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What is want is very simple - correct an accurate calculation of the consumption for example. the result jumps for- and backward if displayed in Wh/km. Looks like they calculate the distance in miles and round back in km - the result is a very imprecise.
Yea. I suspect this kind of thing will be in the Model S, but not the Roadster. With a large screen, the Model S can have much more elaborate settings. It would be really nice to set up a much more detailed charge location profile with say time-of-use information and the ability to have charging set up with "be sure you're charged by 7a.m." and have the car decided when to start charging. Eventually when there are enough electric cars it could be a problem if a thousand cars all start charging at the same time at high current in one city. We're not there yet, but cars really should be staggering their start times.
A lot of the speed indicator discussion that was not directly firmware related went here: Speedometer visibility issues
S-2000 Roadster
#1244
Is there really any more problem with that than everyone deciding to dry their clothes at the same time, or, more likely, to turn on their stoves and/or ovens to cook dinner at the same time?
Or a factory adding a night shift or a continent saturated with DVDs, flat screens and DVRs, or Christmas lighting..., anything that puts a load on the grid. No-one ever mentions that stuff when talking about electric cars and the draw they will create.
I think it is fairly well established that air conditioning in the middle of a hot summer day is what drives the peak point of yearly load. They have to build enough power generation to handle that middle of the record hot day as the worst case. In many locations, the middle of the day, in the middle of summer is a time when EVs should NOT be charging. Actually it would be helpful if they could do V2G at those times. Perhaps public charge spots, and spots at company workplaces should be the ones first selectively shut down when the grid is nearing limit. Charging at home, at night, is a better choice then.
Also I wish that we could set custom parameters for charging. For example: If the battery is less than 25% then charge now. If charge is greater than 25% then charge when rates are down.
S-2000 Roadster
#1244
I'm not trying to be a sour-puss, but the complexity of the user interface to allow that much customization of your charging preferences would probably take more time to navigate on that tiny VDS than simply handling this scenario manually. Seriously, how often do you really run into this situation? Just glance at your battery indicator, and if it's below 25% then tap the VDS a few times and set it to charge-on-connect. Otherwise, set it to charge at a preset time. At least the system remembers your preferred time of day, even when you switch it back and forth from charge-now to charge-later. The fact that the VDS even has GPS-coordinated preferences seems to be spoiling us, making us forget that there's still the manual option.
I've noticed a bug, anyway, where if you connect the charging cable before you turn the car off and remove the key then it just charges right away anyway. You could probably use that bug to your advantage: If you see your battery is below 25% when you get home, just leave the car on, plug in your charging cable, then remove the key and it should charge right away no matter what the settings. Otherwise, remove the key first, then connect the charging cable, and your roadster should charge at your preset time of day.
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Great suggestion with the key! The complexity, however, once set will follow your programming without a lot of redundant button pushes. I'm thinking more for my wife, who would prefer not to be bothered with plugging the car in, and much less inclined to have to reprogram the car to her wishes! The more that the car can do for us without having to think about it the more useful this will be as a tool! This is a firmware wish list is it not?
smorgasbord
Active Member
Charging wishlist
1) Have the usual Storage/Standard/Performance/Range modes.
2) Program in your TOU metering rates, if applicable.
3) Tell the car what time you want it to be ready in the morning. It should be able to remember two times: one for weekdays and one for weekends.
Plug the car in when you get home. That's it.
The car will figure out the amperage, like it does today. It'll delay charging until the upcoming cheapest rate is in effect and use enough amperage to be ready by the Ready By time. It'll choose lower amperages if that's more efficient, and will delay charging as long as feasible since it's better for the battery to not be at full charge for too long. If even at the highest available amperage it can't get the car fully charged during the cheap rates, it'll do some charging on the next cheapest rates.
Oh, and if when you plug the car in, the battery is too hot and the cheapest rates don't apply right then, it'll draw only enough power to cool the battery only - not actually charge. When the battery is at a good temp, it'll turn off and wait for the cheap rates to kick in, then charge.
1) Have the usual Storage/Standard/Performance/Range modes.
2) Program in your TOU metering rates, if applicable.
3) Tell the car what time you want it to be ready in the morning. It should be able to remember two times: one for weekdays and one for weekends.
Plug the car in when you get home. That's it.
The car will figure out the amperage, like it does today. It'll delay charging until the upcoming cheapest rate is in effect and use enough amperage to be ready by the Ready By time. It'll choose lower amperages if that's more efficient, and will delay charging as long as feasible since it's better for the battery to not be at full charge for too long. If even at the highest available amperage it can't get the car fully charged during the cheap rates, it'll do some charging on the next cheapest rates.
Oh, and if when you plug the car in, the battery is too hot and the cheapest rates don't apply right then, it'll draw only enough power to cool the battery only - not actually charge. When the battery is at a good temp, it'll turn off and wait for the cheap rates to kick in, then charge.
I guess this is one advantage the 1.5 Roadster has with the left side VDS.
Very easy to reach in and hit the Start Now button in the upper right corner of the display after plugging in whenever an immediate charge is desired instead of the programmed start time.
(By the way, Nissan Leaf has a 'charge now' button to override the timers... Glad someone found a Roadster equivalent.)
Not so excited about touching the key after plugging idea. With the top on its hard enough to reach in and get to it. Even worse scenario plugging in with a car cover. It's a pain to get to even the 1.5 VDS (to change charge profiles) let alone the key.
Here's a minor charging complaint related to the VDS. Usually I can't dial in the current until after I plug in the car. It doesn't give you most of the current options until it knows what plug you've got.
It would be better if it provided all of the charging options all the time, and let you set the maximum current. That way you can always set it before getting out of the car.
It also works the other way round. Recently I had to dial down the current before the breaker popped. Fortunately it takes a while for charging to spool up, so there's enough time to do it. But still, you have to climb in and out of the car again after plugging in. (Oh and why does the spare connector default to 16A when the vast majority of circuits only support 12A? Around here the 20A circuits are rarely found outside of kitchens!)
The only saving grace is that I now have over a year's experience getting in and out of the car, and it's a lot easier now.
It would be better if it provided all of the charging options all the time, and let you set the maximum current. That way you can always set it before getting out of the car.
It also works the other way round. Recently I had to dial down the current before the breaker popped. Fortunately it takes a while for charging to spool up, so there's enough time to do it. But still, you have to climb in and out of the car again after plugging in. (Oh and why does the spare connector default to 16A when the vast majority of circuits only support 12A? Around here the 20A circuits are rarely found outside of kitchens!)
The only saving grace is that I now have over a year's experience getting in and out of the car, and it's a lot easier now.
S-2000 Roadster
#1244
D'oh! :redface:
These are all excellent points.
I usually chastise anyone who creates some sort of Frankenstein charger because of the safety issues inherent to defeating the mechanical keys via rewiring ... but in the case of the 120 V SMC, I agree that Tesla Motors really seems to have broken from their typical safe choices. The default should be 12 A, as you say. I popped a breaker several times and never realized that 16 A was the default (even though I was looking at a 15 A breaker!). My only consolation is that the whole incident inspired me to install a 50 A circuit the very second day of ownership.
I continue my workaround of opening the charge port door while seated, so that I can manipulate the charging setup more easily before I get up, but that's obviously a bit of a contortionist technique. I wouldn't normally accept such a design except that the Roadster pretty much demands that you be a contortionist anyway, just for ingress and dismount.
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I've tried and I can't reach the thing. You must be a lot more flexible than me.
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