Electric Vehicles: Tesla specific talk, current firmware, purchasing, modifications

[diamond.g]

here’s some data for their taxi: only an idiot designs a taxi with only two seats, and insufficient room for a family’s worth of suitcases.

I have some more data I’ll share later.

I think it was interesting no one talked about the Model Y's that were there giving rides.

 

[DT]

One thing I really like about my car is the steering wheel. It is two-spoke, shaped like an under-inflated tire. I cannot recall ever having a two-spoke wheel, and it is perfect for me since I tend to drive with my hands on the bottom and there is nothing down there but a straight run of about eight inches.

Congrats on the Mach-E, I think Ford built a super competent, and competitive BEV (we actually shopped those for a second car at one point).

 

[Yoused]

Congrats on the Mach-E, I think Ford built a super competent, and competitive BEV (we actually shopped those for a second car at one point).

Sorry, I did not buy a Mach-E. It looked like a decent choice otherwise, but that enormous screen hanging off the dash put me off. I seem to have bought a somewhat obscure EV from a well-recognized manufacturer: I have looked but have yet to see another one in the wild. In the past, when I got a new-to-me car, I started noticing them all the time, but this is different. I see Rivians and Mach-Es and Ioniq 5s and the thread-title brand all the time, but mine is not to be seen.

It kind of aggravated me with its numbers. I spent 3 days at my mom's house while it sat on 110 charging at level one (which works out to about 4 miles an hour) and left with 95%. It told me I had 42 miles more range than the vehicle is rated for at 100%. And, of course, since there were a few more things in the back than I came with, I knew it would be an over-estimate.

It turned out I lost some 60 miles in range compared to the estimate, partly because I took a different route, but I still had plenty left. It just annoys me that the logic is not designed to be more conservative with its estimates.

Yesterday, I took out the dryer outlet that was in the garage and replaced it with the proper NEMA 14-50, allowing me to do level 2 at home, which is a pretty big improvement. It shows 250V across the clips, which is 10V more than the charger wants, but my expert friend told me that would not be a problem.

 

[Nycturne]

Sorry, I did not buy a Mach-E. It looked like a decent choice otherwise, but that enormous screen hanging off the dash put me off. I seem to have bought a somewhat obscure EV from a well-recognized manufacturer: I have looked but have yet to see another one in the wild. In the past, when I got a new-to-me car, I started noticing them all the time, but this is different. I see Rivians and Mach-Es and Ioniq 5s and the thread-title brand all the time, but mine is not to be seen.

Okay, now I really want to know what you went with.

It kind of aggravated me with its numbers. I spent 3 days at my mom's house while it sat on 110 charging at level one (which works out to about 4 miles an hour) and left with 95%. It told me I had 42 miles more range than the vehicle is rated for at 100%. And, of course, since there were a few more things in the back than I came with, I knew it would be an over-estimate.

I think I recall you being in the PNW? This is about the time the range on mine starts dropping due to the change in seasons. Since the estimates are all based on recent historical driving, it’s possible it was still giving estimates based on summer driving?

Mine is rated for about 250, but I can get pretty close to 300 in summer.

 

[Yoused]

Okay, now I really want to know what you went with.

This is what sold me on it

I looked at dozens of cockpits (one thing I like is the "analog" gauges). Then I made sure I could turn off the right half of the screen. My interior is charcoal, not grey. And, of course, it is a brand well know for its reliability.

 

[Eric]

This is what sold me on it

I looked at dozens of cockpits (one thing I like is the "analog" gauges). Then I made sure I could turn off the right half of the screen. My interior is charcoal, not grey. And, of course, it is a brand well know for its reliability.

Interesting, you'll have to let us know how it works out for you. Looking at some of the features it's compelling and it has Carplay!

 

[Nycturne]

This is what sold me on it

I looked at dozens of cockpits (one thing I like is the "analog" gauges). Then I made sure I could turn off the right half of the screen. My interior is charcoal, not grey. And, of course, it is a brand well know for its reliability.

Hmm, I think I run into more Ariyas on the road than I do GV60s. It was on my short list, and next time around I’ll take another look at it. It was the salesperson I dealt with which was the problem. They seemed uninterested in selling one.

 

[Yoused]

Hmm, I think I run into more Ariyas on the road than I do GV60s.

That must get expensive. You should get your brakes checked.

It was on my short list, and next time around I’ll take another look at it. It was the salesperson I dealt with which was the problem. They seemed uninterested in selling one.

Yeah, they can seem MIA a lot of the time. Most of the ones I have met seem like good people, though there was one guy who was just interested in wedging me into a lease, which I did not want, and was intent on selling me AWD, which was not what I wanted (too much of a range hit).

One thing that annoys me is the driving mode selector. It is a flat touch thing on the center console that I cannot find by touch (have to look). I use "eco" most of the time because I like to float a lot and it has zero pedal release effect. But there are times when I want the braking from standard or "sport" mode (there is one semi-steep hill I use a fair bit, and sport mode drags perfectly going down it). I guess the thing to do is to put some tape or other thing on there for a tactile cue.

 

[Nycturne]

That must get expensive. You should get your brakes checked.

What do you mean? I check them all the time. They are rusted over from lack of use.

Yeah, they can seem MIA a lot of the time. Most of the ones I have met seem like good people, though there was one guy who was just interested in wedging me into a lease, which I did not want, and was intent on selling me AWD, which was not what I wanted (too much of a range hit).

In my case they literally were trying to talk me out of buying or leasing anything.

In fairness, it was me trying to deal with back and hip pain I developed from a new car after 6 months or so, so they thought they were doing me a favor, but in the end I just never went back to Nissan when I replaced it with the GV60.

One thing that annoys me is the driving mode selector. It is a flat touch thing on the center console that I cannot find by touch (have to look). I use "eco" most of the time because I like to float a lot and it has zero pedal release effect. But there are times when I want the braking from standard or "sport" mode (there is one semi-steep hill I use a fair bit, and sport mode drags perfectly going down it). I guess the thing to do is to put some tape or other thing on there for a tactile cue.

Because of course car makers are putting too many things into touch controls…

 

[DT]

Sorry, I did not buy a Mach-E.

This is what sold me on it

I looked at dozens of cockpits (one thing I like is the "analog" gauges). Then I made sure I could turn off the right half of the screen. My interior is charcoal, not grey. And, of course, it is a brand well know for its reliability.

Ahh, OK, when you were talking about not liking the center display in the Mach-E, I thought you mean you bought one in spite of that. The Ariya is a pretty solid choice, there's a couple of folks I see post on some general EV forums/servers that really love theirs, and according them, they've been hassle free I like the "single" (since it's often two discrete displays in the same enclosure) panoramic type designs, our BMW uses this, Hyundai/Kia do too.

L2 home charging is really the game changer, we wouldn't even own an EV without it. Our Grizzl-E EVSE (aka "charger") which hadn't had any significant problems since May '21 when we first got it, had been running a bit too hot more recently, I swapped it out with the one that came with the BMW, it's modular, so was able to set it up for the 50a (40a output) outlet like the Grizzl-E, it's working great, but I may just move from the 40a to a hardwired 48a in the near future.

 

[Yoused]

Because of course car makers are putting too many things into touch controls…

What infuriates me is the way the heated seat adjustment works: you turn it on, it is full power, then you touch a spot on the sceen to turn it down one step, then touch it again to turn it to low. It is a freaking screen – how hard is it to write a few lines of extra code to give me three touch points to select the level?

 

[Yoused]

This is how you do FSD. Deer in the road ahead? Just run it over and keep on keepin' on.

 

[Eric]

Not a comforting thought. My next car will have manual door latches and tactile controls.

Fiery Tesla Crash Traps And Kills Four After Electric Doors Couldn’t Open

Five people were trapped inside a Tesla Model Y after it crashed and burst into flames, just one person escaped after onlookers smashed a window

jalopnik.com

 

[Cmaier]

Not a comforting thought. My next car will have manual door latches and tactile controls.

Fiery Tesla Crash Traps And Kills Four After Electric Doors Couldn’t Open

Five people were trapped inside a Tesla Model Y after it crashed and burst into flames, just one person escaped after onlookers smashed a window

jalopnik.com

I keep a window breaker/seat belt cutter in the little pocket at the front of my seat. I doubt i’d be able to successfully wield it in an emergency, but you never know.

 

[diamond.g]

Yeah you just have to avoid vehicles with frameless windows. Pretty easy to do.

 

[ArgoDuck]

I keep a window breaker/seat belt cutter in the little pocket at the front of my seat. I doubt i’d be able to successfully wield it in an emergency, but you never know.

I guess…take a moment every day to practice the movements you’d use, over and over, until it’s second nature/instinctual

Did drills like this when learning to parachute as it could "save your life"

Hate to quote T but - you know - "Drill baby, drill"

 

[Yoused]

Not a comforting thought. My next car will have manual door latches and tactile controls.

Fiery Tesla Crash Traps And Kills Four After Electric Doors Couldn’t Open

Five people were trapped inside a Tesla Model Y after it crashed and burst into flames, just one person escaped after onlookers smashed a window

jalopnik.com

My car has manual door handles inside and out, but not manual locks. I am not sure that the doors can be opened with the handles unless they are unlocked first. And the car decides that I must have my doors locked while driving. I cannot disable auto-lock any way. Everyone has to be buckled in, so locking the doors seems like a dangerous redundancy, especially if they cannot be unlocked in a crash situation.

 

[Cmaier]

My car has manual door handles inside and out, but not manual locks. I am not sure that the doors can be opened with the handles unless they are unlocked first. And the car decides that I must have my doors locked while driving. I cannot disable auto-lock any way. Everyone has to be buckled in, so locking the doors seems like a dangerous redundancy, especially if they cannot be unlocked in a crash situation.

auto-locking the doors is often something that can be overridden with the appropriate programming thingy. Your dealer may be able to disable that. I’ve done that with older cars, but nowadays who knows.

 

[diamond.g]

My car has manual door handles inside and out, but not manual locks. I am not sure that the doors can be opened with the handles unless they are unlocked first. And the car decides that I must have my doors locked while driving. I cannot disable auto-lock any way. Everyone has to be buckled in, so locking the doors seems like a dangerous redundancy, especially if they cannot be unlocked in a crash situation.

Auto locking was done to discourage folks walking up to your car at a light and car jacking you (more easily).

Newer cars should allow you to open the door from the inside even if it is locked. There are some older vehicles that do not do this (IIRC Honda/Nissan was that way)

 

[Yoused]

Auto locking was done to discourage folks walking up to your car at a light and car jacking you (more easily).

Ironically, that is much more difficult to do with a car like mine. The key is in my pocket: they would have to go the extra step of getting the key from me (and realize that they have to) or the car will only go a short distance before stopping due to being out of range. And if I have the presence of mind in the moment, I could lock them in the car and they would be trapped.

But I have a pretty good idea where that sort of incident is going to happen. I can lock the doors myself before going into those areas. Out on a rural highway, it would be much less of a concern. I get that you do not want to risk the kids somehow falling out of and unlocked car, but I will not be carrying young kids and would lock the doors if I was. I just want it to be my choice.