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Having not read the entire thread, I'll make a couple suggestions before the big event:
1. Have you considered staggering and coordinating the various departure times so that there are no pictures of dozens of Model S's sitting around waiting for Supercharger slots to open up. No point in having someone post a video: Watch 20 Model S's with empty batteries waiting around for hours...
2. Are You/Tesla Absolutely Sure that the Superchargers will be able to handle everything that you throw at them this weekend? I thought I remember seeing something about the Superchargers being supplied by either batteries or shared such that multiple simultaneous charging could increase the charge time? You are going to end up essentially doing a stress test of the Superchargers...
Basically, make sure all the ducks are in a row to make what should be a very positive media event a very positive media event. With that much attention, every bad thing that happens will be magnified 1000x. Good luck and I look forward to following things this weekend.
RT
1. Have you considered staggering and coordinating the various departure times so that there are no pictures of dozens of Model S's sitting around waiting for Supercharger slots to open up. No point in having someone post a video: Watch 20 Model S's with empty batteries waiting around for hours...
2. Are You/Tesla Absolutely Sure that the Superchargers will be able to handle everything that you throw at them this weekend? I thought I remember seeing something about the Superchargers being supplied by either batteries or shared such that multiple simultaneous charging could increase the charge time? You are going to end up essentially doing a stress test of the Superchargers...
Basically, make sure all the ducks are in a row to make what should be a very positive media event a very positive media event. With that much attention, every bad thing that happens will be magnified 1000x. Good luck and I look forward to following things this weekend.
RT
I've had my Model S for several months now and I took it on the road last weekend for the first time (roundtrip from DC to Philly). I stopped at the SuperCharging station in Delaware on the way up and on the way back and was able to fully charge both times in less than an hour. I read the NYT review the other day and I think it's bogus. I would thus love to participate in a long-distance drive from DC to Boston. I do have a major concern though: On my return trip last weekend, when I stopped to charge in Delaware, two of the four SuperChargers were inoperable. I called the toll-free number listed on one of the machines and spoke to a Tesla rep, who confirmed that only two machines were working. Hopefully, the two broken chargers have since been fixed, but if you guys are planning a long-distance trip such as this and any of the SuperChargers are not working, this could spell disaster. Just something to look into before proceeding with this.
Norbert
TSLA will win
Milford -> Stonington -> Groton -> Milford, please.
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That's gonna be chaotic!
When you guys are on the trip, can you guys please make sure to do most of the stuff the Atlantic Wire says CNN did in their DC-Boston trip.
The link to that story is here: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/02/tesla-model-s-dc-to-boston/62178/
The link to that story is here: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/02/tesla-model-s-dc-to-boston/62178/
- Outside temperature: Valdes-Dapena doesn't note the weather on his trip, which was a huge factor in Broder's ride. Broder started his trip on a 30-degree day and ended it on a 10-degree one. Tesla's own people say cold weather can suck out 10 percent of battery life — and even more from the heater. CNN's crew did the road trip yesterday, per the time stamp on the "we made it!" tweet. In D.C. yesterday, temperatures reached nearly 50 degrees, followed by 46 in New York, and 42 in Boston, per Weather.com.
- Cruise control: Perhaps learning from Broder's mistakes, the Tesla PR people made sure to tell Valdes-Dapena to use cruise control for the entirety of his trip trip. "I followed Tesla's recommendations and kept the cruise control pegged to between 60 and 65 much of the way," writes Valdes-Dapena. Broder didn't follow these "range maximization guidelines" until he felt like he was losing power fast, putting the cruise control at 54 mph. And at the instructions of a Tesla representative, Broder turned the cruise control off, which he later admited was a mistake.
- Temperature settings: Again, per instructions from the Tesla PR people, Valdes-Dapena didn't fiddle with the heat. Broder only put the heat to "low" once he started panicking. He also later admitted that he switched it from cool to warm throughout the trip to "compromise between comfort and battery."
- Overnight trip: Broder spent the night in Groton, Connecticut, after which he contends a night in the freezing cold sucked 65 miles of power out of his car. Valdes-Dapena, on the other hand, writes: "I minimized stops," again because of Tesla's recommendations. It was only after Broder's overnight stay that the Model S seems to have shut down.
sayidready
We will discuss these points when we're all together at the DE Supercharger. Again - 3 people will be there before the other 3 (myself included) get there - so they will charge before we arrive.
Supposed to snow tomorrow and the overnight temps in Groton are supposed to be in the 19-21 degree range. Not as low as the 10 degrees (reported) but close enough I think!
Aaron
PS - We'll make sure we go for dinner in Stonington before going to the hotel in Groton - provided we're not running too late ;-)
Just make the trip. Drive like normal people drive. The speed limit is 65 (MD/DE/So. NJ)? Drive 70. When it's 55mph (No. NJ/NY/CT) drive 60. Keep your HVAC and seat heaters at a comfortable range. You don't have to mimic Broder's precise behavior, you just need to be average. Demonstrate a no stress trip following the same path and you've proved the point.
NigelM
Recovering Member
Citizen-T
Active Member
Except that I want video of 6 Teslas driving in a circle nose to tail. Do that part!
Citizen-T
Active Member
You know that @GeorgeB is reading this thread with a big Tesla Grin thinking to himself, "Man, I can't say anything, but I love these guys."
Not to be capt'n obvious.
If you has 6 cars it would be great to read 6 stories. One about each experience.
One car should exactly replicate the NYT down to the smallest detail except instead of the last dumb move of resorting to a flatbed. Find a better last minute solution like slowing down or stopping at a J1772 charge point to show the system works- just like gasoline. You are low, you stop to fill.
The next car should do the NYT drive exactly but without any of the mistakes carefully pointing out each and ever place he messed up.
Another car should be a normal drive as anyone would do it (much like the CNN drive)
and
One car be a hypermiler working to squeeze every bit of extra range at the end of each leg
and
One should be a crazy leadfoot who has a blast with the speed and awesome acceleration but then to has to stop more. A realistic showing of the other end of the spectrum.
Create a different scenario for each driver to represent the different kind of "Joes" out there. Would give credibility to what works and what does not.
Good luck!
If you has 6 cars it would be great to read 6 stories. One about each experience.
One car should exactly replicate the NYT down to the smallest detail except instead of the last dumb move of resorting to a flatbed. Find a better last minute solution like slowing down or stopping at a J1772 charge point to show the system works- just like gasoline. You are low, you stop to fill.
The next car should do the NYT drive exactly but without any of the mistakes carefully pointing out each and ever place he messed up.
Another car should be a normal drive as anyone would do it (much like the CNN drive)
and
One car be a hypermiler working to squeeze every bit of extra range at the end of each leg
and
One should be a crazy leadfoot who has a blast with the speed and awesome acceleration but then to has to stop more. A realistic showing of the other end of the spectrum.
Create a different scenario for each driver to represent the different kind of "Joes" out there. Would give credibility to what works and what does not.
Good luck!
Norbert
TSLA will win
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