New-ish Owner Observations/Questions

[Cnasty]

So I just reached the 1500 mile mark on my new S60 and I am absolutely loving every single time I get into this thing. It is hard for me to call it a car as I feel it is so much more to what it has changed for the positive for our family.

There are some things I am really unsure and hope some experienced owners for multiple years can chime in as well as newer owners who had the same questions.

Some may be dumb questions I admit, but it is still me killing my curiosity and transitioning to my first EV.

• Does highway driving vs stop and go city driving affect the wear and tear of the vehicle at all over the years? Does it prefer a method and better for the motor? I am 90% stop and go on my commute within the city and was wondering.
• Autopilot-does anyone else feel as though it is rougher on the vehicle on the highway with how it jerks and takes turns and drives meaning faster tire wear versus manually driving?
• Is it bad for the battery/AC to sit in a car idle for a long time like an ICE vehicle with the AC blasting?

Thank you for any feedback and I am sure there are others that I have forgotten.

 

[Bridor]

That is the beauty of electric - you do not get wear and tear from stop and go traffic - in fact, an electric car shines in these situations as it uses regenerative braking. Supposedly, 8.0 smooths out the autopilot. No, you can run the A/C all night long and it has no effect on the vehicle (unlike an ICE engine). Enjoy your car for years with very little maintenance.

Brent

 

[Cnasty]

That is the beauty of electric - you do not get wear and tear from stop and go traffic - in fact, an electric car shines in these situations as it uses regenerative braking. Supposedly, 8.0 smooths out the autopilot. No, you can run the A/C all night long and it has no effect on the vehicle (unlike an ICE engine). Enjoy your car for years with very little maintenance.

Brent

See, reading things like this eases the OCD in my brain and I can confidently relay to my wife to just enjoy with me.
Thank you!

 

[Saghost]

The harder you accelerate/brake, the more it wears on the tires. I don't think there's anything else on a Tesla that'll be much affected, assuming you don't have to use the brake pedal much.

I do feel like AP is harder than my typical driving style right now - we've been told that 8.0 brakes earlier and more gently.

No downsides or risks to idling for extended periods with AC on that I'm aware of, and not much range impact.

 

[Cnasty]

The harder you accelerate/brake, the more it wears on the tires. I don't think there's anything else on a Tesla that'll be much affected, assuming you don't have to use the brake pedal much.

I have become well versed in one pedal driving and is one of my favorite things about the S. I can also see why it would annoy most drivers behind us as the brake lights only seem to engage at certain deceleration speeds and takes some getting used to make it feel the most comfortable inside the cabin if that makes sense.

 

[Hota]

Stop and go traffic still will have slightly more wear and tear than highway driving but not nearly as much as in an ICE vehicle. I wouldn't worry about it at all.

By stopping and accelerating, you're generally putting more stress on the tires, suspension components, motor mounts, etc. that have to all work together to get a 5000 lbs car moving and stopping. The nice thing about an EV is that if you're really in stop and go traffic, there's absolutely zero wear when you're actually not moving and you can also use regen to significantly reduce your wear on your brakes and rotors.

Regarding a/c the system, it works exactly the same whether you're in motion or not. EVs don't have an idle. You discharge the battery the same amount from the a/c regardless if you're driving or not. You can think of the HVAC system as entirely independent from the motors and the rest of the car - effectively it doesn't really know if the car is driving around or not.

 

[kort677]

for me AP is an interactive experience. for example if I'm on a road and a traffic light turns red ahead of me I disengage the AP rather than let it wait to "see" the stopped cars and break harder than I do when I allow the car to just coast to the stop.

 

[Apricot]

I have become well versed in one pedal driving and is one of my favorite things about the S. I can also see why it would annoy most drivers behind us as the brake lights only seem to engage at certain deceleration speeds and takes some getting used to make it feel the most comfortable inside the cabin if that makes sense.

I never thought of this, but I wonder if Teslas should put on the brake lights for Regen braking when the car decelerates.

 

[mikeash]

Regen does engage the brake lights, but only when it's past a certain level.

 

[RogerHScott]

Something you'll discover that's the opposite of ICE cars is that you get better "mileage" in in-town stop-and-go driving than
on the highway. This is because wind resistance -- which is basically non-existent under stop-and-go conditions -- is the
dominant drain on your power. The faster you typically drive on highways the more pronounced this effect will be, of course.

Ever been stuck, by surprise, in really slow traffic with a very empty tank? Remember that unease about whether you were going
to idle away your last few ounces of gas before you got to the next gas station? Not a problem with an EV, which patiently waits for
you to need to move again, consuming virtually no energy in the process.

 

[Brass Guy]

... Ever been stuck, by surprise, in really slow traffic with a very empty tank? Remember that unease about whether you were going
to idle away your last few ounces of gas before you got to the next gas station? Not a problem with an EV, which patiently waits for
you to need to move again, consuming virtually no energy in the process.

Unless you're using lots of heat. Up here, when it gets below freezing, that's when you can go through some kWhs without moving. Much more than AC uses too.
Other than that, you can sit in traffic for hours without loosing significant range.

Heat is the only thing that ICE cars do better than EVs. Making heat is the vast majority of what ICEs accomplish, where propulsion is where most of an EV's energy goes.

I used the AC overnight during a trip this summer. The most I went through was about 10 rated miles.
With an ICE, you can't run the AC without the engine running. What a waste of energy and wear-and-tear.

 

[kort677]

Unless you're using lots of heat.

I spent 6 weeks in CO last winter, I used the seat heaters and heated steering wheel both of which use minimal power and I wasn't uncomfortable. assuming that you have the cold weather package you should try not using the heater.

 

[Cnasty]

I used the AC overnight during a trip this summer. The most I went through was about 10 rated miles.

This is amazing to me.

 

[Brass Guy]

I spent 6 weeks in CO last winter, I used the seat heaters and heated steering wheel both of which use minimal power and I wasn't uncomfortable. assuming that you have the cold weather package you should try not using the heater.

I don't, and there was no heated steering wheel back then. My hands and feet get cold. I need gloves that work with the screen.

This is amazing to me.

There's a lot that's amazing about the Model S.