5 ms·

I don't think he was trying to simulate anything. I think he was just trying to drive a car to Boston.

travisp 14y ago
When explaining why he didn't plug in the car overnight, he says the evaluation was "intended to demonstrate its practicality as a 'normal use,' no-compromise car" and that Tesla can't realistically expect all of its buyers to be "acolytes" who plug in all the time. I took that for him saying he didn't plug in on purpose, but I could be wrong.
- protomyth 14y ago
  I live in ND and have stayed in several hotels here (lived out of one for 6 months). I can truthfully say ND gets a lot colder than where the reporter was driving. I am wondering which hotels have overnight plug-ins because I sure don't see it here?
  - travisp 14y ago
    Honestly, I wouldn't be the person to ask: I don't own any cars anymore. But, a quick google search suggests that a number of the La Quinta Inns, Days Inns, and Super 8s in North Dakota have winter plugins in the parking lot. Maybe you've just never noticed?
    - protomyth 14y ago
      Well, if its the Super 8 around here, they are not quite telling the truth. Not sure what a La Quinta Inns is, and the couple Days Inns don't have outdoor outlets either. Must be selected locations only. It sure would have been nice when it got -20°F so I could have plugged in the head-bolt heater, but my Kia Rio started fine. [edit 2] Handy tip, turn on the lights for about 15 seconds, turn off lights, then start the car. Warms the battery a bit.
grannyg00se 14y ago
He mentioned this was supposed to be a test of the supercharging network so plugging in overnight would've been counter productive. He also states that Elon told him the supercharging stations should actually be closer to 140 miles apart in that area rather than 200 miles.
- niggler 14y ago
  "Elon told him the supercharging stations should actually be closer to 140 miles apart in that area rather than 200 miles." I'm very surprised that no tesla employee tried the test first. The difficulty of the 200 mile spacing would have been apparent (and niggling about 2 miles seems petty).
  - mtrimpe 14y ago
    It's probably not so much about the 2 miles but rather having a stretch of start-stop driving instead of much more energy efficient highway driving. The author tries to put a nice spin on it here by saying he understood that start-stop driving would be more efficient but I don't really buy that. edit: A downvote for this? Really? Could somebody explain what's wrong with it?
    - DigitalJack 14y ago
      I didn't downvote you, but the author says he received advice from tesla when he called them when he was getting angst about the battery range. He says they told him to take it off cruise control to let the regenerative braking help charge. Clearly that is absurd advice, but that is what he says he is told. Given that advice, and not knowing any better himself, he thought start-stop driving would be more efficient.
    - niggler 14y ago
      I couldn't downvote this, but here's why a downvote is merited: In a Porsche Panamera S, start-stop driving and idling for an hour in traffic going from Secaucus NJ to Manhattan through the lincoln tunnel a month ago (had to install a new server in NY4), I used approximately 2 gallons of gas (less than 10% of capacity). It's certainly not trivial, but it's nowhere near the drain that Musk is effectively claiming. That, combined with the fact that engaging in stop and start driving was a natural conclusion of the advice that Tesla gave him while he was driving (regenerative braking), really seems to suggest that Tesla gave poor advice (and you can't blame the author for following poor advice).

When explaining why he didn't plug in the car overnight, he says the evaluation was "intended to demonstrate its practicality as a 'normal use,' no-compromise car" and that Tesla can't realistically expect all of its buyers to be "acolytes" who plug in all the time. I took that for him saying he didn't plug in on purpose, but I could be wrong.

protomyth 14y ago
I live in ND and have stayed in several hotels here (lived out of one for 6 months). I can truthfully say ND gets a lot colder than where the reporter was driving. I am wondering which hotels have overnight plug-ins because I sure don't see it here?
- travisp 14y ago
  Honestly, I wouldn't be the person to ask: I don't own any cars anymore. But, a quick google search suggests that a number of the La Quinta Inns, Days Inns, and Super 8s in North Dakota have winter plugins in the parking lot. Maybe you've just never noticed?
  - protomyth 14y ago
    Well, if its the Super 8 around here, they are not quite telling the truth. Not sure what a La Quinta Inns is, and the couple Days Inns don't have outdoor outlets either. Must be selected locations only. It sure would have been nice when it got -20°F so I could have plugged in the head-bolt heater, but my Kia Rio started fine. [edit 2] Handy tip, turn on the lights for about 15 seconds, turn off lights, then start the car. Warms the battery a bit.

grannyg00se 14y ago

He mentioned this was supposed to be a test of the supercharging network so plugging in overnight would've been counter productive. He also states that Elon told him the supercharging stations should actually be closer to 140 miles apart in that area rather than 200 miles.

niggler 14y ago
"Elon told him the supercharging stations should actually be closer to 140 miles apart in that area rather than 200 miles." I'm very surprised that no tesla employee tried the test first. The difficulty of the 200 mile spacing would have been apparent (and niggling about 2 miles seems petty).
- mtrimpe 14y ago
  It's probably not so much about the 2 miles but rather having a stretch of start-stop driving instead of much more energy efficient highway driving. The author tries to put a nice spin on it here by saying he understood that start-stop driving would be more efficient but I don't really buy that. edit: A downvote for this? Really? Could somebody explain what's wrong with it?
  - DigitalJack 14y ago
    I didn't downvote you, but the author says he received advice from tesla when he called them when he was getting angst about the battery range. He says they told him to take it off cruise control to let the regenerative braking help charge. Clearly that is absurd advice, but that is what he says he is told. Given that advice, and not knowing any better himself, he thought start-stop driving would be more efficient.
  - niggler 14y ago
    I couldn't downvote this, but here's why a downvote is merited: In a Porsche Panamera S, start-stop driving and idling for an hour in traffic going from Secaucus NJ to Manhattan through the lincoln tunnel a month ago (had to install a new server in NY4), I used approximately 2 gallons of gas (less than 10% of capacity). It's certainly not trivial, but it's nowhere near the drain that Musk is effectively claiming. That, combined with the fact that engaging in stop and start driving was a natural conclusion of the advice that Tesla gave him while he was driving (regenerative braking), really seems to suggest that Tesla gave poor advice (and you can't blame the author for following poor advice).