Year with Tesla
We continue a series of publications about Tesla cars. In the previous parts, there were mainly enthusiasm and praise for the technologies of the future. In this, I will try to focus on everyday life. How much, of course.
No, this is not an electric Mercedes. It's just that parking is only for charging electric vehicles. People improvise
I want to immediately warn that everything that I will describe relates only to the operation of a specific instance of a specific model of electric vehicle (Model S 75D) in a single family, in a single set of countries. And, of course, for other conditions, the experience may turn out to be completely different, however, on average, in the countries where Tesla is sold, it should not differ much: electric cars everywhere are just starting an attack on a really mass market, and operational issues, like the state of infrastructure, not much different from country to country.
During the year we managed to ride 8500 km, visit the south of France and Luxembourg by car with children, and now we are going to Milan together with our wife to meet friends there. Model S is designed for long-distance travel, it is crowded in the city. Especially in a European city such as Paris; despite the fact that I see more and more electric cars on the streets, the number of Tesl (Tesel, Teslov) is not growing so fast. Perhaps Model 3 will correct the situation, but so far I am seeing a very rapid increase in the number of Renault Zoe and BMW i3. They took all the city charges!
No, not all, of course. For us personally, everything turned out to be quite excellent with exercises. Charging in the city is not a particularly noticeable thing. Until I needed them, I did not even know that there were so many of them. But first things first.
This is probably the moment that causes the greatest skepticism among potential buyers. After all, not many who have their own garage with a socket. For example, we have a car standing on the street where it is necessary. And, of course, I am very glad that my greatest fear turned out to be groundless: the number of chargers in Paris is growing faster than the number of cars. So, when we just bought a car, in walking distance from the house there was only one charge per 3 slots, however, fast: 2 slots of 22 (in theory) kW, and one long, 3 kW, but free at night. Also, it was possible to charge at the local car sharing service: Autolib. But the seats on Autolib were rarely empty: they were occupied by car sharing machines themselves. However, the second three-slot charging was soon opened, and then the third. Moreover, in August 2018 Autolib ordered a long life, the cars were removed, and the charging stations remained. They did not work until December, when the City Hall of Paris began to put them back into operation, as a place to charge private (and commercial) electric vehicles. The advantage of these stations is that each has 8-10 slots. So near the house there were about 15 more slots of 4 kW. Not all Autolib stations have been returned to operation, and 3 stations are still waiting for me to be turned on, that is, about 20-30 more slots. But free charging can be found at any time, even despite the really significant growth in the electric vehicle fleet. Of course, I'm talking about the situation in Paris, however, according to my observations,
In the city, we charge the car about once a week in the winter and once every 2 weeks in the summer. It’s not only a matter of consumption, although it grows very strongly in winter (runs are short and torn, the car constantly cools down during parking, the stove constantly works at full capacity, recovery with a cold battery also practically does not work): energy consumption in the city in winter often exceeds 300 Wh / km, sometimes it’s significant, but in the summer we constantly go somewhere out of town on the weekend, and on the road, on the way back, you can recharge on the supercharger. So, once a week or two, I just leave the car at night on a charge, where it charges up to 80% (this restriction is set individually, I tried to choose the lowest level at which there is no inconvenience in using the car). Then, in the city, we use the car until until the battery runs out below 40%. And again for charging. If you need to charge in the city during the day, it is more difficult. The fact is that there are no superchargers in the city. At least in Europe in cities I have not met them. The supercharger requires a very significant summed up power, which, I believe, is quite difficult to provide in the city, and charging with the power that the supercharger gives is unlikely to pass for the battery without consequences. So, in the city we charge with a low-power current all night, and on the highway with a high-power current and quickly. What is called “fast” charging in the city gives, in theory, 22 kW of power. In practice, from 15 to 17 kW. With such power, charging takes a very long time: in an hour the car receives about 20%. Several times we did such an exercise, it is convenient only if there is something to do all this time. On Sundays, I put the car on charge when I was walking with the children. But it’s just that it’s impossible to “refuel” if necessary, at such stations: the input power is too low. Therefore, we no longer use these charges. Although there is a subscription, yes.
For long-distance travel, there are always enough superchargers. There are also more of them and the number of slots is also increasing. In general, I never had to wait for charging on the supercharger either. Just in case, I bought a subscription to the local provider of fast charges on the highway. Their charges are mainly at the gas station, and give 20-33 kW. Compared to superchargers, this is quite a bit, and even for the money, so I have never used this subscription yet, but let it be. The heavy-duty charging, which is gradually spreading throughout Europe, and provides some completely insane figures, either 175 or 250 kW of power, has not been seen to me, and is hardly compatible with the current generation of Model S.
Yes, on long trips on an electric car, you have to stop charging more often than a gasoline car can stop at a gas station. And it takes longer to charge. On the highway, winter consumption here does not differ much from summer (a typical winter is from 0 to +10 degrees and rain). In summer, the consumption is rather 180 Wh / km, in winter - 190. But in winter, I especially do not want to wait for charging. Therefore, in the summer we go through one supercharger, it is about 3 hours between charges, or about 300 km. Then charging takes 40-50 minutes. It's a long time, but in 3 hours you get tired of sitting, and often get hungry. Superchanger is not a gas station (although I met one at a gas station), and there is where to walk and eat. In general, in the summer, usually a car is waiting for us, not us. In winter, everything is a bit wrong. We stop at every supercharger, it's about every 1.5 hours, or 100-150 km. Charging in this case takes 20 minutes from the power. But these 20 minutes we are waiting for the car. In general, the summer version does not bother at all, I would say that in the summer I really like the electric car mode in travels. But in winter, I would prefer to charge faster (and this seems to be implemented in supercharger 3, but so far it is only available for Model 3).
average fuel consumption on the road to Luxembourg: 190 Wh / km. Beginning of December, about 10 degrees above zero.
I would also like to say about our charging in Luxembourg. The fact is that there we stayed with friends, and they had a garage in their house. And in the garage there is an ordinary 220 VAC socket, from which the car charged overnight to the 90% limit set by me. The machine consumed 3 kW of power. That is, with such a garage you can generally forget about charging somewhere.
Now, after a serving of honey, a little reality. Electric cars have recently begun to conquer the mass market, and at the moment there are several standards for chargers. The most massive of them in Europe is T2. It is this connector that Tesla uses for the European variants of Model S and Model X. American variants use their own, proprietary connector, but I know little about it. In Europe, the most common connectors are T2 and ChaDeMo. To connect to the second of them you will have to buy an adapter. To charge lower power, T1 or T3 is often used. They will also require adapters. All of them cost a lot of money, about a hundred euros apiece. But even with the native T2 car, everything is not so simple. Recently, the company Ilona Mask announced the commissioning of the 3rd version of the supercharger. This version allows you to charge compatible cars (currently only Model 3) with power up to 250 kW. However, the 3rd version uses the Type 2 CCS connector, which has an additional connector, and is not suitable for the current versions of Model S and Model X. That is, at the moment, a single universal standard has not yet been developed, and when buying an electric car, you (1) you need to stock up on adapters and (2) prepare for the fact that the current connector at the moment can become obsolete in a couple of years. Alas, this is inevitable - at the moment, technology is still under development. a single universal standard has not yet been developed, and when buying an electric car, you (1) need to stock up on adapters and (2) prepare for the fact that the current connector at the moment can become obsolete in a couple of years. Alas, this is inevitable - at the moment, technology is still under development. a single universal standard has not yet been developed, and when buying an electric car, you (1) need to stock up on adapters and (2) prepare for the fact that the current connector at the moment can become obsolete in a couple of years. Alas, this is inevitable - at the moment, technology is still under development.
A lot has been written about the car itself, and I also wrote more than once. However, after a year of operation, the car did not cease to like. I still believe that there is only 1 drawback in the Model S interior: the angle of the backrest. It is too close to 90 degrees. Under it, you need to pick up child seats. So, the baby seat of our youngest daughter stood up perfectly, as it is a cocoon, inside of which the seat itself is adjustable for tilt. And the elder was less fortunate, and she was not too comfortable in the chair to sleep.
All. There are no more serious minuses. The lack of pockets in the doors does not interfere, in the car there is actually quite a lot of space for storing garbage and 6 cup holders. Touch screen controls are less convenient than physical buttons in some situations. It is a fact. But for this you get a user experience update with a firmware update. And the changes are pleasing :
On the left, firmware 6, then 7, 8 and 9. The photo is not mine
Yes, and the usability of the interface is improving from version to version. New chips appear, so in the 9th version you can use the autopilot camera, like a DVR.
was, it was, the transition from version 8 to version 9. The main changes in the quick access buttons at the bottom of the screen
What is interesting, and probably a little sad (but inevitable for Tesla) is the reduction in the variety of configurations. Musk often said that a large selection of equipment makes assembly more expensive. Indeed, when the Model S first appeared, the choice of trim levels was quite large. The client received two batteries of different capacities to choose (it remained), it was possible to choose the type of trim materials, the type of seats (standard or sports), a metal or glass roof, the presence or absence of a hatch, the third row of seats in the trunk; there were 2 suspension options: springs or pneumatics. Although anyway, compared with traditional automakers, the choice was modest, so there was always only one body option - a hatchback. And as I would like a barn ... But then it became still sadder.
When we bought a car a year ago, it was possible to choose one of 2 batteries, the body color from 7 possible, the interior made of black fabric, or from leatherette 3 colors to choose from, the roof was always glass, but could be with or without a hatch, you could order 3rd row of seats in the trunk, a set of premium options in the cabin (heated rear seats, steering wheel, windows, an improved audio system, a powerful air filter in the cabin), and one of 3 autopilot options (no autopilot, standard autopilot, or autopilot with some options autonomous driving, about autopilot - below). The suspension became only pneumatic, the chairs were of only one kind (but they became very comfortable), the number of colors to choose from decreased.
Now there are even fewer colors, the fabric interior cannot be selected anymore, the premium package has been added as standard, the sunroof cannot be ordered anymore, the choice of autopilot also consists of 3 options. As a result, the variety has even decreased, and now quite often you can see the twin car:
True, Musk fulfills the promise: for the same money that we paid a year ago for our Model S, the buyer will now receive a more capacious battery (judging by indirect signs, 85 kWh instead of 75, but Tesla no longer calls capacity in the model), premium package and leatherette. But he won’t get free unlimited supercharging, now for Model S and X only 400 kWh per year is free.
The quality of the interior materials is definitely pleasing: there is very little bare plastic in the interior, almost everything is either metal or sewn into fabric / leatherette. Well, the amount of free space in the cabin and luggage racks is good: yes, the front trunk is small, but there is one, and everything for a picnic fits in and is always there. And the back is huge. A lot of space in the back seat: the lack of a central tunnel turns the place in the middle of the rear sofa into a fully used one.
In general, the quality of the finishing materials is consistent with the price category of a car, which can not be said about the quality of the assembly ...
And here everything is not so pleasant. The car is damp. I’ve never seen a car multimedia system hang up. In Tesla, this happens regularly. And here it is not just multimedia, it is all the functions that are not directly related to the movement, including air conditioning / stove and sound signaling of direction indicators. For the first time on the way to the water park, we lost the Bluetooth connection. We listened to music from the phone, and it just disappeared. Rebooting the computer helped (done by holding the two buttons on the steering wheel). What pleases, neither a reboot nor a hang does not affect machine control. Music and stove just don't work. Although ... Navigation does not work either. And once I made a very good hook because the navigation hung. I drove straight for a long time until I noticed that the card froze.
The ability to use the phone as a key is a cool thing and very convenient. Say, sometimes I leave the house without the intention to go somewhere, and I do not take the car key with me. But if something comes to mind, I open the car from the phone and start it from it. In addition, you do not need to remember where to park, the car is always visible in the application. Well, almost always. The fact is that, sometimes, even though the check mark is set, which is responsible for the permanent connection to the network in the machine’s menu, the application still loses connection with the car. Usually this happens if you do not touch the car for more than 2 weeks (during vacation, for example), but a couple of times the car lost contact with the application after 3-4 days of inactivity (this is not so rare for us). And, of course, this always happens when you are in a hurry, and there is no time to run home for the key.
As a result, I went by subway.
Well, door handles. They themselves are not too comfortable. A couple of times the pen caught the finger of her eldest daughter, and now she is afraid of them. And they break. Just stop pushing. For a year, 2 pens broke. Plus, again, you can even use a broken pen. Although this is inconvenient:
In service, the car is inexpensive exactly until the moment when something is damaged in an accident. So, we were slightly scratched in the yard with a slightly front bumper in the area of one of the parking sensors. Parktronic stopped working. Repair counted at 2200 euros.
It’s interesting to write about Tesla’s service in general, although perhaps it’s only in France (but I don’t think so). I previously complained about the seal on the door, it puffed up at the bend, and so, when my wife complained about it, they simply glued it with superglue in this place on the service.
unfortunate fold of the seal
In addition, from the very beginning, something in the suspension creaked, we went to the service, they told us that the problem was known, and ordered the parts. After about 5 months, when 2 door handles had already broken down, it turned out that the parts had already arrived and were waiting for us, but no one warned us about this. Well, it doesn’t matter. In general, we signed up to replace the handles, repair the suspension ... and the voice control button on the steering wheel also stopped working. We adjusted the driver’s handle, changed the rear, but did nothing with the voice control button, since it was necessary to order parts ... However, the most interesting thing was with the suspension. We were told that the suspension was adjusted, nothing had to be changed. They did not answer the question of what we were waiting for 5 months then.
There are legends about Model S body panel clearances. And they are not baseless:
But in fairness, I must say that with Model X, dealing with gaps is much better. I saw it myself. And recently it turned out to be sure that Model 3 is still better. So, there is progress.
And, in fact, all this for some reason is not annoying. If this happened to a Mercedes or Audi, it would be very unpleasant. And you come to the Tesla service like in the Apple Store: either just stare at the shiny beautiful things, or you know exactly why you are going and do not expect anything breathtaking, and therefore you are not upset. And yes, I believe that over time everything will get better :)
In general, this video accurately reflects my attitude to the service:
Tesla's autopilots are different. It all started with the first, which was looking forward with only one camera. The second appeared cameras on the sides, plus a radar with parking sensors. Our car is equipped with the second one. The third is predicted soon, and it should differ from the second only in computing power. Iron will be more powerful to realize fully autonomous movement in the future. Yes, autopilot and autonomous driving on Tesla are 2 different options. Moreover, the second one was unavailable for an order in France for some time. And the first allows the car only to go within its lane and be reconstructed into the next one if the driver turns on the turn signal. Well, if the other cars do not interfere. There are no autonomous driving options in our car. When ordering, it cost an additional 3 thousand euros, and activation after purchase - 5 thousand euros. For this money, the buyer received a promise,
For a fairly long time, the buyer did not get anything when choosing the option of fully autonomous driving, except for promises and indicating neighboring vehicles: cars without the autonomous drive option showed any vehicle that was nearby with the Tesla model on the dashboard, while cars equipped with this option distinguished a passenger car from a bus or motorcycle, and draw the appropriate model. Now, some “tricks” have arrived to its customers: in some countries, the option of navigation on autopilot is available, when the car more autonomously drives along the highway, knows how to exit one route and enter another, it decides to change lanes and performs it, and also, they say, it stops at a traffic light (like not). In the parking lot, the car is able to park itself, and itself get out of the parking space. For obvious reasons, I can’t verify this. They also say that all buyers of this option will get an upgrade to autopilot 3 for free. A regular autopilot with 9th firmware also updated the display on the dashboard, and now even a car without the autonomous control option can distinguish between different types of neighboring vehicles:
autopilot indication version 8
indication of autopilot version 9
And yet, even that autopilot that is, is more and more addictive. No, this thing did not arouse trust, but addiction - yes. On my track it is always on. At the same time, the hands are on the steering wheel, but this relieves stress. The car itself keeps exactly in the center of the strip, and in traffic jams on the highway where there are no pedestrians, no traffic lights, no intersections, the autopilot is indispensable. In fact, in traffic jams, I don’t control the car, I just follow the autopilot. But at the same time I control the speed. But autopilot helps a lot. I had many complaints about his work at the beginning of the operation of the car, but since then 4 firmware have arrived, and he will not be recognized. This is a very predictable system.
Over 8.5 thousand kilometers, the car devoured 1.81 MWh of electricity.
At supercharger rates of 24 cents per kWh, a paid charge would cost about 435 euros, or 5.1 euros per 100 km, or 3.5 liters in gasoline equivalent. But this is such a spherical calculation in a vacuum.
Purely theoretically, I could charge the car completely free even in Paris, where there are no free municipal charges. I would have to go to the supercharger once a week. And we even did this for a while, until all the cards of the municipal charging stations arrived. But you need a lot of cards. For starters, we paid 15 euros for an Autolib subscription. He gave the right to use Autolib car sharing service charges for a year. But alas, Autolib died earlier. As a result, we used this service only 6 times, spending 63 euros in total (including the cost of a subscription). But, even while he was working, most of the places were occupied by cars of the car sharing itself, and it was not always possible to charge. Therefore, a BeLib fast charge subscription was purchased, for another 15 euros. We used it on a par with Autolib, and some time after. BeLib for 1 euro gave an hour of charging, replenished the battery by 20%. In total, 53 euros were spent on BeLib during the year. We also bought a Sodetrel card, which later became Izivia (this strange word in French sounds as alien as in Russian, I remembered it only by analogy with IzhAvia, since I visit Izhevsk), also for 15 euros. I used it 1 time and my wife 1 time in one of the city underground parking lots in the center. And the same card works at most gas stations on the tracks, but there are superchargers on the tracks ... Total for the year we spent 29 euros on this system. But the most convenient system is what Autolib turned into in December 2018. The fact is that Autolib stations in Paris were not just very many, but very, very many. And some of them have already turned into municipal charges. The rest is in the process of conversion. So now there are just a lot of charges, and there will be even more. A subscription to these municipal charges costs 140 euros per year, but without restrictions on the number and time of charging itself. Charging is slow, so it’s easiest to leave the car there overnight, which we are doing now. We bought a subscription in December, so 58 euros were spent on it. Total - 285 euros per year for charging.
With an annual mileage of 8.5 thousand km, electricity costs in the first run for mileage amounted to 3.35 euros / 100 km, or, in gasoline equivalent, a little more than 2 liters per 100 km. This is very good, given the prepayment of 4 different subscriptions! My previous gasoline car spent on average about 10 liters of gasoline per 100 km, while it was slightly less than Model S, so that fuel savings amounted to 680 liters of gasoline, or about 1 thousand euros per year. And for an electric car in Paris, free parking. And the resident parking permit is also free. This saves another 498 euros per year on the parking itself (subject to the purchase of a permit immediately for 3 years).
Total, given that the alternative to Tesla when buying was 3-year-old Renault Megan for 20K euros, in just 39 years the purchase will fully pay off!
But jokes aside ...
I am not a car enthusiast. In our family, only the wife always had a car. I love motorcycles, and all my life I went in the summer on a motorcycle, and in the winter on the subway. And I drive on Tesla. I like her. I think that this car must be liked, because it has many shortcomings at a rather high price. If you do not like her, she is definitely not for you. That is, this is not a rational purchase, but an emotional one. Incidentally, I’m not talking about electric cars in general, but about Model S. I consider the purchase of a Renault Zoe or Nissan Leaf to move around the city quite rational.
But Tesla has something to like.
Yes, it doesn’t affect the speed (although no, it does). This is just to please:
Yes, this frantic acceleration. He’s very, very good by motorcycle standards ... He’s not needed, he needs to be liked.
PS. Recently, Model 3 was brought to France. Of course, I went and sat in it with great interest. Yes, I really finishing materials seemed easier than the Model S, and the space much smaller, and most do not understand why she sedan, especially at such a scale that is much used on lshaya Model S - hatchback. But after the interior of Model 3, my car seems to me somehow outdated ...
No, this is not an electric Mercedes. It's just that parking is only for charging electric vehicles. People improvise
I want to immediately warn that everything that I will describe relates only to the operation of a specific instance of a specific model of electric vehicle (Model S 75D) in a single family, in a single set of countries. And, of course, for other conditions, the experience may turn out to be completely different, however, on average, in the countries where Tesla is sold, it should not differ much: electric cars everywhere are just starting an attack on a really mass market, and operational issues, like the state of infrastructure, not much different from country to country.
During the year we managed to ride 8500 km, visit the south of France and Luxembourg by car with children, and now we are going to Milan together with our wife to meet friends there. Model S is designed for long-distance travel, it is crowded in the city. Especially in a European city such as Paris; despite the fact that I see more and more electric cars on the streets, the number of Tesl (Tesel, Teslov) is not growing so fast. Perhaps Model 3 will correct the situation, but so far I am seeing a very rapid increase in the number of Renault Zoe and BMW i3. They took all the city charges!
No, not all, of course. For us personally, everything turned out to be quite excellent with exercises. Charging in the city is not a particularly noticeable thing. Until I needed them, I did not even know that there were so many of them. But first things first.
Charging
This is probably the moment that causes the greatest skepticism among potential buyers. After all, not many who have their own garage with a socket. For example, we have a car standing on the street where it is necessary. And, of course, I am very glad that my greatest fear turned out to be groundless: the number of chargers in Paris is growing faster than the number of cars. So, when we just bought a car, in walking distance from the house there was only one charge per 3 slots, however, fast: 2 slots of 22 (in theory) kW, and one long, 3 kW, but free at night. Also, it was possible to charge at the local car sharing service: Autolib. But the seats on Autolib were rarely empty: they were occupied by car sharing machines themselves. However, the second three-slot charging was soon opened, and then the third. Moreover, in August 2018 Autolib ordered a long life, the cars were removed, and the charging stations remained. They did not work until December, when the City Hall of Paris began to put them back into operation, as a place to charge private (and commercial) electric vehicles. The advantage of these stations is that each has 8-10 slots. So near the house there were about 15 more slots of 4 kW. Not all Autolib stations have been returned to operation, and 3 stations are still waiting for me to be turned on, that is, about 20-30 more slots. But free charging can be found at any time, even despite the really significant growth in the electric vehicle fleet. Of course, I'm talking about the situation in Paris, however, according to my observations,
In the city, we charge the car about once a week in the winter and once every 2 weeks in the summer. It’s not only a matter of consumption, although it grows very strongly in winter (runs are short and torn, the car constantly cools down during parking, the stove constantly works at full capacity, recovery with a cold battery also practically does not work): energy consumption in the city in winter often exceeds 300 Wh / km, sometimes it’s significant, but in the summer we constantly go somewhere out of town on the weekend, and on the road, on the way back, you can recharge on the supercharger. So, once a week or two, I just leave the car at night on a charge, where it charges up to 80% (this restriction is set individually, I tried to choose the lowest level at which there is no inconvenience in using the car). Then, in the city, we use the car until until the battery runs out below 40%. And again for charging. If you need to charge in the city during the day, it is more difficult. The fact is that there are no superchargers in the city. At least in Europe in cities I have not met them. The supercharger requires a very significant summed up power, which, I believe, is quite difficult to provide in the city, and charging with the power that the supercharger gives is unlikely to pass for the battery without consequences. So, in the city we charge with a low-power current all night, and on the highway with a high-power current and quickly. What is called “fast” charging in the city gives, in theory, 22 kW of power. In practice, from 15 to 17 kW. With such power, charging takes a very long time: in an hour the car receives about 20%. Several times we did such an exercise, it is convenient only if there is something to do all this time. On Sundays, I put the car on charge when I was walking with the children. But it’s just that it’s impossible to “refuel” if necessary, at such stations: the input power is too low. Therefore, we no longer use these charges. Although there is a subscription, yes.
For long-distance travel, there are always enough superchargers. There are also more of them and the number of slots is also increasing. In general, I never had to wait for charging on the supercharger either. Just in case, I bought a subscription to the local provider of fast charges on the highway. Their charges are mainly at the gas station, and give 20-33 kW. Compared to superchargers, this is quite a bit, and even for the money, so I have never used this subscription yet, but let it be. The heavy-duty charging, which is gradually spreading throughout Europe, and provides some completely insane figures, either 175 or 250 kW of power, has not been seen to me, and is hardly compatible with the current generation of Model S.
Yes, on long trips on an electric car, you have to stop charging more often than a gasoline car can stop at a gas station. And it takes longer to charge. On the highway, winter consumption here does not differ much from summer (a typical winter is from 0 to +10 degrees and rain). In summer, the consumption is rather 180 Wh / km, in winter - 190. But in winter, I especially do not want to wait for charging. Therefore, in the summer we go through one supercharger, it is about 3 hours between charges, or about 300 km. Then charging takes 40-50 minutes. It's a long time, but in 3 hours you get tired of sitting, and often get hungry. Superchanger is not a gas station (although I met one at a gas station), and there is where to walk and eat. In general, in the summer, usually a car is waiting for us, not us. In winter, everything is a bit wrong. We stop at every supercharger, it's about every 1.5 hours, or 100-150 km. Charging in this case takes 20 minutes from the power. But these 20 minutes we are waiting for the car. In general, the summer version does not bother at all, I would say that in the summer I really like the electric car mode in travels. But in winter, I would prefer to charge faster (and this seems to be implemented in supercharger 3, but so far it is only available for Model 3).
average fuel consumption on the road to Luxembourg: 190 Wh / km. Beginning of December, about 10 degrees above zero.
I would also like to say about our charging in Luxembourg. The fact is that there we stayed with friends, and they had a garage in their house. And in the garage there is an ordinary 220 VAC socket, from which the car charged overnight to the 90% limit set by me. The machine consumed 3 kW of power. That is, with such a garage you can generally forget about charging somewhere.
Now, after a serving of honey, a little reality. Electric cars have recently begun to conquer the mass market, and at the moment there are several standards for chargers. The most massive of them in Europe is T2. It is this connector that Tesla uses for the European variants of Model S and Model X. American variants use their own, proprietary connector, but I know little about it. In Europe, the most common connectors are T2 and ChaDeMo. To connect to the second of them you will have to buy an adapter. To charge lower power, T1 or T3 is often used. They will also require adapters. All of them cost a lot of money, about a hundred euros apiece. But even with the native T2 car, everything is not so simple. Recently, the company Ilona Mask announced the commissioning of the 3rd version of the supercharger. This version allows you to charge compatible cars (currently only Model 3) with power up to 250 kW. However, the 3rd version uses the Type 2 CCS connector, which has an additional connector, and is not suitable for the current versions of Model S and Model X. That is, at the moment, a single universal standard has not yet been developed, and when buying an electric car, you (1) you need to stock up on adapters and (2) prepare for the fact that the current connector at the moment can become obsolete in a couple of years. Alas, this is inevitable - at the moment, technology is still under development. a single universal standard has not yet been developed, and when buying an electric car, you (1) need to stock up on adapters and (2) prepare for the fact that the current connector at the moment can become obsolete in a couple of years. Alas, this is inevitable - at the moment, technology is still under development. a single universal standard has not yet been developed, and when buying an electric car, you (1) need to stock up on adapters and (2) prepare for the fact that the current connector at the moment can become obsolete in a couple of years. Alas, this is inevitable - at the moment, technology is still under development.
Salon, species diversity, quality of materials
A lot has been written about the car itself, and I also wrote more than once. However, after a year of operation, the car did not cease to like. I still believe that there is only 1 drawback in the Model S interior: the angle of the backrest. It is too close to 90 degrees. Under it, you need to pick up child seats. So, the baby seat of our youngest daughter stood up perfectly, as it is a cocoon, inside of which the seat itself is adjustable for tilt. And the elder was less fortunate, and she was not too comfortable in the chair to sleep.
All. There are no more serious minuses. The lack of pockets in the doors does not interfere, in the car there is actually quite a lot of space for storing garbage and 6 cup holders. Touch screen controls are less convenient than physical buttons in some situations. It is a fact. But for this you get a user experience update with a firmware update. And the changes are pleasing :
On the left, firmware 6, then 7, 8 and 9. The photo is not mine
Yes, and the usability of the interface is improving from version to version. New chips appear, so in the 9th version you can use the autopilot camera, like a DVR.
was, it was, the transition from version 8 to version 9. The main changes in the quick access buttons at the bottom of the screen
What is interesting, and probably a little sad (but inevitable for Tesla) is the reduction in the variety of configurations. Musk often said that a large selection of equipment makes assembly more expensive. Indeed, when the Model S first appeared, the choice of trim levels was quite large. The client received two batteries of different capacities to choose (it remained), it was possible to choose the type of trim materials, the type of seats (standard or sports), a metal or glass roof, the presence or absence of a hatch, the third row of seats in the trunk; there were 2 suspension options: springs or pneumatics. Although anyway, compared with traditional automakers, the choice was modest, so there was always only one body option - a hatchback. And as I would like a barn ... But then it became still sadder.
When we bought a car a year ago, it was possible to choose one of 2 batteries, the body color from 7 possible, the interior made of black fabric, or from leatherette 3 colors to choose from, the roof was always glass, but could be with or without a hatch, you could order 3rd row of seats in the trunk, a set of premium options in the cabin (heated rear seats, steering wheel, windows, an improved audio system, a powerful air filter in the cabin), and one of 3 autopilot options (no autopilot, standard autopilot, or autopilot with some options autonomous driving, about autopilot - below). The suspension became only pneumatic, the chairs were of only one kind (but they became very comfortable), the number of colors to choose from decreased.
Now there are even fewer colors, the fabric interior cannot be selected anymore, the premium package has been added as standard, the sunroof cannot be ordered anymore, the choice of autopilot also consists of 3 options. As a result, the variety has even decreased, and now quite often you can see the twin car:
True, Musk fulfills the promise: for the same money that we paid a year ago for our Model S, the buyer will now receive a more capacious battery (judging by indirect signs, 85 kWh instead of 75, but Tesla no longer calls capacity in the model), premium package and leatherette. But he won’t get free unlimited supercharging, now for Model S and X only 400 kWh per year is free.
The quality of the interior materials is definitely pleasing: there is very little bare plastic in the interior, almost everything is either metal or sewn into fabric / leatherette. Well, the amount of free space in the cabin and luggage racks is good: yes, the front trunk is small, but there is one, and everything for a picnic fits in and is always there. And the back is huge. A lot of space in the back seat: the lack of a central tunnel turns the place in the middle of the rear sofa into a fully used one.
In general, the quality of the finishing materials is consistent with the price category of a car, which can not be said about the quality of the assembly ...
Build quality and service
And here everything is not so pleasant. The car is damp. I’ve never seen a car multimedia system hang up. In Tesla, this happens regularly. And here it is not just multimedia, it is all the functions that are not directly related to the movement, including air conditioning / stove and sound signaling of direction indicators. For the first time on the way to the water park, we lost the Bluetooth connection. We listened to music from the phone, and it just disappeared. Rebooting the computer helped (done by holding the two buttons on the steering wheel). What pleases, neither a reboot nor a hang does not affect machine control. Music and stove just don't work. Although ... Navigation does not work either. And once I made a very good hook because the navigation hung. I drove straight for a long time until I noticed that the card froze.
The ability to use the phone as a key is a cool thing and very convenient. Say, sometimes I leave the house without the intention to go somewhere, and I do not take the car key with me. But if something comes to mind, I open the car from the phone and start it from it. In addition, you do not need to remember where to park, the car is always visible in the application. Well, almost always. The fact is that, sometimes, even though the check mark is set, which is responsible for the permanent connection to the network in the machine’s menu, the application still loses connection with the car. Usually this happens if you do not touch the car for more than 2 weeks (during vacation, for example), but a couple of times the car lost contact with the application after 3-4 days of inactivity (this is not so rare for us). And, of course, this always happens when you are in a hurry, and there is no time to run home for the key.
As a result, I went by subway.
Well, door handles. They themselves are not too comfortable. A couple of times the pen caught the finger of her eldest daughter, and now she is afraid of them. And they break. Just stop pushing. For a year, 2 pens broke. Plus, again, you can even use a broken pen. Although this is inconvenient:
In service, the car is inexpensive exactly until the moment when something is damaged in an accident. So, we were slightly scratched in the yard with a slightly front bumper in the area of one of the parking sensors. Parktronic stopped working. Repair counted at 2200 euros.
It’s interesting to write about Tesla’s service in general, although perhaps it’s only in France (but I don’t think so). I previously complained about the seal on the door, it puffed up at the bend, and so, when my wife complained about it, they simply glued it with superglue in this place on the service.
unfortunate fold of the seal
In addition, from the very beginning, something in the suspension creaked, we went to the service, they told us that the problem was known, and ordered the parts. After about 5 months, when 2 door handles had already broken down, it turned out that the parts had already arrived and were waiting for us, but no one warned us about this. Well, it doesn’t matter. In general, we signed up to replace the handles, repair the suspension ... and the voice control button on the steering wheel also stopped working. We adjusted the driver’s handle, changed the rear, but did nothing with the voice control button, since it was necessary to order parts ... However, the most interesting thing was with the suspension. We were told that the suspension was adjusted, nothing had to be changed. They did not answer the question of what we were waiting for 5 months then.
There are legends about Model S body panel clearances. And they are not baseless:
But in fairness, I must say that with Model X, dealing with gaps is much better. I saw it myself. And recently it turned out to be sure that Model 3 is still better. So, there is progress.
And, in fact, all this for some reason is not annoying. If this happened to a Mercedes or Audi, it would be very unpleasant. And you come to the Tesla service like in the Apple Store: either just stare at the shiny beautiful things, or you know exactly why you are going and do not expect anything breathtaking, and therefore you are not upset. And yes, I believe that over time everything will get better :)
In general, this video accurately reflects my attitude to the service:
Autopilot
Tesla's autopilots are different. It all started with the first, which was looking forward with only one camera. The second appeared cameras on the sides, plus a radar with parking sensors. Our car is equipped with the second one. The third is predicted soon, and it should differ from the second only in computing power. Iron will be more powerful to realize fully autonomous movement in the future. Yes, autopilot and autonomous driving on Tesla are 2 different options. Moreover, the second one was unavailable for an order in France for some time. And the first allows the car only to go within its lane and be reconstructed into the next one if the driver turns on the turn signal. Well, if the other cars do not interfere. There are no autonomous driving options in our car. When ordering, it cost an additional 3 thousand euros, and activation after purchase - 5 thousand euros. For this money, the buyer received a promise,
For a fairly long time, the buyer did not get anything when choosing the option of fully autonomous driving, except for promises and indicating neighboring vehicles: cars without the autonomous drive option showed any vehicle that was nearby with the Tesla model on the dashboard, while cars equipped with this option distinguished a passenger car from a bus or motorcycle, and draw the appropriate model. Now, some “tricks” have arrived to its customers: in some countries, the option of navigation on autopilot is available, when the car more autonomously drives along the highway, knows how to exit one route and enter another, it decides to change lanes and performs it, and also, they say, it stops at a traffic light (like not). In the parking lot, the car is able to park itself, and itself get out of the parking space. For obvious reasons, I can’t verify this. They also say that all buyers of this option will get an upgrade to autopilot 3 for free. A regular autopilot with 9th firmware also updated the display on the dashboard, and now even a car without the autonomous control option can distinguish between different types of neighboring vehicles:
autopilot indication version 8
indication of autopilot version 9
And yet, even that autopilot that is, is more and more addictive. No, this thing did not arouse trust, but addiction - yes. On my track it is always on. At the same time, the hands are on the steering wheel, but this relieves stress. The car itself keeps exactly in the center of the strip, and in traffic jams on the highway where there are no pedestrians, no traffic lights, no intersections, the autopilot is indispensable. In fact, in traffic jams, I don’t control the car, I just follow the autopilot. But at the same time I control the speed. But autopilot helps a lot. I had many complaints about his work at the beginning of the operation of the car, but since then 4 firmware have arrived, and he will not be recognized. This is a very predictable system.
Electricity, money
Over 8.5 thousand kilometers, the car devoured 1.81 MWh of electricity.
At supercharger rates of 24 cents per kWh, a paid charge would cost about 435 euros, or 5.1 euros per 100 km, or 3.5 liters in gasoline equivalent. But this is such a spherical calculation in a vacuum.
Purely theoretically, I could charge the car completely free even in Paris, where there are no free municipal charges. I would have to go to the supercharger once a week. And we even did this for a while, until all the cards of the municipal charging stations arrived. But you need a lot of cards. For starters, we paid 15 euros for an Autolib subscription. He gave the right to use Autolib car sharing service charges for a year. But alas, Autolib died earlier. As a result, we used this service only 6 times, spending 63 euros in total (including the cost of a subscription). But, even while he was working, most of the places were occupied by cars of the car sharing itself, and it was not always possible to charge. Therefore, a BeLib fast charge subscription was purchased, for another 15 euros. We used it on a par with Autolib, and some time after. BeLib for 1 euro gave an hour of charging, replenished the battery by 20%. In total, 53 euros were spent on BeLib during the year. We also bought a Sodetrel card, which later became Izivia (this strange word in French sounds as alien as in Russian, I remembered it only by analogy with IzhAvia, since I visit Izhevsk), also for 15 euros. I used it 1 time and my wife 1 time in one of the city underground parking lots in the center. And the same card works at most gas stations on the tracks, but there are superchargers on the tracks ... Total for the year we spent 29 euros on this system. But the most convenient system is what Autolib turned into in December 2018. The fact is that Autolib stations in Paris were not just very many, but very, very many. And some of them have already turned into municipal charges. The rest is in the process of conversion. So now there are just a lot of charges, and there will be even more. A subscription to these municipal charges costs 140 euros per year, but without restrictions on the number and time of charging itself. Charging is slow, so it’s easiest to leave the car there overnight, which we are doing now. We bought a subscription in December, so 58 euros were spent on it. Total - 285 euros per year for charging.
With an annual mileage of 8.5 thousand km, electricity costs in the first run for mileage amounted to 3.35 euros / 100 km, or, in gasoline equivalent, a little more than 2 liters per 100 km. This is very good, given the prepayment of 4 different subscriptions! My previous gasoline car spent on average about 10 liters of gasoline per 100 km, while it was slightly less than Model S, so that fuel savings amounted to 680 liters of gasoline, or about 1 thousand euros per year. And for an electric car in Paris, free parking. And the resident parking permit is also free. This saves another 498 euros per year on the parking itself (subject to the purchase of a permit immediately for 3 years).
Total, given that the alternative to Tesla when buying was 3-year-old Renault Megan for 20K euros, in just 39 years the purchase will fully pay off!
But jokes aside ...
General experience for the year of operation
I am not a car enthusiast. In our family, only the wife always had a car. I love motorcycles, and all my life I went in the summer on a motorcycle, and in the winter on the subway. And I drive on Tesla. I like her. I think that this car must be liked, because it has many shortcomings at a rather high price. If you do not like her, she is definitely not for you. That is, this is not a rational purchase, but an emotional one. Incidentally, I’m not talking about electric cars in general, but about Model S. I consider the purchase of a Renault Zoe or Nissan Leaf to move around the city quite rational.
But Tesla has something to like.
Yes, it doesn’t affect the speed (although no, it does). This is just to please:
Yes, this frantic acceleration. He’s very, very good by motorcycle standards ... He’s not needed, he needs to be liked.
PS. Recently, Model 3 was brought to France. Of course, I went and sat in it with great interest. Yes, I really finishing materials seemed easier than the Model S, and the space much smaller, and most do not understand why she sedan, especially at such a scale that is much used on lshaya Model S - hatchback. But after the interior of Model 3, my car seems to me somehow outdated ...