Tesla Model S waffling

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by GimpyMcFarlan

Tesla demonstrates 90-second battery swap...

http://usat.ly/124Hp7u

Discussion ended up in one of the bot-initiated threads:
http://forums.carmudgeons.com/showthread.php?t=69229

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So... I took the Tesla in to be titled/registered yesterday. Other than an hour wait, it was pretty painless.

The woman at the MVD said that they are doing a ton of Tesla registrations -- so much that they ran out of the Alternative Fuel license plates last week. But they had some in stock yesterday to give me -- I'll order the personalized plate online later (still debating).

AZ has a significantly reduced vehicle license tax on EVs, and they allow EVs to be registered for up to 5 years (vs up to 2 years for gas cars). So I went ahead and paid for 5 years -- total was ~$135 for the registration, alt fuel plate fee and vehicle license tax.

To compare, a gas car with the same base price would cost ~$4900 for 5 years of the same fees...

[JST]

Wow. Coal industry lobby?

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Originally Posted by JST

Wow. Coal industry lobby?

I don't think so.

It more likely relates to the state trying to do as much as possible to keep the EPA away. Air quality in the Phoenix area can get very bad -- specifically very high level of particulates. Some of that is natural (this is the desert -- its dusty), but the EPA doesn't care what the source is -- just that we're above the standard, and have to clean things up. So I'm guessing this is an incentive hoping to help...

I also did the 5 year registration thing hoping it grandfathers me in. There was a bill introduced this year that would charge an annual fee to EV drivers to replace lost gas tax. It didn't pass, but I figured that registering for 5 years would at least delay having to pay it if it passes next year...

[Plaz]

Is your garage air conditioned? I wonder if that would help battery life... both holding a charge and overall life of the unit.

[JST]

In theory, the Tesla should be able to maintain its own battery temperature within a preset range, even when parked, I think.

[ZBB]

The Tesla actively manages the battery temp.

It will cool or heat the battery when its charging and driving. It may do some when parked too -- although I have yet to go out to the garage and hear any fans/compressors on unless I open the door (then the AC comes on, and if plugged in it will draw power from the wall to power the AC).

Roadster owners report that the battery management starts cooling the battery at 106F, and speculation is the that Model S does the same. While it can get over 106 at our house, but we mostly tend to be below that (peak temps at our house are ~110 -- but only a couple hours above 106, so the garage stays below that).

Apparently various battery tests have shown that keeping the battery below a full charge helps prolong the life. Warmer temps hurt, but only marginally so -- and keeping the charge state a bit lower also helps. The current Tesla firmware gives a slider to select the charge limit -- so you can select to charge from 50% to 100%, with the 50-90% range labeled "daily use" and the 90-100% labeled "trips". I've settled on charging to 75% most days -- gives me just over 150 miles of range avail. I tried 70% and 80% also -- those work also -- and I have yet to have <50 miles of remaining range on the car (lowest was around 60). I can change the charge level from the iPhone app, or just move the slider up if I need to drive a bit further anytime. I'll probably do my first 100% charge over 4th of July weekend -- we'll do a day trip to my parent's cottage that is about 75-80 miles away...

And no, our garage is not air conditioned. I can't imagine what that would cost.

[Plaz]

Battery temp control is very cool, literally and figuratively. I did not realize it had that.

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Since today was the hottest day of the year (119F), I figured I should comment on how the car did.

I've been charging it to 75% each night, which gives me 152 miles of range when I leave the house in the morning. My typical day is about 60-65 miles, and I've been plugging in at night with about 80 miles of range. So the car is using an extra 8-10 miles above rated, most of which is for vampire loss when parked and cooling. Driving wise, I'm getting pretty close to the EPA rated mileage (overall averaging 310 Wh/mile vs 300 rated).

But today, I drove 82 miles and lost 104 miles of range. My morning commute was about normal, but the mileage loss on the way home was noticeable. I'm guessing the battery pack cooling kicked in on top of the cabin HVAC.

And today was the first time I had <50 miles of range remaining -- ended the day at 48. The car used about 27kWh of electricity, which will cost just over $2 to top off tonight.

[robg]

Curious -how well does the AC work?

My e92's AC barely keeps up in 90 degree weather.