Journalist runs out of power in a rented Tesla and writes a review.

[ThosEM]

That is why he ran out of power. The car uses an alien drive train when compared to something he is used to. It is not surprising that he didn't understand how it works and how to operate it properly.

There is nothing "alien" about the Tesla drive train in terms of finite energy supply. I think it's quite likely he wanted to run out. But in doing so, he was dramatizing and reiterating a point made in the infamous NYT article:

Tesla misleads drivers by advertising an inaccurate remaining range on the instrument panel energy gauge. If the gauge says we can go XXX miles, and our trip was XXX-20 miles, then we should be able to make the trip, period. If we can't, we have been mislead, and Tesla is to blame. Let's find out if we can make the trip we planned on, i.e., whether Tesla is being honest with us. Clearly Tesla is not being honest with us if we run out. Hmnn, we ran out...

That's the logic Tesla is facing, and Tesla is not, so far, responding to the challenge. Every automobile with a trip computer advertises a remaining range number that is updated continuously on the basis of recent driving consumption, EXCEPT a Tesla. Anyone who watches that number in any other car knows that it changes continuously based on driving conditions and understands quickly that the number is an estimate and not a guarantee, and Your Mileage May Vary.

True, one can bring up such a number on the Model S touch screen Energy App, but how long will it take for a new Tesla driver to discover and figure out how to effectively use this feature? Moreover, hasn't every new Tesla driver been admonished that everything they need is on the instrument panel, and not to be distracted by the touch screen while driving?

Tesla simply must respond to this "honesty" challenge. If they do not, there are going to be long term consequences. And it is an absolutely trivial thing to fix.

 

[pairtrader]

In areas with a lot of EVs, AAA has this:

AAA Unveils Roadside EV Quick-Charging Truck in Seattle | PluginCars.com

This is great. When people ask me what happens if I run out of power, I tell them that being towed is a temporary issue and that the tow trucks of the future will give EVs a boost rather than actually towing them. Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen this yet.

 

[Owner]

I just did this exact trip a few days ago.. Part of my cross country journey.

It has been windy out there, so I decided to go through Vegas as I like to drive fast. The Barstow to Kingman route is a stretch.

Supercharger Compromises? | Tesla Owner

 

[Calvin.K]

This is great. When people ask me what happens if I run out of power, I tell them that being towed is a temporary issue and that the tow trucks of the future will give EVs a boost rather than actually towing them. Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen this yet.

http://www.viamotors.com/vehicles/electric-truck/ Via Trucks also have power export
"Power where you need it—at home or the workplace. 120 and 240 volt outlets right on the back of the truck provide easy access for work or emergency. Now you can plug your house into your truck in an emergency! The VTRUX power export module option provides 10 kW at 50 amps of onboard mobile power. A utility grade output module, now in development, is designed to provide 50 kW of mobile emergency power to keep critical facilities online."

 

[scaesare]

I actually think that article was pretty even-handed. Starting out with a range of almost 20% more miles than you need seems reasonable.

Did he ignore the wind and elevation changes? Yes.

Given the ubiquity of gas stations, is that something most ICE drivers aren't used to having to factor so closely? Yes.

The experience was an unfortunate one, but he seems to be pretty factual with what the car is capable of, what Tesla is doing regarding superchargers and what you can reasonably expect from them, and what the alternatives are.

He highlights the successful cross-country trip of another owner. He even discusses having "learned his lesson" and mentions being sad about giving the car back.

We EV nerds here on this site are not only a subset of the the Tesla ownership community who likely also is not nearly as "in tune" with what the car can do, but a VAST MINORITY of the general population, who's only experience is with ICE cars and thus completely ignorant of what EV's do. As such, expectation setting is necessary, and when the car presents information that can lead to unexpected results, then education is necessary.

Part of that education will take place in society at large (media, word-of-mouth, 1st and 2nd hand experience, etc...). That sort of coverage can unfortunately can grossly misrepresent things. As a media story covering a "negative event" this wasn't bad at all, IMO.

The other part of that education has to come from Tesla. If your first exposure to this computer on wheels is getting in your rental and it tells you you can go 250 miles and you only need to go 210, you probably believe it. I note that if you just look at the dash, there is no word "ESTIMATE"on it.

My computer is usually pretty darn accurate when it tells me I have an hour of battery life left, as is my phone... but most folks had to learn the hard way that if they change their usage pattern drastically, the estimates change.... you lose that last 10% of battery on your iPhone awfully fast if you spend it all as talk-time. People probably don't expect that in a car.

So Tesla is working on these things... they provide energy graphs in the car, but if you asked the average driver to launch it, use the correct settings, and then interpret what they man and make a judgement call as if to they should over-ride what the car is telling them on the dash, do you think they could? Probably not... so let;s keep working on how to make the car prevent information in a more useful manner. Elon's stated goal of incorporating eind and elevation in to the onboard nav is a great example of doing this...

So I may be in the minority, but unlike Broder, who had an obvious agenda that was exposed, I think this guy did all right by us, and I hope will help people to understand where we are in the wild-n-woolly pioneering days of pure EV ownership...

 

[AnOutsider]

So I may be in the minority, but unlike Broder, who had an obvious agenda that was exposed, I think this guy did all right by us, and I hope will help people to understand where we are in the wild-n-woolly pioneering days of pure EV ownership...

I'm with you actually. I think we, as EV owners and "enthusiasts", forget that the public doesn't know what we know. In an ICE, sure some of them have displays that tell estimated miles left, but most just look at the gauge to see how far they are from "E". As also pointed out, refilling an ICE is quick and easy compared to an EV.

When folks ask, I tell them: yes, it takes more planning and attention than you may be used to for longer trips, but for day-to-day, it can't be beat.

 

[andrewket]

Perhaps Tesla needs to either replace rated range on the instrument panel with estimated range, or it needs to add it? Another option- show battery SOC as a percentage and right next to it the 15-mile estimated range. People are used to seeing battery capacity expressed as a percentage.

Personally I have no problem with rated range, and then estimated range on the energy app. It would be nice if the energy app in the instrument cluster showed estimated range. I think that's the one thing missing on the graph compared to the graph on the 17" display.

 

[malcolm]

Tesla simply must respond to this "honesty" challenge. If they do not, there are going to be long term consequences. And it is an absolutely trivial thing to fix.

I agree that it's trivial to "fix" - a simple dismissable start-up message reminder on the 17" screen that range values are an estimate and/or an "Estimated Range" label next to the number on the dash.

But the question does need to be asked: Who hands over a serious sum of money for new technology without familiarising themselves with how it works?

There will always be those who choose to ignore whatever fix or guidance or instruction you give them just as there will always be people who exploit lemon laws and auto journalists who need hits on their websites and big automakers who want to spread the FUD; such people will always prefer to ignore the cars' indicators and/or Tesla's best efforts. There is no "fix" that will satisfy these people because their agenda demands problems, not solutions.

Attempting to make something idiot-proof always underestimates the determination of idiots.

Yet the comments section to this article shows there is a growing number of people who are losing patience with these basic EV errors.
And thousands run out of petrol every day - where are the "long term consequences" for ICE manufacturers? There are none.

 

[Ugliest1]

I actually think that article was pretty even-handed.

+1. At first I was thinking the author was negligent in doing at least a bit of research, but then I started thinking about the Model E, and the majority of people who will [hopefully] be buying it. My guess is most of those buyers won't want to do *any* thinking and *zero* research. The ones who will seamlessly get it are those with competitor cars who are replacing them, and those who have followed Tesla for years, couldn't afford the earlier models, and have been saving and planning their assault to get that #1 reservation spot -- they have lived and breathed the mind-set change already.

So, all that leads me to the conclusion that this article was a very realistic one, and balanced (the author learned), and points out a few areas where Tesla needs to improve even more, to be ready for that influx of the non-EV knowledgeable in (fingers crossed) 2017/18.

 

[ecarfan]

Tesla misleads drivers by advertising an inaccurate remaining range on the instrument panel energy gauge. If the gauge says we can go XXX miles, and our trip was XXX-20 miles, then we should be able to make the trip, period. If we can't, we have been mislead, and Tesla is to blame...
That's the logic Tesla is facing, and Tesla is not, so far, responding to the challenge. Every automobile with a trip computer advertises a remaining range number that is updated continuously on the basis of recent driving consumption, EXCEPT a Tesla. Anyone who watches that number in any other car knows that it changes continuously based on driving conditions and understands quickly that the number is an estimate and not a guarantee...
Tesla simply must respond to this "honesty" challenge. If they do not, there are going to be long term consequences. And it is an absolutely trivial thing to fix.

It's not trivial to fix, in my opinion, but it is fixable to a large extent. I suspect that the future V6.0 firmware is going to include just such a fix in that it will factor in temperature, elevation changes, headwinds, speed, etc. into the displayed range figure when a route is set in the nav. But if no route is set then the range figure can't possibly be accurate since the car can't read the driver's mind.

And ICE cars with trip computers probably don't factor in temperature, elevation changes, headwinds, either but drivers don't care because there are usually gas stations available. Of course running out of gas in an ICE is hardly unusual but it's not a news story. It's also easier to rectify since all that is needed is a few gallons of gas from a tow truck driver.

The writer of the article was generally even-handed but made a major mistake in driving the car to zero displayed SOC. He didn't understand the issues involved with driving an EV, the rental company probably didn't bother to educate him and he simply accepted Tesla's marketing pitch about how easy it is to drive a Model S from one Supercharger to the next, as most people would. He should have started out with a 100% charge, or closer to it, but of course he believed the displayed range figure was literally accurate.

 

[roblab]

In the long ago days when computers were first coming along, many people just could not understand that a computer even needed to be plugged in, and were considered "too stupid to own a computer". These days, there are still a lot of those people around. My cousin just got her smart phone, and the cell phone company signed her up for "classes" to run her phone. Do I have to say she's over 60?

When I was charging at Kingman after a little jaunt over from Barstow, the guy running the Art Store nearby was telling me that Teslas get brought in "a lot" on flat beds after running out of juice. Seems some Tesla drivers didn't understand that driving over 75 does not get you to the charger easier.

Someone at Tesla needs to figure out that there are a lot of people who don't understand how an EV works. Some don't even WANT to know. There need to be classes. A short quiz could reveal whether or not this personality type will ever be able to figure out that driving faster will NOT get you to the next charger more safely, or whether they can understand the information presented. While there are a lot of people who can figure it out without help, there are still people out there who are "too stupid to own a computer" without a lot of help.

 

[Matias]

I think the article was well written.

When trip is 209 miles and car tells it can go 247 miles, average consumer of course thinks he has enough capacity to make the trip.

I would not blame the driver for believing what the car tells to him.

If Tesla wants to sell model E to average consumers, Tesla has to understand this.

 

[malcolm]

Maybe there needs to be a quick quiz with multiple choice answers which appears on the 17" screen.

Or better yet a "Did you know..." pop-up every time you login to Tesla Motors to check on your order progress. It could show important sections of the dashboard and highlight key differences to ICE cars, daily checks, tire care, explain supercharging, homelink, blutooth etc etc etc.... to a captive and (hopefully) motivated audience.

Essentially it would feature important extracts from the relevant user manual for people who can't be bothered to RTFM

This "online training" for owners awaiting delivery would be another unique advantage over the traditional dealership. Could include interactive elements with videos, quizzes and options to e-mail questions to the owner trainers.

 

[scaesare]

And what's more, when re-using an existing paradigm people are familiar with (miles remaining, "fuel" gauges, etc...) and they behave differently, it will take time and effort to get people to understand the changes...

 

[physicsfita]

Someone at Tesla needs to figure out that there are a lot of people who don't understand how an EV works. Some don't even WANT to know. There need to be classes. A short quiz could reveal whether or not this personality type will ever be able to figure out that driving faster will NOT get you to the next charger more safely, or whether they can understand the information presented. While there are a lot of people who can figure it out without help, there are still people out there who are "too stupid to own a computer" without a lot of help.

I agree with this -- when I got my Prius in 2007, they were still uncommon enough in Michigan that the dealer offered monthly Prius classes. They did a very good job of deflating myths that surrounded hybrids at the time -- they made it very clear that running E85 would ruin the engine, that running out of gas would require a tow (and not just a can of gas), the best ways to get good mileage, etc. I had done a lot research before buying, and I still learned a lot. It was also very handy for dealing with a lot of the "off-the-wall" questions that I had during "Prius time" (it was amazing how many people thought it was an electric car, and were surprised to see one at a gas pump!). When I (hopefully) get a Model E, Tesla will be doing something similar.

 

[malcolm]

it will take time and effort to get people to understand the changes...

I wonder if Tesla - or some of the forum genii here present - could write a mobile phone version of the manual. I suppose I'm thinking of a sort of Model S, X or E FAQ.

Maybe something that links to or adds functionality to the various existing Phone Apps.

ETA:

There is certainly a need for some sort of noob-friendly phone-based Interactive EV Journey Planner which shows your journey as a line on a map but can also work out/optimise your travel time based on preferred speeds and recharge stop duration options.
(caveat: nothing is fool-proof)

 

[SummerlinModelS]

I've always thought that the remaining miles indicator was bad and didn't make as much sense as something showing how much capacity is left in the battery. In fact, I'll take the range and multiply by 300 in my head to know what's in the battery. The average person thinks about driving and "I still have half a tank" or "quarter of a tank" and the remaining capacity in the battery would be a similar benchmark.

Although most people understand that they don't get the EPA mileage from their gas car, they don't necessarily relate that to elevation changes and driving faster than some sort of "baseline" speed. So, this similar performance drain doesn't compute when the car says it has "108 miles range remaining". I'd much rather show battery charge remaining on the display, which can be related to the number of kWh's used since last charge, which the car DOES show.

 

[Zaxxon]

And what's more, when re-using an existing paradigm people are familiar with (miles remaining, "fuel" gauges, etc...) and they behave differently, it will take time and effort to get people to understand the changes...

On every car I've owned with a miles-to-empty estimate, that estimate has been fairly accurate. If my Prius tells me I have 247 miles left, you can bet I'm going to make it more than 209 before running out even if it's snowing and I'm driving 75. I actually think the issue in this case isn't one of education, but rather one of making the default miles remaining gauge more accurate. Owners here on TMC are unanimous in their understanding that the miles-remaining gauge that displays in the main instrument cluster is almost always highly optimistic. That's a problem.

Weather, road conditions and driving style are going to have an impact, and that should be taken into account to the best ability of the car. Base the estimate on the rolling 5- or 15-mile average and this problem is suddenly much, much less apparent. The functionality is already built into the vehicle--put it in the instrument cluster. That, or change the default view to a % charge rather than miles remaining. Enthusiasts will take the time and effort to do the largely-unnecessary mental math to translate the inaccurate display number into a more accurate estimate. Gen III buyers won't be so understanding.

 

[malcolm]

Rather than a gauge, or a number or a graph, I'd rather see the estimated range displayed on the map as concentric circles centred on the car's present location.

You could have the usual options to make the circles just outlines or shaded with different levels of transparency (the default). And just like a target in archery the outermost circle has the lowest value - 50mph, the next 70mph and the smallest 90mph (these could be set to other values if preferred - and the circle radius would adjust accordingly).

I suppose there could also be an optional fourth circle (contrasting outline) based on your previous five/ten miles of driving.

As the battery drains, all circles shrink.

As you recharge/supercharge they grow (and the colours/text could change so that the smallest circle shows "Range Now", the next one out shows "Projected Range with a further half an hour of charging from now" and the largest shows "Projected range with +1 hr of charging from now"- based on your most recent driving behaviour. Again other preferred values could be selected/set here as well).

Cold weather shrinks your circles as does pack age, charger dial back etc. But the car's systems would know all this.

Would be great if this could duplicate to your phone as well.

 

[GDH]

In areas with a lot of EVs, AAA has this:

AAA Unveils Roadside EV Quick-Charging Truck in Seattle | PluginCars.com

Nice, thanks :wink: