Tesla Driving Logs Contradict NYT Claims

Fair enough, but to travel that 200 miles he had to drive considerably slower than 65 mph much of the time, and he had to set cabin heating to a temperature he found uncomfortable. Imagine what would have happened on a windy or rainy day.

The fact that he could have taken more and longer breaks for charging is so besides the point. The ONLY point I wish to make, and the reporter made, is that the 85 kwh Tesla cannot reliably travel 200 miles in the winter if cabin heating is used and the car averages 65 mph.

 

It looks like he had the heat on for that 200 miles.



It also looks like he kept the speed at or above 60mph for that 200 miles.



It looks to me like he intentionally avoided getting a full charge in an attempt to dramatize a low battery situation.

 

Exactly. He had to drive at 60 mph for about 80 miles to complete the 200 mile leg because of the cabin heating. What part of "65 mph in winter conditions using cabin heating cannot reliably reach 200 mile range" are you having trouble understanding ?

 

hey we get it. you think this car is a «fail». now can you stop beating that drum in response to every single post in the thread?

72 heat seems awfully high for wintertime, when presumably you’re in your car in a coat and pants, rather than shorts and a t-shirt. i mean, my house thermostat is only set to 70 degrees and i wear less clothing at home than in my car.

air resistance increases with the square of the increase in speed. the difference between 54 and 60 is significant.

actually, you know why it shows what a big fat liar he was? because who would ever call a number like 54 an «estimate»? if he said 55…or 60…and was going 57 or 62, i would understand. but 54 sounds pretty damn scientific. though apparently he just pulled that number out of his butt. same with 45…when I drive…i tend to know very well the difference between 52 and 45. the other issue is that the reporter claimed he set cruise control to some number, but in reality you’ll see that he set it to a higher number, then slightly lower, then slightly lower, then stopped using it completely and went all the way up to 70 mph. so now 54 has really turned into 70, and you’re going to tell me that’s not a big difference?

as far as the parking lot is concerned…you guys do realize that they probably collect GPS points as well…so they aren’t making that claim from the speed data alone?

one final point…which everyone seems to have missed:

did you see that? it wasn’t even supposed to be an article about whether the existing supercharger network was sufficient for this trip. no, the angle that this was supposed to take was something along the lines of «these superchargers will do for now, but in a couple of years, they will really ‘free’ you and give you the ability to drive pretty much anywhere». instead, we got a lesson on how when you don’t sufficiently charge your car, you can’t go as far as you want. wow.

 

It looks to me that had he gotten a full charge he could have easily done 200 miles at 65mph with cabin heating. By only getting a 90% charge, he had to compromise.

If you look at the first charge/leg he went about 120 miles with cabin heat and 70mph using less than 50% of the battery.

 

as for the heating, look at the scale on that chart. the bottom isn’t 0…it’s 64! maybe if instead of jacking the heat all the way to 74 (seriously??), he had just set it to…68…and kept it there for the entire trip…or even better…used the damn seat heaters…then everything would be just fine? no?

 

Pictures ... truly worth a thousand words.
According to Mr Dapena - the trip is "not that hard" even after "LEAD FOOT'N it"
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BDG-0GACUAEOfa_.jpg:large
Writer Peter Valdes-Dapena for CNN apparently plans on showing how much of a shill the NY times test driver is.

Tesla's Elon Musk v The New York Times, Round 2 • The Register
Even so, the Eor's of the world will still wring their hands saying oh no no no ... can't do it. For the rest of the road test REDO - go here:
Peter Valdes-Dapena (PeterDrives) on Twitter
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the square root of air resistance.... the heater.. only charged 90%.. the difference between going 60 and 54.24124 mpg... this would make a great script for Portlandia. just comical.

 

It would have helped no doubt. I routinely drive in 30F weather with the cabin heating off, yet my wife sets the thermostat to 72F. I don't think the reporter acted much differently than a large segment of the population.

 

Easy --- no. He had to abuse the battery, and hope that no rain, snow or wind decreased range further.

 

I think you might be confusing the Tesla's battery architecture with automotive EV batteries like the PiP and the Volt. They are significantly different and using more than 70% is not considered abusive.

 

Some folks want to Recreate the NYT Road Trip and show them how its done!!.

A non-idiot CNN writer is trying the journey and has already safely made it to Milford, CT's supercharger per Test drive: DC to Boston in a Tesla Model S - Feb. 15, 2013 w/o a flatbed truck.

 

Most of the afternoon mid 40sF in Milford, and the driver "pegged" the cruise at 60-65 mph while also setting the thermostat at 72F.

The result just reflects different driving conditions. As I said earlier, the car is probably good for 200 miles in balmy spring weather so long as it is driven slow.

 

Mid-40s is now "balmy" spring weather??

 

Not to coastal Californians, but definitely for people who live in 4 season climates.

 

Tesla is running this circus with 90++ percent DOD. Definitely abusive.

I'm disappointed in Tesla and Musk. I thought they had more honesty than to try to hide behind a 30 second jump to 82 mph and a 0.5 mile loop around a parking lot as the reason for the poor showing of the car. I say poor in terms of built-up expectations.

 

i've lived in 4-season climates for the majority of my life (2/3 of it, to be exact). we're not even in spring yet. the average temperature for february in NJ is 42 degrees. balmy? sure doesn't seem like it.

 

Tesla instructed the reporter to get full charges at the superchargers, he did not and it resulted in a photo op of putting a Telsa on a flatbed along with a rather misleading review of the Tesla rather than a review of the recently installed superchargers.

From the data it seems pretty obvious that with a full charge the reported could have easily travelled the 200+ miles between superchargers, even with a 5% overnight loss (35% -> 30% soc).

If the reporter had honestly reported that he didn't fill the battery and ran out before getting to the next supercharger the story would probably not have been published. Instead the reporter setup the reader early in the story, reporting that you can get a full charge at a supercharger in about an hour and then said he spent "about an hour" charging in Milford, subtly omitting that it was not a full charge.

 

it seems pretty obvious that Tesla has got battery problems.. and requires too much education. and is not a road trip car.

also obvious that Musk is a jerk.

 

getting trollish.