[carthick1000]

When a colleague's model Y is parked next to my model 3, it obviously is a nice opportunity to take a comparison shot of the size variation. Note that ICE BMW 330e taller than Model 3. No wonder BMWs are losing their charm as driver's cars.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Also you can see what media is being played on the car . Not much useful, but still a nice to have feature.

Useful for monitoring children. You can monitor what they are watching. If they land up on something inappropriate, you will know.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Software Updates - 2 Minor and 1 major

In the last 4 weeks there have been 3 software updates. The minor ones were not very interesting, but the major one is quite a useful and insightful update.

2022.28.1 & 2022.28.2

These 2 have been minor updates improving the Theater mode and Portuguese voice navigation. The Theater mode update is quite useful as when you are watching something at a supercharger stop, you can minimize and look at what charging % you are in or any other things you want to check. This was not possible earlier.

Attachment 2368241

(NOTE: 2022.28.2 is just a bug fix on 2022.28.1 and hence had the same release notes)

2022.36.2

As mentioned earlier, this update brings some insights into energy usage, some useful features to the phone app and additional info about supercharger locations.

Energy App
Earlier when planning a trip, using energy app we can see the efficiency graph only. But with this update, the efficiency along with energy usage while drive and park (2 extra tabs) is given with a bit more insight into which components consumed what % of energy. Also how your driving behaviour influences energy based on trip energy projection Vs actual usage chart. This is very handy. Also Tesla gives some tips to improve range.

Attachment 2368242

Based on the display selection % SoC or Range in km, the values are given in % or km. The below 2 shots are after a short trip this evening. As you can see, Tesla didn't like my aggressive accelerations and it is tipping me to be gentle on A-pedal

Nice. I didn't know of this update. So are you saying that this Energy App now shows real time range of vehicle based on our respective driving style?

If aggressive acceleration is not used, it's better not to drive a Tesla.

Originally Posted by carthick1000

No wonder BMWs are losing their charm as driver's cars.

Well, partly correct. Regular BMW's drive a tad bit better than "normal" cars. Nothing to write home about and still feel a lot softer than M cars. Compared to say an similar Audi car which is completely soft tuned, it's better.

But, the real handling of BMW difference can be seen in M Performance cars.

Coming to Tesla's handling? Well, I must save it for the review.

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by mobike008

So are you saying that this Energy App now shows real time range of vehicle based on our respective driving style?

Yes, correct.

Originally Posted by mobike008

But, the real handling of BMW difference can be seen in M Performance cars.

The context of Driver's cars / fun-to-drive cares are personal choices I guess. For me a lighter, nimble car with a stiff chassis and fine suspension (eg. MX-5, Elise, Alpine A110) is fun to drive than a big, heavy and powerful car. After all, not everything is about straight line driving for me. When it comes to sedans, BMWs were the best. The reason I mentioned they are losing their charm is that they are getting bigger and heavier every generation. The size becomes so big that the current gen G20 3 series is even wider and taller than the E39 5 series. Only few mm shorter.

What even more baffling to me was, a relatively newer car maker (Tesla) can package a car with a battery pack in the floor and still keep it shorter than the benchmark drivers sedan without a battery pack!

[carthick1000]

General

The car has done about 59000kms so far and still going strong except I am hearing some minute rattles around the rear right C pillar while driving. I am not sure if it is the frozen windows on cold mornings or something else. Have to check when the cold freezing days are over.

Picture with Ioniq 5 at a public charging point:



Software Updates

Last couple of weeks I was busy and could not post here. Meanwhile there has been 5 software updates since my last SW update post.



So let me walk you through the important features/improvements in them. I will club some versions together as they are just bug fixed over their previous minor version.

2022.40.4, 2022.40.4.1 & 2022.40.4.2

• Sentry mode and dog mode can be activated at the same time. Earlier these 2 were mutually exclusive, because the dog will activate sentry alarms. Now the Sentry mode records videos when it detects intruders outside the vehicle, but not activate the alarms when dog mode too is activated.
• The Media Player now displays radio station logos for improved discoverability when searching for favorite stations.
• During DC fast charging, the thermal system controls have been optimized for each charging station’s power capability, improving both charging and on-route battery preconditioning efficiency. This results in fast charge time and reduced energy costs.
• A new driver door unlock mode toggle is added. When Driver Door Unlock Mode is enabled, long pressing the interior driver door switch will unlock all doors and the trunk. I like these toggles where the user can enable or disable features depending on requirements, instead of forcing people to use it anyway.
• One more toggle-able feature is that now we can enable normal brakes alongside regenerative braking to be applied when regenerative braking is limited. Usually during cold days or if the battery is charged to full, then regenerative braking is limited.
• After changing to new tires or tire rotation, the old learned behaviour of the tire can be reset. This helps in improved driving experience.
• 'Auto' headlights will now illuminate taillights in addition to the daytime running lights. This is especially useful in these cold and dark winter mornings and evenings.
• Tesla will now display links to relevant tutorials within vehicle menus. For example, the Navigate on Autopilot option in the Autopilot menu will have a link that reads 'Learn more in Tesla Tutorials.
  
  
  
• With this update Tesla has added a new indicator light that appears near the other indicator icons. This new indicator appears to signal that regenerative braking is limited and that brakes will be applied in order to provide a consistent experience when slowing down.
  
  
  

2022.44.2

• Sentry Mode now allows for even greater customization, including:

  - Camera-Based Detection, which allows users to disable use of cameras to detect threats.
  - Sentry Mode Clip Length, which allows users to specify the length of the clip when a potential threat is detected

• vehicle will now display additional information about the battery in certain situations. An info icon will appear at the top of the display next to the charging details. Tapping the icon will take one to the charging details screen which will provide additional information, such as the charge rate being limited due to the battery's temperature.
  
  
  
• Auto seat heating even in Manual climate control mode. When Tesla's climate system is set to Auto, it gives you the ability to let the vehicle control the temperature of your seats as well. However, if you changed the HVAC system to manual, then you'd lose the ability to keep your seat heaters on Auto. With this update you now have the ability to have the climate system on manual while keeping the seat heaters set to Auto.
• Tesla has historically provided a physical button near the vehicle's hazard light switch. Newer vehicles replaced the physical SOS button with an on-screen-only button. Previously, the on-screen button was not displayed on vehicles that included the physical button, however with this update it's now displayed on all vehicles where Tesla supports vehicle SOS from screen.
  
  
  

2022.44.25.1

This one is what Tesla calls it a Holiday update, where there are some goodies and visual improvements.

• Apple music is now added. Though I am an avid spotify user, always good to have options.
• One can view interior camera visuals from the phone app while dog mode and sentry mode both are active.
  
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGnaWgXqBCA

  
  
• Media controls are now closer to the driver. Earlier it used to be in the center of the screen, but it is now close to the driver side. (pic source: notateslapp.com)
  
  
  
• The above pic also has the visual improvements to the navigation UI. They redesigned parts of the navigation UI to improve the layout of the next turn and available options. Previously there was a module at the top of the screen and displayed your next turn, your ETA, destination name or address, and battery level on arrival. It also included controls to cancel navigation, toggle Navigate on Autopilot and a 'more' button. This looks more cluttered and was filling up the middle part of screen from top to bottom. With this update Tesla is splitting this UI into two pieces. The first remains at the top of the screen and will include critical information about your route, such as your next turn. The rest of the information is moved to the bottom of the screen. This will include your travel time, destination details, as well as options to alter or cancel your navigation.
  
• This is a long pending feature. Finally I can adjust fan speed intensity while remaining in AUTO climate by selecting between 'LO', 'MED', and 'HI' from the fan intensity selector on the climate control popup. Earlier it was so annoying, when in auto climate control mode, the fan blows very hard in your face as soon as you enter (on a very warm or very cold day).
  
• Tesla has reintroduced cards for the Model 3 and Model Y. Tesla used to have cards for these models in the lower left corner of the screen prior to last year's Holiday Update.
  These cards allow you to swipe between the newly designed media player, your odometer and trip meters and your tire pressure. This is a much welcome move. I missed these cards to take a quick glance at consumption or tire pressure when I start for the day.
  
  
  
  
  Gimmicks in the latest updates
  
• Now comes a gimmick to make some fun. You can make the car fart from the mobile app. Earlier this was possible only from within the car (eg. say when you honk or turn on indicator lights)
• This is the next gimmick. Driving visualization can show Rainbow Road when Autopilot is active. This feature is toggle-able.
  
  
  
• The next gimmick is that you can now schedule light show (upto 10 mins in advance) or synchronise the light show with multiple cars.
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU_3NmOwekE

• Active phone calls from a mobile device connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth will now request confirmation before transferring audio to the vehicle. Earlier this used to be automatic, but sometimes it is not handy to have the car decide it for you. Now it is much better this way.
• The most useless feature improvement award goes to this one. Tesla has added a new fart to Emissions Testing Mode. The new fart name is called 'Verified,' and features a Twitter checkmark.
  
  

Overall, Tesla is giving me more and more reasons not to go back to native OEMs.

[carthick1000]

Lessons learned:
It is very quiet on Tesla software updates side. No updates seen in the last 1.5 months.

However, this post is to write about a mistake I committed while driving. I was driving on an 80kmph road (See right lane in first picture and black arrows for direction of travel in second picture) which is about to merge onto a highway. There is a traffic light followed immediately by a 90 degree right turn to enter the highway merging lane.



The mistake I made was entering a sharp corner too fast to avoid waiting at the stop light. The vehicle drifted quite a few cms sideways (which you can see in the red driven path), ESP kicked in and I have to press the accelerator harder (see the power value shooting up sharply) to torque steer the car out of the drift. Everything happened within a span of 3~4 seconds (timestamp 21:44:55 - 21:45.00). Also this gave an insight into 2 things:

- Don't make foolish mistakes while driving to save few seconds (Classic one, but still typing it to get some brickbats from BHPians)
- Now I know the limit of my car when it comes to sharp corners. Anything more than 50kmph is a no-go for sharp turns.

[carthick1000]

Smart pump experience

Few days ago, me and my wife went to a nearby village for some work. We have never been to this place before. So we thought we will park the car in the a parking terrain at the edge of the village and walk by. While on the way to the village, I was telling my wife that the we need to check the tire pressure as it was lower than 2.9bar (Recommended 3.1bar for winter tyres).
Call it coincidence, because in the parking where we parked, there is a newly installed smart pump.





This pump has a display and a contactless card payment system integrated. It runs on solar power and has inbuilt batteries to store energy generated by Solar panels. So even on non-sunny days, the compressor in the smart pump can work with battery power alone. Also the installers dont have to depend on availability of electricity supply. So it can even be installed in remote parking lots. The idea behind this company is private industries with parking lots and/or municipalities can lease these smart pumps and this company will install and maintain the smart pumps. In this case of the one we used, the local municipality installed this. As a user, it is free to use and if you want you can also donate using the integrated contactless payment system.

The working is as follows:

• You park at the designated spot
• Click on the push button to wake up the touch screen
• It asks if it is a car or other type of vehicle.
  
  
  
• It asks for your registration number. Based on this the car and recommended tire pressures are known to the system
• Then it asks for few more questions like: Have you driven for 15 minutes or more than 5km? (to assess the warm or cold tiire), Is this winter tyre? (Winter tyres usually need slightly higher pressure) and Do you want to save fuel and save money? (Answering yes adds extra 0.2bar to the setting). Based on the yes/no answers the tire pressure is determined
  
  
  
• In the next page, it shows the tire and pressure levels. You have to take the nozzle and pump up the respective tyre shown in display. There will be a visual and audible notification when the pressure is reached. It also shows an option to pump up a flat tire. This setting probably allows compressor to run for longer.
  
  
  
• After you are done with all 4 tyres, the next page shows how much cost (eur), fuel (liters), tire wear (in kms) and CO2 emissions (kg) you saved for the upcoming 5000kms. This is probably an educated guesstimate based on the user input and the data they collected.
  
  

As the curious cookie I am, stepped into a nearby office facing this pump and checked the receptionist how frequently this pump is used and she said it is used quite a lot. Her clients seem to love it and also in general atleast 20+ cars use it per day.

I am also freelancing for our village sustainability work group and discussed with the fellow members and they were all enthusiastic about it too. We will be taking this initiative soon in our village too.

[carthick1000]

Street lamp charger experience:

In the same parking lot as in my previous post, there were about 6 street lamp poles and all of them are equipped with Type 2 chargers supplying upto 22kW. It has an integrated contactless payment terminal. You can either show ur RFID charging card, phone app or even the bank card to start charging. This is very handy and is more advantageous than separate charging poles. One can immediately think of advantages like:

1. It is neatly integrated into the existing streetlamp infrastructure. No extra poles sticking out like a sore thumb and taking space.
2. No need to reserve parking spots for EVs alone, because almost all lamp poles can be replaced with these poles. So you dont have to reserve parking space for EVs. Others can also use the space as EV riders dont have to worry looking for dedicated charging poles, if every electric lamp post is converted.
3. Most countries have more street lamps than EVs

See the first few pictures of how annoying / eyesore is dedicated charging (first 3 pics) vs how nicer simpler the integrated charging on streetlamp poles (last 4 pics)

[SKC-auto]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

Street lamp charger experience:

Very cleanly integrated, looks like they are future ready too with slot to add another charging point.

Do you need to buy the cable for this? How much does the cable costs? What are the kwh charges?

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Very cleanly integrated, looks like they are future ready too with slot to add another charging point.

The bottom opening is for maintenance.



Here is an interesting video about why it makes sense to have the charger in lamp post: (subtitles in English)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xI6S6c_pBs

Originally Posted by SKC-auto

Do you need to buy the cable for this? How much does the cable costs? What are the kwh charges?

Almost all the EVs sold here in EU come with the type 2 cable included. And the cables are not part of Type 2 slow chargers (Upto 22kW AC is considered slow). Only DC fast chargers come with their own cable.

kWh costs are based on the CPO (charge point operator) in which the user has subscription. Without subscription, for this location it is about 29 Eur cents/kWh (~25INR/kWh) which is very reasonable. A comparable petrol car has to spend 2~2.5 times more per km for fuel in NL.

[carthick1000]

Shopping cart incident

Yesterday during a grocery shopping trip, there was a freak accident when some driverless shopping carts decided to hit the model 3. No damage done to the car, but the alarm went off and the person who started the driverless shopping carts to move and hit the car, didn't give a damn about the alarm. You will see him driving in front cam around 44second mark in the video in a 1st gen Kia Rio.


Video link

[Cresterk]

Originally Posted by carthick1000

When a colleague's model Y is parked next to my model 3, it obviously is a nice opportunity to take a comparison shot of the size variation. Note that ICE BMW 330e taller than Model 3. No wonder BMWs are losing their charm as driver's cars.

Attachment 2372762

Attachment 2372763

Pardon me but isn't that a 5 series?

[carthick1000]

Originally Posted by Cresterk

Pardon me but isn't that a 5 series?

Good catch. That’s indeed the 530E. My bad! Got confused with another colleague’s 330E of same colour.

Looking at the specs, an ICE 330e is just 1mm shorter than a model 3 with a skateboard battery pack.

[carthick1000]

Fellow bhp-ian the_trooper and I became good buddies and we catch up a lot. Recently he got a Honda Civic eHEV. It is one of the most sleek and low slung practical liftbacks out there. Also the eHEV powertrain is a hoot to drive (0-100kmph in under 7.5seconds). The seating position is superbly low, which I miss in my model 3.

Here is the quintessential photo-op: