The high-pitched whine during acceleration...

[yobigd20]

Fwiw drive an i3 at CES today and floored it. Got the balloon noise.

the balloon noise was probably from a tesla driving circles around you.

 

[AnOutsider]

Ha. I've been looking, but haven't spotted one yet out here. I3 has better pickup than I thought, but definitely not OMG!?!?!?

 

[mknox]

But don't you agree that if the "balloon" was normal, as Tesla is insisting, it would be present in every car from day one?

From what I hear, it seems to be more of an issue on Performance models (I have a Standard) and may very well be present from day one. There could be factors like temperature, state of charge and how hard the driver is accelerating that cause the sound to occur at some times and not others. Of course, this is a guess on my part.

 

[Mayhemm]

From what I hear, it seems to be more of an issue on Performance models (I have a Standard) and may very well be present from day one. There could be factors like temperature, state of charge and how hard the driver is accelerating that cause the sound to occur at some times and not others. Of course, this is a guess on my part.

Obviously it should not be making the noise all the time. But, if it is a normal sound, when you cause the balloon noise in one car, performing the same action (acceleration or whatnot) in another car should also produce the noise. This doesn't seem to be the case. I doubt the noise is just the price you have to pay for the performance inverter.

 

[SeminoleFSU]

Obviously it should not be making the noise all the time. But, if it is a normal sound, when you cause the balloon noise in one car, performing the same action (acceleration or whatnot) in another car should also produce the noise. This doesn't seem to be the case. I doubt the noise is just the price you have to pay for the performance inverter.

I've always wondered why no one raised this question, since some owners don't report the same noises as others.... if it is a "normal" sound, why don't all cars produce it? If it is a normal "performance" sound, why don't all performance models make it?

 

[DTB]

Hello,

Not sure if it helps but when I first received the car, I never had the noise. Few weeks later, it appeared. The only thing that happened in between is that I might have "tested" what was the top speed of the car in a safe environment of course. Right after that, the noise appeared... I would be curious to see if those who don't have the noise never went above a certain speed while those who have the noise (i.e. most of the people) have "tested" the top speed? Tesla engineers can probably use that info along with the metrics they have access to in order to figure out if that could be the cause...

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Hello,

Not sure if it helps but when I first received the car, I never had the noise. Few weeks later, it appeared. The only thing that happened in between is that I might have "tested" what was the top speed of the car in a safe environment of course. Right after that, the noise appeared... I would be curious to see if those who don't have the noise never went above a certain speed while those who have the noise (i.e. most of the people) have "tested" the top speed? Tesla engineers can probably use that info along with the metrics they have access to in order to figure out if that could be the cause...

I have hit top speed a couple of times + ran > 2kW power for many 1/2 mile runs and a couple of > 2 mile runs (and even getting limited below 160kW with > 200 mi rated range left). Tested it all - sideways slide at ~80 moh

car is silent, besides the little inverter hum

 

[jerry33]

I have hit top speed a couple of times + ran > 2kW power for many 1/2 mile runs and a couple of > 2 mile runs (and even getting limited below 160kW with > 200 mi rated range left). Tested it all - sideways slide at ~80 moh

car is silent, besides the little inverter hum

So basically, we put this down to motor/inverter manufacturing variances. With some luck, this will get better in later cars.

 

[dgmanny]

I have 14k miles on my P85 vin 66xx. I had various minor vibration issues with acceleration from time to time, with the latest a vibration at 0-20kW from 40-60mph. I had the car serviced and they replaced the entire drivetrain. The drivetrain and acceleration is now completely quiet, it's like night and day. They SC said that some of the earlier motors were not properly balanced. If people are having any noise or vibration under acceleration I would recommend pushing service to repair it.

So basically, we put this down to motor/inverter manufacturing variances. With some luck, this will get better in later cars.

 

[SCW-Greg]

Fwiw drive an i3 at CES today and floored it. Got the balloon noise.

I meant to come back and drive it,but too busy while we were there.

I really like the modern dash on it. Tho the screens were off when I was there. Wish I could have drove it.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

So, basically, Tesla is using the "It's not a bug, it's a feature" defense?

No defense needed. It's not a bug. It's not a feature. It's just a property of dumping that much current through electro-mechanical connections.

To put it in perspective, a Supercharger delivers a max current of 120kW. Think about how beefy the Supercharger cables need to be and that giant stack of power electronics behind them needed to support that. Then realize that during peak acceleration your car is delivering 2.5 times as much energy as a Supercharger across the connections from your battery to your motor. 310kW is an IMMENSE amount of power. The kind of power normally reserved for electronics the size of refrigerators. Those big green power company boxes that hum like mad. The stuff that fills up rooms in the basements of commercial buildings that require OSHA approved hearing protection to be around.

Reducing that down to a tiny little squeal is honestly quite an achievement.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

No defense needed. It's not a bug. It's not a feature. It's just a property of dumping that much current through electro-mechanical connections.

To put it in perspective, a Supercharger delivers a max current of 120kW. Think about how beefy the Supercharger cables need to be and that giant stack of power electronics behind them needed to support that. Then realize that during peak acceleration your car is delivering 2.5 times as much energy as a Supercharger across the connections from your battery to your motor. 310kW is an IMMENSE amount of power. The kind of power normally reserved for electronics the size of refrigerators. Those big green power company boxes that hum like mad. The stuff that fills up rooms in the basements of commercial buildings that require OSHA approved hearing protection to be around.

Reducing that down to a tiny little squeal is honestly quite an achievement.

I was thinking exactly this when I was looking at my speedometer yesterday and watching the kW bar go up and down.

 

[Mayhemm]

No defense needed. It's not a bug. It's not a feature. It's just a property of dumping that much current through electro-mechanical connections.

Sorry, but if this was just a physics thing, it should occur every time the power draw on a Model S exceeds a certain threshold and it doesn't. Some cars never experience this sound. Some develop it over time. This is not caused by the power electronics.

 

[EarlyAdopter]

Sorry, but if this was just a physics thing, it should occur every time the power draw on a Model S exceeds a certain threshold and it doesn't. Some cars never experience this sound. Some develop it over time. This is not caused by the power electronics.

There are too many variables at play to draw this as a forgone conclusion. Temperature, humidity, pack size, inverter type (normal or performance), mileage, and pack state of charge all affect whether the sound manifests itself or not.

If someone can control for all these variables and show two cars identical in all those ways above and one makes the sound and one doesn't then I'll accept that conclusion. This has not been done yet to my knowledge.

 

[cinergi]

For me, what's interesting is the Roadster didn't have this problem. It *can* be avoided.

 

[100thMonkey]

There are too many variables at play to draw this as a forgone conclusion. Temperature, humidity, pack size, inverter type (normal or performance), mileage, and pack state of charge all affect whether the sound manifests itself or not.

If someone can control for all these variables and show two cars identical in all those ways above and one makes the sound and one doesn't then I'll accept that conclusion. This has not been done yet to my knowledge.

Same garage, same driver, same ambient temps as in the spring when we got our P85. the P85 made the sound from day one, through a variety of conditions. after trading up, the P85+ has never made the sound and has been through a wide variety of temps and conditions. fingers crossed that it doesn't develop down the line.

 

[bareyb]

Did a couple of speed runs with the cousins yesterday and nary a sound. Come to think of it, it's been quite a while since I heard it. Mine seems to have temporarily cured itself.

 

[Zapped]

There are too many variables at play to draw this as a forgone conclusion. Temperature, humidity, pack size, inverter type (normal or performance), mileage, and pack state of charge all affect whether the sound manifests itself or not.

.

Possibly the most important variable is personal hearing ability.
I never could hear a pin drop. No whining from my car (or me ):wink:

 

[qwk]

For me, what's interesting is the Roadster didn't have this problem. It *can* be avoided.

The roadster motor pulled 185-200kw, the model S performance pulls 340Kw+. Big difference.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

The roadster motor pulled 185-200kw, the model S performance pulls 340Kw+. Big difference.

Battery pack puts out 1150A that I have seen, so even more power if it is 400V ~ 460kW?