Advice for a new Tesla Model S owner

[HrvatskaEV]

Driving at 130 km/h (80 mph) is going to drop your range. Most of the energy at highway speeds is used to push air out of the way. The air resistance goes up as the square of the speed. 112 km/h (70 mph) will get you a lot closer to your rated range. The cooling mode of the air conditioning has less effect than you might think, parked in 100F (37.7C) heat with the inside temperature set to 70F (21.1C) drops my range by 8 miles (12.9 km) per hour. The heating uses resistance heat so is electrically expensive. Whereas conventional cars use waste engine heat to warm the cabin, the Tesla will use battery power to heat the cabin. I wear a sweater, use the seat heater, and keep the inside relatively cool, 15-18C (60-65F).

A lot of people suggest looking at the remaining battery power as a percentage, they say to decrease range anxiety. I like mine set to remaining distance. I don’t I’ve ever felt range anxiety. The remaining range calculation is pretty conservative and I always see It increase on trips. But then I don’t drive at 80 mph (130 km/h).

You’ll love the car. I do, and mine’s not a performance model.

I'm happy with 350km winter and 450km summer... at least on the highway. But I do think that lowering to, say, a 120 km/h average rather than 130 would be beneficial. Btw - you are super lucky to have real leather seats. Man would I like real leather... I'll look around at auto shops here to see what they can do, but then again now I have better things to worry about.

 

[KalJoMoS]

Where can I find the CCS adapter? On the European Tesla Store sites it only shows a CHAdeMO adapter, no mention of the CCS...

Only Tesla can supply CCS adapter, better ask this before delivery. You can find that CHAdeMO adapter elsewhere also and it is cheaper than CCS adapter, I got it around €450.- Your choice...

Tesla will use battery power to heat the cabin. I wear a sweater, use the seat heater, and keep the inside relatively cool, 15-18C (60-65F).
I like mine set to remaining distance. The remaining range calculation is pretty conservative and I always see It increase on trips.

I have sheep skin cover on my drivers seat and have also set heater to 18C (during winter). Only on longer drives I need to rise it to be more comfortable. And I also have trip counter on distance, suits my range calculation better..

 

[Akikiki]

Kal JoMoS, please for your own sake check and make sure your sheep skin won't interfere with the seat airbag.

 

[KalJoMoS]

For yours and others sake it is not anything like cover, I wondered what word to use, so sorry for misleading. It’s just loose skin between your back and the seat

 

[Science fan]

Hi - I ordered a new Model S Performance a few weeks ago and am wondering what advice any new or long-time Tesla owners would have. Looking for tips on maintenance, seats, range, etc... I'll often be going on road trips, averaging a speed of 130 km/h. The summers here are between 25 and 35 degrees Celsius and winters rarely drop below -5. Won't be driving more than 550km per day.

Super excited for this car... I've gone from thinking it's pretty cool a few years ago to it being my dream car when I tested it a few months ago..

Sorry for the vague question, but seriously, any advice is appreciated. Hopefully we can also shift ourselves into a state of normalcy and keep our sanity at home by talking about things other than COVID-19, such as cars.

Take care of your dental needs. You will find that you will be smiling much more often and your public will appreciate it if your teeth look good.

 

[Newscutter]

This thread comes up in searches for cargo dimensions -- so I'm just adding these here as well.