My P85D doesn't go past 133MPH. I thought the limit was 155MPH?

[Andyw2100]

I'm unlikely to ever get anywhere close to 130 MPH in my P85D. But if and when I ever sell the car, if it is beyond the warranty period, and the person I'm selling the car to were to inquire about this issue, it could become one.

I agree with AmpedRealtor that Tesla should be more proactive and transparent about this issue and other similar issues. In this case it's not the kind of thing that would even make Tesla look bad. It's not like they'd be saying, "Your brakes could fail because we screwed up. Bring in the car, and we'll fix them." This would be seen as a fairly trivial, fairly inconsequential (for almost every one) mistake, with an easy fix. Tesla could even gain ground for doing the right thing. Even the press could be a positive, if there was any, because it would get Tesla in the news, not really in a bad way, and would emphasize that a family sedan--an all electric family sedan--can hit 155 MPH, and then has to be electronically limited so as not to go faster than that.

A lot of the time I really don't understand what the people making decisions on things like this at Tesla are thinking.

 

[jpet]

So does this TSB include all early p85d cars?

Mine was produced mid-January and I don't have the problem.

 

[qwk]

A lot of the time I really don't understand what the people making decisions on things like this at Tesla are thinking.

They clearly aren't thinking, that's the problem.

 

[wk057]

In Tesla's defense, this is probably one of the least important things they should be worried about.

The service bulletin does start off, "Upon customer complaint," so, they'll update the sensor free of charge for those who want/need to go 155 MPH, and not waste resources on those who don't.

This actually makes perfect sense to me.

 

[SBR]

No skin in this game, but I'd have a hard time getting riled up about something I literally would never need or use except to see if it would happen.

If you're some kind of tesla track racer (or gumball rallyist), I'm guessing you already know if your car has the proper item or not. Otherwise, it seems rather like arguing for the sake of arguing, in this specific case.

I bought the P85D not because it was an EV. It was the promise of:

1. 3.2s 0-60
2. 155 MPH top speed
3. autopilot

The car just happens to be electric. There are many parts of the car I may not use frequently, but when I do decide to use it, it should be per spec, and not an embarrassing moment. It looks like I didn't get any of the things I cared about the most...

Another thing I've noticed is a few friendly gushes from ~45MPH - ~120MPH+ on the track and the power limiter kicks in to limit no more than 240.... this is getting borderline ridiculous...

 

[Lump]

A few months ago S85's top speed was increased form 125mph to 140mph, so late last night between Harris Ranch & Tejon Ranch I gave it a go but got limited at 127mph & then again at 115mph, I guess my powertrain was too hot :redface:
Sorry for the blurry pic, but thats the dashed yellow line up around 200KW.

Finding the perfect battery SOC, powertrain temperature & driving conditions isn't that easy

 

[islandbayy]

A few months ago S85's top speed was increased form 125mph to 140mph, so late last night between Harris Ranch & Tejon Ranch I gave it a go but got limited at 127mph & then again at 115mph, I guess my powertrain was too hot :redface:
Sorry for the blurry pic, but thats the dashed yellow line up around 200KW.

Finding the perfect battery SOC, powertrain temperature & driving conditions isn't that easy

Your state of charge was too low to go faster. The yellow line is signifying that enough voltage drop under load was experienced to require a limiter so as not to bring the cells voltage down below Tesla's pre-determined limit.

Example, if due to the heavy demand on the batteries, if each cell was hovering around 3.5v, and tesla has a cut off of 3.2, the amperage draw might have been enough to bring them to the 3.2 point, so the car would limit to keep the voltages from dropping below that point (Numbers used as example only, I pulled those numbers out of my backside for demonstration).
Now, with a full pack at 100%, the cells would be at the maximum voltage, which #1, would allow for lower amperage draw at the given kW acceleration level, and #2, give more "headroom" for the voltage to drop before getting limited.

- - - Updated - - -

I will add to the thread though, When I got my car, I could hit 135 (2 years 4 months ago). After a few firmware updates way back when, my vehicle cannot exceed 125. This has not changed since. Always meant to bring it up when in for service, but always forget as I'm more concerned about getting my vehicle repaired yet again.

 

[Eclectic]

I bought the P85D not because it was an EV. It was the promise of:

1. 3.2s 0-60
2. 155 MPH top speed
3. autopilot

The car just happens to be electric. There are many parts of the car I may not use frequently, but when I do decide to use it, it should be per spec, and not an embarrassing moment. It looks like I didn't get any of the things I cared about the most...

Another thing I've noticed is a few friendly gushes from ~45MPH - ~120MPH+ on the track and the power limiter kicks in to limit no more than 240.... this is getting borderline ridiculous...

Bingo. Anyone who argues that this defect is acceptable because so few people actually go 155 mph probably doesn't remember how much performance was touted when the P85D was introduced. I paid top dollar for a car with top performance capabilities. And I often drive fast. I had to get this problem fixed a while back when I ran into the limiter (or whatever it is called). It's bad business to not do a recall for the fix.

Of course, I still have issues with the tepid acceleration at triple digit speeds (my old Audi A7 totally blows away the P85D at higher speeds to 130 and it was about half the price), but that's not as much an issue since the acceleration side was pushed as a 0-60 matter, not a 100-150 one, and from 0-60 the P85D does deliver.

 

[Pilot_51]

It's bad business to not do a recall for the fix.

AFAIK, recalls are only done for safety defects. Fixing this would only decrease safety, unless perhaps you're on a track with other cars going over 135MPH. Something tells me most people going that fast would be doing it on the streets.

 

[MikeBur]

Tripped over this one last week. Speed sensor needs to be replaced. Not a stock item.

Dec p85d

 

[EternalChampion]

Well now I'm going to have to exceed the speed limit on my way home on Monday to find out if my Jan P85D is affected. Too bad I couldn't autopilot over 130. I want those Tesla engineers to earn their money.

 

[rpo]

I can confirm that my Sept 2014 S85 can go 137. I don't think it was done yet...which if it has a 140 MPH would be true.

 

[GasKilla]

I can confirm that my Nissan Leaf is software limited to 94 mph, and I didn't need a track to make that speed.

 

[MikeBur]

I can confirm that my Nissan Leaf is software limited to 94 mph, and I didn't need a track to make that speed.

Just a really really steep grade downhill? Sorry, couldn't resist ;-)

FYI - airstrips also make great test tracks, though there's a lot of rubber pieces towards the ends.

- - - Updated - - -

I can confirm that my Sept 2014 S85 can go 137. I don't think it was done yet...which if it has a 140 MPH would be true.

This I believe ;-)

 

[jpet]

Well now I'm going to have to exceed the speed limit on my way home on Monday to find out if my Jan P85D is affected. Too bad I couldn't autopilot over 130. I want those Tesla engineers to earn their money.

I have a Jan P85D and I can take it to 155 mph.

 

[kennybobby]

I have a Jan P85D and I can take it to 155 mph.

What does the power meter or wh/km indicate at that speed?

 

[eloder]

A forum member was denied a windshield replacement by Tesla after his warranty expired even though he had one of the early windshields that had a flaw for which a service bulletin was issued. Tesla never informed him of the service bulletin and he had no need to have the windshield replaced within the warranty period. If P85D owners notice that their cars don't accelerate beyond 135 MPH after their warranty expires, will Tesla treat them the same way?

This is patently ridiculous, in my opinion. Tesla really does need to notify all affected P85D owners. It seems like Tesla's P85D PR problems are mounting quickly...

How can it be a PR problem when this is industry standard for just abotu every industry, cars and otherwise, outside of safety-related recalls?

Take the cell phone industry, there are massive lists of known issues with just about every phone out there but you'll never, ever be pro-actively contacted by your carrier or phone manufacturer unless you A) Have problems, and B) Notify them about it.

The reason for this is that errors are not always systematic. Even a car as advanced as a Tesla can't scan every molecule of itself and know instantaneously when problems exist. Errors are very rarely neat and confined to a specific run of the factory. See, the seat belt recall.

I think worse PR would be contacting 90,000 owners every two months that your car may potentially have a problem and to bring it in--that'd sure bring confidence to the average owner.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

How can it be a PR problem when this is industry standard for just abotu every industry, cars and otherwise, outside of safety-related recalls?

Take the cell phone industry, there are massive lists of known issues with just about every phone out there but you'll never, ever be pro-actively contacted by your carrier or phone manufacturer unless you A) Have problems, and B) Notify them about it.

The reason for this is that errors are not always systematic. Even a car as advanced as a Tesla can't scan every molecule of itself and know instantaneously when problems exist. Errors are very rarely neat and confined to a specific run of the factory. See, the seat belt recall.

I think worse PR would be contacting 90,000 owners every two months that your car may potentially have a problem and to bring it in--that'd sure bring confidence to the average owner.

Of course Tesla knows which VINs have old speed sensors. Tesla sold a car that is supposed to accelerate to 155 MPH. It doesn't because of an outdated part. The onus is on Tesla to notify owners, not the other way around. How on earth would anyone know if they had a bad speed sensor if they never accelerate to 155 MPH? And then they go and sell the car to someone else, who notices the car doesn't accelerate as advertised and you get sued... Come on. This is an easy thing that Tesla can notify affected owners via email.

Also, the post you are quoting is from a while ago when there were a lot of P85D complaints, hence the remark about Tesla's PR woes. And it does become a PR problem when people complain. Look at the CR situation and how it became a PR problem for Tesla. If Tesla can proactively change my coolant pumps, as it did over a year ago because I needed to have them upgraded, then it certainly can notify owners that they need to have their speed sensors upgraded. The fact that they haven't means it's unimportant to Tesla, ergo they don't care whether the 155 MPH car they sold you actually performs to that specification.

I don't have a horse in this race and couldn't care less, actually, but I can understand those that do.

 

[tezzla]

Tesla seems to sell cars that "might" reach the specs:

EPA mileage/torque sleep? 2-3 months after delivery
Next Gens seats: 6 months after delivery
Autopilot/Autosteer: 9 months after delivery
AutoParking/recall: 11 months and waiting
155mph: I just found out my cars does 131mph max
691HP?

 

[brkaus]

I have a list of things in my BMW, Acura, and dodge that they could have fixed but did not based on service bulletins.

The BMW has cost me a few car payments to get those items replaced after warranty.

I just had to spend over $1200 on the dodge on something that they would have redone differently than orig had it failed under warranty. As it stands, it's my cost. And significantly greater cost because they don't make parts available for the initial configuration. So not only am I out the new parts cost, but the extra "relocation" kit as well.