Featured Model 3 doesn't get CU recomendation

interestingly, in another thread, tesla disagreed with cr's braking distance. do you have a link to melons statement?

 

It might be in that thread now.

 

The braking wasn't catastrophically bad, just needed a slight adjustment which is within the capabilities of over the air update. It had something to do with ABS calibration.

Ride quality was also addressed by Musk by saying that CR tested an early production car and the current units have much better ride. Not sure if that can be fixed with an OAU.

The one thing that is truly horrible about Model 3, in my opinion, is the controls all buried into the touch screen menus. That will come back to bite Tesla in the butt, I think. Touchscreen is probably one of the very worse ways to control the car and drive at the same time. Especially when the touchscreen is outside the field of view of the road. Things like wipers require several levels of menu digging? NO, just NO! this could eventually be somewhat addressed by the software update, but in general, knobs, buttons, levers and other tactile controls are absolutely essential for safe operation. Touchscreen is terrible even for the phone. I hate the thing. Takes me several swipes and pushes to call someone when in the old flip phone I just open the thing and dialed. Same with the camera. Horrible ergonomics to take pictures. Ergonomics are sacrificed for function density is acceptable (though I hate it) in a phone, but in a car are downright dangerous. That is something Tesla is really missing the boat on. It would only take a few dedicated controls to make things a lot better. Wipers, horn, lights, speedometer in a field of view, window controls, mirror controls, things like that should have dedicated controls if a human is expected to operate a vehicle. Glove box, even the lowly glove box is opened via the menu. Really?! WHY?! A simple mechanical latch is cheaper and easier.

This is the main beef I have with Model 3. Not the braking distance or ride quality, which can and will be addressed. But the user interface really rubs me the wrong way. I love knobs buttons and levers.

 

Then we should soon see great deals on lightly used Model 3 in the used car market. <grins>

It is 700 miles to my Mom and 700 miles to my wife's kids. Either of our plug-in hybrids cover that distance in ~12-18 hours. Not possible with current charging infrastructure.

Bob Wilson

 

but you could do it with 1 phev and one bev.

 

Not really. The BEV today does not have 700 mile legs so if the PHEV is out of service, we'd be isolated from family.

Bob Wilson

 

with one of them being a bmw, i understand your concern.

 

That is the whole other aspect of BEVs. I assume if one buys a Model 3, then one has figured out the use cases in one's life and is okay with the way Model 3, its range and its charging infrastructure work. The number of such people seems very high, which is great for adoption and development of BEVs.

 

with a two car family, and little driving, i will be seriously looking at a bev for my next purchase.

 

In January 2017 I drove a Prius Prime from Rhode Island to Huntsville AL. Then and today, plugshare shows more than one practical routes East of the Appalachians and some along the Western side.

Today the I-81 route looks possible to take Holly up to DC to see her kids. Just to the West, Little Rock AR is pretty much the end of high-speed Tesla and CCS chargers. Fort Smith is centered in the middle of a charger desert that could really improve things.

Bob Wilson

 

Edmunds long term review is almost brutal for a nearly $60k car: Monthly Update for April 2018 - 2017 Tesla Model 3 Long-Term Road Test

 

I suspect it will be much improved when the backlog of orders are done. CR has in the past reported the first model year of any car will have problems.

Bob Wilson

 

Does anyone remember when Hyundai launched in the USA with the Excel. It was a poorly designed and crafted car, it sold well because it was cheap. Now look at Hyundai. They are on the heals of Honda and Toyota. Tesla is one of the most talked about car companies today. Will they have initial problems, you bet, but it is an exciting time to be a car guy!

 

I vaguely recall someone at Tesla (I think) said a real problem with being an upstart car manufacturer is 'the real tough part is you don't even know what it is that you don't know.' Seems they don't know or accept that they don't know how to develop a mainstream car that is user friendly and up to safe operating standards of today's best cars.

Could it be that Tesla made everything controlled through touchscreen to reduce parts count and cost of the car? Having to operate wipers through the touchscreen and such a total deal breaker for me.

I have no interest of hopes of owning a Tesla Model 3 in its current state. The interior won't change much over time. Even the Model S still has the silly center armrest with cupholders right where your elbow would rest. All for $80,000

 

I couldn't agree more. I read that they did the touchscreen as a cost-cutting measure. Believe it or not it costs a fortune to develop quality switches and encoders for automotive usage. It has to look right, feel right, last in the summer sun and arctic cold, and still work properly and safely.

Apparently it is much cheaper just to put in a touchscreen and then play catch-up in software, so they took the easy way out.

I expect the touchscreen is fine if the car is going to drive itself, but we keep getting reminders that it isn't ready for that yet either.

 

hmmmmm;
280 miles (in 4hrs + ¾hr charge)
+ 280 miles (in 4hrs + ¾hr charge)
____________________________
= 560 miles

(then a140 mile/2½hr short charge & drive remaining)
560 miles + 140 miles = 700miles

4¾hr drive (2X) 9½hrs

Last 140 miles in 2hrs = 11½hrs

I'd think do-ability would turn on supercharger placement. Wouldn't necessarily be an enjoyable trip, but for $1,000? oh yea .... it'd even be enjoyable in the model 3.

best ebay price Model 3 - completed sale, mid $40K's .... one doesn't HAVE to buy anything brand new. We waited about a ½yr from new on our 2004 Prius & saved 1,000s & 1,000's.
Wipers? On the X & S, it's a one-time settings to activate Auto wiper feature. That may be the same for the model 3. Just saying .... Even the prime screen is Central located, & several blog reviewers got really hysterical over that, too. That's what makes news.
.

 

I appreciate the effort although it presumes near perfect charger locations:

In the real world according to Plugshare:

	Seg	From	To	miles	drive time	charge time
1	1	9000 Randall Rd HSV AL	6073 Park Ave Memphis TN	206	3:36	0:35
2	2	6073 Park Ave Memphis TN	11201 Bass Pro Parkway Little Rock AR	164	2:33	0:25
3	3	11201 Bass Pro Parkway Little Rock AR	777 W Cherokee St Catoosa OK (Tulsa)	277	4:28	1:05
4	4	777 W Cherokee St Catoosa OK (Tulsa)	Stillwater OK	77	1:25	0:00

• Model 3 charging chart: Supercharger speed: 116kW | Tesla Motors Club
  • Assumes charging back to 100% BUT the chart is from 0% - topping off to 100% will be slower.
  • Faster approach is to add just enough for next segment plus a reserve for faster charging.
• Trip block-to-block time: 14:15
  • 12:10 - Google estimated drive time
  • 2:05 - Estimated charge time per charging chart
• Tesla ranges:
  • 335 mi - Model S 100D
  • 310 mi - Model 3 long range
  • 295 mi - Model X 100D

Model S and Model 3 would easily meet the longest leg, 277 miles. The Model X would be marginal with ~18 mile reserve.

This is my best estimate of the real world time based upon the actual location of the Superchargers. Now if there were one at Fort Smith AR, I could skip the Little Rock AR and Tulsa OK charge.

A SuperCharger at Fort Smith approximates the optimum SuperCharger locations of the @hill model but the fewer charge sessions would be longer and due to taper-down at end of charge, slightly slower. The total charging time would not change as much as avoiding detours to the charging areas.

Having two plug-in hybrids:

• BMW i3-REx - HSV to Stillwater
  • 10:45 - driving time 700 mi / 65 mph
  • 0:50 - 10 fuel stops
  • 11:30 - block-to-block time
• Prius Prime - HSV to Stillwater
  • 9:30 - driving time 700 mi / 75 mph
  • 0:15 - midway fuel stop
  • 9:45 - block-to-block time

The plug-in hybrids have better block-to-block times because refueling is still about two orders of magnitude faster than charging. Fortunately cross country trips are rare but often under time constraints of three day weekends and vacation time.

Bob Wilson

 

yes, would be doable depending on supercharger placement. no, it is not doable.