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Culture shock - driving an ICE again

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Barry

Active Member
Aug 9, 2013
2,026
1,809
Colorado
I got my 85D about a month ago. After 3 days of ownership, I was forced to take my ICE (Toyota SUV) to New Mexico because I-25 south of Denver is still a supercharger-free zone. After only 3 says, it was no big deal.

After just under a month, I drove my ICE for the second time - to the airport, as I saw no reason to leave Tess in an airport parking lot for several days. This time, it was night and day. The noise, the sluggishness, having to use brakes, etc. And it's even worse this evening, driving a Hyundai Accent rental car. The rest of the world has no idea what they're missing!
 
You are absolutely right. The vast majority of ICE driver either have no clue or think we EV drivers are compromising. Keep spreading the good word.

BTW we have a loaded German diesel SUV in the garage that is getting no love (or miles) with two EVs in the house (MS and 500e) and could barely stand what we used to think was a perfectly good rental ICE we last had.
 
Yah,

I handed in my P85+ a week ago as a trade-in for my new P85D that is finally arriving. :) And have been driving an ICE since then. Its awful!! and its still a pretty good one. When you get used to the acceleration off the line and in tight spotts and encounter the same situation in an ICE..... awful!! The ICE's only redeeming feature today is its much better infrastructure for re-fueling and the time that that takes..... thats it! maybe also on the track... :wink: .... BUT Formula-E is coming to a city near you!
 
Same story here. Drove my 85D for a month then had to use my other vehicle (an SUV) and couldn't believe how old and clunky it felt. Also panicked the first time I took my foot off the gas pedal at high speed and it didn't slow down much.
 
Just wait until you get out of the rental car, leaving it running as you walk away.

Or you just mechanically turn on the windshield wipers when trying to back out of the hotel parking lot.

Yes, I have done them. :)
 
Just wait until you get out of the rental car, leaving it running as you walk away.
Or you just mechanically turn on the windshield wipers when trying to back out of the hotel parking lot.
Yes, I have done them. :)

My ICE has a proximity key but doesn't auto-lock when you walk away. Pretty much every time I drive it I leave it unlocked. It has a loud throaty rumble that's hard to miss, so at least I never leave it running as well.
 
Yesterday was my first time driving ICE in 4 months - Tesla had my car for the day installing NG seats. Echoing what others above have said, it just doesn't feel right driving another car. However, it doesn't seem that this is really an ICE vs EV thing, but rather a Tesla vs Everything else (ICE/EV/Hybrid/etc) thing... as other EVs behave much more similar to ICE than Tesla does.

The wipers vs gear selector is specific to Tesla (and I suppose Mercedes). That got me all day yesterday. The other big one was braking, lack of regen based on accelerator pedal. I had a chance to drive a Leaf a short bit ago, and like ICE, you had to press on the brake to engage regen to any noticeable extent.

As an aside, it was funny, the Leaf owner told me to floor it and feel the perky acceleration (nothing wrong with that, perky tends to be the term people use when acceleration is decent, but not extraordinary). I then offer him a ride in my car... he was shocked at how it accelerated. So much so, that he went to work the next day talking about it, and as it turns out, works for our competitor, thus some of their staff know of me and my car, so the next time I saw him, he knew more about me than I expected him to lol.

I tried to drive away without starting the car - again Tesla vs everything else. Made a point to be certain I turned it off, but even then, almost forgot on the second trip (ICE was a hybrid, so with the engine off at a stop, there is less to call you to action).

I also had to force myself to check fuel level... this was my wife's car, and she oddly likes to only fill to half. During daily driving, I have zero concern about range in the Tesla (even, as I've learned, if I forget to plug in the night before)... again, something most EVs I doubt could even enjoy. So in a ICE car I had true range anxiety, not so in mine, 99+% of the time.
 
Just wait until you get out of the rental car, leaving it running as you walk away.

Or you just mechanically turn on the windshield wipers when trying to back out of the hotel parking lot.

I do the wiper thing quite a lot in my wife's ICE. Oddly I never get out and leave it running, but I still occasionally reach towards the steering column for the key in my Model S... even after 2+ years. Old habits I guess.
 
Biggest things for me:

- the ICE seems to glide forever, I have to use the brakes!

- for an "average powered car", I find it totally gutless especially when it comes time to pass. I immediately have to rethink my strategy and recalculate the "do-ability" for a successful outcome.

- did I mention gutless?
 
Our German diesel SUV became the car that the kids drive to and from school and thats about it after we got our first Chevy Volt. The SUV It will be gone soon when our 85D arrives in the next couple of weeks. We will be a household of only EV vehicles. 2 Volts and the 85D.
 
Copy that... regen off due to cold weather (or full charge) is like... whoa!? Why does this car even need power input to drive? It never slows down. Am I floating on air, feels like a puck in an air hockey game?

Physics 30 class: assume a frictionless surface in a complete vacuum and perform the following calculations....

Like that!
 
I spent 5 hours in my Prius last Friday....
There was a good side... I didn't have to worry at all about my speed or running out of battery. The trip was ~240 miles round trip...I've done it in the Tesla before, but had to keep at the speed limit, watch acceleration, minimize AC use, etc. In the Prius that wasn't an issue and, ironically, it probably saved me at least 30 minutes driving the Prius instead of the Tesla...probably more than that.

Other than that, it's all bad. Ride comfort, noise, everything just sucked.
 
In the Prius that wasn't an issue and, ironically, it probably saved me at least 30 minutes driving the Prius instead of the Tesla.

Wondering what's the long term solution for this. If there was a supercharger en-route, would that make it better than driving the Prius? As in 10 minute stop to "top off" and driving with abandon. Or would it still take longer because of Prius' better range and not having to even stop once?
 
Wondering what's the long term solution for this. If there was a supercharger en-route, would that make it better than driving the Prius? As in 10 minute stop to "top off" and driving with abandon. Or would it still take longer because of Prius' better range and not having to even stop once?

For the time being, I would imagine destination charging. If you can get a L2 charge at the destination (even if only for an hour), that should increase the comfort level to make it home without worrying about speed (as long as you aren't also a speeder!).
 
As have I with my own damn car!

Just wait until you get out of the rental car, leaving it running as you walk away.

Or you just mechanically turn on the windshield wipers when trying to back out of the hotel parking lot.

Yes, I have done them. :)

- - - Updated - - -

I actually just sold my beloved Acura RDX Turbo. Best car I have ever owned in almost 40 years (hopefully the MS is better). I thought I would never sell it. But I found that all I did was drive it once on the weekend to keep it alive. And the longer I owned the Tesla, the worse the experience got in the Acura. And I used to think it was so "tight"! It feels sloppy and out of control compared to the MS. So I finally sold it, in absolutely perfect condition, to a good friend who actually begged me to sell it him so much that I finally gave in.

Sayonara Mr. Andy Acura! Take good care of your new peeps.
 
However, it doesn't seem that this is really an ICE vs EV thing, but rather a Tesla vs Everything else (ICE/EV/Hybrid/etc) thing... as other EVs behave much more similar to ICE than Tesla does.

I like to bomb around in my Fiat 500e as much as our MS. Sure they are different tools for different jobs, eg you can't road trip an 85 mile range EV, but around town the 500e is much easier to maneuver and park. Pushing the Fiat's limits is fun while pushing the Tesla's is asking for jail time. I also like the blended brakes and regen on the 500e better - you get to coast easily AND have efficient regen. Hopefully other fun EVs are on the way.
 
I also like the blended brakes and regen on the 500e better - you get to coast easily AND have efficient regen..
Interesting that fiat does a good job with blending regen with mechanical brakes on the brake pedal. I wonder if they also use the ibooster? While I like tesla one pedal driving for around town and stop and go, I think it wld be more efficient to be able to turn it off on highway driving to more easily pulse and glide in neutral only trigger regen braking with the brake pedal when occasionally needed.