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2021 MS 19” Tempest Delivery Tracking
- Thread starter Danlbrau
- Start date
Blue Stuff
Member
Comes with carpeted floor mats. Some have had them missing at delivery time though.
Thanks, I submitted a service request and requested all season tires. I'll report back to the group on what their response is when I bring my car to the SC in a couple of weeks.
SgtPepper67
Member
epotter
Member
Hey all,
So after a wait that we're (mostly) all familiar with, I picked up my S with 19" wheels on Friday. Before picking it up, based on photos I'd seen online, I was sort of waffling on hubcaps vs no hubcaps vs different wheels; the hubcaps looked OK in photos, and the wheels looked ... also OK, I guess, but not really great. I was thinking I'd probably just leave the hubcaps on.
Then I got the car and the hubcaps are very meh. Clearly big plastic hubcaps. Being dark really helps but in the end I felt like they look pretty cheap and kinda boring. But efficiency! presumably the whole point of them is aerodynamics and efficiency but how much of that is just academic? This is a job for science! (well Mythbusters-grade science, anyway)
So @cwanja and I set out on a wild Saturday night road trip to make two loops around Houston and find out. We took two full loops of Beltway 8, which makes a ~92 mile lap around what was once a ring containing most of the metro area:
... It's reasonably flat:
Charts and images are from Tessie, by the way (Tessie: Awesome software for your Tesla). The spike in elevation in the middle is the bridge over the Houston Ship Channel.
The idea was: start by going to a Supercharger, charging to 'full' (which I have set at 80%), do a run with hubcaps, then while re-Supercharging, remove the hubcaps, and do it again.
The first run started around 9pm, so traffic wasn't nonexistent but it was reasonable for most of the trip, and we were able to mostly just stick with Autopilot engaged at ~73mph:
Efficiency-wise, here's what we got:
So a solid baseline. While supercharging, we popped off the hubcaps and installed center caps (ROCCS Tesla Model 3 S X Set Airo Wheel Cap Kit) and lug nut covers (VOSAREA 21 in 1 Hexagonal Wheel Lug Nut Covers). The lug nut covers match the wheel color reasonably well; they're a tad lighter, and not 'metallic', but the shade is pretty close. The center caps are not quite the right shade, and also came with several minor blemishes; I'd recommend looking for different center caps but the lug nut covers were OK.
Then we did the same route again. Traffic was a bit lighter, so speed was a bit more consistent, but overall pretty good: the route time ended up being almost identical, down to the minute (1 hour, 22 minutes each lap):
You can see there's a bit less slowing down during this trip but overall it was very consistent. Energy usage was also remarkably similar:
What I gather from this is that the hubcaps make no useful contribution to efficiency at 'average' highway speeds. The second run took slightly more energy, a whopping increase of 2 Wh/mi, but with a single run in each configuration I'd say this is potentially just in the noise. If I was going to compete at Le Mans maybe I'd slap the hubcaps on but in real life, they're staying off, and if I'm taking a road trip they're probably also staying off: it might mean consuming a handful of additional Watts, but it won't mean additional stops to charge, or even noticeable extra time charging.
Anyway this wasn't a really surprising result, but it feels nice to say that we at least know what we're missing by taking them off.
So after a wait that we're (mostly) all familiar with, I picked up my S with 19" wheels on Friday. Before picking it up, based on photos I'd seen online, I was sort of waffling on hubcaps vs no hubcaps vs different wheels; the hubcaps looked OK in photos, and the wheels looked ... also OK, I guess, but not really great. I was thinking I'd probably just leave the hubcaps on.
Then I got the car and the hubcaps are very meh. Clearly big plastic hubcaps. Being dark really helps but in the end I felt like they look pretty cheap and kinda boring. But efficiency! presumably the whole point of them is aerodynamics and efficiency but how much of that is just academic? This is a job for science! (well Mythbusters-grade science, anyway)
So @cwanja and I set out on a wild Saturday night road trip to make two loops around Houston and find out. We took two full loops of Beltway 8, which makes a ~92 mile lap around what was once a ring containing most of the metro area:
... It's reasonably flat:
Charts and images are from Tessie, by the way (Tessie: Awesome software for your Tesla). The spike in elevation in the middle is the bridge over the Houston Ship Channel.
The idea was: start by going to a Supercharger, charging to 'full' (which I have set at 80%), do a run with hubcaps, then while re-Supercharging, remove the hubcaps, and do it again.
The first run started around 9pm, so traffic wasn't nonexistent but it was reasonable for most of the trip, and we were able to mostly just stick with Autopilot engaged at ~73mph:
Efficiency-wise, here's what we got:
So a solid baseline. While supercharging, we popped off the hubcaps and installed center caps (ROCCS Tesla Model 3 S X Set Airo Wheel Cap Kit) and lug nut covers (VOSAREA 21 in 1 Hexagonal Wheel Lug Nut Covers). The lug nut covers match the wheel color reasonably well; they're a tad lighter, and not 'metallic', but the shade is pretty close. The center caps are not quite the right shade, and also came with several minor blemishes; I'd recommend looking for different center caps but the lug nut covers were OK.
Then we did the same route again. Traffic was a bit lighter, so speed was a bit more consistent, but overall pretty good: the route time ended up being almost identical, down to the minute (1 hour, 22 minutes each lap):
You can see there's a bit less slowing down during this trip but overall it was very consistent. Energy usage was also remarkably similar:
What I gather from this is that the hubcaps make no useful contribution to efficiency at 'average' highway speeds. The second run took slightly more energy, a whopping increase of 2 Wh/mi, but with a single run in each configuration I'd say this is potentially just in the noise. If I was going to compete at Le Mans maybe I'd slap the hubcaps on but in real life, they're staying off, and if I'm taking a road trip they're probably also staying off: it might mean consuming a handful of additional Watts, but it won't mean additional stops to charge, or even noticeable extra time charging.
Anyway this wasn't a really surprising result, but it feels nice to say that we at least know what we're missing by taking them off.
Missile Toad
MSLR Wht/Blk/19 | OD 6/10/21 | RN11512
The first run probably operated with a slight additional advantage of (light) herd traffic, which provides very modest drafting effects... assuming that your second run was with even lighter traffic than the first.
Also, you might have run your AC a little stronger in the first run (Houston temps drop a couple degrees each hour at night). Nevertheless, I tend to agree with your hypothesis, that there is near negligible effects from the hubcaps.
One more thing. If you set the Supercharger in your navigation, your first run may have directed some of you battery to on-route warm-up... but I suspect that you did not use that navigation feature, as it would just distract from the full 360º loop.
epotter
Member
During the first run there was definitely more traffic; for most of the second run there were no nearby cars. That also meant a bit more slowing down/speeding up on the first run, where the second run was mostly just maintaining speed.
Temperature-wise, things were pretty close. First run:
Second run:
... so a couple of degrees cooler outside on the second run, which would give it a minor advantage I suppose. At a minimum, both runs were well after sunset so at least sunlight wasn't a factor.
Thanks for letting me tag along and really enjoyed the conversation!! Analysis is spot on - still wish Tesla would just offer a non-aero cap 19" wheel version. But there will be plenty of after-market options.
This is great information, thanks for doing a test run! You are probably correct, negligible effect at average highway speeds. I do a lot of trips thru central CA on I-5 where speeds can average 90-100mph thru the Central Valley. I’ll certainly do some tests with and without aero caps once I get my car to see if there is a noticeable difference. The whole “drag increases with the square of the speed” would indicate 90-100 has a hell of a lot more drag than 70mph. Question is whether the aero caps offer more efficiency at those speeds.
jebinc
Well-Known Member
Not really a logical conclusion, though. Tesla is all about making money. Why add cost and complexity (Aeros) if there is nothing to be gained?
I don’t know how much cost and complexity is involved in plastic aero caps. Also one test by a user in similar (but not exact) conditions isn’t exactly scientific proof they don’t help at average speeds. One would think Tesla’s reasoning is they found the aero caps delivered a better result for EPA range estimates so they went with them. Whether they help in real world driving is another question.
RobK
Member
How about the quality of ride and noise in the cabin? Have they enabled the noise cancellation system yet? Could you tilt the screen or is it still locked? What is your impression about the fit and finish of the new MS-LR? I am assuming that it is much superior to the first gen Model S cars.
epotter
Member
The ride quality is excellent, and the cabin noise is low. The suspension comfort was set to "auto" and there were several spots on the road where the car automatically raised the suspension level "to improve ride comfort." I guess it worked? I never saw a notice that it was re-lowering it but it was neat to see.
The software that my car came loaded with (2021.11.102) is not the latest, but it did not have noise cancellation enabled. Despite that, particularly on fresh asphalt, the car is pretty quiet. Around here, more roads are concrete than asphalt, and the road noise from concrete roads definitely makes it in a bit louder than asphalt, but that's not unusual and it still wasn't offensive.
Fit and finish are really excellent, and I haven't had any gripes about the delivery condition of the car (aside from it not being particularly clean). I'm going to make a more detailed post on this but the quality of the interior is far better than the 2018 MS, which is my only point of comparison here.
epotter
Member
This is exactly why I wanted to do this simple test. In my head - if there was not a useful gain in efficiency, or some other measure, I can't imagine why Tesla would have gone the hubcaps route. They do it on other models too! There must be something to it, right?
But an improvement that's reflected in EPA figures is not necessarily going to equate to an improvement that I see in everyday driving (there's a lot to be said about the EPA values but that's what the main thread is for). Once or twice a year I'll take an 800-1000 mile road trip with higher average speeds, but on most days I never get on a highway and my top speed probably doesn't pass 50MPH (
). If I do get on the highway, it's probably this particular one (though I don't usually do a Perimeter Pascual impression).So without question this is a fairly unscientific test. Even so - if I did this test and there was a 50 Wh/mile difference, I would have been really surprised but it would be easy to say "ah, that's why they do it." But given reasonably close conditions here, and the sort of driving I'm likely to do, this was good enough for me to say "whatever the reason for the hubcaps, it isn't convincing me to keep them on."
That said, on longer trips that I take, there are definitely portions of Texas with higher speed limits, and I'm interested in any additional data that @Danlbrau collects on I-5 because it'll be relevant to me 4-5 days/year, though even then I wonder about Tesla's rationale because I'm fairly certain that efficiency at 90MPH is not relevant to the EPA mileage figure.
RobK
Member
Thanks. Look forward to your updates. With future SW updates the car will get better with more functionalities.
Anyone else in my situation? Ordered MS LR on January 6 and EDD is end of November and Tesla never gives me a reason why others who ordered later are getting their cars? All of my information and loan were approved in days after ordering. Getting frustrated that exact car I ordered is being delivered at Devon but none are mine. Last call with Tesla told me to cancel and buy a different car if I could not wait….
RobK
Member
I talked to my SA today who informed me that she still sees my car being built in mid-October but the EDD on my account shows between September 17 to September 30 since August 13.
I wonder why the discrepancy between these two sources and more importantly who should I believe?
I wonder why the discrepancy between these two sources and more importantly who should I believe?
My SA has been saying to me to ignore my EDD of November and expect it in September. Would rather be in your situation!I talked to my SA today who informed me that she still sees my car being built in mid-October but the EDD on my account shows between September 17 to September 30 since August 13.
I wonder why the discrepancy between these two sources and more importantly who should I believe?
RobK
Member
It can be so frustrating. Wish Tesla would be more transparent. IMHO the SAs are not a big help. Perhaps they are not told much either from corporate.
burnside
Member
Really? That was their response? If so, I hope they know that one day their unique brand will not be so unique and responses like this will be remembered.
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