Questions, questions, questions...

[Richard__G]

I took a trip to Boston along which I Picked up my new Model Y. Description here.

Once in Boston, I spent a morning with the manual and online trying learn what I hadn't before.

The drive home was going ok, and the nav system reported I had more miles on the battery than the actual distance to home (per Waze), so I figured I was ok. However, the remaining miles eventually dropped below the actual distance. Luckily there was a supercharger station coming up, so I topped up and got home fine. It was so close however, that I shut down everything I could - radio, heat, dimmed the screen, etc. - until I got there. So, questions from the trip home:

1. How much can I trust mileage estimates in these types of situations? What's the best way to handle it when things get this close?
2. One the way in, I missed a station but the nav system didn't re-route me or alert me. What's the correct way to set up a trip with charging stops built in so this doesn't happen?
3. When the car is steering itself, it seemed as though trucks were passing too close on the left (though I know the car WAS properly centered in the lane - it was just my paranoid perception). However, IF a passing vehicle DOES get dangerously close, how will the car react and what will it do?
4. Precisely how does the NAV system get its information ? What is it communicating with? At one point on the drive home when I was trying to plan a route listing supercharges, it never found them and kept spinning its wheel "trying to connect". Once I cancelled the trip and reset the destination, it was able to connect.
5. Same question for the radio stations and music streaming services. It it through my iPhone's wi-fi hotspot?
6. When I ask the car to play a particular artist or song, what is it connecting to and what determines the list of songs that follow?
7. Now this is probably a dumb one, but more often than not, when the Nav screen is up, the top right icons for earth view, POI, charging stations, etc.,don't display. What's the trick to always having them available?

My thanks to everyone in advance for putting up with my incessant questions!

Richard

 

[jjrandorin]

1. You want to use the energy trip screen (application), not the battery icon on the main screen to estimate mileage. The energy trip screen will take into account current usage on your trip etc. The battery icon on the main screen is just a calculation based on EPA rated range.

TL : DR -- the energy trip screen should be pretty accurate when you get going on your trip. The battery icon on the screen is not accurate as far as actual range unless you are driving like the EPA tests, which you likely arent since hardly anyone is.

(im not going to attempt any FSD / Autopilot answers)

4. I believe the waypoints on the navigation come from google, but there is another source for the actual map. I dont keep up with this to know if it changed, but I remember discussion threads on which company the map comes from and it wasnt google, or garmin or anyone like that.

5. In the US, the car uses ATT as a carrier. The car has its own cellular connection, however what goes over that connection depens on whether you are paying for premium connectivity or not. Google "Tesla Premium connectivity" and go to Teslas page on what comes with premium connectivity (or click the link I am including below which is a link to the same information)

Connectivity | Tesla Support

Connectivity is an important part of all Tesla vehicles, further enhancing the driving experience by providing access to features that require data usage. Find out more about Standard and Premium Connectivity.

www.tesla.com

You get a 30 day trial of premium connectivity so in the first 30 days your car has premium connectivity. If you dont subscribe after that, it will have standard connectivity. The Tesla page will show you services run over premium connectivity.

6. In the US, this music service was previously called "Slacker Radio" and now is called "LiveXLive" (same service though)

7. I think (but am not positive) those icons display when you touch the map. I dont think there is an option to make them permanently display, they just display when you might need to use them (touching the map).

 

[Jerry Ham]

1. Mileage from the top of the screen you cannot trust at all. It is based on EPA rated miles which you will pretty much never see. You might get that range if you were at 70 degrees ambient temp, only one person and no cargo in the car, and going down a slight 1% decline the whole way. Many people change that display to percent SoC since the mileage estimate there is never very accurate. Estimates from the navigation you can trust pretty solidly. You tell it to navigate home and it is really not going to leave you stranded if you drive normal speeds and stop where it tells you to.
2. It would have alerted you if it had decided you could not make it to the next charger. The best way is to simply use the navigation and pretty much do what it says. There are times when you might override it, but this is not something you should do until you are very familiar with it and have driven many long trips. An example might be that the car originally estimates that you will get to a charger with 20%, but by the time you are close you actually still have 30% - you might choose to override. But get used to this first. For now - do what it says.
3. I don't use FSD or lane keeping so I'll let others answer this one.
4. It goes through VPN via ATT to Tesla servers and from there gets it from multiple places - Google Maps, and Tesla data.
5. You just got the car, so it is using the car's data unless you force it to your phone by connecting to your phone Wi-Fi. I don't know why you would do that while you are on the 1 month free car data though unless your phone had signal, but the ATT in the car did not. Unless you forced it, the data was over ATT and through Tesla VPN and then on to whatever service you were using (Slacker, Spotify, etc.)
6. The service that you selected has x number of songs and that service shows you whatever it has. You are probably using slacker, but there are several choices, each with different things available - and some with additional fees from the service provider (for example Spotify)

 

[rlsd]

3. If you use FSD/autosteer most of the time the car will move out of the center of the lane about 0.5 ft to 1.5 ft when there are dangerous objects near it (big trucks, buses, objects dropped on street) or vulnerable users (bikes, motocycles, people). Many times the car will not move out of the center when going along with a big truck if it does not "feel" unsafe. I usually manually increase the speed via the dial wheel to let the car go past big trucks.

 

[Tam]

...How much can I trust mileage estimates in these types of situations?

It's an EPA guide, so it's how closely your driving behavior to as if you are in the EPA laboratory.

Hypermilers would beat the EPA numbers but not most of us.

You just need to learn how much your car consumes energy and adapt to it.

I don't start to drive unless I have 150 miles extra on the battery gauge.

For example, if the next charging station is 200 miles away, I don't start to drive unless the battery gauge says 350 miles.

You just need to find your own numbers.

...What's the best way to handle it when things get this close?...

Reduce the speed. Turtle speed as needed. Shut everything else off like you did: HVAC... and plan first to avoid getting into this kind of situation.

 

[Tronguy]

I took a trip to Boston along which I Picked up my new Model Y. Description here.

Once in Boston, I spent a morning with the manual and online trying learn what I hadn't before.

The drive home was going ok, and the nav system reported I had more miles on the battery than the actual distance to home (per Waze), so I figured I was ok. However, the remaining miles eventually dropped below the actual distance. Luckily there was a supercharger station coming up, so I topped up and got home fine. It was so close however, that I shut down everything I could - radio, heat, dimmed the screen, etc. - until I got there. So, questions from the trip home:

1. How much can I trust mileage estimates in these types of situations? What's the best way to handle it when things get this close?
2. One the way in, I missed a station but the nav system didn't re-route me or alert me. What's the correct way to set up a trip with charging stops built in so this doesn't happen?
3. When the car is steering itself, it seemed as though trucks were passing too close on the left (though I know the car WAS properly centered in the lane - it was just my paranoid perception). However, IF a passing vehicle DOES get dangerously close, how will the car react and what will it do?
4. Precisely how does the NAV system get its information ? What is it communicating with? At one point on the drive home when I was trying to plan a route listing supercharges, it never found them and kept spinning its wheel "trying to connect". Once I cancelled the trip and reset the destination, it was able to connect.
5. Same question for the radio stations and music streaming services. It it through my iPhone's wi-fi hotspot?
6. When I ask the car to play a particular artist or song, what is it connecting to and what determines the list of songs that follow?
7. Now this is probably a dumb one, but more often than not, when the Nav screen is up, the top right icons for earth view, POI, charging stations, etc.,don't display. What's the trick to always having them available?

My thanks to everyone in advance for putting up with my incessant questions!

Richard

OK. Let's take it from the top:

1. How much can I trust mileage estimates in these types of situations? What's the best way to handle it when things get this close?
   1. There's three (at least) different mileage numbers displayed: One at the top sort-of-left, one down where it's got your destination, and then there's this "Energy" Screen that you can get as a pop-up.
   2. The one at the top looks at your Battery Management System (BMS) to get the amount of charge; multiplies that by the EPA rated number, and gets your range that way. Not accounted for: Hills going up, hills going down, outside temperature, the fact that you're playing Jackrabbit Jones on the gas pedal (which hits EVs just as much as BEVs), the weather (wind against one, etc.)
   3. The one that has your charge when you get to your destination Does All Of The Above and is the most accurate. Besides the weather, known hills that your route will be going over, traffic that slows you down, it has your actual blinking driving habits on this particular drive. If that indicator shows negative numbers or something like 10 miles left and it hasn't had time to figure your driving habits, be afraid, very afraid. THIS is the thing that drives the car to tell you, "You need to stop at a Supercharger, here's one!" or the dreaded, "Limit your speed to X in order to get to your destination" messages. There was a infamous incident where a NY Times hack (not a journalist.. but the guy is currently an editor for the rag) purposely ignored all that and then acted surprised, in print, when he needed a tow. Unfortunately for him, Tesla retrieved his route and discovered his shenanigans. Don't be that guy.
   4. If you want to have Lots Of Fun as to what the computer is thinking your car has for range, check out the Energy Screen. (Bottom row, hit the icon with all the dots, and you'll get a huge list of apps/icons/what-have-you. Radio, Streaming, Manual, Toybox, Theater Mode, etc. Energy is one of the pop-ups.) It has more graphs and info that you can shake a stick at and about a dozen different things that are affecting your range. Don't spend too much time looking at it all, you'll get into an accident. But you can look at it when you're stopped and glance at it otherwise. Extra points: Get your SO to drive, then you, in the passenger's seat, can look at it all day.
   5. Seriously, the range estimation stuff in the Tesla tends to blow away anything you've ever seen from an ICE. General rule, though, as others have said: Put in your destination and follow the blame instructions. Do that and you'll minimize your travel time.
   6. Only thing when you're on a longish trip: The car's ranging & SC stops are all about minimizing travel time. What it doesn't do such a great job on is assuring that, when you get to your non-home destination, that you have enough charge to beat around town for a time. For that reason, hit the main screen when you're, say, 100 miles from your destination, pick the icon on the right that looks like a lightning zap, and pick a SC that's close to where you're going.
   7. Alternatively: As I said, the car tries to minimize travel time. Maximum charge rate happens when the car's charge is less than, say, 30% of full charge; above that 30% or so number, the charge rate drops down. So the car might have you stop somewhere for, say, 10 minutes, then tell you it's time to leave. Don't believe it (in this case): Stick around until you hit 80% or so (or whatever you want) so you've got, say, 50% charge when you get to where you're going.
2. One the way in, I missed a station but the nav system didn't re-route me or alert me. What's the correct way to set up a trip with charging stops built in so this doesn't happen?
   1. Because if it sees that you can get to where you're going without running out of charge, it figures that you're a human with brains that is smarter than it is. So long as you're not going to actually run dry, it'll give you the benefit of a doubt.
   2. Not aware of any setting to make it set off an air horn or anything like that. But, just like with a gas car that's below 1/4 tank, you should be vaguely aware of how much charge you're running around with.
3. When the car is steering itself, it seemed as though trucks were passing too close on the left (though I know the car WAS properly centered in the lane - it was just my paranoid perception). However, IF a passing vehicle DOES get dangerously close, how will the car react and what will it do?
   1. I'm an FSD/EAP user. First off, no offense, but I think you've got your statement slightly backwards: If you're passing a panel or semi truck on your right, the car will shift to the left so It's Not So Darn Close. Once said truck is passed, the car will be recentered in the lane. Used to be it kind of jerked its way away from the truck, then jerked back into the center; nowadays, it's smoother in those motions.
   2. If some other vehicle tries to pull a kamikaze on you, the general rule is the car will try to save the day: Brakes, left shoves, right shoves, and so on. It's not perfect - but neither are people. It will definitely Hit The Brakes when traffic in front of one slows abruptly (had this happen to me a couple of times) when on Autopilot; when not on autopilot (i.e., you're driving) it will do Emergency Braking. That last isn't guaranteed to make you miss, though, just to reduce the damage when metal gets bent. On Autopilot, the car won't shift into blind spots that are inhabited by cars that are there or are going to be there. Safest place to be on a trip: On EAP/FSD, hands on the wheel, and eyes out front. Tesla has numbers that show that the accident rate is, roughly, 1/4 to 1/10 the national rate when one is doing that.
4. Precisely how does the NAV system get its information ? What is it communicating with? At one point on the drive home when I was tryingto plan a route listing supercharges, it never found them and kept spinning its wheel "trying to connect". Once I cancelled the trip and reset the destination, it was able to connect.
   1. All Teslas have 3G/4G modems in them for internet connectivity. One gets the base level without paying for it; that'll give you SC stops, maps, and your route. Your spanking new Tesla also comes with the enhanced variety which, in addition to the above, also comes with traffic display and streaming. You get it free for 30 days or something, then it's either $10/month or $99/year.
   2. Congratulations, you've got a new Tesla car! Every so often the computer in the display loses its mind, especially after a software update or three. Primary way to fix it: Hold both scroll wheels on the steering wheel down for a bit. The display will go blank. Let go: a "T" for Tesla will appear, and the computer in there will reboot. Solves all sorts of screwy problems. You can, in practice, do this while driving, but a blank screen sans speed limits and all is a bit on the scary side. Tesla strongly suggests being stopped for that kind of reset.
5. Same question for the radio stations and music streaming services. It it through my iPhone's wi-fi hotspot?
   1. No hot spot involved, at least for this. The car does have a true-blue FM radio; no AM, though. Remember that list of apps that can be made to appear? One of them is a "Tuner", and says so. Bring it up and it'll give you a list of the local FM stations about you.
   2. The "Streaming" icon works when you've got the "enhanced" version of connectivity and when the car is connected to wi-fi (say, at home. Or at some Supercharger stations, there's a Tesla wi-fi at those spots that the car will automagically connect to.) There's a bunch of channels and one can sign into a variety of other streaming services that you may have an account for. Find a quiet spot somewhere and play with it for a while, while not driving.
   3. Having said that: You can connect your phone's audio to the car's speakers and play anything the phone's got going. Presumably, people sans the enhanced 3G/4G connectivity do that for fun.
6. When I ask the car to play a particular artist or song, what is it connecting to and what determines the list of songs that follow?
   1. That definitely is the enhanced streaming service coming down from on high courtesy of AT&T and Tesla. Somewhere, there's some music heads (or fancy computers) that, if you tell the car, "Play Rheanna" will play a lot of Rhenna songs and other artists in the genre
7. Now this is probably a dumb one, but more often than not, when the Nav screen is up, the top right icons for earth view, POI, charging stations, etc.,don't display. What's the trick to always having them available?
   1. Dunno about making them always available, but just Tap The NAV Screen Anywhere and they'll just appear. And, after a delay, disappear.

 

[Richard__G]

1. You want to use the energy trip screen (application), not the battery icon on the main screen to estimate mileage. The energy trip screen will take

1. You want to use the energy trip screen (application), not the battery icon on the main screen to estimate mileage. The energy trip screen will take into account current usage on your trip etc. The battery icon on the main screen is just a calculation based on EPA rated range.

TL : DR -- the energy trip screen should be pretty accurate when you get going on your trip. The battery icon on the screen is not accurate as far as actual range unless you are driving like the EPA tests, which you likely arent since hardly anyone is.

(im not going to attempt any FSD / Autopilot answers)

4. I believe the waypoints on the navigation come from google, but there is another source for the actual map. I dont keep up with this to know if it changed, but I remember discussion threads on which company the map comes from and it wasnt google, or garmin or anyone like that.

5. In the US, the car uses ATT as a carrier. The car has its own cellular connection, however what goes over that connection depens on whether you are paying for premium connectivity or not. Google "Tesla Premium connectivity" and go to Teslas page on what comes with premium connectivity (or click the link I am including below which is a link to the same information)

Connectivity | Tesla Support

Connectivity is an important part of all Tesla vehicles, further enhancing the driving experience by providing access to features that require data usage. Find out more about Standard and Premium Connectivity.

www.tesla.com

You get a 30 day trial of premium connectivity so in the first 30 days your car has premium connectivity. If you dont subscribe after that, it will have standard connectivity. The Tesla page will show you services run over premium connectivity.

6. In the US, this music service was previously called "Slacker Radio" and now is called "LiveXLive" (same service though)

7. I think (but am not positive) those icons display when you touch the map. I dont think there is an option to make them permanently display, they just display when you might need to use them (touching the map).

into account current usage on your trip etc. The battery icon on the main screen is just a calculation based on EPA rated range.

TL : DR -- the energy trip screen should be pretty accurate when you get going on your trip. The battery icon on the screen is not accurate as far as actual range unless you are driving like the EPA tests, which you likely arent since hardly anyone is.

(im not going to attempt any FSD / Autopilot answers)

4. I believe the waypoints on the navigation come from google, but there is another source for the actual map. I dont keep up with this to know if it changed, but I remember discussion threads on which company the map comes from and it wasnt google, or garmin or anyone like that.

5. In the US, the car uses ATT as a carrier. The car has its own cellular connection, however what goes over that connection depens on whether you are paying for premium connectivity or not. Google "Tesla Premium connectivity" and go to Teslas page on what comes with premium connectivity (or click the link I am including below which is a link to the same information)

Connectivity | Tesla Support

Connectivity is an important part of all Tesla vehicles, further enhancing the driving experience by providing access to features that require data usage. Find out more about Standard and Premium Connectivity.

www.tesla.com

You get a 30 day trial of premium connectivity so in the first 30 days your car has premium connectivity. If you dont subscribe after that, it will have standard connectivity. The Tesla page will show you services run over premium connectivity.

6. In the US, this music service was previously called "Slacker Radio" and now is called "LiveXLive" (same service though)

7. I think (but am not positive) those icons display when you touch the map. I dont think there is an option to make them permanently display, they just display when you might need to use them (touching the map).

jjrandorin,

Thanks very much!

1. You want to use the energy trip screen (application), not the battery icon on the main screen to estimate mileage. The energy trip screen will take into account current usage on your trip etc. The battery icon on the main screen is just a calculation based on EPA rated range.

TL : DR -- the energy trip screen should be pretty accurate when you get going on your trip. The battery icon on the screen is not accurate as far as actual range unless you are driving like the EPA tests, which you likely arent since hardly anyone is.

(im not going to attempt any FSD / Autopilot answers)

4. I believe the waypoints on the navigation come from google, but there is another source for the actual map. I dont keep up with this to know if it changed, but I remember discussion threads on which company the map comes from and it wasnt google, or garmin or anyone like that.

5. In the US, the car uses ATT as a carrier. The car has its own cellular connection, however what goes over that connection depens on whether you are paying for premium connectivity or not. Google "Tesla Premium connectivity" and go to Teslas page on what comes with premium connectivity (or click the link I am including below which is a link to the same information)

Connectivity | Tesla Support

Connectivity is an important part of all Tesla vehicles, further enhancing the driving experience by providing access to features that require data usage. Find out more about Standard and Premium Connectivity.

www.tesla.com

You get a 30 day trial of premium connectivity so in the first 30 days your car has premium connectivity. If you dont subscribe after that, it will have standard connectivity. The Tesla page will show you services run over premium connectivity.

6. In the US, this music service was previously called "Slacker Radio" and now is called "LiveXLive" (same service though)

7. I think (but am not positive) those icons display when you touch the map. I dont think there is an option to make them permanently display, they just display when you might need to use them (touching the map).

jjrandorin - Thanks very much!

I just subscribed to the Premium Connectivity. In my previous car, I used a T-Mobile device which had a ODBC connection to get an internet hotspot in my car. I was all hot & bothered to get it installed in the Tesla. But with the premium connectivity and using my phone as a hotspot when needed, it looks like I won't need it. Nice! I'll play more with the map for those icons.

- Richard

 

[Richard__G]

1. Mileage from the top of the screen you cannot trust at all. It is based on EPA rated miles which you will pretty much never see. You might get that range if you were at 70 degrees ambient temp, only one person and no cargo in the car, and going down a slight 1% decline the whole way. Many people change that display to percent SoC since the mileage estimate there is never very accurate. Estimates from the navigation you can trust pretty solidly. You tell it to navigate home and it is really not going to leave you stranded if you drive normal speeds and stop where it tells you to.
2. It would have alerted you if it had decided you could not make it to the next charger. The best way is to simply use the navigation and pretty much do what it says. There are times when you might override it, but this is not something you should do until you are very familiar with it and have driven many long trips. An example might be that the car originally estimates that you will get to a charger with 20%, but by the time you are close you actually still have 30% - you might choose to override. But get used to this first. For now - do what it says.
3. I don't use FSD or lane keeping so I'll let others answer this one.
4. It goes through VPN via ATT to Tesla servers and from there gets it from multiple places - Google Maps, and Tesla data.
5. You just got the car, so it is using the car's data unless you force it to your phone by connecting to your phone Wi-Fi. I don't know why you would do that while you are on the 1 month free car data though unless your phone had signal, but the ATT in the car did not. Unless you forced it, the data was over ATT and through Tesla VPN and then on to whatever service you were using (Slacker, Spotify, etc.)
6. The service that you selected has x number of songs and that service shows you whatever it has. You are probably using slacker, but there are several choices, each with different things available - and some with additional fees from the service provider (for example Spotify)

Ahh, that was very helpful, thank you! I learned to listen to my wife, and now looks like I have a new master in this navigation system.

Good to know I can remove my phone as a wi-fi source. Now I can use it for other things.

I'll have to take the time to sign into Spotify, Netflix and Apple Music with my credentials and then can use the CAR to connect to them as needed.

Best!
- Richard

 

[Richard__G]

3. If you use FSD/autosteer most of the time the car will move out of the center of the lane about 0.5 ft to 1.5 ft when there are dangerous objects near it (big trucks, buses, objects dropped on street) or vulnerable users (bikes, motocycles, people). Many times the car will not move out of the center when going along with a big truck if it does not "feel" unsafe. I usually manually increase the speed via the dial wheel to let the car go past big trucks.

Got it, thanks. That's very reassuring. BTW, I do the same with the thumbwheel when passing trucks, that is such a nice feature, a whole new & simpler way of adjusting speed. Elegant stuff.

 

[Richard__G]

It's an EPA guide, so it's how closely your driving behavior to as if you are in the EPA laboratory.

Hypermilers would beat the EPA numbers but not most of us.

You just need to learn how much your car consumes energy and adapt to it.

I don't start to drive unless I have 150 miles extra on the battery gauge.

For example, if the next charging station is 200 miles away, I don't start to drive unless the battery gauge says 350 miles.

You just need to find your own numbers.


Reduce the speed. Turtle speed as needed. Shut everything else off like you did: HVAC... and plan first to avoid getting into this kind of situation.

Tam - thanks, your 150 mile rule appeals to me and I will be adopting it. BTW, I also did "Turtle Speed"(great term) and reduced my speed to 10 miles under the limit. Luckily it was late at night so I wasn't a bother to very many other drivers.

I really DO need to plan trips out a lot better. A lesson learned both to & from Boston.

 

[Dennisis]

If you take nothing else from the copious notes above, remember to put in your destination and follow the instructions! The car will tell you where to stop and how long to charge each time. If outside forces (strong winds, rain, etc...) cause you to use more energy than originally predicted the car will tell you to A) stop to charge earlier or B) slow down to a certain speed until you reach the next charger. It's that simple.

And keep in mind if you want/need to have more charge when you arrive at your destination then charge more at your last stop. And lots to read on other threads by using the search feature top right as this all as been repeated extensively.

 

[Richard__G]

OK. Let's take it from the top:

1. How much can I trust mileage estimates in these types of situations? What's the best way to handle it when things get this close?
   1. There's three (at least) different mileage numbers displayed: One at the top sort-of-left, one down where it's got your destination, and then there's this "Energy" Screen that you can get as a pop-up.
   2. The one at the top looks at your Battery Management System (BMS) to get the amount of charge; multiplies that by the EPA rated number, and gets your range that way. Not accounted for: Hills going up, hills going down, outside temperature, the fact that you're playing Jackrabbit Jones on the gas pedal (which hits EVs just as much as BEVs), the weather (wind against one, etc.)
   3. The one that has your charge when you get to your destination Does All Of The Above and is the most accurate. Besides the weather, known hills that your route will be going over, traffic that slows you down, it has your actual blinking driving habits on this particular drive. If that indicator shows negative numbers or something like 10 miles left and it hasn't had time to figure your driving habits, be afraid, very afraid. THIS is the thing that drives the car to tell you, "You need to stop at a Supercharger, here's one!" or the dreaded, "Limit your speed to X in order to get to your destination" messages. There was a infamous incident where a NY Times hack (not a journalist.. but the guy is currently an editor for the rag) purposely ignored all that and then acted surprised, in print, when he needed a tow. Unfortunately for him, Tesla retrieved his route and discovered his shenanigans. Don't be that guy.
   4. If you want to have Lots Of Fun as to what the computer is thinking your car has for range, check out the Energy Screen. (Bottom row, hit the icon with all the dots, and you'll get a huge list of apps/icons/what-have-you. Radio, Streaming, Manual, Toybox, Theater Mode, etc. Energy is one of the pop-ups.) It has more graphs and info that you can shake a stick at and about a dozen different things that are affecting your range. Don't spend too much time looking at it all, you'll get into an accident. But you can look at it when you're stopped and glance at it otherwise. Extra points: Get your SO to drive, then you, in the passenger's seat, can look at it all day.
   5. Seriously, the range estimation stuff in the Tesla tends to blow away anything you've ever seen from an ICE. General rule, though, as others have said: Put in your destination and follow the blame instructions. Do that and you'll minimize your travel time.
   6. Only thing when you're on a longish trip: The car's ranging & SC stops are all about minimizing travel time. What it doesn't do such a great job on is assuring that, when you get to your non-home destination, that you have enough charge to beat around town for a time. For that reason, hit the main screen when you're, say, 100 miles from your destination, pick the icon on the right that looks like a lightning zap, and pick a SC that's close to where you're going.
   7. Alternatively: As I said, the car tries to minimize travel time. Maximum charge rate happens when the car's charge is less than, say, 30% of full charge; above that 30% or so number, the charge rate drops down. So the car might have you stop somewhere for, say, 10 minutes, then tell you it's time to leave. Don't believe it (in this case): Stick around until you hit 80% or so (or whatever you want) so you've got, say, 50% charge when you get to where you're going.
2. One the way in, I missed a station but the nav system didn't re-route me or alert me. What's the correct way to set up a trip with charging stops built in so this doesn't happen?
   1. Because if it sees that you can get to where you're going without running out of charge, it figures that you're a human with brains that is smarter than it is. So long as you're not going to actually run dry, it'll give you the benefit of a doubt.
   2. Not aware of any setting to make it set off an air horn or anything like that. But, just like with a gas car that's below 1/4 tank, you should be vaguely aware of how much charge you're running around with.
3. When the car is steering itself, it seemed as though trucks were passing too close on the left (though I know the car WAS properly centered in the lane - it was just my paranoid perception). However, IF a passing vehicle DOES get dangerously close, how will the car react and what will it do?
   1. I'm an FSD/EAP user. First off, no offense, but I think you've got your statement slightly backwards: If you're passing a panel or semi truck on your right, the car will shift to the left so It's Not So Darn Close. Once said truck is passed, the car will be recentered in the lane. Used to be it kind of jerked its way away from the truck, then jerked back into the center; nowadays, it's smoother in those motions.
   2. If some other vehicle tries to pull a kamikaze on you, the general rule is the car will try to save the day: Brakes, left shoves, right shoves, and so on. It's not perfect - but neither are people. It will definitely Hit The Brakes when traffic in front of one slows abruptly (had this happen to me a couple of times) when on Autopilot; when not on autopilot (i.e., you're driving) it will do Emergency Braking. That last isn't guaranteed to make you miss, though, just to reduce the damage when metal gets bent. On Autopilot, the car won't shift into blind spots that are inhabited by cars that are there or are going to be there. Safest place to be on a trip: On EAP/FSD, hands on the wheel, and eyes out front. Tesla has numbers that show that the accident rate is, roughly, 1/4 to 1/10 the national rate when one is doing that.
4. Precisely how does the NAV system get its information ? What is it communicating with? At one point on the drive home when I was tryingto plan a route listing supercharges, it never found them and kept spinning its wheel "trying to connect". Once I cancelled the trip and reset the destination, it was able to connect.
   1. All Teslas have 3G/4G modems in them for internet connectivity. One gets the base level without paying for it; that'll give you SC stops, maps, and your route. Your spanking new Tesla also comes with the enhanced variety which, in addition to the above, also comes with traffic display and streaming. You get it free for 30 days or something, then it's either $10/month or $99/year.
   2. Congratulations, you've got a new Tesla car! Every so often the computer in the display loses its mind, especially after a software update or three. Primary way to fix it: Hold both scroll wheels on the steering wheel down for a bit. The display will go blank. Let go: a "T" for Tesla will appear, and the computer in there will reboot. Solves all sorts of screwy problems. You can, in practice, do this while driving, but a blank screen sans speed limits and all is a bit on the scary side. Tesla strongly suggests being stopped for that kind of reset.
5. Same question for the radio stations and music streaming services. It it through my iPhone's wi-fi hotspot?
   1. No hot spot involved, at least for this. The car does have a true-blue FM radio; no AM, though. Remember that list of apps that can be made to appear? One of them is a "Tuner", and says so. Bring it up and it'll give you a list of the local FM stations about you.
   2. The "Streaming" icon works when you've got the "enhanced" version of connectivity and when the car is connected to wi-fi (say, at home. Or at some Supercharger stations, there's a Tesla wi-fi at those spots that the car will automagically connect to.) There's a bunch of channels and one can sign into a variety of other streaming services that you may have an account for. Find a quiet spot somewhere and play with it for a while, while not driving.
   3. Having said that: You can connect your phone's audio to the car's speakers and play anything the phone's got going. Presumably, people sans the enhanced 3G/4G connectivity do that for fun.
6. When I ask the car to play a particular artist or song, what is it connecting to and what determines the list of songs that follow?
   1. That definitely is the enhanced streaming service coming down from on high courtesy of AT&T and Tesla. Somewhere, there's some music heads (or fancy computers) that, if you tell the car, "Play Rheanna" will play a lot of Rhenna songs and other artists in the genre
7. Now this is probably a dumb one, but more often than not, when the Nav screen is up, the top right icons for earth view, POI, charging stations, etc.,don't display. What's the trick to always having them available?
   1. Dunno about making them always available, but just Tap The NAV Screen Anywhere and they'll just appear. And, after a delay, disappear.

Tronguy,

Wow, thanks VERY much for explaining all that stuff! I subscribed to the Premium Connectivity as it seems to offer a lot.

I'm getting a much better understanding of how it all works now. I never realized there was so much to it. Kind of a pain, but also pretty impressive.

And I can't wait for the car to lose its mind . Reboot is the answer for everything these days and nearly always fixes the problem.

If you take nothing else from the copious notes above, remember to put in your destination and follow the instructions! The car will tell you where to stop and how long to charge each time. If outside forces (strong winds, rain, etc...) cause you to use more energy than originally predicted the car will tell you to A) stop to charge earlier or B) slow down to a certain speed until you reach the next charger. It's that simple.

And keep in mind if you want/need to have more charge when you arrive at your destination then charge more at your last stop. And lots to read on other threads by using the search feature top right as this all as been repeated extensively.

Hi Dennisis,

EXCELLENT summary. I kinda needed that after the amount of incredibly thorough information provide by all the kind folks in this thread.

Thanks very much!
Richard

 

[Marktm250]

With premium subscription, can any of the Tesla supplied streaming music apps be loaded on my iPhone (as an app) and then used via USB/Bluetooth in another vehicle?