I’m thrilled with my Tesla after 6 months of ownership. I was an optimistic purchaser and it has largely delivered. I’ve learned a lot and liked a lot. Here are a few areas that have been meaningful to me.
For those of you that have read my previous posts you know that I was determined to purchase a Hybrid Camry XSE. I discovered that I could purchase a Tesla Model Y (during one of Elon’s “sales”) for less money than a Camry XSE. So I made a spontaneous jump and went with the Model Y. I am not convinced, in the end, that it will have saved me any money, but it will be close.
It’s not a completely fair comparison, but it is the two cars I was choosing between. So far the Tesla is $181 a month more expensive than the Camry would have been. Payment, “fuel”, maintenance, insurance, etc. But I plan to drive this car for 10 years and/or 300,000 miles. I still think that over the lifetime of the Tesla I’m going to come out a little ahead… and the Tesla is significantly more fun.
Anyway, onto the items I want to address this time:
After almost 25,000 miles I still have 7mm left on my tires. I feel they have worn evenly. I wish I knew how many mm they had to begin with. I’d be thrilled to get over 40k on these tires. Others have had experiences that suggest I won’t, but I’m hopeful. I don’t excellerate hard, unless I’m showing off, and I am doing mostly freeway driving.
I had a nail puncture while on a 2k mile trip. I had a tire puncture kit and air pump with me, but should have finished by including a travel jack that fits under the car. You need one for a low profile car. I also recommend a 3 ton jack. I started with a 2 ton jack and watched the car crush it. You’ll be happier if you are prepared for a flat.
Superchargers:
I must say that I have been very happy with the supercharger network. I live in the midwest and in a non-friendly EV state. What this means practically is that my superchargers are usually 75% available. So I never have any issue when needing a supercharger.
I also have come to realize (this is a no brainer to those veterans of EV’s) there is a HUGE difference between the 150 vs 250 chargers. I pretty much always skip the 150’s in favor of the much faster 250’s.
Lastly, when it comes to saving. If I’m on a 300+ mile trip and charge and home and then supplement with a supercharger it costs about the same as it would have if I was in the Camry Hybrid.
Battery Strategy:
I always charge my battery to 50% as soon as I pull in the garage. Then I set it to be ready to go the next morning at whatever percentage I need. This strategy seems to have worked well. After 25k miles I still have a rated range around 320 miles. It takes about 2 minutes every evening to figure out where I am going the next day and how much battery I will need.
I have charged to 100% about 5-7 times per month, but it reaches 100% minutes before I leaven and I drive it down to between 10-50% immediately. So my car spends the overwhelming majority of its life at 50% battery.
I learned this strategy from someone on this forum. I would give credit if I could remember who it was from. But for me, it seems to work well.
My father in law also has a model y, 1 year older than mine. Also 25k miles. He keeps it charged at 80% all of the time. His rated range is down to 301. I don’t know much about batteries, but anecdotally the strategy I’m using seems to be significantly better than his strategy. But there may be other factors I am uninformed about.
Cold Weather:
This is a big one for me, but bottom line, I’m ok with the hit that I am taking in cold weather. And it is a big one. I haven’t even really hit winter in Wisconsin yet, but the effects I am seeing in the last few weeks are significant.
My takeaway is that if you are someone that travels less than 180 miles round trip in a day you can do anything you want year around and even though weather will use more energy you’ll be fine.
However, if you drive long distances like me, winter weather will require a few more charges each month to 100% and a few more supercharger stops. But I’m ok with the trade off. The car is that impressive to me.
Even though as the temperatures drop the battery life is more impacted, I would say it is minimal above 32 degrees. This is my opinion from experience over the last few weeks.
Now, when the temperature goes below 32 degrees, that’s when the fun begins. Here is the math on my range. Others may be able to double check if my concepts are correct.
Scenario 1: Between June and October 31 my car showed lifetime of 262 kWh.
My driving habits didn’t change, but the weather did. In November and December here are a few examples of cold weather trips.
Scenario 2: 337 Miles in 28 degrees. I used 120 kWh (about 1.5 battery) and averaged 355 kWh.
Scenario 3: 150+ miles in 30 degrees. I was getting 309 kWh.
Scenario 4: 250+ miles in 25 degrees with a 16 mph headwind. I was getting 415 kWh. (But my car sat outside for 2 hours and the batter never warmed up to the same operating condition as if it had been in my garage.
Scenario 5: 200+ miles at 15 degrees, but with a warm battery from pre heating and sitting in my garage. I was getting 330 kWh.
Here are some examples of range based on weather.
1 - at 262 kWh I could go 309 miles on a 100% charge
2 - at 355 kWh I could go 228 miles on a 100% charge
3 - at 309 kWh I could go 262 miles on a 100% charge
4 - at 415 kWh I could go 195 miles on a 100% charge
5 - at 330 kWh I could go 245 miles on a 100% charge
So, during summer and early fall my car that is rated for 330 miles at purchase I was getting around 309 miles of actual range.
But once the temperature dropped below 32 degrees my range dropped to between 195 and 262 miles on a full charge.
If I am able to preheat in the garage (which I am most of the time) the car does significantly better. But even if I have to sit in a cold parking lot for a few hours it’s still tolerable.
All of this said I have six weeks of -15 to 30 degree days ahead of me. After that, things begin to warm up again and my range should start increasing.
Another note, in the summer time I run the A/C always with is set between 66 and 70. In the cold weather I’ve run the heater usually at 70 but sometimes up to 74 degrees. I use the seat heater a lot. I have noticed very little batter usage difference between 70 degrees and 74 while using the heater.
It seems by far the two biggest battery drains are speed and cold. I used to do all kinds of things to eek out a little more range, but I have found that the things I could do did very little to make a difference. Slowing down, and preheating the car seem like the most important things and I do them consistently, when possible.
It just seems the biggest drain is winter. Without a pre heated battery I saw close to a 30% decrease in capacity. Otherwise it’s been closer to 15%.
Enhanced Auto Pilot
I’m a nerd and would love full auto pilot if I could afford it. That said, I’m in the camp of enjoying Enhanced Auto Pilot. I REALLY like it. I’ve driven a Tesla without it and mine with it. I would pay for it again.
I like the auto lane change feature. With a recent update it became much smoother. It’s far from perfect, but I like it and use it all the time.
Wipers
The wiper software is a joke. I have fun with it. But it’s terrible. I am looking forward to a better algorithm. Actually I’ve gone to using rain x and seldom use the wipers. And they seldom turn on by themselves.
Headlights
The headlights are the brightest I’ve ever had on a car and I really like them. I do a fair amount of night driving.
I used to blind other drivers a lot and they would flash their lights at me. I went into settings in the car and adjusted the headlights down one “notch” and people don’t flash their lights at me anymore.
Scroll Wheel Customization
I am in the camp of people that really like the customization of the left scroll wheel. That said, practically, I find that I never use it. That’s just me. I haven’t found something that I do a lot that is easier to use the scroll wheel for.
One Pedal Driving
I instantly took to one pedal driving. I REALLY like it. I almost never touch my brake pedal. One of the other benefits of an electric car is the brake regen, however with the way I drive I receive almost zero benefit from it. I live in flat country and I do highway driving. I get a little region from going down an occasional hill, and then again on the off ramp at the end of my trip. It’s still cool tech, but with freeway/highway driving in flat country I don’t get as much benefit from it.
Trip Computer
I didn’t trust the trip computer battery/mileage estimates for the first 4 months. I was usually significantly off. It would tell me I would arrive home with 20% battery but the reality was I’ would have 7% battery as an example. But after about 4 months of driving it seems to be pretty much spot on. I was afraid of what cold weather would do to the calculations but it actually seems to have gotten better. I don’t know if it took a while to learn how I drive or if a software update improved things. Regardless of how, I am very happy with the prediction now.
Cold Feet
Shortly before I picked up the car I was getting cold feet. I was afraid. No longer. Now I literally have cold feet. The vent near the footwell seems to do a terrible job of getting warm air to my feet. This is probably my biggest complaint. Do I need a blanket? A pair of battery operated socks? Seems silly. There should be a way to get more heat down there.
Bottom Line
I love this car. It is working out to be comparable to the Camry Hybrid XSE I was going to buy. It does pretty good in winter driving… so far. I love the tech. If you are looking to buy and are afraid of winter, I would say, don’t worry about it.
For those of you that have read my previous posts you know that I was determined to purchase a Hybrid Camry XSE. I discovered that I could purchase a Tesla Model Y (during one of Elon’s “sales”) for less money than a Camry XSE. So I made a spontaneous jump and went with the Model Y. I am not convinced, in the end, that it will have saved me any money, but it will be close.
It’s not a completely fair comparison, but it is the two cars I was choosing between. So far the Tesla is $181 a month more expensive than the Camry would have been. Payment, “fuel”, maintenance, insurance, etc. But I plan to drive this car for 10 years and/or 300,000 miles. I still think that over the lifetime of the Tesla I’m going to come out a little ahead… and the Tesla is significantly more fun.
Anyway, onto the items I want to address this time:
- Tires
- Superchargers
- Battery Strategy
- Cold Weather
- Enhanced Auto Pilot
- Wipers
- Headlights
- Scroll Wheel customization
- One Pedal Driving & Brake Regeneration
- Trip Computer
- Cold Feet
After almost 25,000 miles I still have 7mm left on my tires. I feel they have worn evenly. I wish I knew how many mm they had to begin with. I’d be thrilled to get over 40k on these tires. Others have had experiences that suggest I won’t, but I’m hopeful. I don’t excellerate hard, unless I’m showing off, and I am doing mostly freeway driving.
I had a nail puncture while on a 2k mile trip. I had a tire puncture kit and air pump with me, but should have finished by including a travel jack that fits under the car. You need one for a low profile car. I also recommend a 3 ton jack. I started with a 2 ton jack and watched the car crush it. You’ll be happier if you are prepared for a flat.
Superchargers:
I must say that I have been very happy with the supercharger network. I live in the midwest and in a non-friendly EV state. What this means practically is that my superchargers are usually 75% available. So I never have any issue when needing a supercharger.
I also have come to realize (this is a no brainer to those veterans of EV’s) there is a HUGE difference between the 150 vs 250 chargers. I pretty much always skip the 150’s in favor of the much faster 250’s.
Lastly, when it comes to saving. If I’m on a 300+ mile trip and charge and home and then supplement with a supercharger it costs about the same as it would have if I was in the Camry Hybrid.
Battery Strategy:
I always charge my battery to 50% as soon as I pull in the garage. Then I set it to be ready to go the next morning at whatever percentage I need. This strategy seems to have worked well. After 25k miles I still have a rated range around 320 miles. It takes about 2 minutes every evening to figure out where I am going the next day and how much battery I will need.
I have charged to 100% about 5-7 times per month, but it reaches 100% minutes before I leaven and I drive it down to between 10-50% immediately. So my car spends the overwhelming majority of its life at 50% battery.
I learned this strategy from someone on this forum. I would give credit if I could remember who it was from. But for me, it seems to work well.
My father in law also has a model y, 1 year older than mine. Also 25k miles. He keeps it charged at 80% all of the time. His rated range is down to 301. I don’t know much about batteries, but anecdotally the strategy I’m using seems to be significantly better than his strategy. But there may be other factors I am uninformed about.
Cold Weather:
This is a big one for me, but bottom line, I’m ok with the hit that I am taking in cold weather. And it is a big one. I haven’t even really hit winter in Wisconsin yet, but the effects I am seeing in the last few weeks are significant.
My takeaway is that if you are someone that travels less than 180 miles round trip in a day you can do anything you want year around and even though weather will use more energy you’ll be fine.
However, if you drive long distances like me, winter weather will require a few more charges each month to 100% and a few more supercharger stops. But I’m ok with the trade off. The car is that impressive to me.
Even though as the temperatures drop the battery life is more impacted, I would say it is minimal above 32 degrees. This is my opinion from experience over the last few weeks.
Now, when the temperature goes below 32 degrees, that’s when the fun begins. Here is the math on my range. Others may be able to double check if my concepts are correct.
Scenario 1: Between June and October 31 my car showed lifetime of 262 kWh.
My driving habits didn’t change, but the weather did. In November and December here are a few examples of cold weather trips.
Scenario 2: 337 Miles in 28 degrees. I used 120 kWh (about 1.5 battery) and averaged 355 kWh.
Scenario 3: 150+ miles in 30 degrees. I was getting 309 kWh.
Scenario 4: 250+ miles in 25 degrees with a 16 mph headwind. I was getting 415 kWh. (But my car sat outside for 2 hours and the batter never warmed up to the same operating condition as if it had been in my garage.
Scenario 5: 200+ miles at 15 degrees, but with a warm battery from pre heating and sitting in my garage. I was getting 330 kWh.
Here are some examples of range based on weather.
1 - at 262 kWh I could go 309 miles on a 100% charge
2 - at 355 kWh I could go 228 miles on a 100% charge
3 - at 309 kWh I could go 262 miles on a 100% charge
4 - at 415 kWh I could go 195 miles on a 100% charge
5 - at 330 kWh I could go 245 miles on a 100% charge
So, during summer and early fall my car that is rated for 330 miles at purchase I was getting around 309 miles of actual range.
But once the temperature dropped below 32 degrees my range dropped to between 195 and 262 miles on a full charge.
If I am able to preheat in the garage (which I am most of the time) the car does significantly better. But even if I have to sit in a cold parking lot for a few hours it’s still tolerable.
All of this said I have six weeks of -15 to 30 degree days ahead of me. After that, things begin to warm up again and my range should start increasing.
Another note, in the summer time I run the A/C always with is set between 66 and 70. In the cold weather I’ve run the heater usually at 70 but sometimes up to 74 degrees. I use the seat heater a lot. I have noticed very little batter usage difference between 70 degrees and 74 while using the heater.
It seems by far the two biggest battery drains are speed and cold. I used to do all kinds of things to eek out a little more range, but I have found that the things I could do did very little to make a difference. Slowing down, and preheating the car seem like the most important things and I do them consistently, when possible.
It just seems the biggest drain is winter. Without a pre heated battery I saw close to a 30% decrease in capacity. Otherwise it’s been closer to 15%.
Enhanced Auto Pilot
I’m a nerd and would love full auto pilot if I could afford it. That said, I’m in the camp of enjoying Enhanced Auto Pilot. I REALLY like it. I’ve driven a Tesla without it and mine with it. I would pay for it again.
I like the auto lane change feature. With a recent update it became much smoother. It’s far from perfect, but I like it and use it all the time.
Wipers
The wiper software is a joke. I have fun with it. But it’s terrible. I am looking forward to a better algorithm. Actually I’ve gone to using rain x and seldom use the wipers. And they seldom turn on by themselves.
Headlights
The headlights are the brightest I’ve ever had on a car and I really like them. I do a fair amount of night driving.
I used to blind other drivers a lot and they would flash their lights at me. I went into settings in the car and adjusted the headlights down one “notch” and people don’t flash their lights at me anymore.
Scroll Wheel Customization
I am in the camp of people that really like the customization of the left scroll wheel. That said, practically, I find that I never use it. That’s just me. I haven’t found something that I do a lot that is easier to use the scroll wheel for.
One Pedal Driving
I instantly took to one pedal driving. I REALLY like it. I almost never touch my brake pedal. One of the other benefits of an electric car is the brake regen, however with the way I drive I receive almost zero benefit from it. I live in flat country and I do highway driving. I get a little region from going down an occasional hill, and then again on the off ramp at the end of my trip. It’s still cool tech, but with freeway/highway driving in flat country I don’t get as much benefit from it.
Trip Computer
I didn’t trust the trip computer battery/mileage estimates for the first 4 months. I was usually significantly off. It would tell me I would arrive home with 20% battery but the reality was I’ would have 7% battery as an example. But after about 4 months of driving it seems to be pretty much spot on. I was afraid of what cold weather would do to the calculations but it actually seems to have gotten better. I don’t know if it took a while to learn how I drive or if a software update improved things. Regardless of how, I am very happy with the prediction now.
Cold Feet
Shortly before I picked up the car I was getting cold feet. I was afraid. No longer. Now I literally have cold feet. The vent near the footwell seems to do a terrible job of getting warm air to my feet. This is probably my biggest complaint. Do I need a blanket? A pair of battery operated socks? Seems silly. There should be a way to get more heat down there.
Bottom Line
I love this car. It is working out to be comparable to the Camry Hybrid XSE I was going to buy. It does pretty good in winter driving… so far. I love the tech. If you are looking to buy and are afraid of winter, I would say, don’t worry about it.
