mnx
2018 M3P
/\ That was my next question... The BMW, was it wearing runflats? Why wouldn't it help?? I thought they could be run with no pressure in the tire for short distances etc.??
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Sitting on the side of the highway with a flat tire ...
- Thread starter cinergi
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- Driving Dynamics Model S
/\ That was my next question... The BMW, was it wearing runflats? Why wouldn't it help?? I thought they could be run with no pressure in the tire for short distances etc.??
Here I sit waiting for the flatbed reading this. Went to the circus with my family and came out to a flat from a clip on tire balancing weight through the tread. Too big for the puncture kit to handle. Ironically just read this post this morning - must have jinxed us!
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Update: So Tesla towed our car for free to the Menlo Park service center at 8pm last night. They were really on it and had the tire replaced by 9am - unlike our last pathetic visit which still isn't resolved:
Can't Supercharge after 4.5 software update - Page 2
The new tire was a reasonable $115 installed (19's obviously) and was less than the $120 taxi fare for my family since they couldn't fit in the tow truck and which Tesla didn't cover.
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Update: So Tesla towed our car for free to the Menlo Park service center at 8pm last night. They were really on it and had the tire replaced by 9am - unlike our last pathetic visit which still isn't resolved:
Can't Supercharge after 4.5 software update - Page 2
The new tire was a reasonable $115 installed (19's obviously) and was less than the $120 taxi fare for my family since they couldn't fit in the tow truck and which Tesla didn't cover.
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I realized yesterday that I haven't changed a tire/wheel in over 15 years. That's not to say I've never gotten a flat. But a little air and/or towing getting back in working order hasn't been a problem. If you're out in the middle of nowhere, well ... yah ... that can be more interesting.
I was thinking the same thing, in my case it's more like 23 years. That last flat tire I ended up replacing with spare on the side of highway. What a stupid thing to do! I am OK with having to call for tow truck.
But l wonder if MS is somehow more prone to flats? Is there more weight applied to the tire then in ICE car?
Not really. It's basically psi that dictates the tire pressure on the ground. However a 245 mm tire will sweep over a lot more ground than a 195 mm tire, so the chances of running over something unfortunate are higher.
Mayhemm
Model S P85+ "Lola"
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
Airbags add very little weight to the vehicle and consume far fewer resources in their production. Also, not having an airbag the rare time you need it could cost you your life. Not having a spare tire the rare time you need it could cost you an hour of your time wasted waiting for a tow truck, and possibly save you your life by not changing a wheel on the side of the highway.
Not at all comparable.
Mayhemm
Model S P85+ "Lola"
Agreed. That wasn't really my point.
You've never had a flat tire outside a cellular service area, have you?
You've never had a flat tire outside a cellular service area, have you?
The last change (not on a Tesla) took five hours--and that was in the city with good cell coverage during normal business hours. A proper spare and jack would have got me going in 20 minutes tops.
EarlyAdopter
Active Member
80,000,000 passenger cars are manufactured each year, and increasing. A donut spare tire weighs 30 lbs. A sealant kit weighs 5.
Multiply 80 million units by 25lbs by 12 years of service Iife and that's an enormous amount of extra weight to haul around for a statistically rare event - a road hazard that damages a tire so badly that it can't be temporarily repaired with sealant. It still happens, and as I said before it's no consolation if it happens to you, but the cost of everyone's time to whom it does is considerably less than hauling an additional 2 billion lbs of spare tires around every year. Grump all you will, it doesn't change the economics of it. Such is the tragedy of the commons.
Multiply 80 million units by 25lbs by 12 years of service Iife and that's an enormous amount of extra weight to haul around for a statistically rare event - a road hazard that damages a tire so badly that it can't be temporarily repaired with sealant. It still happens, and as I said before it's no consolation if it happens to you, but the cost of everyone's time to whom it does is considerably less than hauling an additional 2 billion lbs of spare tires around every year. Grump all you will, it doesn't change the economics of it. Such is the tragedy of the commons.
Donut spare is convenient for rotating tires (every 6000 miles - up to 4 times per year!) when you cross the rears onto the front. Either you need to hunt around for a big, safe chunk of wood to prop up a rear hub or simply reach in and use that donut which is handy as well as clean.
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Given how unusual the tire sizes used by Tesla are, it could cost you two weeks of your time (waiting for a new tire to be delivered), or the cost of a rental car, or a very-long-distance taxi ride.
Accordingly, I got a spare tire. But not a spare wheel; I'll always be within range of a shop which can change a tire.
1. If you have a real spare, you rotate that out so there's no waste.
2. If the spare is in your garage, it's not being carried. (assumes you have another family member that can run the tire out to you.)
3. Rule of thumb for an ICE car is 500 lbs weight reduction saves 1 mpg. So 25 lbs saves 1/20 mpg. However, electric cars are far more efficient than ICE cars (4x to 5x) so that makes 1/80 to 1/100 mpg reduction (assuming you carried the spare all the time). Over 150,000 miles you'd lose 1500 to 2000 miles (you could double that for a full sized spare except you're not likely to carry that except on trips). Probably more is lost from the occasional gas spill at the broken pump. I don't see much tragedy here.
mnx
2018 M3P
What if your revs/mile were off by ~2%? Would it be ok to get you to the tire shop (if the mismatched tires were on the front)?
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