Journey with my New 70D

[NC70D]

I would like to say that after many months of reading the forum, I am a new member with an expected 70D delivery in the coming weeks.

It all started earlier this year when I test drove an acquaintances standard 85. First time behind the wheel of a Tesla. I didn't even play with the touchscreen during the drive, as I was too focused on comparing the drive to my benchmark of how a car should drive(a BMW sedan is about as good as it gets for me). I was blown away from my short 5 mile test drive. I was hooked then and there. I felt like I had driven the future of the automobile and it was all that I could think about. I began investigating the Model S thoroughly, and searching for a CPO I liked. After months, a 70D nearly identical to what I would build new popped up at a good price. I ordered it that night and currently am waiting for it to ship to NC.

White 70D, Autopilot Tan Next Gen Obeche Gloss Subzero Premium

I look forward to posting more about my experience as it unfolds.

Thanks,

NC70D

 

[ahurst]

Congrats

 

[David99]

Drive it all the way to California! We should do a Tesla get together here

 

[pedriscoll]

You will absolutely love it. After 5 months and 9000 miles I still smile every morning when I settle behind the wheel and start my drive to work. On weekends I look for any excuse to take a drive.

 

[tomp]

Welcome! A weekend trip to Wilmington (from the Durham area) was our first trip with our MS, over a year and a half ago. We took delivery on, if I recall, a Thursday or Friday, and then had a brief weekend trip to Wilmington.

 

[NC70D]

Just took delivery today, and drove home from the Raleigh location. Drive was a great way to get acclimated to the car and test Autopilot in many situations. I will post more in depth over the weekend.

 

[CHGolferJim]

Just took delivery today, and drove home from the Raleigh location. Drive was a great way to get acclimated to the car and test Autopilot in many situations. I will post more in depth over the weekend.

Picked up mine today in Raleigh at 1:00 pm. Did you get the white one or the blue one?

 

[NC70D]

Picked up mine today in Raleigh at 1:00 pm. Did you get the white one or the blue one?

White. I was there first thing in the morning. I saw your car, it looked good!

 

[Discoducky]

You will absolutely love it. After 5 months and 9000 miles I still smile every morning when I settle behind the wheel and start my drive to work. On weekends I look for any excuse to take a drive.

And that feeling lasts. 3 years now in my 60 kWh....happy motoring!

 

[ArtInCT]

Congrats All, I will be there in a few months. Expecting late March 2016 delivery.

 

[NC70D]

Picking up the car in Raleigh, was a quick and easy process. I traded in my previous vehicle to Tesla, signed a few pieces of paper, went over a few things in the car with one of the delivery specialists and I was on my way. I had asked the team to fully charge the car as I had a potentially busy day of driving ahead of me and no prior experience or knowledge basis for how my range would be. I drove just over 140 miles home and used approximately 170 rated miles. I think the exact number of extra miles used was around 27. Driving mostly on the interstate with autopilot set to 75 mph, the car felt wonderful and impressed me thoroughly. It was neat to see autopilot quickly learn that I did not want to take exit ramps, and watch its behavior as it would no longer attempt to exit the interstate all by itself. During the drive, I was able to explore the Touchscreen display features, and the steering wheel controls for the instrument cluster. Having watched numerous videos on YouTube, I had a good understanding of what I could and could not do with the systems. However, all of the videos on YouTube at the time were of the prior user interface, and the slight tweaks for version 7 did indeed look a little bit different. But, I found the improvements in aesthetics to be very well-done in my opinion, and also very intuitive to operate. I arrived home that afternoon and of course played with the car on and off all evening long, scheduling the car to charge fully overnight due to a short weekend trip first thing Saturday morning.

The 90 mile trip up the coast used 87 miles of rated range with speeds in the mid 50s and was a very encouraging experience. At the condo of my in-laws, no high speed charging is present and therefore I had to make do with a 110 V outlet. Fortunately, the car was pulling 122 V and 12 amps for a charging speed of 4 mph. With friends and family excited about the new car, and asking us if we would be able to make it home, it was nice to show them that an electric vehicle was not an imposition for a trip like this. Giving several people their first Tesla experiences on Saturday was great fun. I am sure I don't even need to list the questions that many of you have received the first time someone gets a chance to ask you about the car, so I won't list them. We returned home Sunday beating Saturday's efficiency by one or two miles of rated range used. I think it was a wonderful first road trip for my wife to see the functionality of the car, As well as her being able to see first hand we do not have to do anything special for charging, driving less, etc.

 

[NC70D]

Some interesting points of data from the holidays(some not so interesting). We drove 162 miles last night and used 52.4kwh averaging 324h/mi.

Range charge to 241 rated miles, arrived with 48 rated miles left, which is 193 rated miles consumed. Speeds of 72 for nearly the entire trip on Autopilot. The first 60 miles were on damp roads and showed approx 315Wh/mi. Afterwards we encountered rain that bumped it up to 375 for the few miles of torrential downpour. That is a good 20% more energy usage for the heavy rain. The light rain seemed to be barely worth mentioning. The heavy rain showed up on the display as cars on either side. FYI my ratio of actual miles to rated miles was just under 1.2 rated miles for every 1 actual mile driven.

This morning I drove to the Burlington supercharger for my first supercharge! Distance was 34.3 miles and rated miles went from 81 down to 42. 10.7kwh used and 311h/mi average. (Range mode on)
On the return trip, 34.8 miles(same route just extra distance due to opposite side of highway for both entrance and exit ramps).Rated miles went from 231 down to 191. 9.9kwh used and 284h/mi averaged. (Range mode off)

So, both legs were on damp roads with some light drizzle. Autopilot was set to 68. I find it interesting the range mode setting being turned off on the return trip with significantly less wh/mi.

 

[Max*]

A lot of things affect wh/mi. Outside temperature, speed, headwind vs. tailwind, rain/snow, elevation changes, etc.

So you can't compare the trip in opposite directions, and insinuate that range mode didn't help.

 

[jerry33]

So, both legs were on damp roads with some light drizzle. Autopilot was set to 68. I find it interesting the range mode setting being turned off on the return trip with significantly less wh/mi.

Range Mode is most helpful on short trips because it tries to avoid using battery power to warm the battery. On long trips, once the battery warms up, it doesn't do a lot--true in spades when Supercharging. Also most trips have a "good direction" and a "bad direction". And like Max says, there are a lot of factors.

 

[Max*]

Range Mode is most helpful on short trips because it tries to avoid using battery power to warm the battery. On long trips, once the battery warms up, it doesn't do a lot--true in spades when Supercharging. Also most trips have a "good direction" and a "bad direction". And like Max says, there are a lot of factors.

I thought range mode also torque sleeps one of the motors on the D models?

 

[California Roll]

The 90 mile trip up the coast used 87 miles of rated range with speeds in the mid 50s and was a very encouraging experience. At the condo of my in-laws, no high speed charging is present and therefore I had to make do with a 110 V outlet. Fortunately, the car was pulling 122 V and 12 amps for a charging speed of 4 mph. .

Were you able to fully recharge with 110V while at in-laws?

 

[jerry33]

I thought range mode also torque sleeps one of the motors on the D models?

You're right, it does but there is only 10 miles EPA range difference between the 70D and the S70. A 5% gain isn't that much. Even if it's 10% highway gain and -5% city gain, that's still not a lot during cold weather driving.
.

 

[NC70D]

Well, it has been nearly a year since I last posted...although I have been on the forums nearly every day. Planning to give some more updates in the coming days. I have been enjoying the car and in the last year put some 14k miles on it. And, it is not my daily driver. I have driven it across the state numerous times, a trip to DC, and a trip to Jacksonville Fl. I will post some info./thoughts and observations from these trips. I also have some long distance travel ahead planned for the next 10 days. I will be posting about that as well.

NC70D