Perfect MX100D - my Tesla experience so far

[fatmiko]

So, I'm posting this as I've been reading these forums for a couple months, and it's been a HUGE wealth of knowledge and actually invaluable in my decision to get into this whole Tesla cult...

I've had an interesting experience so far. I live a couple hours south of St. Louis, MO. Did a test drive in STL, and fell in love with the MX. Went originally to drive the MS. Also fantastic, but the X seems more practical for a fam of 4 and road trips. Plus... those doors! Anyway- back on topic...

Ended up ordering an X a couple weeks after initial test drive once I got everything together financially with my accountant. Started off as yeah, April, maybe early may. Once it confirmed a week later, that moved to May - early June. Not happy. My sales guy looked for another inventory car that might match it. Got close, but my wife didn't want to drop from the 100D to 90D and lose the subzero. So we canceled that. We took an extended test drive that week, and while I had the car, my owner advisor got fired! Not cool - I'm still not happy about that, but it's not my business.

Month or so goes by, finally get sick of waiting, again. Sent email to my delivery specialist - asked if he had any more details. No joy, still no car in production, rail transport, blah. Asked if there may be an inventory car that would match my spec. This was last Thursday April 6th. Turns out, there was one exactly in my config, except adding the 72amp charger(not a bad upgrade), on it's way to Chicago. It landed in Chicago Friday morning. We confirmed it, canceled my custom order, I got on a plane Saturday(Yesterday) and took delivery in Chicago.

I'm curious why Tesla's system doesn't flag stuff like that. Hey we have a customer in STL looking for this specific MX(or close enough). Hey the truck is going right by there. Why not drop it there?

Anyway - delivery was fantastic - once I got there. The journey turned out to be a LONG day. But, my 9 year old daughter went with, she was bored for the most of it, but she was just as excited about the new Tesla as I was, so she HAD to come Elyse came to pick us up at O'Hare and took us to the Tesla store in Highland Park in a nice black MS.

I had the checklist - but actually made a condensed version on my iPhone reminders app so I could check them off in a somewhat quick manner. The only two things that I could find was a piece of plastic protective film on each of the floor pans of the FWD, and a protective film on the 3rd row dome light. Everything else on the car is perfect. I detailed it this morning, still can't find anything wrong with it. I think the spoiler might rattle a bit, but it's over the top windy here at the moment, so I don't know if that's a car or weather defect? Will raise a question with service soon if it persists.

To new owners, at least according to my experience this weekend, I think Tesla may have the QA issues mostly sorted out at this point. Don't let the forums cloud your trust I guess? I was seriously looking through every nook and cranny trying to find something wrong, and couldn't. Everything with this car is perfect. I guess I may just be lucky? Or has Tesla gone through it's growing pains on the MX... ??

My daughter and I drove 450 miles back to Missouri in the new MX. Hit two superchargers on the way, and arrive home with 9 miles of range remaining... I had to drive the speed limit, and 5 under at times to get that close. So, even with the 100D battery, I don't know if the trip planner is quite there in it's beta state? I found the meter in the consumption graph and the battery gauge on the cluster were pretty close. The constant warnings "Drive under 55 to reach your destination" were a bit premature I think(I watched them the whole time). We spent an extra 10 min at the last supercharger(pumping 200+mile/hr into the car) to hopefully overcome any speed/wind/elevation range issues. I think I may have cured my Range anxiety though. Although the car doesn't help on that! Constantly telling you to drive a certain speed (sometimes 10mph under the speed limit) to reach destination. Then we got out of range of any superchargers and it warned us twice about that. Like I was going to drive another 60 miles the opposite direction to grab a charge to get where I am going with at least something left? I was able to manage this with a little mental math. The battery gauge on the panel was the most accurate of everything, as far as I can tell at this point. As long as you don't drive like an asshole, you should be good with what it says.

On that point, when we left the Supercharger, we had 203 miles to drive, 270 miles of range, we ended with 9miles left. So I don't really know what to trust at the moment? ... !?

I think it would be good for Tesla to make a trip planner version that could take into consideration 5 under or 5 over or straight speed limit folks when the trip gets planned. or maybe the real time info could be more accurate? I don't know. First long trip in it, but I tend to have a lead foot most of the time, so I would appreciate the Tesla to be a bit more conservative. Again, I gave the supercharger and extra 10 min or so after it said we could get home on its charge state, but still barely arrived.

AP cameras calibrated during the first 200 miles. I think it may have sooner, but we didn't actually stop until the first supercharger. When we got back in the car AP was active. Which was good, because cruise control didn't work either until then. Rest of the drive was a breeze. Except a couple random weird things, I think AP is great. It likes to veer off towards offramps that don't have a line there, but quickly realizes it's error and lines back up with the lane. Some angles of curves cause a bit of a jog in the steering wheel to stay in the lane, but I imagine that will be solved in a couple more software releases. Did have one brake slam incident(no real reason why), and a weird lane change where I had to take over, but for the other 99%, it was solid. I LOVE IT. TAKE ME HOME JAMES!

Iphone app finally came alive, after about 20 hours. I think my DS in Chicago was able to help out with that today. Texted Matt and he seems great. So hopefully they don't fire him for being too good as well.

Also, last note while it's fresh. Inventory cars are limited to 85mph. Be sure to have them unlock that before you leave. Didn't think about it, but tried it on a straight stretch of interstate with no traffic, and it capped out at 85. Called the 24hr Tesla number and he said pull off and put it in park. He zapped a command to it, I got back on the road and it was sorted. So theres that awesome point!

Thanks everyone on here for the info and taking time to transmit it. I hope my new ownership goes well. I think it will, and I hope to be able to answer questions for other new owners as I'm learning still but will keep up with this forum for sure. The car is wonderful and stunning, and I'm blessed to be a part of this awesome new technology.

MX 100D/Pearl White/UltraWhite/UHFS/EAP/20"/72a/6seater/PUP/SUBZERO/Carbon Fiber

 

[ivengo]

Thanks for the story and enjoy your car!

 

[bonnie]

Congrats!

 

[jlund]

Thanks for the review and first impressions. Great read as I try to be patient waiting for delivery this week.

Since you sounded like you weren't to heavy on the pedals and you ended up with 9 miles to spare when the car said it should be over 50, did you by chance have the 'ideal/rated range' pref instead of 'typical range'?

I believe cars by default use ideal when most owners here report typical is much more useful.

 

[Muhammad]

Thanks for the review and first impressions. Great read as I try to be patient waiting for delivery this week.

Since you sounded like you weren't to heavy on the pedals and you ended up with 9 miles to spare when the car said it should be over 50, did you by chance have the 'ideal/rated range' pref instead of 'typical range'?

I believe cars by default use ideal when most owners here report typical is much more useful.

Cars display typical by default. Ideal has to be toggled in settings. Also using 260 rated miles on a 210 or so miles route is average. I think with experience you'll come to find that true. Rated range is achievable on the freeway only when in moderate traffic, otherwise plan for a large buffer. I tend to set a destination on trip planner and leave the charger when trip planner states I have 40-50 mile buffer

 

[cranker2k]

Congrats on the MX100D! We had our MX90D for 8 months now and took couple of long trips (> 500 miles). Here are our experiences with battery and range:

1. Rated miles you see is fixed at something like 350wh/mi (90kwh/257mi range) for my MX90D. My understanding is MX100D has max range of 294, so (100/294 = 339wh/mi). Anyway, you'll see that rated miles as dotted line in your graph on dash.

2. I never personally get under 350wh/mi driving "normally" let alone 339wh/mi unless I'm going slightly down hills. The best instrument for me is the consumption graph showing the projected range left on the right side of the graph. It's based on past "driving habits." The graph can be chosen on the console's top menu. Use last 5, 15, or 30min as appropriate based on the terrain you've drove so far to forecast the most accurate remaining range.

3. You mentioned having 203 miles left with 270mi range leaving supercharger station. My experience of driving normally with flow of traffic (> speed limit on freeway) and AC on, I normally would consume 130-140% of rated miles. So taking 130% of 203 = 263.9mi. That's a bit too close for comfort for me. Given MX100D max out at 295mi, if you can spend extra time I would charge close to full or at full. It's OK on battery's health to charge it full and use it immediately.

 

[verygreen]

Congrats on the MX100D! We had our MX90D for 8 months now and took couple of long trips (> 500 miles). Here are our experiences with battery and range:

1. Rated miles you see is fixed at something like 350wh/mi (90kwh/257mi range) for my MX90D. My understanding is MX100D has max range of 294, so (100/294 = 339wh/mi). Anyway, you'll see that rated miles as dotted line in your graph on dash.

MX100D rated mile is 324 Wh/mi. Rated range on full charge is 304..306 miles.
Also keep in mind that the actual available battery capacity of a (new) 100D is 98.1kWh, and additional 4 kWh is a buffer to prevent full discharge.
The sticker max range is 295, so for purposes of testing they arrived at 331.5 Wh/mi consumption it seems.

2. I never personally get under 350wh/mi driving "normally" let alone 339wh/mi unless I'm going slightly down hills. The best instrument for me is the consumption graph showing the projected range left on the right side of the graph. It's based on past "driving habits." The graph can be chosen on the console's top menu. Use last 5, 15, or 30min as appropriate based on the terrain you've drove so far to forecast the most accurate remaining range.

3. You mentioned having 203 miles left with 270mi range leaving supercharger station. My experience of driving normally with flow of traffic (> speed limit on freeway) and AC on, I normally would consume 130-140% of rated miles. So taking 130% of 203 = 263.9mi. That's a bit too close for comfort for me. Given MX100D max out at 295mi, if you can spend extra time I would charge close to full or at full. It's OK on battery's health to charge it full and use it immediately.

In my small (40+35 miles roundtrip) controlled run on highway with flow of traffic (=mostly 75 mph) I got 346Wh/mi which is much better than 140% of rated miles.
See details of my run in Model X: Average Wh/mile Tracker

Obviously as you reduce speed, it helps greatly. I did some errands yesterday that required mostly highway travel at 60-65mph (55mph speed limit in the area), 17.5 miles (15 of them highway I'd estimate) at 319 Wh/mi.

 

[fatmiko]

Cars display typical by default. Ideal has to be toggled in settings. Also using 260 rated miles on a 210 or so miles route is average. I think with experience you'll come to find that true. Rated range is achievable on the freeway only when in moderate traffic, otherwise plan for a large buffer. I tend to set a destination on trip planner and leave the charger when trip planner states I have 40-50 mile buffer

Thanks jlund and Muhammad
I have two options, one says Rated and the other Ideal - it's been on rated since I got in it. I think I either need to just concede to driving the speed limit, or put a much larger buffer in place!

 

[fatmiko]

Congrats on the MX100D! We had our MX90D for 8 months now and took couple of long trips (> 500 miles). Here are our experiences with battery and range:

1. Rated miles you see is fixed at something like 350wh/mi (90kwh/257mi range) for my MX90D. My understanding is MX100D has max range of 294, so (100/294 = 339wh/mi). Anyway, you'll see that rated miles as dotted line in your graph on dash.

2. I never personally get under 350wh/mi driving "normally" let alone 339wh/mi unless I'm going slightly down hills. The best instrument for me is the consumption graph showing the projected range left on the right side of the graph. It's based on past "driving habits." The graph can be chosen on the console's top menu. Use last 5, 15, or 30min as appropriate based on the terrain you've drove so far to forecast the most accurate remaining range.

3. You mentioned having 203 miles left with 270mi range leaving supercharger station. My experience of driving normally with flow of traffic (> speed limit on freeway) and AC on, I normally would consume 130-140% of rated miles. So taking 130% of 203 = 263.9mi. That's a bit too close for comfort for me. Given MX100D max out at 295mi, if you can spend extra time I would charge close to full or at full. It's OK on battery's health to charge it full and use it immediately.

MX100D rated mile is 324 Wh/mi. Rated range on full charge is 304..306 miles.
Also keep in mind that the actual available battery capacity of a (new) 100D is 98.1kWh, and additional 4 kWh is a buffer to prevent full discharge.
The sticker max range is 295, so for purposes of testing they arrived at 331.5 Wh/mi consumption it seems.



In my small (40+35 miles roundtrip) controlled run on highway with flow of traffic (=mostly 75 mph) I got 346Wh/mi which is much better than 140% of rated miles.
See details of my run in Model X: Average Wh/mile Tracker

Obviously as you reduce speed, it helps greatly. I did some errands yesterday that required mostly highway travel at 60-65mph (55mph speed limit in the area), 17.5 miles (15 of them highway I'd estimate) at 319 Wh/mi.

Thanks for the good breakdown. I'm still transitioning from Miles per Gallon to wh/mi I'll get used to it, but it's hard to drive this mad machine at the speed limit!

 

[verygreen]

I'll get used to it, but it's hard to drive this mad machine at the speed limit!

It is! I needed to drive it home for 3 hours from the store and I also averaged around 400-410Wh/mi, but that was with 80+mph speeds, so was totally expected.
Fast acceleration, esp at higher speeds (so not 0-60, but more like 55-80) also consume a lot of juice (but man, are they fun!)
Stop and go traffic overall seems to be very detrimental to the range, due to regen not recovering 100% of energy and higher car weght playing a significant factor too I imagine.

 

[Paul Carter]

So wonderful to hear more and more of these great experiences. Congratulations! Enjoy.

P.S. There's no fix for the permagrin.

 

[X Fan]

Congrats on your purchase. The X is truly best in class.

In case you aren't aware: evplanner (I use s90 19": EV Trip Planner) and teslafi: (TeslaFi.com Tesla Model S X Data Logger) are two great tools for planning trips and tracking stats.

 

[Mike M]

So, I'm posting this as I've been reading these forums for a couple months, and it's been a HUGE wealth of knowledge and actually invaluable in my decision to get into this whole Tesla cult...

...I detailed it this morning, still can't find anything wrong with it. I think the spoiler might rattle a bit, but it's over the top windy here at the moment, so I don't know if that's a car or weather defect? Will raise a question with service soon if it persists...

Thanks everyone on here for the info and taking time to transmit it. I hope my new ownership goes well. I think it will, and I hope to be able to answer questions for other new owners as I'm learning still but will keep up with this forum for sure. The car is wonderful and stunning, and I'm blessed to be a part of this awesome new technology.

MX 100D/Pearl White/UltraWhite/UHFS/EAP/20"/72a/6seater/PUP/SUBZERO/Carbon Fiber

Agree with you @fatmiko. I had a couple small FWD alignment issues, one small chrome trim issue and a sticky charge port door that popped up after a few days but otherwise our X was pristine. The interior was immaculate. I do know some people are still having some significant issues but I do think there seems to be better fit and finish than X's built in '16.