New Member!

[Thirstyturtle]

I just wanted to say hi and welcome myself to the forums!

I will be getting a Tesla Roadster 2.5 Sport in a few weeks...for free!

Here's the story:
I'm 25 and absolutely love anything electrical or mechanical, especially cars. I started sending me dad articles about Tesla years ago because I thought he would think it was cool...well he did, he became obsessed. So his Roadster 2.5 Sport arrived December of 2010 and he was in love. But he's 70 and doesn't care THAT much about the performance, more so about the fact that it's electric.

So the Roadster was his getting around town car but he drove his 1991 Rolls Royce Silver Spur II for any longer trips (more comfortable). He bought the Rolls brand new in 1991 and it was his daily driver for 20+ years and was in mint condition with 200k miles when he totalled it on the interstate last year :-(

So he put his order in for the Model S 85kwh model. It arrived a couple months ago and he loves it more than the Rolls or the Roadster.

So here's the deal, he leased the Roadster, bought the Model S. He called me up last week and told me the Roadster is just going to sit in the garage until December when the lease is up...do I want it? I obviously said "heck yes!".

Obviously my dad is an incredibly generous and trusting guy, he is going to keep paying the lease and insurance while I have all the fun. I just have to figure out a time to go pick it up soon and a place to charge it on the way back (220 mile trip).

Anyways, welcome me! I can't wait to be involved in the forums (if only for a few months).

Thanks!

 

[Citizen-T]

I just wanted to say hi and welcome myself to the forums!

I will be getting a Tesla Roadster 2.5 Sport in a few weeks...for free!

Here's the story:
I'm 25 and absolutely love anything electrical or mechanical, especially cars. I started sending me dad articles about Tesla years ago because I thought he would think it was cool...well he did, he became obsessed. So his Roadster 2.5 Sport arrived December of 2010 and he was in love. But he's 70 and doesn't care THAT much about the performance, more so about the fact that it's electric.

So the Roadster was his getting around town car but he drove his 1991 Rolls Royce Silver Spur II for any longer trips (more comfortable). He bought the Rolls brand new in 1991 and it was his daily driver for 20+ years and was in mint condition with 200k miles when he totalled it on the interstate last year :-(

So he put his order in for the Model S 85kwh model. It arrived a couple months ago and he loves it more than the Rolls or the Roadster.

So here's the deal, he leased the Roadster, bought the Model S. He called me up last week and told me the Roadster is just going to sit in the garage until December when the lease is up...do I want it? I obviously said "heck yes!".

Obviously my dad is an incredibly generous and trusting guy, he is going to keep paying the lease and insurance while I have all the fun. I just have to figure out a time to go pick it up soon and a place to charge it on the way back (220 mile trip).

Anyways, welcome me! I can't wait to be involved in the forums (if only for a few months).

Thanks!

Crazy. Well, good to see another NCer on the forums. Welcome.

 

[Jaff]

Lucky guy! ...remember to drive carefully as it's a powerful vehicle...:smile:

 

[Thirstyturtle]

Thanks guys!

I will drive very safely, I've driven it dozens of times already (I never go home without driving it at least once, haha).

Also, as a side note, I got to take a tour of the factory in California as my dad was one of the earlier people to order the Model S. I'm a huge Tesla fanboy and hope to own my own one day (when they're a bit cheaper and/or I make more money).

 

[hcsharp]

...
Obviously my dad is an incredibly generous and trusting guy, he is going to keep paying the lease and insurance while I have all the fun. I just have to figure out a time to go pick it up soon and a place to charge it on the way back (220 mile trip)...

Congrats and welcome...

Where are you picking it up? That should be a fun trip. What's the VIN number?

 

[Thirstyturtle]

I'm picking it up in Greensboro and driving back to Wilmington. It's 65-70mph 98% of the way on I-40 for about 220 miles. I plan on stopping at a rest stop or in Raleigh for a bump charge.
Should be fun! I plan on getting it in Mid-March. Don't have the VIN

 

[Citizen-T]

I'm picking it up in Greensboro and driving back to Wilmington. It's 65-70mph 98% of the way on I-40 for about 220 miles. I plan on stopping at a rest stop or in Raleigh for a bump charge.
Should be fun! I plan on getting it in Mid-March. Don't have the VIN

There are a number of level 2 chargers in Raleigh in places with things to do while you wait.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[Thirstyturtle]

There are a number of level 2 chargers in Raleigh in places with things to do while you wait.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I know there's one downtown on Blount Street I think. Can you give me the deets on the other locations?

Also...what's a level 2 charger? 240V?

 

[Thirstyturtle]

Well I left Greensboro yesterday with 191 miles estimated range and a 220 mile trip. I arrived in Raleigh and my charging location with 112 miles estimated range having driven 91 miles (so I made up 12 miles). I stopped in Raleigh on NC State's Centennial Campus and charged at 240V 30A for 1.5 hours to an estimated range of 134 miles and I have 129 to go. Within 5 minutes of being on the highway (having driven maybe 7 miles) the estimated had dropped from 134 to 114 which was concerning to say the least. Anyways, I kept a close eye on it and my estimated eventually got to be 2 more miles than I had to go. I kept calling my dad and updating him and he reassured me I would be fine. He once drove it down to zero and went 30 more miles, or so he says. Well I get down to 21 estimated miles and I had 19 miles to go and then all of a sudden I get the low battery warning, no worries, I expected this; what I didn't expect was for my estimated range to immediately drop from 21 miles to 0 miles. Now I was worried. But again, my dad assured me that I would be fine. Well I had no where to stop and charge, I was in the middle of nowhere. It took me 9 more miles (10 miles short of my house) and started slowing down. I drove about 1 more mile at a very reduced speed before it would go no more. The battery never *DIED* as the lights were still on (it was midnight or I would have been driving with them off, I was driving with the heat off and I was COLD inside). I'm on my way to meet a tow truck driver with a flatbed to tow it to my house. I'm under the assumption that as long as the battery isn't 100% DEAD DEAD (which I think it is not as everything but the motor was still working) then I should be fine to charge it back up at my house...we'll see!!

I'm extremely nervous but my Dad think's it will be fine. I've read all the scary articles about $40k to replace the battery if it dies...hopefully not this time.

 

[wycolo]

> charged at 240V 30A for 1.5 hours to an estimated range of 134 miles and I have 129 to go. [Thirstyturtle]

Oh NO!! Son of Broder!#! Not again??

sinking feeling . . . sweating . . [exit stage left]
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[Thirstyturtle]

> charged at 240V 30A for 1.5 hours to an estimated range of 134 miles and I have 129 to go. [Thirstyturtle]

Oh NO!! Son of Broder!#! Not again??

sinking feeling . . . sweating . . [exit stage left]
--

Haha, well all is well in the world!

I met a flatbed out there a couple hours ago, installed the tow hook, put it in neutral and tow mode (redundant but better safe than sorrow), pulled it up no problem, he followed me the last 9 miles to my house, dropped it right in front of the garage, helped me push it inside and she's happy charging right now!

I am curious how much residual charge the vehicle keeps in its reserves when it cuts the power to the motor. It's a great safety feature and I would hope it had at least a day or two of charge left to just keep it alive sitting still with everything off. That way you have maybe 48 hours to get it to a plug which seems reasonable. At any rate, it's at least 10 hours of idle charge because that's how long she was sitting by herself on the side of the road.

Can't wait to get it charged up and drive it! It's getting 15A from my 120V outlet in the garage which will take like 2 days or something I think to fully charge but I don't perceive I'll ever get it nearly this low again so future overnight charges should suffice.

 

[Tesla 940]

Live and Learn!

Questions:
1. Your ~195 Ideal Miles at the start - I presume that was in Standard Mode. Why didn't you charge full in Range Mode?
2. When the car went dead - were you still in Standard Mode or did you switch to Range Mode?

 

[spatterso911]

It's like me saying "Hmmm....I think I'll wait til he completely runs out of blood before I transfuse him!" Why wouldn't you have just added 50 more miles when you last charged?


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[Thirstyturtle]

Live and Learn!

Questions:
1. Your ~195 Ideal Miles at the start - I presume that was in Standard Mode. Why didn't you charge full in Range Mode?
2. When the car went dead - were you still in Standard Mode or did you switch to Range Mode?

1. That was 195 miles estimated, not ideal. And that was in range mode. My dad charged it fully last week (in range mode) on Tuesday, then had an eye surgery on Wednesday and forgot/wasn't able to top it off again yesterday so when I got to the house it was at 174 estimated and I charged it up to 191 estimated, in range mode before I left. I charged it for about an hour at the house but wanted to get on the road because it was already late and I had work first thing this morning.

2. I was in range mode. It was as dead as could be, but I suppose it has some level of safety built-in in the sense that it wouldn't let me drive anymore but it had enough juice to sit around for 12 or so hours while I got it towed. It was making a hell of a racquet though telling me to charge haha.

- - - Updated - - -

It's like me saying "Hmmm....I think I'll wait til he completely runs out of blood before I transfuse him!" Why wouldn't you have just added 50 more miles when you last charged?


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I agree that it wasn't the smartest thing to do but it's what I did. The reason I didn't charge an extra 50 miles at my half-way charging stop is because it was already 11pm and I had a 2-hour drive ahead of me and I had work first thing in the morning. The estimated miles on the first leg of the trip proved to be conservative and I went more than it thought I would so I charged it past the miles I needed thinking I would get at least that many miles when in reality the 134 estimated miles I had when I left Raleigh took me 120 miles before the car wouldn't let me drive anymore.

In the end it all worked out just fine and it is actually quite nice knowing where the limit is.

In retrospect I would have spent the night at my parents house to get it fully charged, stopped in Raleigh for 2 or 3 hours and hung out with a friend, and then arrived safely with 20-30 miles left, but as we all know, hindsight is 20-20 my friends.

 

[wycolo]

> put it in neutral and tow mode (redundant but better safe than sorrow), pulled it up no problem, [Thirstyturtle]

No there is NO redundancy: Neutral = Tow Mode NOT !! Rear wheels are LOCKED unless TOW MODE is specifically selected on the screen (or some other way). Just to clarify the record.


> it is actually quite nice knowing where the limit is. [Thirstyturtle]

Indeed. My round trip to BIG City is 310 miles. Trip #1 in Model_S I over-charged just to be sure. Got home with 37 miles remaining in range mode. Sort of kicked myself for spending that extra hour charging @20 mph that I really didn't use. Next trip spent about all the time charging that I could bear- 9pm, nothing else to do in this neighborhood- so concluded I'd rather be cruising slowly in the S than sitting in the Nissan lot charging at a lousy 6kw. Got home with 7 miles remaining. Close, true, but I could carefully gauge from the speedo miles how slow I needed to go on each section of the trip and constantly adjust. Dynamic travel. Without tight margins and some real skin in the game learning is not enhanced. :wink:
--

 

[Doug_G]

Next time you think you're pushing things, slow down. Do it right at the start of the trip. It's a lot better to slow down 5-10 mph at the beginning. You can always speed up later if you have extra range, but it is harder to do the reverse!

 

[hcsharp]

... Well I get down to 21 estimated miles and I had 19 miles to go and then all of a sudden I get the low battery warning, no worries, I expected this; what I didn't expect was for my estimated range to immediately drop from 21 miles to 0 miles. Now I was worried. But again, my dad assured me that I would be fine. Well I had no where to stop and charge, I was in the middle of nowhere. It took me 9 more miles (10 miles short of my house) and started slowing down. ...

I got into the nebulous "unknown number of miles remaining" zone recently. I only had 2 miles to my destination so wasn't worried. I can't understand why the car does this? Obviously it has some kind of threshold where it stops driving. If it can determine that threshold, why can't it predict when it will reach it? There's nothing different about the last 25 miles than the first 25. It knows the voltage of the lowest brick. It knows how many Ah that brick has produced and at what rate for the preceding part of the trip. What I would give to sit down with the engineers who designed that system...

Oh, and BTW, welcome home with your car!

 

[Doug_G]

I think the engineers wanted you to panic if you got that close to zero...

I only ever got into that region once, and I was also only about 2 miles from my destination. I didn't have any range anxiety, but it was a little unsettling.

 

[jbadger]

Thirstyturtle, I had a similar experience when I bought my Roadster. I bought it in SoCal and drove it NorCal about 400miles. It took me 16 hours, and the last charge I was so tired I figured I could make it no problem. I got home with about 30miles left, no charger at home. Work was only about 8 miles away so I wasn't worried. Get to work and the chargers were torn out as they were putting in more. I drove it over to the nearest Tesla show room and my display showed five miles left.

Now I take the extra time to ensure I won't have to worry.

 

[Tesla 940]

Thanks for the response. I personally almost NEVER look at Estimated Miles (others love it). It is based on your last 40 miles so unless you know what is ahead I find it useless. I monitor Ideal Miles, actual miles, wh/mile, and periodically the chart of actual useage (5 miles, 10 miles, etc.). I also don't think you lost many miles between when your Dad charged and you left. As someone pointed out, if in doubt, start out slow. 60mph versus 70mph is about 7-8% better efficiency. I frequently can average less than 1 Ideal Mile per Actual Mile at 60 mph on round-trip drives.

Hope you enjoy the Roadster

I also went into "no man's land". I was about 8 miles from home and it was somewhat uphill. Nearly instant panic.