[V.Narayan]

Congratulations GutsyGibbon on a great car. Thank you for giving us a peep into the future. I love the way Tesla is yanking the auto industry from the roots. Please do update us after a few months and happy motoring.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by MaheshY1

My bad. Could be a result of a software update. Initial Model 3 reviews were my source on this one.

There is some truth to the review. The wipers are auto sensing, and there is a button to turn it on, and also to enable the water spray. If you want to override that and adjust the speed of the wipers manually, you will have to touch the screen. 2 or 3 touches based on what you have on the screen.

[GutsyGibbon]

The Homelink Feature:
This weekend I discovered the home link feature. The wireless remote/garage opener for my garage is almost about to die. I saw that there is a garage opener built in to my car, and I wanted to try it out instead of the old garage opener/remote.

There is a setup wizard that can be launched on the console. I needed to direct the garage opener at the front bumper and press the garage opener button till the headlight flashed. Then, I had to press the setup/learn button on the garage opener, and hit on the finish setup button in the car.

With this done, the car now knows the GPS coordinates of its garage. When I pull up to the driveway, it automatically transmits the garage opener signal it has stored, and opens the garage for me. Super convenient!

[GutsyGibbon]

Road Trip
Most of my road trips have been under 300 miles so far. My daughter had a tournament in Phoenix, AZ and that meant a round trip of 750mi. I was not going to pass on this opportunity. I popped the Aero wheel caps back on, for some extra miles, and I topped off the batteries overnight at home.

While on the I8 freeway, I stepped out to feel the temperature, it was a toasty 110F / 43C. Had the car in Autopilot the whole time at 75mph, but for the occasions where I felt like speeding past some trucks or RVs.

The trip planner planned one stop in Yuma to cover a total distance of 360 miles. I stopped for 20 minutes for a recharge, while we ate food packed by my wife. It charged at a rate of 460miles per hour. All the superchargers were completely empty, I was the only person charging. I could have done this at 4 different towns on the way. For the sake of curiosity, I drove by these superchargers, and they were all empty as well.


I am mighty impressed by the supercharger network. It cost me $4 for that recharge. I still have more than a 100 miles of range while in Phoenix.

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Road Trip
...
I am mighty impressed by the supercharger network. It cost me $4 for that recharge. I still have more than a 100 miles of range while in Phoenix.

So, What is your average consumption during this trip? With the A/C on and constant speed. Isn't the full average range (across models) of the car around 250 - 300 miles ? correct me if i am wrong.

P.S: Does this one has the "Ludicurous" mode?

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

So, What is your average consumption during this trip? With the A/C on and constant speed. Isn't the full average range (across models) of the car around 250 - 300 miles ? correct me if i am wrong.

P.S: Does this one has the "Ludicurous" mode?

Doing speeds ~75, and with wheel caps, I got 300+ miles. The AC needs to be running all the time, even while parked in AZ, it's crazy hot.

Model S has been in the market for 5+ years, with different battery packs, and drive options. They have all had 200+ range. Model 3 is more efficient as its lighter, smaller, and newer tech.

Model 3 is supposed to have ludicrous mode, and summon mode soon. Right now it has Chill mode, and Normal mode. Chill mode accelerates like a regular ICE car, Normal mode is the electric beast. I never use Chill mode.

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Model S has been in the market for 5+ years, with different battery packs, and drive options. They have all had 200+ range. Model 3 is more efficient as its lighter, smaller, and newer tech.

That's really a positive thing to hear! And came in the news that Tesla has finally managed to get their production numbers up.

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Model 3 is supposed to have ludicrous mode, and summon mode soon. Right now it has Chill mode, and Normal mode. Chill mode accelerates like a regular ICE car, Normal mode is the electric beast. I never use Chill mode.

Waiting to see that Ludicrous mode in a model 3 in action, as you said, its lighter and so should be even more ludicrous than in S.

How easy/convinent is it to use the central screen (only) rather than having one dedicated screen for the driver?

I am spoilt by the best in the business, BMW heads-up display and therefore this question. Its not a new concept, cars like etios and toyota yaris have had single central display but this concept of single display for everything is pretty unique.

How does it work when driver and the codriver want to do something with the screen?

Given the heat, do you feel the cooling system or the PCDU (Power control and distribution unit) reducing the output power sooner than otherwise upon long usage?

The heat, although good for the range is really bad for the health of the batteries and therefore I am sure there will be some intervention from the ECU.

Do you see some sort of battery temperature or some telemetry data about the cars systems?


Sorry for so many questions!

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by AlphaKilo

How easy/convinent is it to use the central screen (only) rather than having one dedicated screen for the driver?

I am spoilt by the best in the business, BMW heads-up display and therefore this question. Its not a new concept, cars like etios and toyota yaris have had single central display but this concept of single display for everything is pretty unique.

How does it work when driver and the codriver want to do something with the screen?

Given the heat, do you feel the cooling system or the PCDU (Power control and distribution unit) reducing the output power sooner than otherwise upon long usage?

The heat, although good for the range is really bad for the health of the batteries and therefore I am sure there will be some intervention from the ECU.

Do you see some sort of battery temperature or some telemetry data about the cars systems?

Sorry for so many questions!

The Prius platform has centered screens as well. Dash on the Model 3 slopes down a lot. You can literally the see stuff in front of the car. They can slope it down this way as there is no engine in the front. A screen that seems to pop out is right there when you take your hands off the steering wheel.
The relevant info for driving is on the top left corner, that I can see even with eyes on the road. As it's a touch screen, you only need to see relevant buttons.
Other important driving functions are mapped to the wheels on the steering. Volume control, cruise adjust, and following distance. These are also context based. When you are driving, you don't want to use most buttons anyway, open hood, trunk, charge port etc. Based on context the right button is always available on the left of the screen. For example, When I pull up in front of my garage the homelink button pops up, to open the garage.

Things that passengers adjust are AC and audio, they are on the right side of the screen. At no point is anyone having to stretch or reach hard.

Even with all the tech, I have not seen the manual once. There is clear help visible on the screen on what to do. Compare this to looking for buttons all over the other cars.

I have not seen/heard of any change in power because of long usage in heat. Most of this trip was done in temperatures in excess of 110 degs. That said, there is more vampire drain when parked in this heat. I lost ~25 miles of range in 4 days. I do set the temperature to 72, 10 minutes before waking up to the car. That way I do not have to deal with hot air, hot surfaces when I get in. This may have cost a couple miles of range.

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

Even with all the tech, I have not seen the manual once. There is clear help visible on the screen on what to do. Compare this to looking for buttons all over the other cars.

People do not realise it yet, but Tesla's biggest advantage is over-the-air updates. The screen is programmed by people who use smartphones, so it is intuitive - like a smart phone. Amazing how literally not a single automaker thought of over-the-air updates to this level of detail. I have used many rental cars since I do not own here in New York with $500/month parking costs . Hence, I have used many different in-car music/navigation systems. Literally none of them are easy to use from the start. I tried out one in a Tesla 3 and I knew what I was doing as if I had done it before.

I am very curious about your TM3 experience thus far. A lot of seemingly biased articles suggest poor quality, poor build and reliability. Would want a real user's real opinion on the same.

Really impressed with the supercharger network as well. Any normal human bladder needs to stop within about 250 miles/400 km for a toilet stop, plus some stretching and food. That would easily use up 20 minutes even if you had a gasoline car, so the difference of wait time is negligible for sure. It is in fact healthy to stop for such an amount of time anyway.

As a New York resident, seeing a few of these beauties pop up on the streets. Let's just hope Tesla keeps their financial situation floating. I feel like if they survive the next 2-3 quarters, they will become a serious force to reckon with.

[GutsyGibbon]

Originally Posted by carmayogi

People do not realise it yet, but Tesla's biggest advantage is over-the-air updates.
I am very curious about your TM3 experience thus far. A lot of seemingly biased articles suggest poor quality, poor build and reliability. Would want a real user's real opinion on the same.

You got that right. So far I have received several updates. Several new features have been added, and several existing features improved. Version 9 is going to be radical like - Drive on Nav, madmax mode & dashcam.

I have had my TM3 for more than 6 months now, and I have some 7k miles. I have spent $0 on maintenance, servicing, or fuel (for daily use). So far my home solar has been producing enough in excess to charge the car. I drove the car once to Phoenix during which I used the super charger. It cost me $3.50 (each way) to drive between SD and Phoenix. That is pretty much all the money I have spent on the car. Even 4G LTE connection is free (so far). Within So Cal I have made several trips of ~ 280 miles. I just need to remember to set the limit accordingly on my phone the prior night to allow for full charge.

I have been using the auto pilot in pitch dark city streets. So far, it has not missed seeing a single car/vehicle. Its a huge relief to the eyes. Without constant focus on guiding the car in the lane, I am less likely to feel drowsy. It changes lanes in auto-pilot mode like a champ.

On one instance, a plumber had parked his truck too close to the driver side. Instead of squeezing myself in, I gladly summoned the car backwards using my phone, got in, and drove off. A friend who saw that was blown away.

On the down side, I used to commute on the bicycle every day in summer. Because of the TM3, I look for reasons to take the car Thereby building on the white rice induced pot belly.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by carmayogi

People do not realise it yet, but Tesla's biggest advantage is over-the-air updates. The screen is programmed by people who use smartphones, so it is intuitive - like a smart phone. Amazing how literally not a single automaker thought of over-the-air updates to this level of detail.

Easy because they are more engineering companies than software companies. While Tesla is as much a software company as it is a car company.

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by GutsyGibbon

On the down side, I used to commute on the bicycle every day in summer. Because of the TM3, I look for reasons to take the car Thereby building on the white rice induced pot belly.

A car that makes you want to drive is a good car.

Glad the build/reliability arguments are not true.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Easy because they are more engineering companies than software companies. While Tesla is as much a software company as it is a car company.

That's an explanation, but it does not justify lack of action. All these guys employ mega brains and have huge pots of money. It is more the laziness that comes with success. Example - the digital camera world where Nikon and Kodak were lazy about digital. Nikon is surviving, just. Kodak is dead. Will not be surprised to hear a big auto company downsizing or dying.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by carmayogi

A car that makes you want to drive is a good car.

Glad the build/reliability arguments are not true.



That's an explanation, but it does not justify lack of action. All these guys employ mega brains and have huge pots of money. It is more the laziness that comes with success. Example - the digital camera world where Nikon and Kodak were lazy about digital. Nikon is surviving, just. Kodak is dead. Will not be surprised to hear a big auto company downsizing or dying.

Tesla is an outsider. Disruption is always caused by an outsider. They rethought the car in a way traditional car companies could not because they do not know any better. Its like asking the best cobbler in the business to mend a computer. He cannot even though he may be the best.

As a parallel, if you had asked people what phone do they want before iphone was launched, they would have said it should have gps, radio, qwerty keyboard blah blah but Apple came in as an outsider the rewrote the game so much so that the device in question is the single most profitable consumer electronic product ever! People do not know what they want which is why great marketeers and leaders should have great intuition.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by carmayogi

People do not realise it yet, but Tesla's biggest advantage is over-the-air updates.

Yes, the car literally gets better the older it gets !

Originally Posted by carmayogi

...
That's an explanation, but it does not justify lack of action.
All these guys employ mega brains and have huge pots of money.
...

They also have to answer to the dealership unions, who want nothing better than to get customers visiting the service centers for "updates".

Originally Posted by carmayogi

...
the digital camera world where Nikon and Kodak were lazy about digital.
Nikon is surviving, just. Kodak is dead.
...

True, we're seeing a film-to-digital, CRT-to-LCD kinda switch here & Tesla deserves all the credit for making full electric cars palatable & desirable to the public

Developing countries like ours have an advantage in that we can skip several steps of the development ladder & directly subsume better technologies.

We apparently import over 82% of our crude !

It's sad that in our country we're still promoting diesels, one of the most dirtiest forms of I.C. engines, for cars as small as hatchbacks.

With rising oil prises, plunging rupee, if ever there was a good time to crystallise far reaching policies to wean us off of fossil fuels, this is surely it.

And, what are all the IAS officers doing ? You always keep hearing how only the smartest get through, where's all that IQ going ?
~

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by im_srini

It's sad that in our country we're still promoting diesels, one of the most dirtiest forms of I.C. engines, for cars as small as hatchbacks.

With rising oil prises, plunging rupee, if ever there was a good time to crystallise far reaching policies to wean us off of fossil fuels, this is surely it.

And, what are all the IAS officers doing ? You always keep hearing how only the smartest get through, where's all that IQ going ?
~

Unfortunately, in the short term globally, we are in a situation of constrained supply for EVs - basically battery supply is limited except for Tesla who have their own battery factory.

What really annoys me is that we aren't shifting buses to EV faster. A bus, running in a city has to do stop-and-go, idle standing, slow moving and has a predictable route. All great scenarios for electric vehicles. So each day you know this bus will do 122 km, for example, pretty much before it starts its daily run. This removes any guess work about range or charging. Since EVs run 80% less "fuel" cost, all our bus networks will stop losing money. Furthermore, 1 bus in New York City (where I have data available) uses the same amount of fuel as 27 private cars per day. Surely each effort to remove a bus will benefit us greatly in India. For Mumbai, BEST is Electric Supply & Transport. Meaning they have the fuel and the bus!! We should work on that first and let private cars follow suit.