Is the Model S made for Canadian winters?

[Peter_M]

A couple of days ago it was so slippery...

I was at a stop light. My wheels were straight and the road was level. The light went green and I eased onto the throttle. The stability control kicked in for my front left wheel. Front??? It's an RWD car! How does that even happen?

Did I say it was crazy slippery?

I often have stability control kicking in on the front left as I accelerate out of a roundabout if the road is wet or snowy. The first time it happened, I thought I had hit a chunk of ice or something - it's quite noisy. I think it's braking in reaction to a bit of oversteer. It seems to happen way more often coming out of a roundabout than at a normal right turn, so I wonder if going from turning left to turning right while accelerating somehow triggers it more easily.

 

[Doug_G]

I often have stability control kicking in on the front left as I accelerate out of a roundabout if the road is wet or snowy. The first time it happened, I thought I had hit a chunk of ice or something - it's quite noisy. I think it's braking in reaction to a bit of oversteer. It seems to happen way more often coming out of a roundabout than at a normal right turn, so I wonder if going from turning left to turning right while accelerating somehow triggers it more easily.

Yeah, that's all pretty normal. There has been some really slippery weather recently; I guess it's just the right temperature or something. The fresh wet snow is really slick. Seem to be getting a lot of that. Salt/sand seems to fix it pretty much instantaneously, so it's really only a problem when it's freshly falling.

On Friday I had my back end kick out on a gentle corner. I was driving under 40 kph and because it was mildly downhill I was slightly regenning. I guess that was all it took! I automatically started to countersteer, but but the stability control kicked in and straightened the car. No doubt Stability Control makes things safer, but it sure is a lot less fun. :frown: Looking forward to the ice racing next month...

 

[Spurkey]

I often have stability control kicking in on the front left as I accelerate out of a roundabout if the road is wet or snowy. The first time it happened, I thought I had hit a chunk of ice or something - it's quite noisy. I think it's braking in reaction to a bit of oversteer. It seems to happen way more often coming out of a roundabout than at a normal right turn, so I wonder if going from turning left to turning right while accelerating somehow triggers it more easily.

Doubtful. Oversteer is when the rear of a car gets going faster than the front, typically from weight transferring forward for a variety of reasons. Braking at the front is the worst thing one should do in that situation.

 

[Aussie Bob]

My Model S is currently enjoying its fourth Canadian winter. No problems.

Yes the windows and door handles tend to get crunchy if you get a car wash at -10C or below. I recommend that you either (a) wash the car on a warmer day, or (b) immediately drive it home and park it in a garage (my garage is unheated but still ends up quite a bit warmer than outdoors).

The door handles are designed to burst through a pretty thick layer of ice, and I've seen them do just that. I did have one occasion after washing the car that one of the handles didn't retract well, but it didn't interfere with the operation of the door and it melted out by the next day.

When I washed the car in winter weather, I use my shammy cloths to wipe off the water on the extended handles as well as the inside cover of the charging unit. Then I park in the garage. I have found this helps stop the crunching sounds on the door handles and allows them to open. Drying the inside of the charging unit cover allows it to open when you want to charge.

 

[McMuggets]

No problems here so far. In fact, I am loving the instant start even in the dead of winter. I routinely have it parked outside with no plugging in, no issues at all and very minimal "battery range loss". I found it actually seems to regain charge slowly (because the percentage charge stays the same and doesn't go down even though I'm driving) as you drive and the battery warms up, as if more range in added when the battery gets warmer with use.

No issues with door handles or mirrors either. Must admit it feels kind of cool to see the door handles pop out and break through the ice. The heated mirrors really are a nice touch, and very convenient to not see frost ever on them. So far, a very good vehicle for the Calgary winter.

 

[Doug_G]

When I washed the car in winter weather, I use my shammy cloths to wipe off the water on the extended handles as well as the inside cover of the charging unit. Then I park in the garage. I have found this helps stop the crunching sounds on the door handles and allows them to open. Drying the inside of the charging unit cover allows it to open when you want to charge.

Good idea. I'm also finding my charge port gets glued shut. A couple of times I've also had difficulty inserting the plug. This never happened in previous years so I'm thinking the rubber seal on the back of the door may not be working properly anymore.

 

[RiverBrick]

...

On Friday I had my back end kick out on a gentle corner. I was driving under 40 kph and because it was mildly downhill I was slightly regenning. I guess that was all it took! I automatically started to countersteer, but but the stability control kicked in and straightened the car...

Did the car automatically cut regen as part of its correction?

 

[edwolb]

Few more things that are starting to bug me about winter driving my MS:

- Mirror heaters seem to be "ok". Doesn't seem to heat up to remove frost and snow around the edges of the mirror.
- Lack of pre-heat for rear defrost/windshield wipers/front defrost/seat heaters/steering wheel. I want every part of my MS burning through ice before I get to it
- If I forget to preheat at all, even at -5C I completely lose regenerative braking. It takes 15 mins of driving to get it back. Somehow pre-heating for even 5 mins gives me limited regen. This makes pre-planning the smallest of drives important, but also a nuisance. "damn, forgot to preheat, I guess i'll leave 10 mins later"
- Lack of front engine means I have to sweep my frunk. Before pre-heating my ICE would melt the hood of my car = no sweeping! (I know, i'm just whining now )

That said, I do love that I don't have to hear my ICE *struggle* to achieve ignition. No way I'm going back to an ICE, but still lots of room for improvement if you ask me. A quick software update could easily address a lot of the pre-heating needs.

 

[Jaff]

I heard some guys have used electric leaf blowers to dry out the nooks & crannies in freezing temps...I tried it around the charge port and door handle areas...has worked pretty well so far!

 

[Doug_G]

Did the car automatically cut regen as part of its correction?

Hard to tell. There wasn't much in the first place - might not have even been a factor in breaking loose - and I was paying attention to car control not looking at the console. The stability control fairly yanked the car straight, so I think that's what did it.

 

[agloutney]

Ok I'm a bit late to the thread but I've been doing something that helps with the stuck windows. This is my second winter with the car but first winter I do this. I leave it in a heated (5°c) garage at home but outside at work. Before leaving the garage in the morning I roll the windows all the way down and then back up. They pick up excess moisture inside the door. Wipe them down and off you go. Before leaving the car to cold soak after a 30 minute drive to work I again roll down my window and roll it back up to make sure the seal is free. So far I have had success doing this.

 

[wayner]

... Before leaving the garage in the morning I roll the windows all the way down and then back up. They pick up excess moisture inside the door....

I thought that this was unique to my Model S but I find that my car tends to pick up moisture from rolling the windows down and back up for a day or two after a hard rain or after a car wash. I don't remember this from my previous vehicles so it seems to me that given that your experience is similar to mine - the seal on the window of a Model S is not very good at stopping moisture from leaking down into the interior of the door.

 

[green1]

I thought that this was unique to my Model S but I find that my car tends to pick up moisture from rolling the windows down and back up for a day or two after a hard rain or after a car wash. I don't remember this from my previous vehicles so it seems to me that given that your experience is similar to mine - the seal on the window of a Model S is not very good at stopping moisture from leaking down into the interior of the door.

I have never seen a car that did not have this issue.

 

[Peter_M]

Doubtful. Oversteer is when the rear of a car gets going faster than the front, typically from weight transferring forward for a variety of reasons. Braking at the front is the worst thing one should do in that situation.

Well I'm not sure if it's technically oversteer, but the rear end slides a bit left as I'm turning right and accelerating, and whatever the car does, it yanks me back into the centre of the lane. Very effective.

 

[McMuggets]

Just to get the word out to any Canadians for fence sitters waiting to pull the trigger. Our dollar has been hit hard but Tesla hasn't adjusted prices yet:

Tesla is still charging only 27% premium, instead of 45% which accurately reflects the Canadian dollar now.

 

[mknox]

- Lack of front engine means I have to sweep my frunk. Before pre-heating my ICE would melt the hood of my car = no sweeping! (I know, i'm just whining now )

Yes, I noticed that too! One other drawback of no ICE is that the power steering system can get a bit stiff in the cold. On really cold days, I notice that when I pull off the freeway that the steering is quite stiff for a bit.

 

[sitter_k]

Just to get the word out to any Canadians for fence sitters waiting to pull the trigger. Our dollar has been hit hard but Tesla hasn't adjusted prices yet:

Tesla is still charging only 27% premium, instead of 45% which accurately reflects the Canadian dollar now.

I'm in the market for CPO think those prices will be adjusted? I think remaining stock will stay the same new stock will come in at a higher price. They say used cars are a good deal in Canada now for Americans.

 

[McMuggets]

I'm in the market for CPO think those prices will be adjusted? I think remaining stock will stay the same new stock will come in at a higher price. They say used cars are a good deal in Canada now for Americans.

I'm not sure. I mean, everything has to go back to being USD's right? I do know that Tesla has adjusted their CAD$ pricing suddenly for new orders, but pre-owned adjustments are anyones guess. If you are on the fence, I might suggest you deposit and lock in the price (see if the deposit is refundable?).

 

[Jaff]

With the exchange differential between the USD / CAD happening so quickly, the supply of CPO vehicles in Canada may shrink significantly (if most current Model S owners sell their vehicles to the U.S. market...)...this should cause the price of a CPO in Canada to rise...but, you may not find a CPO unit that you desire (colour / options / etc.)

I'm in the market for CPO think those prices will be adjusted? I think remaining stock will stay the same new stock will come in at a higher price. They say used cars are a good deal in Canada now for Americans.

 

[sitter_k]

With the exchange differential between the USD / CAD happening so quickly, the supply of CPO vehicles in Canada may shrink significantly (if most current Model S owners sell their vehicles to the U.S. market...)...this should cause the price of a CPO in Canada to rise...but, you may not find a CPO unit that you desire (colour / options / etc.)

You're right I'm holding on for a awd model with next gen seats. There isn't a single one in Canada which makes me think they might be shipped to the US.