First negative article on the S!

[jordanthompson]

Their car's screen actually developed a wierd pixelation and they note some issues about power-down that occur if the doors are not completely closed.

Times Test Garage: Tesla Model S reveals some gremlins - latimes.com

 

[jerry33]

Discussed here starting at post #927. I read the article and it's obvious he didn't do any research before taking the test drive.

 

[JackA]

Guess they should have gotten the leather seats... which according to the Tesla site are heated.

 

[vfx]

Their car's screen actually developed a wierd pixelation and they note some issues about power-down that occur if the doors are not completely closed.

Times Test Garage: Tesla Model S reveals some gremlins - latimes.com

Read the matter-of-fact comments from Model S owners. The author did not read the manual, Tesla's website, or even contact anyone at Tesla (even a store or service site) to ask questions before writing. I hope he does an update.

 

[VolkerP]

It's nice to see three Model S owners commenting on that article. Alas, the "heated seats" issue was dismissed inappropriately - "well, get the leather seats!". That's another $1,500, and not everyone is fine with leather.

Power consumption is 20/50W per seat in the Tesla Roadster. When sitting in the Roadster, I found the "hi" setting at 50W nice to warm up, then switched to "low"/20W after 5 minutes.

Any EV must have all it's seats heated. It's far more efficient than cabin heating. According to Model S owners guide, the fuses for front seat heating are 15A per seat, for a total of 360W max (assuming 12V here :wink. There appears to be no fuse inside the Model S fuse boxes for the heat pump, possibly because it runs off the high voltage circuit. The heat pump uses what? 500W? -- far more inefficient to get a warm back.

 

[GSP]

I agree that all seats in all EVs should be heated. The Volt's 300v resistive heater is about 6000W, two orders of magnitude more power than turning on the driver's heated seat. I expect the Leaf, Roadster. And Model S are about the same.

Maybe one of the lucky Model S owners will post the power draw of the heat, A/C, and HVAC fan at low and high settings.

GSP

 

[strider]

Article is now marked "Updated" and includes some (updates).