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Culture shock - driving an ICE again

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I used to love driving my mom's Prius. Really, it's a nice car, but I was very disappointed the last time I drove it. We're all spoiled now.

In addition to most of the habits mentioned above, even more often in an ICE I've thumbed the steering wheel trying to turn down the radio.
 
Glad to see I'm not the only one who "forgets" what its like to drive an ICE! It seems that whenever I drive one, I leave it unlocked or with the lights on... The last time I drove one, I had to <gasp> get the keys out of my pocket and unlock the car door!! Pretty funny how fast we forget the "old" ways...

When I return home and to my car, I remind myself how lucky I am to have this car!
 
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?

The only long term solution I see is a larger battery. Most premium German cars we've owned have had gas tanks in the mid 20 gallon range. With most we can drive for about 450 miles before needing gas again and when we do gas is everywhere. Sooner or later they'll have to release a ~ 400 mile range battery and then the last remaining obstacle for some getting a Tesla will disappear.

If Tesla had any real competition I feel we'd already see ~350 mile range battery by now. They are likely holding rolling this out for the "right time."
 
I can't even remember how many times I've parked an ICE rental car and walked away with the engine running.

Haha yes same here. I had a rental car for a week and it was just so annoying. I walked away with the engine running, I sat down and buckled and then realized I had to get the key actually out of my pocket, the weird and bumpy and noisy acceleration. Or I should say lack of acceleration :)
 
My first rental car after taking delivery of my Model S (maybe a month or so later), I walked 25-50' away before noticing I had left it unlocked and running. Just tonight I got home from another trip, and I was really proud of myself for remembering to turn off my rental car every time. I did fumble with the keys many times though, and "accelerating" onto the highway was ... uh, well, wasn't. ;-)
 
Ya, i am with all of you on this. My ICEs just don't slow down when I lift off the gas. And one is a full time 4wd Jeep Grand Cherokee. I constantly have to remind myself of the differences when in an ICE. I really don't drive my other vehicles much anymore. But they have specific purposes in my lifestyle and they are paid for. On the range thing. I just did a 1000 mile roundtrip from the SF Bay Area to San Diego county recently. 6.2 knew all about where I needed to stop for a charge and for how long. Breaks and lunch were all figured in. It really works great. Did the same trip last year in the Grand Cherokee. I tend to push push. Eat fast food while driving, etc. The trip in the Tesla was far more civilized!
 
On the range thing. I just did a 1000 mile roundtrip from the SF Bay Area to San Diego county recently. 6.2 knew all about where I needed to stop for a charge and for how long. Breaks and lunch were all figured in. It really works great. Did the same trip last year in the Grand Cherokee. I tend to push push. Eat fast food while driving, etc. The trip in the Tesla was far more civilized!

I'm looking forward to doing this myself when picking up my car and driving 400 miles home. 6.2's Trip Planner and EvTripPlanner.com are making this a very easy drive that only three weeks ago, I did with a mad dash in our Honda Fit. Only 34 hours to go!! Goodness know's how I am going to get anything done tomorrow! ;)
 
I just did a 1000 mile roundtrip from the SF Bay Area to San Diego county recently. 6.2 knew all about where I needed to stop for a charge and for how long. Breaks and lunch were all figured in. It really works great. Did the same trip last year in the Grand Cherokee. I tend to push push. Eat fast food while driving, etc. The trip in the Tesla was far more civilized!

What was the time difference for this trip with different cars?
 
@exLeaf
Total trip was about 10 hours each way. Traffic in LA heading South and traffic in the Bay Area on the way back. The previous trip in the Grand Cherokee took about 8 1/2 hours. Traffic was better then.

This time, four stops on the way down. 40 minutes at Harris Ranch allowing enough time for a comfortable lunch. All other stops were 15 to 20 minutes. The way back it was three stops. 30 minutes at Harris Ranch and 15 to 20 minutes at the other stops. Inevitably, we took longer for our break than the car needed to charge.

So a little longer in the Tesla. Traffic did make a difference this year. But didn't have to eat fast food while driving and a comfortable pace for potty breaks.
 
I will say that I have always been a "power driver": drive as long and as fast as I can to get to the goal (destination). But now with my Miss, I am much more relaxed about getting there. I enjoy the stops most times and I arrive not only more rested, but in a much, much better mood than before. I used to be arrive completely burned out in every way and was useless until the next day. And in the end, the extra hour or so for charging really makes no difference in the grand scheme of life. I used to think that every second counted. It may well be due to age, but I simply do not care anymore and I have the great gift in driving an amazing car. What could be finer?

I think I have possibly finally learned, after 57 years: "patience, young padawan. It will come."

It has.
 
I experienced the shock of driving an ICE again last night. I took a plane up to DC and drove my Tesla down to NC yesterday. At the end of the night, I went to the airport parking lot to get my ICE and after 400+ miles of driving the Tesla, I was surprised at the loudness, slow acceleration, and lack of regen in my ICE! I almost barreled through the parking lot fence because I was expecting regen to slow me down! I'll have keep my wits about me!
 
I will say that I have always been a "power driver": drive as long and as fast as I can to get to the goal (destination). But now with my Miss, I am much more relaxed about getting there. I enjoy the stops most times and I arrive not only more rested, but in a much, much better mood than before. I used to be arrive completely burned out in every way and was useless until the next day. And in the end, the extra hour or so for charging really makes no difference in the grand scheme of life. I used to think that every second counted. It may well be due to age, but I simply do not care anymore and I have the great gift in driving an amazing car. What could be finer?

I think I have possibly finally learned, after 57 years: "patience, young padawan. It will come."

It has.

Same here. I am driving slower and enjoying the trip more. It is nice to know I have the speed/power if I need it.
 
A "me to"...
Work forced me to use a rental for a business trip (it was about $100 cheaper than paying mileage), got put in a Chrysler 200. The first day, just a couple hours after getting the car, I had a meeting locally. Got out, parked and locked the car then went inside for a meeting lasting over an hour. When I came out I noticed that various parking lights were still on on the car as I approached. When I got closer I could hear the engine running...Sure enough, had not thought to shut the thing off, so it sat there polluting and burning gas for an hour...

And talk about sluggish, it uses a 9 speed transmission, but it can't find the proper gear very quickly when cornering from high speeds, I would hit the accelerator coming out of a fairly quick turn and would have zilch, absolutely no power at all for about 1/2-1 second while the thing decided what gear it wanted to use. Had to put gas in the tank twice...

It was nice to be able to drive over the speed limit for over 300 miles without needing to worry about range/charge. Despite all the arguements to the contrary, it's still a clear advantage of gas over EV, even in areas that have good supercharger infrastructure and access. (which I don't)
 
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.

There are some neat solutions out there that I hope Tesla might implement or allow as an option for the Model 3.

Smart EDs repurpose gear-shifting paddles on the steering wheel into energy recoup settings, from none to ~6 mph/s regen deceleration . I love being able to coast on an EV! :biggrin: