it's more to do with the fact that because I'm paying cash I'll be expected to pay for the car in full up front before I've even seen it.
Bit of a sweeping statement, but I have found that Tesla adopt a USA style service "get the thing fixed" approach. Of course a number of stories where things that didn't go right (as with all brands, they are the ones making the headlines of course ...), and Tesla Service COMMs (from placing order to taking delivery, and then any time you need to get some service) is diabolical. But aside from that I've found them very keen to solve any snag that I have had
I'd be a LOT happier if/when they fix the diabolical-service-COMMs approach ...
If my car ended up being a total lemon Tesla would still have ~£61k of my money. I'd have no leverage.
You can hand it back in 7 days (or has that gone?). Consumer Protection is on your side for any event like that (provided Tesla still trading), but yeah it would be a right hassle.
I'm surprised Tesla let you charge to 100% habitually if it has such a negative effect on the battery. They could surely just make 100% an artificial number, so when you charge to 100% you're actually charging the batteries to 95% behind the scenes so to speak.
Dashboard comes up with a warning if you keep charging it to 100% for a few days. I reckon Tesla aren't that bothered. Plenty of Airport-Taxi stories where cars rapid charged to 100% and left sat like that frequently, and doing 100K miles p.a. ... and only losing 6-7% range. I don't know what the actual risk is ... perhaps "nought" ... but I have a perception, maybe wrongly, that the chemistry is "stressed" when charging full, or empty, and I only charge mine above 90% when I'm going on a trip and I want the extra range (and also when I forget to reset it
) and I charge immediately whenever I arrive somewhere below 20% (i.e. rather than waiting for Off Peak rate), and I avoid full-power if I am below 10% (that bit is easy, if I am below 10% I need max-range-hypermiling to actually GET to destination
)
Maybe the reality is that "
Charge to 100% is fine, but charge to <90% is better, so lets provided a system that encourages people to do that" ?
When I plug my i3 to charge I don't even think about that stuff, and indeed there is no option to set a max charge %
I don't know about I3, but reading e.g. iPace forum there is plenty of chatter around "
I wish I could use the top-end reserve when i go on a trip" ... maybe Tesla just thought it was better for business, and will tolerate some battery replacement under warranty for the marketing-benefit?
10% is worth having. You have, say, a 40 mile contingency-buffer. Same on a small battery or a big one. So as you add more battery it is all "available" for the trip, whereas in the bottom part of battery you always keep those 40 miles contingency.
I've moved from MS 90 to MS 100 LR Raven has made a huge difference to my longer journeys, as all the extra battery is "available miles". I've gone from 240 "real world motorway miles" to, say, 290. A 20% increase. But take off the 40 miles and its from 200 to 250, a 25% increase. That is enabling me to make some of my journeys without Supercharger stop, and the one-Supercharger-stop journeys have a shorter stop, and the fact that Superchargers are now way more busy than they were pre-Model-3 ... the upside has been very noticeable
