New Owner Observations

[brkaus]

Regarding #2, that's not the behavior for my car. When parked in the garage, the handles do retract but I can open the car without having the fob by pressing on them. Guessing you probably have to have your HOME address set up for it to work like that. My garage is also the only place I can pop the charge port by pressing the button on the UMC.

I hope they are not being tricky with the home address. Would stink for folks with no garage.

You may want to test this behavior in other locations. And/or double check the "locked" status from the app.

 

[Abqnative]

Just a (minor?) comment on the owners manual. Software updates do sometimes change the manual, such as when the software actually changes the functionality. The manual in the car gets updated by the software update so that is always the definitive source. There is also a manual on your MyTesla page, but that is not routinely updated. Mine was updated once, as I recall, when the first version of AP1 software was issued, and not since. So be cautious when using a downloaded PDF, because it may not be current.

Good point. I may be spending more time in the driver seat.

 

[Abqnative]

I think the negative draft on the side of tractor trailers is what "sucks" the adjacent car in closer to it. AP doesn't compensate for some reason. Hopefully, Tesla will tune AP to compensate in the future. It can recognize trucks so why not fix the issue?

With AP off, next time you pull up next to a truck, hold the wheel lightly and you'll see that the car will move-towards it. It makes sense that the car will take the path of least resistance, right?

You must be an engineer (that's a compliment). It's the Bernoulli effect.
Tesla should adjust for it.

 

[gabeincal]

I don't know anything about battery balance. Can you point me to some guide.
Thanks

I'm no expert, but the following should help:

Top 5 Tips to Maintaining EV Battery Life

A Senior Tesla Executive's Comforting Answer to Concerns Re: "Loss of Range"

Periodically fully charge and "balance" Your battery

 

[renshcp]

Interesting comment on #2. I assumed that the fob was always needed so I always picked it out of the drawer in the kitchen before going to the garage. I will try to open the car in the garage without the fob. Must have missed that tip in the owners manual.

I'm also unaware of this behavior. I always have to have my fob in the garage in order to pop the charge port or unlock the door. I may just start leaving a fob on a shelf in the garage for this purpose.

 

[renshcp]

I think the negative draft on the side of tractor trailers is what "sucks" the adjacent car in closer to it. AP doesn't compensate for some reason. Hopefully, Tesla will tune AP to compensate in the future. It can recognize trucks so why not fix the issue?

With AP off, next time you pull up next to a truck, hold the wheel lightly and you'll see that the car will move-towards it. It makes sense that the car will take the path of least resistance, right?

Exactly this. It's physics with the faster moving air making its way around the large truck reducing air pressure on that side only... or negative draft as you say.

 

[Abqnative]

I hope they are not being tricky with the home address. Would stink for folks with no garage.

You may want to test this behavior in other locations. And/or double check the "locked" status from the app.

I did a test. The car was in the garage and the door closed. Home link knows about the door. I tried to open the car and trunk without the fob. The only thing that happened was a fan turning on. So parking at home outside seems to be OK. the car stays locked.

 

[David29]

I'm no expert, but the following should help:

Top 5 Tips to Maintaining EV Battery Life

A Senior Tesla Executive's Comforting Answer to Concerns Re: "Loss of Range"

Periodically fully charge and "balance" Your battery

The link for the first reference did not work for me. I got an error 404. But the third reference also had the link. I found it and read the article, but each time I try to paste in the link, it results in the same error 404. But in any case, you can follow the third link to get to the first.

The second article is very helpful. Personally I place considerably more weight on something like this because it is from a Tesla executive and is posted on Tesla's own site.

On the other hand, I have read conflicting opinions here on TMC and elsewhere about "battery balancing." I have never seen a quote from a Tesla source that suggested that periodically charging to 100% is necessary or useful for any reason other than to obtain the maximum range for a trip. I am not saying the article is incorrect, just saying that I am personally cautious because I have no idea what expertise the writer has and, so far as I know, Tesla does not advocate such a practice.

 

[gavine]

You must be an engineer (that's a compliment). It's the Bernoulli effect.
Tesla should adjust for it.

I'm in sales (IT Products) but I have always admired engineers.

 

[JohnnyG]

Thank you for the insight on the trip graph. My trips so far have been on flat routes. I will look for the predicted use based on elevation, etc. that would be very useful to know how much more energy is needed to climb.

No problem! As a little demo, enter in a destination that's pretty close, but that requires you to get on and off different freeways. You'll notice a change in the predicted energy graph at each point that you would get on/off or change freeways. This is due to the slowing down (regen) and then heavy acceleration to get back up to freeway speeds. The short trip demo makes it easier to see because your x-axis is encompassing a shorter amount of miles.

 

[Abqnative]

I did a test. The car was in the garage and the door closed. Home link knows about the door. I tried to open the car and trunk without the fob. The only thing that happened was a fan turning on. So parking at home outside seems to be OK. the car stays locked.

Additional info: I have a Tesla wall charger. Without the fob I was able to open the charge port with the charge cable and start charging. I guess this means anyone could could connect you. (Is that like feeding the animals at the zoo?). I will try this at a supercharger.

 

[Abqnative]

The link for the first reference did not work for me. I got an error 404. But the third reference also had the link. I found it and read the article, but each time I try to paste in the link, it results in the same error 404. But in any case, you can follow the third link to get to the first.

The second article is very helpful. Personally I place considerably more weight on something like this because it is from a Tesla executive and is posted on Tesla's own site.

On the other hand, I have read conflicting opinions here on TMC and elsewhere about "battery balancing." I have never seen a quote from a Tesla source that suggested that periodically charging to 100% is necessary or useful for any reason other than to obtain the maximum range for a trip. I am not saying the article is incorrect, just saying that I am personally cautious because I have no idea what expertise the writer has and, so far as I know, Tesla does not advocate such a practice.

Thanks for the links. I will setup some reminders. Maybe Tesla should create reminders for owners.

 

[Half Dollar Bill]

I will try this at a supercharger.

ALL car ports pop when you press the button at a supercharger.
I've parked at many where I move the car to a neighboring space when finished and when I come back my charger port is open. I've also witnessed it first-hand at the couple of ribbon-cuttings I've been to where I'll see everyone's port open when I press the button on my supercharger. Just file that for future reference so you don't think you're going nuts by not closing your port.