming regardless of the blog. So all the blog gets us is some details shortly before the actual software is released. Nice to have, but not worth getting upset over.

Years ago you could hold down a button on the fob to roll windows down. It was really nice. Then some people complained about it accidentally rolling down the windows and Tesla removed that feature. They should have made it double-click and hold the 2nd click, that would have prevented false...

National Drive Electric Week is always a lot of fun. I've shown my S the last two years, and always have a blast. This is the first year I'll be giving test rides. That should be exciting. Hope to see some other S and X owners (the wings will attract even larger crowds that the frunk does!)

National Drive Electric Week starts on Sept 10th. There are hundreds of events across the country where you can volunteer to show off your car. Hope to see some Model X owners showing off their wings. I've shown my S every year for a few years now, and even the S attracts a crowd once the frunk...

Standing next to the 3, the only obvious difference to my eye was that it was considerably smaller. Narrower and shorter. The S quite a large car. The 3 didn't strike me as being large, even if overall dimensions are ~90% of S (93% LxWxH = ~80% volume) Don't think it will be problem to...

Vaguely reminiscent of a GS (I think it was GS) report a few years ago (2013) that caused a rapid crash (followed by a next day recovery) where nearly every article reported a downgrade when the actual report was an upgrade (cannot quite remember exactly what happened, but 80% of articles were...

Sterling Anderson (Director of Autopilot, @sterling_a on Twitter) could probably help write the blog post (Unless the NHTSA investigation prohibits him from talking about that stuff). Elon seems pretty set on doing it himself, however.

They call Tesla dealers to get an idea about Tesla sales? You realize Tesla doesn't have dealers right? Heavily manipulated? Every quarter they report how many cars they delivered (as in how many cars customers received and paid for) and how many cars they made. Pretty straight forward. Tesla...

I wonder if Tesla would consider different types of supercharger access plans: perhaps include personal use like done now, but for commercial use charging is billed.

Off topic (kinda): NHTSA should require all trucks to have rear bumpers. Many semi trucks and trailers (legally) don't have bumpers/rear impact guards (like in this unfortunate event). Really dangerous for cars to be able to get under the trailer in the event of a collision. Impact goes about...