Morning <brrrr. cold> 13kW to warm it

[NorfolkMustard]

Turned on climate to defrost the car, at its peak it was using 13kW, even if you have max 11kW home charger it's going to eat into your battery for a bit.

That lasted for about 9 minutes, and then it gradually crept down to a normal 2kW

This was all while the car is not plugged in, it doesn't seem to hold back when it's not getting power coming in.

 

[MrBadger]

I thought these cars were meant to be more environmentally friendly.

10 miles of range, 1/4 of my houses daily electricity usage. Good job I wasn't plugged in. And that was just to get into the car without the doors and handles sticking.

 

[Yev000]

Good job I wasn't plugged in

Why? You're gona charge it eventually anyway... Unless you get free electricity from work like me...

That lasted for about 9 minutes

So you spent 30p to heat your car instead of scraping it. I can guarantee you spending fuel to heat it would have cost more and people do that every day while idling on the drive while scraping it for 5 min.

Mine went from 50% > preheat for 38 min (kids were being slow to get ready) > 46% when I got into the car > 30% when I got to work. Which is probably the worst commute to date.

 

[Jason71]

I thought these cars were meant to be more environmentally friendly.

10 miles of range, 1/4 of my houses daily electricity usage. Good job I wasn't plugged in. And that was just to get into the car without the doors and handles sticking.

OK so lets compare like with like
.What mpg would you get from an ICE car over a 10 mile journey on a day with sub zero temperatures. Pretty shocking in my experience.
And also you would have to de-ice it and be freezing cold for the first 5 miles.
The preconditioning is mainly about warming up the cabin for your comfort. it does very little for the car. There is nothing to stop you saving some juice by emulating the ICE experience and manually de-icing the car then waiting 10 minutes into your journey before turning on the heater.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

I think we’re all happy to have the choice. The cars parked either side of mine certainly didn’t look quite as inviting

 

[MrBadger]

The preconditioning is mainly about warming up the cabin for your comfort. it does very little for the car. There is nothing to stop you saving some juice by emulating the ICE experience and manually de-icing the car then waiting 10 minutes into your journey before turning on the heater.

Actually there is. In this weather, it is physically impossible to get into the car without pre heating or risk breaking my fingers or the car. Yes, I've treated seals and locks as much as I can. Its still a problem. Its clearly a car designed not for cold humid conditions - lots of design flaws for UK climate. Also, you scrape the glass, you scratch it. Its not a very robust car.

 

[Kiwiadventure]

I'm having no program at all with my 3 as its 24c tonight

 

[TomD]

Actually there is. In this weather, it is physically impossible to get into the car without pre heating or risk breaking my fingers or the car. Yes, I've treated seals and locks as much as I can. Its still a problem. Its clearly a car designed not for cold humid conditions - lots of design flaws for UK climate. Also, you scrape the glass, you scratch it. Its not a very robust car.

Is everyone having the same issue with their door handles? I haven't experienced any issues to date.

 

[JCremonini]

Actually there is. In this weather, it is physically impossible to get into the car without pre heating or risk breaking my fingers or the car. Yes, I've treated seals and locks as much as I can. Its still a problem. Its clearly a car designed not for cold humid conditions - lots of design flaws for UK climate. Also, you scrape the glass, you scratch it. Its not a very robust car.

What are you using on your car to scrape it if it scratches the glass ? No way should any proper scraper be scratching glass ( it’s a flat blade )

 

[MrBadger]

What are you using on your car to scrape it if it scratches the glass ? No way should any proper scraper be scratching glass ( it’s a flat blade )

I've not risked it but just going on what I have been told - the glass, like the paint, is unusually soft.

 

[MaDProFF]

I would never scrap glass I would use warm water, have done for ever when I did not have a garage, I agree the window screens do mark very easy

 

[MrBadger]

Is everyone having the same issue with their door handles? I haven't experienced any issues to date.

Oh no. Door handles frozen

Basically the door handle inserts retain water due to their bucket shape. When it freezes, the whole lot freezes solid.

Frozen handle and windows.

I've had at least one car with rimless windows continuously all my 30 odd year car ownership life - the rest of the car industry sorted the problems long before I started owning them. I've never owned a car with this many cold weather issues. The solution, waste huge amounts of electricity to sort out what should not be problems and even then, it does not always work.

 

[culverwood]

Actually there is. In this weather, it is physically impossible to get into the car without pre heating or risk breaking my fingers or the car. Yes, I've treated seals and locks as much as I can. Its still a problem. Its clearly a car designed not for cold humid conditions - lots of design flaws for UK climate. Also, you scrape the glass, you scratch it. Its not a very robust car.

Funny these cars are so popular in Norway then.

 

[MrBadger]

Funny these cars are so popular in Norway then.

They do not have the humid cold that we have. Its a different type of cold. Tesla have admitted to me that the UK humid cold conditions are causing problems.

 

[Yev000]

Is everyone having the same issue with their door handles?

I had it stick for a couple of seconds a few days ago when I only pre-heated for ~8 min. I recon a bit of de-icer spray could probably fix that if not pre-heated.

Of course then you have the problem with the window not dropping....

So best to just spend that 30p and pre-heat.

 

[Yev000]

They do not have the humid cold that we have.

You are correct, humidity drops out at about -5C, so the most dangerous temperature is between -5 and 0 - from the point of view of hypothermia of course.

In case of the car, once the humidity is out of the air and its consistently -5 during the night then you don't get the problem. However I imagine even in Norway there are a few days/weeks where its hovering in the -5 to 0 range. Of course in the UK you get that for most of the winter instead of just few days before and after.

I remember reading the first few articles when Model 3 was just released in US in the winter with stuck door handles.

You can always just come out with some luke warm water and pour it over the door. I remember having to do that in my BMW 3 Coupe in 2009 with exactly the same lowering glass and regular door handles.

 

[ACarneiro]

I did take great pleasure in seeing my neighbour busily scraping his windscreen as I just hopped into my preconditioned and defrosted car this morning.

Simple pleasures

 

[Torokruger]

I had the frozen door handles and the frozen seals, someone suggested this
WURTH GUMMI FIT RUBBER CARE STICK DOOR SEAL SOFT RESTORE 4050641103215 75 ml | eBay
and I have put it on seals and door handles and it has worked brilliantly.
Use on all rubber seals and on door handles, I opened the boot the other day and there was a lot of cracking of ice.... used the gummi fit on seal near back window and along edge of boot seals, next freeze opened perfectly so give it a go.

 

[MrBadger]

How do you put that on the door handles? I have Gummi Pflege which comes in a bottle with a foam top that you wipe on and I am pretty sure it will not fit in the recess to coat the bits where water converges. I sprayed and wiped some silicon spray in the area.

Its not me opening the handles, but I'm still getting reports of stiff to open - when I first had the problem it was impossible to open without pushing my finger past point of very great discomfort so maybe it has improved but we haven't really had the flash freeze conditions since.

 

[pdk42]

Actually there is. In this weather, it is physically impossible to get into the car without pre heating or risk breaking my fingers or the car. Yes, I've treated seals and locks as much as I can. Its still a problem. Its clearly a car designed not for cold humid conditions - lots of design flaws for UK climate. Also, you scrape the glass, you scratch it. Its not a very robust car.

I don't think agree with these points. Are you really saying that glass on Tesla cars scratches more easily? Or that the locks are impacted more by ice than on other cars?