Positive Tesla coverage on CBC National News (Canada)

[Canuck]

I max charged and only got Rated Range up to 434km. Are most people getting a higher number? I was expecting 480km as advertised. Is 480km not rated, but ideal? I can't imagine actually getting 480km without significant elevation loss.

That's about what I got too and it shocked me too, until I changed it to "ideal" and it said 499. What did your ideal rating read?

By the way, I did the drive home from Tulameen (297 km) last weekend with my wife, three children (light girls), dog (corgi), etc. in the car and still had 83 km left. Not as good as the 122 when I did it by myself but it was raining this last time, and I used the heated seats, defrost, etc. So I am very pleased with the range -- there's two significant mountain passes to get over to get home and I didn't drive slow -- I did my usual about 10km/hr over posted limit. I stopped at the Blue Moose charger in Hope on the way up -- since we wanted lunch -- but did the drive straight home on the way back.

 

[ZsoZso]

Also remember that even though the piece featured Teslas, it was on EVs in general. I know some Leaf owners that really feel Range Anxiety, especially in the winter. One fellow I know had to have his Leaf flat-bedded once and another time he had to walk home, get his son and push the car the last few hundred feet to his driveway. Another Leaf friend talks about how he has to crawl along with the heat off and the windows all fogged, up fingers crossed that he'll make it to his destination.

I have been driving an iMiev for about 20 months (including 2 winters in the Toronto area) and my initial Range Anxiety has almost completely disappeared and got replaced by something else I would call "Range Limitation". Once you learn the capability of your EV, you can judge pretty well what trips can be done and which ones are beyond your feasible range. There are trips and situations I know I cannot use my iMiev so I need to find a different solution (my wife has an ICE so we can manage).

I never take my car on road trips, it is strictly used as a city-car due to its limited range and lack of CHAdeMO charger network in my area. However, even in cold winter days I have regularly driven ~80km daily (practical summer range with normal driving is about 100km) with a full 8h work-day stop in the middle during which the car was parked out in an open parking lot in the cold. I did have to drive slow on cold days and be gentle with the heating too but I always made it home with at least a couple of kWh left and that is a significant portion of the 16kWh battery pack :smile:

 

[Ugliest1]

I max charged and only got Rated Range up to 434km. Are most people getting a higher number? I was expecting 480km as advertised. Is 480km not rated, but ideal? I can't imagine actually getting 480km without significant elevation loss.

Just adding another data point. I range charged for the first time last night and the results were: Rated Km 423.3; Projected Km: 330.3; Ideal Km: 489.7

 

[Canuck]

Just adding another data point. I range charged for the first time last night and the results were: Rated Km 423.3; Projected Km: 330.3; Ideal Km: 489.7

I didn't know there was a "projected" rating. Where is that found?

 

[Doug_G]

I didn't know there was a "projected" rating. Where is that found?

Energy App. Be sure to press Average, though, or it will give you the utterly meaningless instantaneous reading. For some stupid reason it always defaults back to instantaneous.

 

[Chris Naps]

Thanks for posting this video. It was well produced and interesting to listen to. Thank you.

 

[Nichen]

That was sooo nice! And so nice to see you in person! A great clip and it was really cool to see what Chris Paine is up to. I would say I'm a bit like Paine himself...I adore electric cars, I use an electric bicycle daily....I love renewable energy and I also make short youtube-clips lol

 

[Larry93428]

Nice video. So good to see a positive presentation.
Yes, there are tremendous negative forces out there.

 

[Vger]

Nice video. So good to see a positive presentation.
Yes, there are tremendous negative forces out there.

We invested five hours in these interviews to do the best we could to influence the CBC team toward positivity. I am sure glad we did. When the reporter, Duncan McCue, first began talking to me before the camera was rolling, I told him straight-up that most press coverage I had seen of EVs in general and Teslas in particular was factually wrong and misleading. I said it nicely and politely but firmly. I thus challenged them right up front to do their fact-checking and present things with minimal spin. They respected that and responded with a great deal of care and earnestness. A few days ago I got an email from Duncan in which he thanked my wife and I profusely for allowing him to "learn first-hand what Teslas are like."

I mention this to encourage other owners here to invest the time and educate the press at any contact that comes up, planned or unplanned. Do not presume the worst about them. Try to help them get the story right! Let your local Tesla folks know that you are eager to help with press, and maybe they will point to you when an opportunity arises. This is how it happened here.