Tesla Motors – Page 7 – My ActiveE Made Me Accidentally Environmental

25,000 Mile Model S Service, and a replacement drivetrain

It’s been nine days since we celebrated our Model S First Year Anniversary.

With the Active E, we would’ve been in for five service calls at this point, the Model S has a more generous 12,500 or annually service plan.

I try to time these appointments to be “on the dot”. This was a lot easier with the Active E, however, with the Model S, Tesla comes out to the office to pick up my car for the service, so I get it close and let the valet drive the car to the Service Center.

What is involved with the 25,000 mile (or two year service). Apparently more than the 12,500 mile/one year service. Tesla picked up the car earlier today. When I scheduled the appointment, I was advised that more things are done on the 25,000 mile than the 12,500 mile service, so I was prepared for the possibility that our car would spend the night at the Service Center. Aside from this normal service, I had a weird sound happen with the car about four to six weeks ago that I felt I can wait for the 25,000 mile service to have it taken care of.

Apparently, it’s a good thing that the car has an “unlimited” mile warranty on the drive train. Apparently the noise that I noticed in the car was a drive train error that requires Tesla to swap out the drive train and was given a late tomorrow estimate. I have an early dinner scheduled that may push the delivery of our Model S back another day, but it’s interesting to hear that Tesla chose to replace the drive train.

I hope to get more information when our Model S is returned to us.

It’s impressive to have Tesla make such a major component repair be approximately 24 hours for the work. I remember when similar challenges were occurring with the Active E community that many Electronauts had to wait a week or longer.

This repair just makes me think of things that Tesla doesn’t cover… Like a battery degradation warranty? Let’s get that going Tesla!

On another note… How do you get across the country without charging?

Need to go downhill all the way… 999 Mile estimate? It’s kind of a cool graphic.

One Year Model S Anniversary

A year and about thirty minutes ago we picked up our Model S.

In that time, we’ve amassed 24,264 miles on the Model S. Less than we did with the Active E, but considering we’ve had our Roadster for about 14.25 months, we also got about 11,379 miles on the Roadster, that’s really a greater total of EV miles than we did after our first Active E year.

[One thing I noticed after updating with a picture of the mileage is my actual driven miles (Trip A is 24,242… Funny)]

I’ll sit and think about it later. But for now!

Cheers!

(If you’re interested in reliving our Model S weekend… It starts here. Or when we actually picked up the Model S.)

I like my number patterns for my “significant miles”… 23,456

Need I say more? I like number patterns for my EV miles. 23,456 Miles.

Woot!

Less than a year, and already wanting the new Model S

On October 9, 2014 the world saw the formal announcement of the dual drive Model S.

Living in Southern California, I don’t really need a 4×4 unless I go to the mountain when the snow is fresh and I’m lugging skis up to ski the fresh powder. It’s been a drought and therefore, not too many of the days have been happening for a while. We made the decision that since we’re already driving two pretty awesome EVs that we’re probably not going to spend the money on a Model X when those come out to replace our ICE 2001 BMW X5. Why would we? It’s paid in full, still pretty comfortable and does the things that we want it to do.

I’m not nearly as good as Peder Norby in my quest to be environmental. Remember, I found myself Accidentally Environmental and still do plenty of things that are not so friendly. (namely, I really want the convenience of “free” plastic bags when I shop or at least the paper ones instead of force me to have lug around my own bags. But I digress…)

So. We went to the event with the desire to find out what the heck the “D” was. Along the way, we ended up helping some of our EV community friends at SpeakEV, Teslarati, and TransportEvolved with various things. We also got to hang out with a lot of folks who we’ve met from the Active E community to the Orange County Tesla Club. It was a fun way to spend a Thursday night.

Ever since we decided to refuse our i3 Allocation I’ve been second-guessing myself. I really like the Driver Assist functions of the vehicle and truly wanted the “tractor beam” control that the i3 provided. However, the lack of AM radio and my general adaptation to the comfort and feel of the Model S has convinced us to stay with Tesla. Besides, with a little under a year of driving, we’ve really gotten used to the Model S.

We just put in 22,222 miles in the car and still enjoying it.

So, the Auto Pilot features that Elon Musk announced on Thursday intrigued us. Granted hitting 60 miles per hour in about 3.2 seconds is a rush. But, do we really need a car to go .7 seconds faster than the Roadster? Not really. There was a reason we stuck with an S85 in our original configuration and those reasons are still valid today. However, that Auto Pilot feature is pretty exciting. Additionally, because of the way that the Dual Drive motors work in a Standard Model S85D, the car gains thirty more standard range miles. Both of these factors are quite compelling. Compelling enough to take the hit on depreciation? Probably not. However, I did ask Tesla to provide us with what they would take our vehicle in trade for a S85D in our current configuration. So, who knows.

Then again, we’re hoping for a battery degradation warranty from Tesla, so, perhaps we pull the trigger closer to when they announce something about that.

So, tempting. However, the decision to go for it is not a very “rational” or “fiscally responsible one” at first glance. Who knows if we’ll get another glance at it, but you know that I’ll be writing about it if we do.

Here’s the video of our test ride in the new P85D with the 3.2 second 0-60 Rush and Auto Pilot.

[Update 2014-10-13 0750 PDT

I was asked on G+ if the car can be retrofitted. This was one of the first questions that I asked the Tesla employees at the event and was told that current models can not be retroffited.]

Battery Degradation and Tesla’s “Warranty”

[The original version of this post was written as a response on SpeakEV.com forum a few days ago.]

All EV batteries degrade. The important thing is to warrant what is acceptable degradation and what is not. Lacking the guidelines sucks, for lack of a better word, but it isn’t fatal. It’s just part of the equation.

We own our two Teslas and I am disturbed by Kevin Sharpe’s Experience, but the published guidelines did say 30% in five years… All this means is caveat emptor.

Our Roadster was already five years old when we bought it, so, I would love to know what I get with the CPO Warranty or what we would get with purchase of the 400 mile upgrade batteries. How long will the car run up to 400 miles.

On Twitter, Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield (@aminorjourney), has postulated that battery packs are the consumable portion of EVs.

An electric car battery is a consumable item: discuss.

— N. Gordon-Bloomfield (@aminorjourney) September 9, 2014

Like it or not, she has a valid, and yet expensive point. However, unlike gasoline/petrol we don’t have to replace every time we charge, only as long as the batteries are useful for us. In which case, it’s eventually time to change.

Tesla’s Roadster warranty had defined that in a binary situation, so, if one were to make the case to swap it out under Tesla’s warranty, it can’t be done based on degradation, it is because of a full battery/system failure. This sucks, unfortunately that is what was warranted.

Now the valid question for Model S owners (and guess what, I’m one of those too) is what about our battery packs? Well.. We’ll need to see if degradation is covered.

[This is where new information, or should I say OLD information was posted on the Model S Warranty (including the current “unlimited” Model S warranty) also specifically excludes battery degradation. As was pointed out on both TeslaMotorsClub.com and SpeakEV.com forums, see page 35 and 36 (pages marked 33 and 34 due to other unumbered pages) of this PDF.

The particular language excerpted from the PDF link above:

“The Battery, like all lithium-ion batteries, will experience gradual energy or power loss with time and
use. Loss of Battery energy or power over time or due to or resulting from Battery usage, is NOT
covered under this Battery Limited Warranty. See your owner documentation for important
information on how to maximize the life and capacity of the Battery.”]

Otherwise, prepare to save for a replacement battery pack in the future. I have always recommended (often in the early years of my blog and in forums) that new EV owners put aside half of what their “fuel” savings aside for the future need to buy a replacement pack IF they do as I do with most of my cars (and that’s keep them for a LONG while) (my hybrid garage has a 2001 BMW X5, my non-green, I have to get to the mountains for Fresh Snow car.)

Guess what, that advice still holds. I’ve lost five miles of rated range from 265 max charge to 260 max charge. Ideal miles lost 3 miles. And I’m less than a year AND over 20,000 miles. However, it must be noted that Tesla delivered the car with greater than 300 miles of ideal miles and I’m just around 299-300 miles ideal now. Yes, it’s hotter in California than the UK and we do have active thermal management, but it’s still the case that degradation happens. I still made it to Barstow, then Vegas on SCs. The car is still awesome, the Roadster is still fun, and Tesla is not perfect. I never thought they were (if BMW i didn’t piss me off as much, I might still have picked up the i3 I ordered.)

[end of almost original forum post.]

After a day of mulling over the lack of battery degradation and comparing the Nissan Warranty, BMW’s match of said warranty and the fact that Tesla’s two competitors include battery degradation, I believe that it is time to call out Tesla and tell them that they need to include battery degradation into the equation. Spell it out. If it is the same specifics as the 2006 Roadster blog post that says 30% after five years, then that’s what it is. It’s not very impressive and I would ask that CPO Roadsters be provided with a modification to this, but that’s at least something. Additionally, AFTER providing such guidance, give us a price on replacement batteries. Nissan gave a $5,500 rate for their cars, why can’t Tesla do it now? With the pending Gigafactory, surely the economics only gets to improve.

C’mon Tesla, be awesome again!

What else will Tesla give you? Free Wi-Fi of course.

I spend a lot of time at Tesla facilities… Whether it’s a supercharger, a Tesla Store, or Tesla Service, I tend to like to be at Tesla facilities.

Yes, I’m obsessed. Either way, what else do you get for free at Tesla, well, their guest Wi-Fi is free and the password is the super secure “abcd123456”.

So, if you find yourself supercharging at Hawthorne, CA or at a Tesla Service Center, just remember to connect to the “Tesla Guest” or “Tesla Motors Guest” network and use that super-secure password.

Now, remember, it’s a shared wi-fi network, so be warned, be careful, and be safe. Use some sort of protection when connecting.

Here’s my Model S at a late night stop on the way home from Hawthorne on our first Tesla Weekend… using the free wi-fi at Hawthorne Design Center/Supercharger.

We the People Petition on Tesla Motors email received…

So, I, like many other supporters of the Free Market filled out a petition several months ago to the White House to assist in lifting the arcane dealership laws that limit Tesla Motors from selling directly to consumers. Granted these sort of things are legislation and regulation that is often taken on by States and not at the Federal level, but I wanted to see what the White House had to say about it, and here it is… presented with no edits… I’ll probably write a response about it later, but wanted to show what I got on email yesterday.

A whole lot of politicking… But, what did I expect.

[update 2014-07-06 – My reaction… Meh… A whole lot of nothing. So, guess what, no need to post more about it.]

Response to We the People Petition on Tesla Motors

By Dan Utech, Special Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change

Thanks for your We the People petition. We’re excited about the next generation of transportation choices, including the kind of electric vehicles that Tesla and others have developed. These companies are taking steps to help spur innovation in the promising area of advanced batteries and electric automobiles. Vehicle electrification and other advanced technologies are vital components of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan, and his commitment to addressing climate change and reducing carbon pollution, in addition to reducing our dependence on oil.

But as you know, laws regulating auto sales are issues that have traditionally sat with lawmakers at the state level.

We believe in the goal of improving consumer choice for American families, including more vehicles that provide savings at the pump for consumers. However, we understand that pre-empting current state laws on direct-to-consumer auto sales would require an act of Congress.

We are already making significant progress in promoting vehicle efficiency: new vehicle fuel economy has increased by 12% since 2008 and consumers now can choose from five times more car models with a combined city/highway fuel economy of 30 mpg or more, compared to just five years ago. In December 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that model year 2012 vehicles achieved an all-time high fuel economy, after increasing seven of the last eight years.

The President has taken historic action to spur more consumer choice — saving consumers money at the pump and reducing our dependence on oil. Here are some of the ways we’re helping to encourage the future generation of energy-efficient cars:

In 2012, the Obama Administration finalized groundbreaking standards that will increase fuel economy to the equivalent of 54.5 mpg for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. These standards will save consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump and reduce U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels. And this spring, we also released standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, a move that will save vehicle owners and operators an estimated $50 billion in fuel, and save a projected 530 million barrels of oil. You can learn more about that here.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has a loan program to help spur the kinds of innovation needed to create the future of transportation. In fact, Tesla’s electric car won the 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year while repaying its DOE loan 9 years early and earning the taxpayers about $17 million in profit. And DOE’s loan to Ford Motor Company to upgrade 13 factories across six states and to upgrade the fuel efficiency of a dozen popular vehicles has supported 33,000 jobs across the United States.
In September 2013, DOE awarded $45 million in funding for 38 new projects that to improve fuel efficiency, lower transportation costs, and protect the environment. The 38 new projects support the goals of the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge, a public-private initiative to make EVs as affordable and convenient to own and drive as gasoline-powered vehicles within 10 years. Also as part of EV Everywhere, DOE has launched the Workplace Charging Challenge , with a goal of achieving a tenfold increase in the number of U.S. employers offering workplace charging for plug-in electric vehicles in the next five years.

As these initiatives show, the Administration is in favor of fostering competition in the market to help spur the kinds of innovation needed to support ongoing U.S. leadership in vehicle manufacturing and a potential range of new technologies.

Again, thank you for your petition.

Lucky #13(,000 miles that is…)

It seems just a few months ago that we picked up our Model S from the factory in Fremont. It’s been three months and a week since we’ve had to return the ActiveE to BMW. And I’ve already made it to 13,000 miles.

Thirteen thousand is significant because that means that I’ve just completed my first recommended service at 12,500 (closer to 12,450 in my case) and I’ve made full use of the Model S during this time. It’s been a month and a half and we’ve put in 3,000 miles on the car. And I guess the latest thing to update is the probability of getting an i3 for the daily drive is diminishing. I had marked it down to 5% chance of happening.

As much as I complain about the “>AM Radio problem of the Model S, at least it has an AM Radio. The latest thing to affect me on the BMW i3 is the removal of AM Radio from the features of the vehicle. Let me reiterate, AM Radio is no longer included. I wonder if the good folks at BMW are getting a kickback from Sirius XM or some other entity to remove access to the most common part of the radio dial for News, Sports, and Talk. Living in California, when an earthquake hits, if one is not near a TV, you can pretty much guarantee that the News stations will cover the latest earthquake. The FM part of the dial does not include ANY of that coverage in any sort of meaningful way. Not to mention my obsession with listening to local sports teams play. It’s barely comprehensible on the Model S, but it’s just not available on the i3.

But I digress, to paraphrase Marc Antony, I’ve come to praise the Model S and not bury the i3 (or specifically BMWi). I’ve grown accustomed to the size of the Model S, as large as it is and as many blind spots as the car has, it’s a fun car to drive. The continual improvements in firmware keeps improving the vehicle. The latest version of firmware has reintroduced the LOW setting for the Air Suspension and coupled with the installation of the Titanium Undershield in the vehicle has made me more confident in setting the vehicle to automatically lower to this setting at less than the recommended 100MPH+ that the system is automatically set for. I’ve been playing with it and currently have it set at higher than the speed limit, but intend on lowering that closer to the flow of traffic in Los Angeles (on a GOOD DAY and not crawling at bumper-to-bumper speed.)

Additionally, the addition of the Hill Hold feature has been an unexpected blessing. The Hill Hold feature allows a Tesla Driver that does not use Creep mode (creep is when you simulate the Model S like an ICE car by forcing it to move forward when the driver’s foot is not on the brake) to take their foot off the brake and have the car hold in place before hitting the accelerator to move forward when stopped at an incline. Prior to the implementation of this setting, the car would roll backwards the moment that the driver released the brake. This seemingly minor improvement in the way the car performs has increased the ease of driving the Model S noticeably.

Aside from the constant improvement on the vehicle, the Model S Annual Service was trouble free and completed in very much a “no hassle” manner. I prepaid the Annual Maintenance with Ranger Service option. What this means is that Tesla will perform some of the maintenance and fixes at my location. I’ve had great service relationships with several BMW dealerships and I’ve often been lucky enough to get a nice loaner every time that I’ve brought a BMW in for service. Regardless of whether it is during the warranty (or as is the case with the very old vehicles) considerably past its warranty. The Tesla service is exceptional. Granted, my normal service center in Costa Mesa is often overbooked and a month out, but the beauty of the Ranger service in Southern California is that between my home and office, I have access to at least four more service centers. So, I found one that will drive out to me and either perform the service or drive it back and forth to me while I’m in the office.

In the case of my two Ranger calls for my annual service, Tesla came out for the first one (my 12,500 mile service) and dropped off a Model S 60kWh, standard suspension car while they worked on my car. The car had to be brought back to their service center because they were installing the Titanium Shield as well as other things that required them to use the tools in the shop. They picked up the car a little later than we set up and got the car back to me a little later but this was all understandable as the service was performed the Friday before the Memorial Day Holiday and there is no way to get around the LA area in a reasonable time that Friday.

The one deficiency from the original call was they forgot to do one minor fix regarding the door seal to the driver side that required them to come back out with a Ranger. The second time around the Ranger arrived thirty minutes earlier than our appointment and promptly met me in my office garage when I got in. He was able to fix the problem in the promised time and left. Needless to say, as much as I’ve had great service from BMW, the Tesla one exceeded that.

So, I guess things are working out with the Model S. At 13,000 miles, I would say so, the most telling thing is the diminishing chance of picking up an i3 for this BMW loyalist. I rated it down to 5% chance and that’s from a mixture of Tesla Execution and BMW/BMWi acting like “Keystone Cops” on the launch of the i3 and providing me with enough time to drive our Model S from the time that I was forced to relinquish my beloved ActiveE, literally CRUSHING my dream, and the constant removal of things that I want or need in my seemingly endless commute in Los Angeles traffic (Sun Roof, AM Radio, EV batteries that they could have put instead of a stupid REX). My i3 should be built by the time I publish this post, and another few weeks before it lands on our shores. Who knows, I might still forgive the BMW guys, or I might just tell them no thanks.

The Morro Bay West Coast Active E Wake

On Sunday, March 2, 2014, I joined fellow Electronauts in Morro Bay, CA for the meetup of Active E Electronauts from Northern and Southern California to hold a wake for the departure of our beloved Active Es. This was the same drive that I alluded to in the previous year and ended up driving in an ICE because it was range “insane”.

This year, saying goodbye and commiserating about the departure of the Active E was done in all EV mode thanks to the Tesla Motors Model S and Supercharging at Buelton, CA. Basically the Active E Wake served two purposes for me.

1) Provided me with a way to channel my “grief” by commiserating with other Active E drivers and honor the Active E at the same time.

2) Provided me with a good excuse to go on a long, supercharger enabled trip and really get used to the Model S.

One could say that it was the perfect way to bridge my EV experience from an Active E for my daily driver to a Tesla Model S.

The first leg of the trip was from home to the Buelton Supercharger and the car performed well. I had several changes in elevation as there were several passes to navigate, so even though the trip was approximately 166 miles and I was charged to 264 miles… I arrived at the Buelton Supercharger with 55 miles left. The overall statistics were 165.8 mile trip at 351 Wh/mi (2.85 mi/KwH). A good chunk of that trip was sitting on the cruise control trying to do “my version” of trying to hyper-mile. However, as I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of elevation, and the road was just too open that early in the morning. In the end, there were quite a few stretches where I “enjoyed” the Model S too much.

The weather was appropriately overcast for such a solemn occasion.

We supercharged for approximately 40-45 minutes and left with 225 miles on the range and a 150 mile roundtrip to and from Morro Bay ahead of us.

Having driven this same route the “other way” from our Tesla Pickup Weekend (see lots of posts starting here), it was a comfortable trip to do to Buelton and having driven more than halfway to Morro Bay with the stop in Buelton it was important to have enough charge to get there, back and some buffer.

We met at the Blue Skye Coastal Cafe in Morro Bay. As with most of my photo hosting, check out flickr for photos. There will be photos at breakfast and shots by the “Rock”.

Even an homage to the Mini-E can be found on the hood of the Active E that served as stand in for all the Active Es out there.

Here’s a shot of all the cars with their drivers. The truck is NOT with us, but one of the Active Es drove down with a Model S as well (the white one)…

Another shot with a driver beside each of their EVs.

One of the many residents of Morro Bay that was wondering what the heck we were up to, this one was having seafood for lunch.

I didn’t log my drive statistics to Morro Bay from Buelton, but made sure to catch it on the Roundtrip to the Supercharger…

So, returned to the Buelton Supercharger with 56 miles left after 155.7 mile roundtrip to/from Morro Bay at 310 wh/mi (3.229 miles/kWh), drove more efficiently than the trip to Buelton from home. We left Buelton with 225 miles of range, so the “spoilage” was close to 19 miles of estimated miles.

This time around, I wasn’t alone at the Supercharger station. We had an homage to USA with a Red, White, and Blue Model S supercharging.

For my readers outside of Southern California, this is an overcast day… Just to prove that it ISN’T always hot and sunny in California. Another shot of the Red, White, and Blue Tesla Model S at Buelton.

This trip was somewhat therapeutic for the sense of loss for the Active E and reassuring that the EV future really is quite well represented by all the brands that fellow Active E Electronauts have decided to go to rather than wait for BMW to release the i3. Several still were deciding whether to get an i3 either in addition to the other EV that they may have also obtained.

This time, I figured to charge as close to full as possible, so we went to around 240 on the mileage gauge before we headed South at a more leisurely pace. We got home having consumed 48.7kwh in 170.6 miles of travel with an average of 286 Wh/mile (or 3.50 miles per KWh) amazingly close to what I would do on the Active E on an average day. The entire 492 mile trip was accomplished using 155.1 KWh of energy for an average of 315 Wh/mile (or 3.17 miles per KWh).

Amazing to think that about a year prior, I chickened out and decided to use an ICE car to do this same drive and took about the same amount of time to travel. The cost to “fuel” up this drive… $0.

54321…. Goodbye Active E.

Many have seen my tweet that included the following photograph.

My wife says that I still pout when I say the words Active E… I swear that it’s a subconscious reflex. I suppose time will heal all wounds. I’ve started to drive the Model S as my daily driver, but had to go ICE on Monday and Wednesday with the X5. Apparently, aside from killing its battery last year, I have not brought it in for its service in the past two years (whoops)… So, I dropped off the X5 on Monday and picked it up on Wednesday.

The Model S performed admirably (as it is prone to do) on Tuesday. A rather uneventful 170 mile day. I’ve done several days of 170+ days in the Active E before, but not nearly as uneventful as it is on a Model S. I can get used to this. I’m still getting used to the size of the S, but expect that to be fine after a few days. As many of you have previously read, I did a comparison of all three EVs a few weeks ago.

Anyway. I’ve confirmed to drive 230 miles and join my fellow Electronauts in Morro Bay this Sunday for the West Coast Wake for the Active E and look forward to meeting up with fellow California Active E drivers and would like to thank Mariel Knoll for remembering to invite me since I’m not on Facebook and for George Betak, Jack Brown, and Tom Moloughney for organizing it. We’ll be commiserating and honoring our Active E at the event. Some will still be lucky enough to be driving their Active Es and some will be coming in with their next EVs. Anyway, hopefully the camaraderie will help ease the pain. I wonder when the East Coasters will be doing their Wake.

Hopefully I hold onto the lead in the West Coast wotnogas.com with my 54,321 miles. If not, at least I’ll have a nice countdown to my predominantly Tesla EV experience at this point. I’m planning on analyzing what the two years had cost me on the Active E, but need some time to heal until then.

At least as of the 27th of February I have the lead on the BMW Electronaut site and the West Coast lead on wotnogas.com.

BMW never did explain how they tracked the miles…

The wotnogas.com ones were all self-reported…