Deposed Tesla Co-Founder Offers No-Holds-Barred Critique of Roadster

[dpeilow]

Deposed Tesla Co-Founder Offers No-Holds-Barred Critique of Roadster

Eberhard said actual driving range seems to be "about 125 miles on the 'normal charge' setting, and perhaps 160 miles on the max range.' "

Interesting. I presume this is with a heavy right foot, real world driving speeds, etc, etc?

 

[WarpedOne]

Whole quote from that Martin's blog post:

Actual driving range for me, which always includes a fair bit of up-and-down-the-hills, seems to be about 125 miles on the “normal charge” setting, and perhaps 160 miles on the “max range” setting. The “normal charge” setting (accessed via the touch screen) limits charging the battery to something less than full. (I guess they go to 85%) and limits discharging to something above fully-depleted. The max range setting allows full use of the battery, though it warns you that doing this often will cause reduced battery life. It also reduces torque noticeably. There is also a max performance setting that I have yet to try.

 

[dpeilow]

Ah yes. Had a chance to go and read that now (lunchtime here), so, questions answered.


Also - I've been highly impressed with my brother's Blaupunkt Rome radio/satnav. It's a 1 DIN unit.

Blaupunkt Rome NAV56E

Not sure if you can get US maps for it, but worth a look. He has his Nokia phone bluetoothed via an external adapter and I understand there is an iPod lead (neither of us has an iPod, but we've successfully used a USB key and a hacked Toshiba Gigabeat on it :smile.

 

[Joseph]

Does anyone know about the "performance" setting? Is it for the car (probably not) or is it for the charger? If it's for the charger, does it give a quicker charger, a more efficient charger, what?

 

[malcolm]

Hi Joseph

I believe it allows the car to use the full power range of the motor right up to 185kW for more rapid accelerations - higher top speed.

There are two downsides. Firstly the car requires greater familiarity on the part of the driver - Martin is wisely working up to this. (Maybe Tesla are now recommending the standard setting for new owners?) And secondly, as with any car, more aggressive use of the accelerator reduces range. Which could be the other reason - Martin wants to make sure he gets home

Charging rate is set by the current on the available 220V supply. The fastest empty-to-full recharge is with Tesla's Domestic Fast charger, which can handle up to 70 Amps (providing your house has this available). You can set it to recharge the battery to different levels (lower levels improve the battery's lifespan or "calendar life"), Not sure if you can lower the recharge rate if required

 

[malcolm]

Found this which may help:

IMG_0143.JPG on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[dpeilow]

Does storage mode keep the battery at ~40% for long term battery preservation?

 

[Kevin Harney]

Martin,

I have a question on range for you based on real life situations that you encounter. I know that you have a lead foot and who wouldn't with a car like this one But I am concerned about the low ranges that you are reporting. Can you give me a better idea of reality. My situation is that every other week I take a 150 mile trip one way and on top of that I have to drive to work in the morning which is another 25 miles. So I need a minimum range of 175 miles. Most of that is highway driving at right around 70 mph. Is that realistically doable in the roadster ? and without worrying about running out of juice ? or am I pushing it to the limit ?

Thanks for your candor.

Kevin

 

[Joseph]

It's kind of strange to put the "max performance" setting, which Malcom said improves the car's performance, under charge settings. Maybe the different settings (as shown in the helpful pic above) change both the car and the charger.

I can't wait until I get my hands on an owner's manual.

 

[W8MM]

It's kind of strange to put the "max performance" setting, which Malcom said improves the car's performance, under charge settings. Maybe the different settings (as shown in the helpful pic above) change both the car and the charger.

I can't wait until I get my hands on an owner's manual.

I wondered the same thing!

 

[graham]

I wonder if we can convince Tesla to publish a PDF of the Owner's Manual on their site? Once I get a new car, the very last thing I want to do is spend 2 hours reading about it -- I want to go drive it now!now!now! However, while I have nothing to do but sit around and wait for months for a new car, I would be content to read through such a manual.

 

[Kevin Harney]

They may post it in the Owner's Section ... but certainly not for the rest of us peons

 

[DaveD]

If it's in the Owners section, it's well hidden.

 

[Tdave]

According to this blog entry, the user charging options correspond to 50%, 90%, and 95% charge levels. 95% is considered "full charge", as Tesla doesn't allow higher than that for battery longevity reasons. It's all spelled out in the article.

 

[JRP3]

I hope at some point Martin can keep his foot off the pedal and keep the car off the hills and give us an idea of real world average driving miles. I know first hand how hard it is to go light on the throttle of a new ev, (and I'm only playing with 48 volts driving 6 soft tires). I imagine it will be a while before he can ease off, if ever :wink:

 

[DDB]

I hope at some point Martin can keep his foot off the pedal and keep the car off the hills and give us an idea of real world average driving miles. I know first hand how hard it is to go light on the throttle of a new ev, (and I'm only playing with 48 volts driving 6 soft tires). I imagine it will be a while before he can ease off, if ever :wink:

IMO he is giving us a real world average. If buyers live in the sticks or on hills--that's it for them. If they drive it like a roadster should be driven--that's it. Follow? Hyper-miling isn't real world nor is expecting to drive on solely flat ground (unless you live in Indiana or Iowa). These are accurate figures IMO.

 

[JRP3]

I agree he's giving real world data, I'd just like to see what the Tesla is capable of by going easy on it in the real world as well. You might find yourself in a situation where you'd like to know what you can really expect to get out of a full charge if you need to stretch it out.

 

[WarpedOne]

300 miles should be doable at very relaxed driving not faster then 50mph on level road.

 

[JRP3]

That would be impressive, I'd like to see it in the real world though. Has Tesla done an extended run like that to deliver those kind of numbers?

 

[dpeilow]

Reposting this here because it doesn't seem to want to appear on Tesla Founders confused. It may also be of use to other owners.

---

Hi Martin,

Shame that the Blaupunkt model I mentioned earlier is not available in your neck of the woods. It is a nice piece of kit.

However, perhaps a similar set-up to my own could be of use. I have a sat-nav phone (Nokia N82) which I use in the car. I have a Proclip phone holder from the Swedish company Brodit. This clips onto the dash of my Audi and looks like it was always part of the car. It charges the phone while in use too.

The Proclips come in two halves: One is custom designed for each car and the other is custom designed for specific phones. The result is a nice, professional looking solution rather than those cheap, messy universal holders you often see on eBay. It is also totally reversible and doesn't damage the dash.

The other part of the story is that there is a rumor TomTom (among others) are about to release their software for the iPhone 3G. This got me thinking - you could get that (is yours 3G or 2G?) and use it as your navigation solution. This would allow you to use any 1 DIN head unit that works for you.

While I find my Nokia's internal speakers loud enough for sat-nav directions, I can also route the audio through a cable to the car radio if desired. My radio doesn't have bluetooth (it's a six year old factory-fit unit), but a modern one should also be able to receive the sat-nav, music and other audio through this route too. The Proclip can also hold the iPhone control cable in position, if you prefer to use the old-fashioned method.

I checked and the US stockist doesn't carry the Proclip for Tesla or Lotus (and only for 2G iPhone just now as well), however the UK ones do have Lotus Elise / iPhone 3G versions. The location where it attaches on the dash for an Elise may be the same for a Tesla (check the dealer pictures). There are both RHD and LHD available.

Useful links

iPhone 3G satnav story: iPhone Sat-Nav Confirmed? - Mobile Fun

US Proclip dealer (maybe worth a call): ProClip Mounting System *-*Choose Your Country

UK Dealer 1: MountOnUs - Brodit Mounting Solutions for Vehicle Communication Accessories Online.
UK Dealer 2: Buy a Brodit Apple iPhone 3G Car Holder | UK

(The 2nd one was where I got mine - I'd recommend them, but they are not showing LHD in the options.)


Good luck with this, I'm sure there is a solution out there that will suit you!