A Few Comments on Safety for New Tesla Owners

[MassModel3]

Passing in the S!
(when the car is new to you)
be very aware of the space between you and the car in front of you.
If you gun it before pulling out into the next lane over you may find yourself close to the car in front of you very quickly

I have done this early on and once this summer passing a logging truck when the passing lane just didn't start to match my uphill speed that had jumped by 35mph in ~2 sec
....almost forgot that was in a non P loaner even!

˄ ˄ ˄ WHAT HE SAID!!! ˄ ˄ ˄
During my first couple weeks in the Model S, I was once stuck behind a guy towing a boat fairly slowly. I was coming from a Camry 4-banger where you punch the accelerator and you have about half a second (or so) of think time as the gears drop and the engine winds up. Being in the Model S, when I punched it I nearly took out the corner of the boat trailer and had to jerk the wheel hard left to not hit it. I will NEVER make that mistake again, or underestimate the power of these cars.

 

[DrGuest]

˄ ˄ ˄ WHAT HE SAID!!! ˄ ˄ ˄
During my first couple weeks in the Model S, I was once stuck behind a guy towing a boat fairly slowly. I was coming from a Camry 4-banger where you punch the accelerator and you have about half a second (or so) of think time as the gears drop and the engine winds up. Being in the Model S, when I punched it I nearly took out the corner of the boat trailer and had to jerk the wheel hard left to not hit it. I will NEVER make that mistake again, or underestimate the power of these cars.

I was letting a friend drive my Model S for the first time. We too had a person going slow, 55 on a 70 mph road. He said he was going to pass at the next break in the yellow line. Before I could tell him to "Not to Punch It" he did, and the gap closed very fast between us and the car in front of us and he was going 93 mph by the time we passed and were back in our lane. He was also used to that 1/2 second delay.

Of Course a Highway patrolman was coming the other way and pulled us over. Lucky my friend knew the Highway patrol and "since the car was new to him and it got away from him" he let us go with a warning and no ticket. Notice - "It was new and it got away from him". Thus, the reason for this tread. So, I guess, if you ever let someone else drive your car, there are a few warnings that one should be given to avoid them getting a ticket or getting into an accident. "Aim first, then punch it. It goes where it is aimed, very fast!"

Another friend of mine was test driving going onto the freeway and was also going 93 mph by the time he got on the freeway from the entrance ramp. So, I now read off the speedometer to anyone I let drive my car. I say, "going 40, 50, 60, 70 slow down your at 75!" I bought this car largely because it was the safest car ever built, so I do hope and trust we can all stay safe! Thanks for this thread!

 

[RAM_Eh]

if someone has mentioned the brakes...skip this.

Since we do not use the breaks as often as in an ICE they do not heat up and dry off. So in the rain be very carful as to distances when first driving the car. The regen will bring you to a slow stop but you will still need the brakes. If they are wet you will feel like you are sliding...... So touch the breaks a few times before you need them to heat them up so the water will dry off.

 

[MassModel3]

So just to emphasize what so many people have said here about learning how to handle a powerful ride on a course first:

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/39871-Glad-He-didn-t-buy-a-P85D

Sometimes it just comes down to "you can't fix stupid," but the fact remains that if you get behind the wheel of something with this much power, you need to be ready for it and you need to know how to handle it.

 

[dhanson865]

if someone has mentioned the brakes...skip this.

Since we do not use the breaks as often as in an ICE they do not heat up and dry off. So in the rain be very careful as to distances when first driving the car. The regen will bring you to a slow stop but you will still need the brakes. If they are wet you will feel like you are sliding...... So touch the breaks a few times before you need them to heat them up so the water will dry off.

I almost never use the friction brakes on my Prius. When they do kick in sometimes the rust on the rotors makes them very very grabby. I live near a rain forest so it's more humid here than most places (I'm in TN but the humidity / rainfall near the Smokey Mountains approaches Pacific Northwest style humidity). The friction brakes work better than you would expect even when wet.

On the Prius the the fix for this is to get up to speed (say 40 or 50 mph) put the car in neutral to disable regen and brake to a stop. This scrapes the rust off the rotors and then braking is normal again for several months to a year depending on the weather and your braking patterns.

I wonder if the Tesla Model S has the same issue in very high humidity environments where the rotors can build up some rust between friction brake usage if you tend to favor the regen most of the time.

 

[breser]

I'm just going to leave this here as an example of what can happen if you don't take care when driving such powerful machines. Hopefully enough people read this thread and we don't end up with a P85D in a similar situation.

First 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat sold in Colorado - Crashed | TFLCar.com: Automotive News, Views and ReviewsThe Fast Lane Car: Auto News, Views, and Reviews

 

[grahamsimmonds]

An interesting thread and I am disappointed to read about the blind spot - I must admit I did not notice it on either of my test drives. I have a P85D on order. The one reason I did not want a P85+ was because it was RWD. I had an Masda RX8 RWD for 3 years that had a particularly skittish back end which was irritating in the wet and snow. Involuntary oversteering around a roundabout in traffic is not recommended for the nerves.

All of my cars since then have been 4WD and are very much easier to drive. The P85+ that I drove had the rear wheel squirm on launching which I do not expect the P85D to have. What I enjoyed about driving the MS is that its power delivery is very constant unlike most ICE cars where the torque can be quite unpredictable. Both my wife and I were struck with how easy it made the car to drive normally.

I am pretty convinced that the 700 bhp delivered by the P85D will be much more refined than the Dodge Challenger Hellcat example in Breser's post above. I would imagine the Dodge is a bit of blunt instrument and when driven by a young idiot in poor conditions gives the inevitable result as pictured. I have done stupid things in my driving life but have managed to walk away from them but you learn from your mistakes as i am sure that young man has.

 

[jerry33]

An interesting thread and I am disappointed to read about the blind spot - I must admit I did not notice it on either of my test drives. I have a P85D on order. The one reason I did not want a P85+ was because it was RWD. I had an Masda RX8 RWD for 3 years that had a particularly skittish back end which was irritating in the wet and snow. Involuntary oversteering around a roundabout in traffic is not recommended for the nerves.

The vehicle stability control pretty much gets rid of this. I've not found it to be a problem on ice days. This is not your father's rear wheel drive.

 

[ToddRLockwood]

...I thought I'd start a post on some driving safety tips, because the S (and the P85D) present a few unique dangers to drivers, aside from the raw power.

Excellent idea, Todd. I haven't read through all the posts, so perhaps this has already been mentioned...

Performance model Teslas (P85, P85+, and P85D) have the unusual combination of high-power and high-mass. Gasoline powered performance cars are generally not high-mass vehicles. The fact that a 4,800-pound P85D can get itself up to 60mph in 3.2 seconds is truly astonishing. I think it's fair to say that no gasoline powered production car with that much mass has ever offered this kind of performance.

The inherent risk in this combination of high-mass and high-power is momentum. While the Model S benefits from its very low center of gravity in handling and ride quality, if the car is pushed to the limit it will not behave like a similarly powerful Ferrari or Lamborghini. The Model S has considerably more mass, and will be less forgiving at the limits of tire adhesion.

Personally, I like the added mass which gives the Model S a "planted" feel on the road, a feeling of safety. But P85D owners would be wise to use caution when applying full power while making fast turns, especially in the wet. The Model S has a very precise stability control system, but it won't do much good if the car is going sideways.

 

[Rheazombi]

The one thing that struck me within the first 2 days of ownership was how I had to relearn how to park on a steep uphill driveway. Unlike the automatic cars that I was used to, which hold their position going uphill, the Tesla may roll backwards while in Drive on a hill, so you have to keep the accelerator lightly pressed. Granted, this was a VERY steep driveway and I'd had the car less than 48 hours, but it was unexpected and a little scary how the car jerked back down the driveway until I slammed the brakes.

This all happened in early August, I don't remember if this was before or after the Hill Hold update.

Also, parking in general; when switching between reverse and drive when getting out of a parking space, you have to anticipate it may roll backwards slightly. Since there is no sound when doing so, you have to pay attention and make sure you don't roll into a parked car behind you.

 

[tomas]

I'll add to that rolling forward. The car is so quiet you can easily roll into car in front at stop if brakes not applied. I find there's really very little sensation of moving under 5 mph, especially if you are doing something on screen. Also strongly advise not to use creep setting. It's there for familiarity, but IMO you can unlearn that expectation in a day.

 

[scottf200]

I also always have the rear camera image at the top of the center screen and find it very useful (except when it's raining). I have adjusted to the distortion of the wide angle view. I rarely use the rear view mirror as that view is too restricted.

ASIDE: Tesla needs to change the rear view mirror to a screen like they are going to do to the CT6 caddy.
Cadillac to Debut New Rearview Mirror/Camera Display on CT6 Sedan – News – Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog

the General Motors unit combines a traditional electrochromic mirror with a 1280×240-pixel TFT LCD screen that spans nearly the entire surface. Like backup camera displays we’ve seen integrated into small portions of the rearview mirrors in some Toyota, GM, and Ford models, the digital function is imperceptible until the driver flips what used to be known as the day/night lever. Then, the view of the rear headrests and your friends making out in the back seat is suddenly changed to an HD video stream. While the screen is of significantly lower resolution than, say, your iPhone 6, it increases the field of view by fourfold, according to GM. Flip the lever again and real life returns.

 

[jerry33]

The current backup camera does the same thing and you don't have to flip a lever.

 

[ZsoZso]

ASIDE: Tesla needs to change the rear view mirror to a screen like they are going to do to the CT6 caddy.
Cadillac to Debut New Rearview Mirror/Camera Display on CT6 Sedan – News – Car and Driver | Car and Driver Blog

View attachment 67202

This picture illustrates perfectly my biggest gripe with the rear-view mirrors on many cars (including Tesla): they are mounted too low and blocking a significant portion of the forward view. Some older cars have an adjustable flexible arm mounting, which makes it possible to push it higher almost touching the headliner. That is a much better design. On this picture the black box mounting base also blocks to view above the mirror, so it almost doubles the obscured area.

 

[bluenation]

terrible idea

mirrors dont ever malfunction. we have seen tesla's screen malfunction for some people

 

[tomas]

Ok, but what does this have to do with the price of eggs??

 

[Andyw2100]

terrible idea

mirrors dont ever malfunction. we have seen tesla's screen malfunction for some people

Ok, but what does this have to do with the price of eggs??

If we accept bluenation's premise that mirrors don't malfunction, while cameras might, if all mirrors were replaced by cameras there might be issues, sometimes, when backing up and the cameras were not working, when we might hit chickens crossing the road? (Why was the chicken crossing the road? That's a question for another thread.)

If enough people with non-working cameras hit enough chickens crossing enough roads, there will be a shortage of chickens.

If there is a shortage of chickens, there will be a shortage of eggs.

If there is a shortage of eggs, the price of eggs will increase.

So that's what this has to do with the price of eggs.

 

[Vger]

One more addition: Be very VERY careful if you ever decide to try turning off the traction control.

I was showing off the car to someone in a nearly empty parking lot once, and decided to "enhance" the show (he and his young daughter were outside the car at a safe distance). I had never turned off the TC before, so I really did not know what to expect. I punched it to the floor, and lit the tires up instantly and persistently. The car slowly accelerated leaving perhaps 30 feet of rubber on the pavement before I let off and got proper traction.

The guy loved it, the little girl cowered behind her father's legs, and my wife gave me a derisive "boys will be boys" look.

'nuf said.

 

[green1]

One issue with the driver side mirror is that in the US it has to be a flat glass, it cannot be curved to show a wider angle. In other countries this is allowed and greatly helps seeing the entire left side. I assume the reasoning is that a curved mirror gives the impression that cars are farther away than they really are. hence the mandatory waring printed on the passenger side mirror that is curved to give you a wider view.

My current vehicle has Japanese mirrors... thousands and thousands of times better than anything available on any car in north america. Instead of being illegal they should be mandatory!

 

[scottf200]

This picture illustrates perfectly my biggest gripe with the rear-view mirrors on many cars (including Tesla): they are mounted too low and blocking a significant portion of the forward view. Some older cars have an adjustable flexible arm mounting, which makes it possible to push it higher almost touching the headliner. That is a much better design....

I assumed most do. My 2011 Volt does. Surprised how many people do NOT know their car has this feature tho.