Kelly Blue Book Video, Los Angeles to Vegas

[CapitalistOppressor]

2013 Tesla Model S: LA to Vegas the Hard Way (VIDEO) - Kelley Blue Book


Harsh at times. Good review though ultimately.

 

[Bearman]

Unlucky start there but I liked the review, lots of grins :smile:

 

[Grendal]

2013 Tesla Model S: LA to Vegas the Hard Way (VIDEO) - Kelley Blue Book


Harsh at times. Good review though ultimately.

This is what the Broder article should have been if didn't have an agenda. It still shows range anxiety but the guy is clear he has never driven one before. His conclusion is that he absolutely loves the car and understood why it won all the awards.

 

[Citizen-T]

I think the takeaways here are: One, Tesla's superchargers are acceptable for long range travel, but other chargers aren't; and two, the Model S would have been just fine if they didn't start with such little range because of the nail episode.

I wish they would have made that a little more clear. Otherwise, I really did like it.

 

[ElSupreme]

at 11:40 he is going 88 mph. Nice!

And the clip of the Prius passing them at the end of the '58 mph' segment was hysterical.

 

[dsm363]

Funny video. Sounds like he left the Supercharger early as well at one point but they made it.

 

[vfx]

Oh yeah, This reminded me. Regarding the NYT drive and Broder's comment about "damaging the battery". Supercharging does not damage the battery! Tesla was quite emphatic about that. If I had one I would have remembered.


Can we add that to the NYT fiblist?

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Funny video. Sounds like he left the Supercharger early as well at one point but they made it.

That's a big reason to cut the distance between chargers: since charging slows as the battery fills, if you* could short charge consistently it would save time overall.

* You as in "you lucky people".

 

[markwj]

The English expression 'harsh but fair' fits. Good, and bad, I really like the review and though it well balanced.

They showed the 'fun' aspects of the car, as well as how driving boringly could extend the range dramatically.

Well done, Kelly Blue Book.

 

[Jason S]

He was doing something very much ICE related however -- he was treating 0 miles of range as actually empty.

We now know there is an additional reserve, just not one you'd want to count on.

 

[CapitalistOppressor]

He was doing something very much ICE related however -- he was treating 0 miles of range as actually empty.

We now know there is an additional reserve, just not one you'd want to count on.

Pretty sure you are limited on speed and performance when you get below 0. Certainly at 20 rated miles I've heard you get dinged down to 50% power output and the climate control goes into a range mode, and I was suspicious that much of what Broder's defenders pointed to as him trying to conserve power were actually a result of actions the car took as power got low.

I'd love for a high net worth individual who has little regard for her warranty to do some serious testing of range and performance below zero, and then write about it. Actually wanted to create a thread dedicated to it, but it seemed more ethical to just wait until I actually buy the car and can do some careful testing myself, rather than cheer-leading a whole thread dedicated to something so irresponsible

 

[100thMonkey]

couldn't help wondering why the folks at the tesla service station didn't encourage these guys to top off to make up for lost range? surely they could see this side trip to get the tire fixed would start them off on the wrong foot in terms of SOC.

 

[vfx]

So Tesla is pitching this story all over the place. Risky. Maybe the hand the driver a piece of paper with dos and don't and hypermiling tips for "just in case".

We don't know this guy's speed until the end. My Vegas trip was helped tremendously by drafting big trucks.

It was good, but a nail biter.

 

[brianman]

Can we add that to the NYT fiblist?

Until they prove otherwise, I now officially consider the NYT as fiction and entertainment. Much like Top Gear.

 

[dsm363]

Until they prove otherwise, I now officially consider the NYT as fiction and entertainment. Much like Top Gear.

There are those that staunchly defend the Top Gear episode as top rate journalism just like the NYT piece though.

I don't understand why they didn't charge at the service station either.

 

[Trnsl8r]

This part made me laugh...

Fortunately for Mr. Musk we brought along the video cameras, because a written account of this trip would surely send him straight to our car's trip computer.

One mistake they made was to not have the Drive Range mode on. You can tell at 9:23 that it does not say "Eco Mode". Granted, I'm not sure how much that actually does for the range...

 

[Robert.Boston]

Interesting tidbit at the end: "We were told that topography-aware projected range software is already in the works." (or words to that effect)

 

[tdelta1000]

I like the review of the S by KBB. The initial leg of their trip was about having fun with the S and not trying to conserve energy like TM recommends. The overall take away is that the S is a very capable car.

 

[AndyM]

Interesting tidbit at the end: "We were told that topography-aware projected range software is already in the works." (or words to that effect)

Indeed! I heard that, too.

And kudos to KBB... that review was extremely fair and balanced, good plus bad, with a net positive.
I liked the comparison to a first-gen iPhone: solid performer, with room to improve.

 

[rsquared99]

There is still a strange non-acceptance of the range issue, even here. You shouldn't find yourself concerned about having the mileage to make it to your next charging location, make an unplanned stop to add charge at a "slow" charger, and then waste part of that hard earned charge giving 700 pounds of butcher an accelleration demonstration! It was fun, but then you go back to worrying if you have enough juice to make it to the next charger again.