Tesla's Long-Awaited, Lower-Priced Model 3 To Arrive Friday

[Dashinka 24,514]

8 hours ago, OriZ said:

I hear ya. Day to day we have an SUV, every once in a while when I am driving something else(rental, loaner, etc)...I feel like I'm on a little tikes riding right on the ground. Takes some getting used to for sure, and then getting used to again when you have your SUV back...

I went through an SUV phase a few years ago and I know what you mean.  Going back to a car took some getting used to as I enjoyed  sitting up a bit higher.

[Dashinka 24,514]

6 hours ago, ccneat said:

No any  orders of any  model after  jan 15 gets the same plan..acesss for anominal fee and credit for the first 1000 miles (400khz) . The model is really to extend the travel range and not be ypur primary energy source.  The major change is over the transfer of this right in the future.

Charging at home should cost 20 to 80 a month. 

 

How many people use the SC as their primary energy source?  I have heard of a lot of complaints of SCs full of cars today when another pulls up.  Will these get worse with the Model 3s?  I think it is human nature to take advantage of something you get for free rather than paying for it yourself especially if you live in relatively close proximity to one of these SCs.

[IAMX 3,055]

3 minutes ago, Bill & Katya said:

I went through an SUV phase a few years ago and I know what you mean.  Going back to a car took some getting used to as I enjoyed  sitting up a bit higher.

Being able to see over other cars in the city especially when needing to change lanes to save 5-20 mins on traffic on a short drive is priceless. Maybe down the road I'll find a nice toy car.. I used to want motorcycles but after so many crash videos on sites like Liveleak I think I might pass.

[IAMX 3,055]

1 minute ago, Bill & Katya said:

How many people use the SC as their primary energy source?  I have heard of a lot of complaints of SCs full of cars today when another pulls up.  Will these get worse with the Model 3s?  I think it is human nature to take advantage of something you get for free rather than paying for it yourself especially if you live in relatively close proximity to one of these SCs.

That's a good question. It's very clear a lot more infrastructure needs to be rolled out to levy the rational concerns people have.. it requires a lot more private investment rather than the forced investment and subsidies from government.

[Dashinka 24,514]

Just now, IAMX said:

Being able to see over other cars in the city especially when needing to change lanes to save 5-20 mins on traffic on a short drive is priceless. Maybe down the road I'll find a nice toy car.. I used to want motorcycles but after so many crash videos on sites like Liveleak I think I might pass.

Interesting, I also went through the motorcycle phase a few years ago, but just sold it this past Spring after not having ridden it about three years.  I had a good friend killed by a HaR driver, and I completely lost interest in riding.

 

Btw, there are a lot of nice toy cars out there!

 

[IAMX 3,055]

Just now, Bill & Katya said:

Interesting, I also went through the motorcycle phase a few years ago, but just sold it this past Spring after not having ridden it about three years.  I had a good friend killed by a HaR driver, and I completely lost interest in riding.

 

Btw, there are a lot of nice toy cars out there!

 

The sheer torque on electrics is something to admire... just blow by some of these jerks on the road.

 

A lot of people in Calgary I've talked to seem oblivious to it.. they must be under the impression that all EV's use Toyota's weak hybrid synergy drives or something that our Ford hybrid SUV uses.

[Dashinka 24,514]

1 minute ago, IAMX said:

The sheer torque on electrics is something to admire... just blow by some of these jerks on the road.

 

A lot of people in Calgary I've talked to seem oblivious to it.. they must be under the impression that all EV's use Toyota's weak hybrid synergy drives or something that our Ford hybrid SUV uses.

I completely understand the instantaneous torque, and the marketing of it, but do jack rabbit starts in an EV drain the battery even more reducing range like it can do with a gasoline vehicle launch?  

 

I think the biggest issue with EVs in Northern latitudes is the need for heat many times of the year.  How does this impact range when you are using battery power to generate heat?

[IAMX 3,055]

Just now, Bill & Katya said:

I completely understand the instantaneous torque, and the marketing of it, but do jack rabbit starts in an EV drain the battery even more reducing range like it can do with a gasoline vehicle launch?  

 

I think the biggest issue with EVs in Northern latitudes is the need for heat many times of the year.  How does this impact range when you are using battery power to generate heat?

I had to Google what the heck a jack rabbit start is, LOL

 

But in my experience, no, it doesn't affect the EV's range by any significant margin whatsoever to "gas it" in whatever the terms for an EV would be. 

 

I think that's the biggest issue, coming up with all these cool slogans and slang terms for EV driving. 

 

Seriously though, as for my experience with the cold and a hybrid.. 

 

The hybrid engine kicks on regularly at -15C and up. The only reason it rarely does below that is because we're constantly running the heat/defrosters, which utilizes both engines and quickly throws on the ICE engine in perpetuity.

 

I regularly see electrics in the winter in Calgary and even in -40 and -30C (where Fahrenheit starts to match the temps in Celsius), and since most new cars don't have those plug starters (something I had never seen until moving to this region) I venture an educated guess that they are not necessary and only impact range as far as the utilization of energy for heating goes. Since full EV's are very comparable to the moving components in, say, hard drives, it should be noted that they actually run more efficiently in a lower temp, as well as drier climate versus humid, though the latter is likely negligible since I'm sure engineers took rain/snow and humidity into consideration.

[Dashinka 24,514]

The one issue I always think about with EVs in color climates is the length of time one can run the vehicle for heat if one gets stranded.  I know getting stranded is a relatively rare event, but how long will a fully charged battery last just for heating if you can't move and are in a remote location?  With an ICE and a full 60 L fuel tank you could idle for around 30 hrs before emptying the fuel tank.

 

Sorry about the slang, in the automotive industry we like to use the phrase jack rabbit start for those people that launch themselves off the line, squawk their tires, or something like that.  This tends to run the RPM to a high level translating to more fuel used.  People that are "Hypermilers" trying to get maximum mpg tend to leave a stop light with very slight acceleration.

[OriZ 3,157]

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

I went through an SUV phase a few years ago and I know what you mean.  Going back to a car took some getting used to as I enjoyed  sitting up a bit higher.

 

2 hours ago, IAMX said:

Being able to see over other cars in the city especially when needing to change lanes to save 5-20 mins on traffic on a short drive is priceless. Maybe down the road I'll find a nice toy car.. I used to want motorcycles but after so many crash videos on sites like Liveleak I think I might pass.

Plus, over in this area(and I'm sure in Michigan and Alberta as well) it helps greatly with winter driving. Nothing like having a jeep plow right through stuff for ya.

Edited July 5, 2017 by OriZ

[IAMX 3,055]

8 minutes ago, OriZ said:

 

Plus, over in this area(and I'm sure in Michigan and Alberta as well) it helps greatly with winter driving. Nothing like having a jeep plow right through stuff for ya.

Calgary in particular has been awful with the roads and plowing over the last few winters, so having a larger vehicle to go right over several feet of snow on the ground is always beneficial. The neighborhoods is what comes to mind.. they're the lowest on priority. One of the benefits of living downtown now is that we don't need to worry about this as all downtown roads are #1 priority.

Edited July 5, 2017 by IAMX

[Amica Nostra 4,803]

3 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

How many people use the SC as their primary energy source?  I have heard of a lot of complaints of SCs full of cars today when another pulls up.  Will these get worse with the Model 3s?  I think it is human nature to take advantage of something you get for free rather than paying for it yourself especially if you live in relatively close proximity to one of these SCs.

I think Tesla owners have more money than time and will have a charger at home. Would you rather stop at a charging station or just drive out of your garage?  The 400khz has a value of around 40$

Edited July 5, 2017 by ccneat

[Boiler 45,541]

A smaller Tesla could be a good idea, wonder if it would fit in the back of my Truck?, add a charging socket and away we go.

[IAMX 3,055]

28 minutes ago, ccneat said:

I think Tesla owners have more money than time and will have a charger at home. Would you rather stop at a charging station or just drive out of your garage?  The 400khz has a value of around 40$

I think Bill is more likely mentioning this from the perspective of someone who is looking for Tesla to appeal to the masses.

 

For those who even have a garage, getting a 240V adapter for fast charging (120V is a massivem inefficient energy and time waste) is a rather huge cost, never mind the overall hardware and energy costs of adding another 16A+ breaker. 

 

My experience is it's a massive cost saving having an electric (in the months I leased one), but being able to charge for free in public space would be even better, especially since using those large draws will not only charge quickly but are overall more energy efficient. In cities like Chicago where energy costs $0.15/kWh, it's that much more vital. They recently capped us at a max $0.068 in Calgary ($0.0523 US) so that drops the yearly cost of fuel down a few hundred dollars. Would be interesting if they started retrofitting the condo buildings here with charging stations, but many in this cost-cutting city can't even be arsed to update to fiber over POTS (I usually don't bother with board meetings but have made it a point over the last several months to bug them to no avail).

Edited July 5, 2017 by IAMX

[Dashinka 24,514]

2 hours ago, OriZ said:

 

Plus, over in this area(and I'm sure in Michigan and Alberta as well) it helps greatly with winter driving. Nothing like having a jeep plow right through stuff for ya.

Only if you know how to use it.  Funny story, back in my volunteer FD days, occasionally we would get called out to help stranded motorists during a snowstorm (that was my SUV phase btw.).  Long story short, we get called out to help this television news producer  that got stuck at 3 am heading into the studio probably to cover the snow storm.  He was driving an SUV, but had no idea how to use it.  When I asked him if he tried 4 Low to get through the drift (he was actually still on the road stuck in a drift) his reply was what is 4 Low.  We pulled him free since he was still in the roadway and not in a ditch and we got called back 30 minutes later for his truck now stuck in a ditch.  We drove him to the studio (another 1/2 mile) and told him to call a tow truck to get the vehicle out.