As folks may be aware I'm on my Canada hiking trip. About a week ago I charged the car to full in Revelstoke and then drove to Nakusp where I spent the night. In the morning I drove to the staging area near Burton, BC, where I left the car for a week to go up to a hiking lodge. There's no plug-in and no shade and the temperatures reached around 30 or 31 Celsius during the day. I left the car off and locked. I had a fabulous week of hiking. The car showed 312 km of range.
When I returned to the car a week later, I was aghast to see that I had 92 km of range remaining, with the nearest supercharger 140 km away in Revelstoke. I made it back to Nakusp, where there is a J1772 charger, but it required a card, which I don't have, and when I called the service number on the charger, it just put me on perpetual hold.
I phoned Tesla Roadside Assistance, where I asked what caused such an enormous drain, and what do I do now. The man said it was probably the car using power to keep the battery cool, though that seems awfully excessive. But after talking to his supervisor Tesla comped me a ride on a flatbed truck to Revelstoke, where I charged the car at the supercharger, which was so fast I was ready to continue on my trip before I'd even finished my lunch. They made it clear that this was a one-time-only deal, since I was unaware that the car would be so severely affected by the heat.
Ten stars for Tesla service.
This morning I called the service department and asked what would have happened if the car had remained a few more days. Would it have bricked itself? Can you just not leave these cars unplugged in hot weather? The man had no definite answer, but he thought the car should not have used so much juice, especially when the battery should be fine at 30 C. He suggested being especially careful about turning everything off. He also pushed the latest firmware version to me. I now have 2018.24.8. I hope that's not the one people have been reporting problems with. It includes automatic cabin cooling, which he warned me to turn off. And summon. And probably other stuff. I took a short drive to make sure the car still drives with the new firmware. In the three hours from 3:00 to 6:00 it didn't lose any range. So knock on wood <raps knuckles on head> that after my upcoming ten days at the next lodge the car is okay. At least this time I'll be less than five miles from the supercharger here.
Driving AP on the highway is a joy. Tesla service is outstanding. Not being able to park in the wilderness on a hot day is a big disappointment.
When I returned to the car a week later, I was aghast to see that I had 92 km of range remaining, with the nearest supercharger 140 km away in Revelstoke. I made it back to Nakusp, where there is a J1772 charger, but it required a card, which I don't have, and when I called the service number on the charger, it just put me on perpetual hold.
I phoned Tesla Roadside Assistance, where I asked what caused such an enormous drain, and what do I do now. The man said it was probably the car using power to keep the battery cool, though that seems awfully excessive. But after talking to his supervisor Tesla comped me a ride on a flatbed truck to Revelstoke, where I charged the car at the supercharger, which was so fast I was ready to continue on my trip before I'd even finished my lunch. They made it clear that this was a one-time-only deal, since I was unaware that the car would be so severely affected by the heat.
Ten stars for Tesla service.
This morning I called the service department and asked what would have happened if the car had remained a few more days. Would it have bricked itself? Can you just not leave these cars unplugged in hot weather? The man had no definite answer, but he thought the car should not have used so much juice, especially when the battery should be fine at 30 C. He suggested being especially careful about turning everything off. He also pushed the latest firmware version to me. I now have 2018.24.8. I hope that's not the one people have been reporting problems with. It includes automatic cabin cooling, which he warned me to turn off. And summon. And probably other stuff. I took a short drive to make sure the car still drives with the new firmware. In the three hours from 3:00 to 6:00 it didn't lose any range. So knock on wood <raps knuckles on head> that after my upcoming ten days at the next lodge the car is okay. At least this time I'll be less than five miles from the supercharger here.
Driving AP on the highway is a joy. Tesla service is outstanding. Not being able to park in the wilderness on a hot day is a big disappointment.
