-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
First Test Drive - Initial Impressions And Buying Thoughts
- Thread starter Spidey616
- Start date
In this scenario I would not get it. WV is cold and hilly and remote. In winter you will get poor range with virtually no chargers. The service center being so far away would also be a real pain as you can definitely expect to make multiple trips and they usually don’t provide loaners or any sort or human verbal contact. I guess call that service center in Pitt and verify that though. It’s a really great car but much better for warm urban environments. Agreed on the driver seat. The bottom cushion is super narrow. I’m 5-10 190 and find it barely wide enough. I would hold off and look for a decent awd ICE more suited to the mtns
LOL, if I didn't know better I would think you were talking about the Chevy Bolt! If you want to experience narrow uncomfortable seats, many people (not me) HATE the Bolt seats. West Virginia is a charging desert for CCS as well as Superchargers, Chevy dealerships are hit and miss on giving loaners, and all EV's experience less range in winter conditions
Many people wouldn't recommend any EV as an ONLY vehicle in West Virginia, but if you have an ICE backup car I wouldn't hesitate to get an EV... and with the long range and a few Superchargers I would chance it with a Tesla even as my only vehicle.Keith
eleven24
Member
Except if you can install even a 14-30 to charge at home having a supercharger nearby is not a necessity for an everyday car.
Good point. I've had my car for 15 months, and have only used a super charger twice. Once to make sure it worked, and once during a trip (ironically, the super charger was in WV).
The range hit in winter isn't nearly what it used to be, now that we have heat pumps. It's even lower if you have a 240v hookup at home so you can preheat w/o using the battery.
If you want an EV in WV and the option to travel Tesla is the only choice. I can get pretty much anywhere I need via the supercharger network. And I just found out they are building another set of superchargers in my town. These ones are V3 ones. As for power aside from that I live in a college town with more standard ev chargers being installed. Blink has 3 sets of chargers in town now for example.
I am going on another test drive this weekend with the model Y. This time I plan to take a lot more time adjusting the seat to see if I can mitigate my biggest concern. After reading and watching reviews I’m not super concerned about driving in snow or the range loss due to cold weather. None of my normal travels will be too impacted by range loss.
appreciate all the comments and feedback folks. I’ll post another update after my test drive.
I am going on another test drive this weekend with the model Y. This time I plan to take a lot more time adjusting the seat to see if I can mitigate my biggest concern. After reading and watching reviews I’m not super concerned about driving in snow or the range loss due to cold weather. None of my normal travels will be too impacted by range loss.
appreciate all the comments and feedback folks. I’ll post another update after my test drive.
Regarding the seats - I find them to be the best I’ve ever had in a car, including my Audi and Volvo. My wife said the same. As far as rear vision, doesn’t bother me at all as I drove a ‘73 Ford Maverick for years, with a similar laid-down window. But the seats in that car were bad….
Good to know that Morgantown will be getting a V3 Supercharger. When I look at the available EV charging options in that part of WV it appears that there is little to no EV public charging infrastructure in or around Clarksburg, Bridgeport or Salem. Morgantown, Weston and Parkersburg each have a Sheetz store with Supercharging available but nothing around Clarksburg. Do you know if there is any charging infrastructure planned for Clarksburg?
Clarksburg is still kind of a blank spot. There as a level 2 charger at the Mountaineer Grille next to the mall in Clarksburg. I think one of the auto dealerships has a charger too.
As for any future plans I don’t know of anything at the moment.
here the charger at Mountaineer Grille Mountaineer Grille | Bridgeport, WV | EV Station
Thank you for the information. Hopefully Clarksburg will get some additional charging infrastructure soon.
What’s daily mileage going to be?
I really think you need to take the epa range and divide by 2 for summer and 3 for winter to be safe/. The rated range is total bs downhill in hurricane stuff not sure who they pay to get those unrealistic numbers. If you can make it work at 1/2 and 1/3 range without too much drama then go for it. The biggest shortcoming of this car is just how far you can realistically go.
When/if I have to go back to the office it’s 75 miles a day I’d be putting on the car. There are others at my work who have model 3 and S that do the same trip with no issues. So I think i should be okay. I do park in parking garage too so it will limit the high and low temps as well. And I should be able to plug in with the basic 120v plug too. Since I’m there for 8-10 hours I could in theory get some battery life back while working. Keyword is in theory haha.
As long as you have a way to charge at home and at work you would have no problem. Any of the 240V charging circuits from 20A up to 60A will be able to add more than 75 miles of range to the Tesla Model Y overnight or even in 4 or 5 hours. At work, assuming you are able to charge using 120V, then you would be able to add ~30 to 40 miles of range over 10 hours, basically half of your commute's round trip distance.
Cold weather will cause your range and efficiency to drop but not as much as driving say 80 MPH. Driving in the mountains of WV your speed will be moderated by the road conditions. Regenerative braking can typically recover about half of energy used going uphill on your descent. You could even skip a day, not charge at all, and not have a range issue. For daily driving Tesla recommends only charging to no more than 90%; many charge to 80% with no range concerns.
Last edited:
eleven24
Member
Consider this then. Start the week with 275 miles of range. Charge overnight for 10 hours at 3 charge miles per hour from the 15a outlet.
monday. Starting charge 300. Return home charge 225. +overnight charge of 30 miles.
tuesday start 255. Return 180.
Wednesday. 210. 135.
thursday. 165. 90
friday. 120. 50.
That’s at charging 3 miles per hour overnight. Install a 14-30 outlet and instead of 30 miles charge per night (10 hrs) you’re getting 200-220 miles added.
I suppose there are circumstances / people where the MY won't work as a daily driver but that must be pretty rare. If you just add a 14-50 at home you can charge back almost empty to full overnight depending on how long your overnight is.
I’ll be putting a 240v plug in my garage. I fully intend to use that as my primary charging method.
you'll probably never use a super charger unless you travel then. I've used it once. To see that it worked before I ever went on a trip. Parked, plugged in, walked in to Wawa and bought a coffee, walked out and left with 44 miles added.
I don't even charge at the full 32A. I usually have it set at 15/16A
So I owe everyone an update after doing a second test drive today. First of all major kudos to the advisors at the Wexford Service Center in Pittsburgh. They were super busy today but still able to take a lot of time to chat with me.
This was a much better test drive experience mostly because when I did the destination drive at Oglebay I couldn't make it to the interstate and back in the time provided. For my test drive they recommended I go up to the nearest supercharger and then come back. That route allowed me to hit the interstate. I'll tell you this for interstate merges in PA you have a yield sign meaning merging can be a pain. Being able to have instant acceleration made it super easy to merge. That's something that can be difficult in my Outback (non-Turbo). On the interstate the car kept good track of vehicles around me. While the rear view isn't great I was able to adjust it to an okay view to see behind me. With rear passengers that could be froggy though.
Leaving the supercharger I made it a point to take backroads to get back to the service center. Autopilot/FSD handled it like a champ. Overall I was rather impressed with how the car handled and how quick it accelerated.
Once I dropped that car off at the service center one of the advisors say with me for about 20 minutes to answer any questions and talk about Tesla's expansion in the area. For anyone in the Pittsburgh area they will be building a new Service Center in Bridgeville which is a little south of Pittsburgh. For me that will be awesome as it cuts off 30 minutes of my drive to the service center. Once open it will take me about 50 minutes to get to a service center which I'm okay with for anything rangers can't handle.
My biggest concern in my first test drive was seat comfort. I'm happy to say that once I spent 5-10 minutes adjusting the seat I found what I'll call the sweet spot position. It was reclined just a bit more than I expected but it was quite comfy and I could drive like that for a long period of time. The Model Y seats are more narrow than those in my Outback. As is the 'tunnel' down to the pedals. These aren't terrible but will require adjustment. The only thing I really didn't like about the seats after my second drive is that they aren't ventilated. As a heavier guy that sweats in the summer my back got very warm in my 30 minute drive. In my Outback I could turn on the seat coolers and solve that. I really wish that was something in the Model Y. Its in the Model S refresh but I'm certainly not able to afford that one haha. Nor would I buy a car just for cooled seats.
So what's the final word? You may have gotten an idea that I walked away with most of my concerns addressed. So much so that I put the $100 down and placed an order. I wanted to lock in a price and TBH the November date is perfect for me. Why do I say that? Well I'm waiting to see if any tax incentives return for Tesla. Estimated delivery of November will give me a better chance to see how that develops and my advisor said that I can delay delivery for 90 days which would push me into 2022. That will allow me to see if any incentives look to be coming. Additionally my current vehicle is very low mileage (probably the only good thing coming out of the pandemic) and will trade in for a pretty fair sum.
The only thing that was strange is when I placed my order it wanted me to pickup in either Rockville MD or in Ohio. Both of these locations are 3+ hours away from my house and it didn't make sense seeing as Tesla has the Wexford service center 90 miles up the road. Luckily this was an easy fix. I called Tesla and they connected me to an advisor in the Ross Park Mall location. He was easily able to update my pickup location to the Wexford Service Center. He also told me that Tesla was redoing some of the regions and had moved all of PA to the Mid-Atlantic space/region instead of having it split between Eastern and Western PA. This put people in WV in a strange place where the online system didn't consider PA for delivery. Odd but easily fixable.
One other interesting thing I learned is in regards to mud flaps and PPF. According to the advisor they had been installing both upon delivery to the service center but some customers were complaining. They are now making it an option for the customer to say whether they want them or not. I was advised to just let my service advisor know when a VIN is assigned. In my case I want both the mudflaps and PPF. I live in WV and it will be November timeframe. That means rock salt and gravel on the road and I want to minimize rock spray on my car.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this post and give suggestions/comments. You all helped me make my decision and gave some great advice on how to adjust the seat/mirrors. I have to admit I'm pretty geeked out to have my order in. My birthday is in November so it would make a great birthday present to receive my model Y then.
This was a much better test drive experience mostly because when I did the destination drive at Oglebay I couldn't make it to the interstate and back in the time provided. For my test drive they recommended I go up to the nearest supercharger and then come back. That route allowed me to hit the interstate. I'll tell you this for interstate merges in PA you have a yield sign meaning merging can be a pain. Being able to have instant acceleration made it super easy to merge. That's something that can be difficult in my Outback (non-Turbo). On the interstate the car kept good track of vehicles around me. While the rear view isn't great I was able to adjust it to an okay view to see behind me. With rear passengers that could be froggy though.
Leaving the supercharger I made it a point to take backroads to get back to the service center. Autopilot/FSD handled it like a champ. Overall I was rather impressed with how the car handled and how quick it accelerated.
Once I dropped that car off at the service center one of the advisors say with me for about 20 minutes to answer any questions and talk about Tesla's expansion in the area. For anyone in the Pittsburgh area they will be building a new Service Center in Bridgeville which is a little south of Pittsburgh. For me that will be awesome as it cuts off 30 minutes of my drive to the service center. Once open it will take me about 50 minutes to get to a service center which I'm okay with for anything rangers can't handle.
My biggest concern in my first test drive was seat comfort. I'm happy to say that once I spent 5-10 minutes adjusting the seat I found what I'll call the sweet spot position. It was reclined just a bit more than I expected but it was quite comfy and I could drive like that for a long period of time. The Model Y seats are more narrow than those in my Outback. As is the 'tunnel' down to the pedals. These aren't terrible but will require adjustment. The only thing I really didn't like about the seats after my second drive is that they aren't ventilated. As a heavier guy that sweats in the summer my back got very warm in my 30 minute drive. In my Outback I could turn on the seat coolers and solve that. I really wish that was something in the Model Y. Its in the Model S refresh but I'm certainly not able to afford that one haha. Nor would I buy a car just for cooled seats.
So what's the final word? You may have gotten an idea that I walked away with most of my concerns addressed. So much so that I put the $100 down and placed an order. I wanted to lock in a price and TBH the November date is perfect for me. Why do I say that? Well I'm waiting to see if any tax incentives return for Tesla. Estimated delivery of November will give me a better chance to see how that develops and my advisor said that I can delay delivery for 90 days which would push me into 2022. That will allow me to see if any incentives look to be coming. Additionally my current vehicle is very low mileage (probably the only good thing coming out of the pandemic) and will trade in for a pretty fair sum.
The only thing that was strange is when I placed my order it wanted me to pickup in either Rockville MD or in Ohio. Both of these locations are 3+ hours away from my house and it didn't make sense seeing as Tesla has the Wexford service center 90 miles up the road. Luckily this was an easy fix. I called Tesla and they connected me to an advisor in the Ross Park Mall location. He was easily able to update my pickup location to the Wexford Service Center. He also told me that Tesla was redoing some of the regions and had moved all of PA to the Mid-Atlantic space/region instead of having it split between Eastern and Western PA. This put people in WV in a strange place where the online system didn't consider PA for delivery. Odd but easily fixable.
One other interesting thing I learned is in regards to mud flaps and PPF. According to the advisor they had been installing both upon delivery to the service center but some customers were complaining. They are now making it an option for the customer to say whether they want them or not. I was advised to just let my service advisor know when a VIN is assigned. In my case I want both the mudflaps and PPF. I live in WV and it will be November timeframe. That means rock salt and gravel on the road and I want to minimize rock spray on my car.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this post and give suggestions/comments. You all helped me make my decision and gave some great advice on how to adjust the seat/mirrors. I have to admit I'm pretty geeked out to have my order in. My birthday is in November so it would make a great birthday present to receive my model Y then.
While non of the seats on the Model Y are ventilated, cooled the Model Y does come with front row and second row heated seats. That is not to say that the seats of the Model Y do not breathe. The first time you attempt to clean the seating surface of the Model Y with a damp cloth it becomes apparent that the polyurethane upholstery breathes.
Well - there seem to be a lot of ex-Subie owners here! I too went from a Subaru - Outback touring ‘18.
I think i may be the only owner who NEVER even test drove one before buying one. If not - well shucks - there’s two of us!
i opted for the performance version, and am glad i did. The two drive modes are Chill and Sport. i got to try the Sport mode on the way back from the Mt Kisco, NY dealer. I pulled into a gas station
to grab a water, and took a minute to futz around with the options. Decided “Sport” needed a try. 
that about sums up my reaction. I stepped on the gas pedal pulling out, and it was a ‘whoa’ moment - with a ‘holy sh!t’, a big grin, and a true LOL.Overall, i like the Y. I’m actually leaning to lovin it, s have it all over Tesla owners for ease of ownership. Gas ‘n go is tons more convenient. Since I don’t have a home charger, it’s off the the local mall (but that’s only 2 miles) with my tea and kindle after prime time to charge up. I made it better… using the web access, i am able to watch Netflix… Hulu was problematic, but I can live with Netflix
The seat took some serious adjusting, i.e. little bit here, little bit there…. But now it is as best as I think possible (for now…). I feel the ‘bucket’ nature of the seat more so in the Tesla. They are firmer by far, and the side ‘bumps’ on them are felt. They could have kept the monocoque seat, and still given us a little headrest adjustment - it is after all a cutting edge vehicle - right?!
What I find mildly ‘disturbing’ is the apparent lightweight of the hood… seems a wee bit lighter gauge that makes me feel it could have been more robust for lack of a better term. I get it, lower weight, more miles….
There is still a lot to like, and everyone has their own yardstick with which to measure up the car. I like mine, and actually look forward to driving it each day. I am a tinkerer by nature, and already have some items on order to ‘customize‘ it. In particular the overcoil mod to smooth out the bumpy ride - oh - THAT’s the only thing I guess I’m not thrilled with - you feel all the bumps. (This mod will take it to BMWX5 level)
….haven’t made mine dance yet…..
YMMV
