Tesla Model S 85D
Discussion
Hi All
A quick search seemed to show there are no Teslas in Readers Cars so I thought I would chip in.
While some may not see it as particularly PH, I think it qualifies as it seems to do what is does very well, moves things on a bit and is flippin’ quick. So here’s my story so far, I will try and chip in if anything interesting happens and make a log of my costs.
The Journey
I am afraid that I have been interested in the idea of electric cars since the mid 2000s when I saw on line the work done by AC Propulsion – the company Tesla took on to develop their drive train. In fact I was saving to buy one of their drivetrains to build my own car when Tesla took over and took them off the market. I also applied to be an early adopter for the Mini E (which also used an ACP drive train) but I don’t think I was doing enough mileage at the time so was turned down. I would have loved a Roadster but the cost was too high and second hand they are still very expensive with less than 100 on UK roads today.
In 2012 with cash earned from filing a few patents at work, I bought a used Lotus Evora which I loved but my daughters are now in their teens and objecting to squeezing in the back for family trips. So once again I started looking at electric cars. Last spring a colleague at work was also interested and got offered a sizeable discount on a Leaf if he arranged a visit from Nissan with a couple of Leafs at work so we could have some test drives. I tried one and was very impressed but it did not tug the heart strings. Over the summer of 2015 some of my patents had granted and I now had a bigger pot to play with, but then I got made redundant. Car buying went on the shelf for a bit. In October I got a new job in Swindon again 22 miles from home with a lovely drive on B roads or a clear M4 going against the traffic, but circumstances there changed and it looks like I will be in Maidenhead for the next year or so – 35 miles from home and nasty commute on the M4 along with the traffic to London. Constant traffic jams and nose to tail traffic. Time to look for a car to suit the commute.
In February I borrowed a new 94h BMW I3 but the day I picked it up was -2 degrees C and fully charged it only showed 73 miles of range, this would give me 3 miles of contingency and that was before battery degradation over time. So that got scratched off the list. I suspect the range would have been better if BMW had thought to turn on Preconditioning which warms the car (and I think the battery) ready to drive, but it still seemed pretty marginal.
The Car
I did not think I could afford a Tesla model S as I really wanted a dual motor model and even 2nd hand they were very expensive, but it did not stop me idly checking the PH classifieds every so often. My car to be was on a posh car dealer advert in Essex, taken as part ex for Range Rover and reduced by £3000 after languishing for a month with no interest. It was the right spec – 85D, right colour – Deep Blue – check my profile there is a bit of a theme there, but it did not have the sub zero pack – heated rear seats, washer jets and steering wheel, so I hesitated. The price then dropped another £3000 which put this 14 month old car at similar pricing to a 2014 model S (not P), so the following Monday I booked the viewing and started to do a little more research. One of the bits of advice I got was to aim for as late a model as possible and not worry about mileage. Telsa make continuous improvements and a partial list can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/teslamotorsclubwiki/...
This car was ticking the right boxes!
Next I emailed Tesla to see what I could find out about the service history, the response was not much due to Data Protection but they suggested I call the car’s local service centre. A quick call established the owner had been into the centre 5 times but were not allowed to disclose service history but confirmed there was nothing in the records to worry about. I since found out a couple of visits were for buying extras like a European charging adapter and a type charging 2 cable. I specifically asked if there were any issues I should worry about that would not be covered by the warranty, and the answer was not apart from the interesting information that a well known manufacturer had been known to be buying the odd Tesla, tearing it down, having a good poke about and then re-assembling and putting it back into the wild. Turns out this invalidates the warranty. I contacted a mate who works at said company and got the reassuring response “Not one of ours!”. I also ran an HPI check just to be sure, which flagged up finance on the car which turned out to be the dealer’s It turns out many car dealers purchase their stock using finance, sounds obvious but had never occurred to me before that the dealer finance would be linked to the car.
On the Friday Mrs Spunagain and I took the day off and drove off to Essex to have a look, fell in love and put down a deposit! The car looks better in the flesh than in photos kind of Maserati like. No leather seats, but that does not bother me (but may be an issue at resale time). But is does have the panoramic roof, premium pack which adds a few odds and ends and Autopilot. The test drive was great with the car as solid as a rock with no rattles squeaks or untowards noises or behaviours, apart from the insane acceleration.
The Purchase.
The car dealer offered me 24-to 25k for the Evora, so I went to Lotus Silverstone and arranged a Sale or Return deal, I took the car down the Sunday after seeing the Tesla and the following Saturday it sold, and after costs I trousered £30510, much more than half the cost of the Tesla, so the cost to change was around the price of a Mini Cooper S. It is worth saying Lotus Silverstone have been fantastic – I bought the Evora from them in 2012 and they took very good care of it for the 5 years I had it. £7500 depreciation in 5 years and 32k additional miles is not bad!
When I viewed the Tesla I noticed a few chips on the alloys and well worn tyres and negotiated a set of Pirelli P Zeroes and wheel refurbs all round. As you can take the boy out of Essex I went for a Shadow Chrome recolour, which looks good but is possibly a bit darker then I had in mind. The car came with Cable and adapters for a Commando (16 A) Type 2 (22kW) European and 3 pin plug.
Pick up.
3 hours on the train to pick the car up and I drove home via the M25 and the M4 A33 Supercharger to try it out – a free top up in 30 minutes, and Ikea to pick up a double mattress. I have since found Ikea has 3 Ecotricity Chargers which are £6 for 30 minutes, but this is refundable in Ikea if you buy anything which is not food. To get the best from that I think I need to get a Chademo adaptor which will allow up to 50kW DC charging but I still need to check this. This is because my car only has a single AC charger so I think I would be limited to 22kW using the AC charger they have there, rather than the 43kW available if it had two chargers.
The car is fantastic, doing most of the M25 in Autopilot which is very strange and going to get some getting used to. I am charging either at Reading Supercharger or of my 3 pin plug at home for now, but have got a 7kW charger installation booked for April with www.chargedev.co.uk who were recommended to me by a Leaf driving friend. 75% of the cost up to £500 will be paid for by a Government grant which has extended beyond March this year.
1st Impressions
The car in incredibly serene at low speeds but like the Leaf and i3, wind and tyre noise become more obvious over 60mph. One thing is that IMHO, the stereo needs speed sensitive volume as I find myself adjusting it a lot, I had this in my MG ZT and it worked very well. The ride is quite firm, more BMW like than Lotus like but not uncomfortable. The handling is pretty good, there is bit more roll in the corners than I am used to, but that is to be expected of a 2 ton car! The suspension is the same as the P or performance variants so I will have to go after-market if I want to improve it, but there is only so much that you can do with that much weight. (Mine has springs rather than the optional air suspension). But it is also very big - it is as wide as an S class, and to my shame I have already curbed one of the front alloys .
Once I had spent some time playing with the seats I have found a very comfy setting and spend 2 hours in the car last week with the family visiting National trust house in High Wycombe and my brother in Slough. No complaints from anyone! The acceleration is crazy, my youngest daughter wanted to name the car "Jesus" as that is what one of my mates yelped when getting the drag strip demo! The car has now been named "Flash" after the sloth in Zootropolis and because it is a bit... (You have to name the car in the UI). I just got a FW update installed last night and now have more ventilation fan settings than yesterday!
I seem to get another 70 miles of range overnight on the 3 pin plug, so I supercharge every 3rd day or so to keep it topped up, I reckon I have added between £10 and £20 to my electricity bill so far. I have also found a bunch of 4 free 7kW chargers in Newbury Parkway car park which seems to give me cheaper electricity then charging at home even with the parking fee so I use the Tesla now for trips to the Town.
I am limiting the charging to 80% day to day to maintain battery life and will only set it to 100% before a road trip.
I have had the car for 2 weeks now and done over 1000 miles in those 2 weeks, the car is become the default option for any journey and so is getting far more use than the Lotus ever did, from my kids point of view it is “cool” but not as embarrassingly attention grabbing as the Lotus, it turns out that while 14 year olds love to take selfies, they are less happy being photographed by strangers on the motorway! It is like a normal car but faster, quieter and with may more toys.
The standard stereo as it turns out is really good! Before picking the car up I looked at a number of upgrades but you are talking serious money with very little to show for it. At the volumes I listen to a sub would make a difference but to be honest there is enough bass for my cheesy 80s and 90s rock collection. It is the 1st car I have had which I have not felt the need to muck about with the stereo set-up! Oh and of course it goes up to “11”
I have also spent a little money on some toys. The keys look like little black plastic Dinky toy Teslas but don’t have a convenient loop to attach a key ring, so I a got pair one of these. Topfit Key coverlhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Topfit-S...
It also allows us to tell whose is whose as they are pair to the cars settings – seat, Steering wheel, mirrors, AC and radio.
There is a big tray area in front of the seats where the transmission tunnel would normally live. Mr’s Spunagain loves it as it is a perfect place to keep her handbag, but it is my car and anything I put there slides around. Tesla sell a tray for stupid money so I have picked up this for £65, which does the job nicely.
Centre cubby tray
Next
I have a service booked, giving me time to find any niggles and get the car up to date on its service history (Although servicing is not mandatory at all to keep the 4 year “Body” and 8 year battery and drivetrain warranties going!) I think I is worth having come resale time.
I am also planning a family road trip to Sunderland to visit the In-laws which will be my 1st big road trip of nearly 300 miles. It looks like there are 2 Superchargers on the way so it should be pretty painless. But will buy a Chademo adapter for emergencies. I have already installed and registered the Ecotriciy app just in case.
I might look at Economy 7 as an option for home charging but need to do the sums to see if it makes sense with my other power usage.
Finally once I get my V5 I can register with Tesla and install the Tesla App on my phone allowing me to control changing and heating remotely and use the "Summon" command.
I will try and answer any owner type questions!
A quick search seemed to show there are no Teslas in Readers Cars so I thought I would chip in.
While some may not see it as particularly PH, I think it qualifies as it seems to do what is does very well, moves things on a bit and is flippin’ quick. So here’s my story so far, I will try and chip in if anything interesting happens and make a log of my costs.
The Journey
I am afraid that I have been interested in the idea of electric cars since the mid 2000s when I saw on line the work done by AC Propulsion – the company Tesla took on to develop their drive train. In fact I was saving to buy one of their drivetrains to build my own car when Tesla took over and took them off the market. I also applied to be an early adopter for the Mini E (which also used an ACP drive train) but I don’t think I was doing enough mileage at the time so was turned down. I would have loved a Roadster but the cost was too high and second hand they are still very expensive with less than 100 on UK roads today.
In 2012 with cash earned from filing a few patents at work, I bought a used Lotus Evora which I loved but my daughters are now in their teens and objecting to squeezing in the back for family trips. So once again I started looking at electric cars. Last spring a colleague at work was also interested and got offered a sizeable discount on a Leaf if he arranged a visit from Nissan with a couple of Leafs at work so we could have some test drives. I tried one and was very impressed but it did not tug the heart strings. Over the summer of 2015 some of my patents had granted and I now had a bigger pot to play with, but then I got made redundant. Car buying went on the shelf for a bit. In October I got a new job in Swindon again 22 miles from home with a lovely drive on B roads or a clear M4 going against the traffic, but circumstances there changed and it looks like I will be in Maidenhead for the next year or so – 35 miles from home and nasty commute on the M4 along with the traffic to London. Constant traffic jams and nose to tail traffic. Time to look for a car to suit the commute.
In February I borrowed a new 94h BMW I3 but the day I picked it up was -2 degrees C and fully charged it only showed 73 miles of range, this would give me 3 miles of contingency and that was before battery degradation over time. So that got scratched off the list. I suspect the range would have been better if BMW had thought to turn on Preconditioning which warms the car (and I think the battery) ready to drive, but it still seemed pretty marginal.
The Car
I did not think I could afford a Tesla model S as I really wanted a dual motor model and even 2nd hand they were very expensive, but it did not stop me idly checking the PH classifieds every so often. My car to be was on a posh car dealer advert in Essex, taken as part ex for Range Rover and reduced by £3000 after languishing for a month with no interest. It was the right spec – 85D, right colour – Deep Blue – check my profile there is a bit of a theme there, but it did not have the sub zero pack – heated rear seats, washer jets and steering wheel, so I hesitated. The price then dropped another £3000 which put this 14 month old car at similar pricing to a 2014 model S (not P), so the following Monday I booked the viewing and started to do a little more research. One of the bits of advice I got was to aim for as late a model as possible and not worry about mileage. Telsa make continuous improvements and a partial list can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/teslamotorsclubwiki/...
This car was ticking the right boxes!
Next I emailed Tesla to see what I could find out about the service history, the response was not much due to Data Protection but they suggested I call the car’s local service centre. A quick call established the owner had been into the centre 5 times but were not allowed to disclose service history but confirmed there was nothing in the records to worry about. I since found out a couple of visits were for buying extras like a European charging adapter and a type charging 2 cable. I specifically asked if there were any issues I should worry about that would not be covered by the warranty, and the answer was not apart from the interesting information that a well known manufacturer had been known to be buying the odd Tesla, tearing it down, having a good poke about and then re-assembling and putting it back into the wild. Turns out this invalidates the warranty. I contacted a mate who works at said company and got the reassuring response “Not one of ours!”. I also ran an HPI check just to be sure, which flagged up finance on the car which turned out to be the dealer’s It turns out many car dealers purchase their stock using finance, sounds obvious but had never occurred to me before that the dealer finance would be linked to the car.
On the Friday Mrs Spunagain and I took the day off and drove off to Essex to have a look, fell in love and put down a deposit! The car looks better in the flesh than in photos kind of Maserati like. No leather seats, but that does not bother me (but may be an issue at resale time). But is does have the panoramic roof, premium pack which adds a few odds and ends and Autopilot. The test drive was great with the car as solid as a rock with no rattles squeaks or untowards noises or behaviours, apart from the insane acceleration.
The Purchase.
The car dealer offered me 24-to 25k for the Evora, so I went to Lotus Silverstone and arranged a Sale or Return deal, I took the car down the Sunday after seeing the Tesla and the following Saturday it sold, and after costs I trousered £30510, much more than half the cost of the Tesla, so the cost to change was around the price of a Mini Cooper S. It is worth saying Lotus Silverstone have been fantastic – I bought the Evora from them in 2012 and they took very good care of it for the 5 years I had it. £7500 depreciation in 5 years and 32k additional miles is not bad!
When I viewed the Tesla I noticed a few chips on the alloys and well worn tyres and negotiated a set of Pirelli P Zeroes and wheel refurbs all round. As you can take the boy out of Essex I went for a Shadow Chrome recolour, which looks good but is possibly a bit darker then I had in mind. The car came with Cable and adapters for a Commando (16 A) Type 2 (22kW) European and 3 pin plug.
Pick up.
3 hours on the train to pick the car up and I drove home via the M25 and the M4 A33 Supercharger to try it out – a free top up in 30 minutes, and Ikea to pick up a double mattress. I have since found Ikea has 3 Ecotricity Chargers which are £6 for 30 minutes, but this is refundable in Ikea if you buy anything which is not food. To get the best from that I think I need to get a Chademo adaptor which will allow up to 50kW DC charging but I still need to check this. This is because my car only has a single AC charger so I think I would be limited to 22kW using the AC charger they have there, rather than the 43kW available if it had two chargers.
The car is fantastic, doing most of the M25 in Autopilot which is very strange and going to get some getting used to. I am charging either at Reading Supercharger or of my 3 pin plug at home for now, but have got a 7kW charger installation booked for April with www.chargedev.co.uk who were recommended to me by a Leaf driving friend. 75% of the cost up to £500 will be paid for by a Government grant which has extended beyond March this year.
1st Impressions
The car in incredibly serene at low speeds but like the Leaf and i3, wind and tyre noise become more obvious over 60mph. One thing is that IMHO, the stereo needs speed sensitive volume as I find myself adjusting it a lot, I had this in my MG ZT and it worked very well. The ride is quite firm, more BMW like than Lotus like but not uncomfortable. The handling is pretty good, there is bit more roll in the corners than I am used to, but that is to be expected of a 2 ton car! The suspension is the same as the P or performance variants so I will have to go after-market if I want to improve it, but there is only so much that you can do with that much weight. (Mine has springs rather than the optional air suspension). But it is also very big - it is as wide as an S class, and to my shame I have already curbed one of the front alloys .
Once I had spent some time playing with the seats I have found a very comfy setting and spend 2 hours in the car last week with the family visiting National trust house in High Wycombe and my brother in Slough. No complaints from anyone! The acceleration is crazy, my youngest daughter wanted to name the car "Jesus" as that is what one of my mates yelped when getting the drag strip demo! The car has now been named "Flash" after the sloth in Zootropolis and because it is a bit... (You have to name the car in the UI). I just got a FW update installed last night and now have more ventilation fan settings than yesterday!
I seem to get another 70 miles of range overnight on the 3 pin plug, so I supercharge every 3rd day or so to keep it topped up, I reckon I have added between £10 and £20 to my electricity bill so far. I have also found a bunch of 4 free 7kW chargers in Newbury Parkway car park which seems to give me cheaper electricity then charging at home even with the parking fee so I use the Tesla now for trips to the Town.
I am limiting the charging to 80% day to day to maintain battery life and will only set it to 100% before a road trip.
I have had the car for 2 weeks now and done over 1000 miles in those 2 weeks, the car is become the default option for any journey and so is getting far more use than the Lotus ever did, from my kids point of view it is “cool” but not as embarrassingly attention grabbing as the Lotus, it turns out that while 14 year olds love to take selfies, they are less happy being photographed by strangers on the motorway! It is like a normal car but faster, quieter and with may more toys.
The standard stereo as it turns out is really good! Before picking the car up I looked at a number of upgrades but you are talking serious money with very little to show for it. At the volumes I listen to a sub would make a difference but to be honest there is enough bass for my cheesy 80s and 90s rock collection. It is the 1st car I have had which I have not felt the need to muck about with the stereo set-up! Oh and of course it goes up to “11”
I have also spent a little money on some toys. The keys look like little black plastic Dinky toy Teslas but don’t have a convenient loop to attach a key ring, so I a got pair one of these. Topfit Key coverlhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Topfit-S...
It also allows us to tell whose is whose as they are pair to the cars settings – seat, Steering wheel, mirrors, AC and radio.
There is a big tray area in front of the seats where the transmission tunnel would normally live. Mr’s Spunagain loves it as it is a perfect place to keep her handbag, but it is my car and anything I put there slides around. Tesla sell a tray for stupid money so I have picked up this for £65, which does the job nicely.
Centre cubby tray
Next
I have a service booked, giving me time to find any niggles and get the car up to date on its service history (Although servicing is not mandatory at all to keep the 4 year “Body” and 8 year battery and drivetrain warranties going!) I think I is worth having come resale time.
I am also planning a family road trip to Sunderland to visit the In-laws which will be my 1st big road trip of nearly 300 miles. It looks like there are 2 Superchargers on the way so it should be pretty painless. But will buy a Chademo adapter for emergencies. I have already installed and registered the Ecotriciy app just in case.
I might look at Economy 7 as an option for home charging but need to do the sums to see if it makes sense with my other power usage.
Finally once I get my V5 I can register with Tesla and install the Tesla App on my phone allowing me to control changing and heating remotely and use the "Summon" command.
I will try and answer any owner type questions!
Hi All
Thanks for the positive comments, I will try and add more as stuff happens. I will try to report the good and the bad and not just go into Tesla fanboy mode!
Hi Dave H23
My car has Autopilot1 hardware and software which steers, brakes and accelerates to the speed limit + or – a programmable offset. It manages with traffic slowing , speeding up and even stopping, it is great for lazy stop start queuing. It will change lane by itself and overtake - all i have to do is indicate - it does the rest using cameras and a bunch of Radar and (I think) ultrasound sensors to check for other cars.
Autopilot 2 hardware has 4 cameras and will allow for full autonomous mode once the SW is ready.
The Giant I-pad is there and after a week it is really easy to use. Autopilot is great if you want to fiddle with the stereo or set a new destination on the sat nav without drifting across lanes.
Hi Family guy, I will try and get a photo comparison of the front boot, from what I hear the courtesy car when I get the service is likely to be a single motor P85.
Hi Trollied, the local roads are great, one novelty is having the sun roof open as you go through the villages – you can hear the birdsong!
Summon command is one thing I am still getting the hang of, but essentially you can set it to autopark itself, e.g. into your garage, then pressing the summon on the app or the right key press on the fob will get the car to pull it self out of the garage back to the point you ran the autopark feature. It will even open the garage door if you have an electric garage door opener. I am hoping for a demo when I get the service done. It will only move 12 metres but that is enough to get out of a tight garage or parking spot.
Hi r129sl, all my trips so far have been within range, but two hours is very comfortable!, I will report back when I am back from Sunderland which will be a "2 supercharger" route each way.
Thanks for the positive comments, I will try and add more as stuff happens. I will try to report the good and the bad and not just go into Tesla fanboy mode!
Hi Dave H23
My car has Autopilot1 hardware and software which steers, brakes and accelerates to the speed limit + or – a programmable offset. It manages with traffic slowing , speeding up and even stopping, it is great for lazy stop start queuing. It will change lane by itself and overtake - all i have to do is indicate - it does the rest using cameras and a bunch of Radar and (I think) ultrasound sensors to check for other cars.
Autopilot 2 hardware has 4 cameras and will allow for full autonomous mode once the SW is ready.
The Giant I-pad is there and after a week it is really easy to use. Autopilot is great if you want to fiddle with the stereo or set a new destination on the sat nav without drifting across lanes.
Hi Family guy, I will try and get a photo comparison of the front boot, from what I hear the courtesy car when I get the service is likely to be a single motor P85.
Hi Trollied, the local roads are great, one novelty is having the sun roof open as you go through the villages – you can hear the birdsong!
Summon command is one thing I am still getting the hang of, but essentially you can set it to autopark itself, e.g. into your garage, then pressing the summon on the app or the right key press on the fob will get the car to pull it self out of the garage back to the point you ran the autopark feature. It will even open the garage door if you have an electric garage door opener. I am hoping for a demo when I get the service done. It will only move 12 metres but that is enough to get out of a tight garage or parking spot.
Hi r129sl, all my trips so far have been within range, but two hours is very comfortable!, I will report back when I am back from Sunderland which will be a "2 supercharger" route each way.
Quick off topic on my last car - the Lotus Evora:
It went to Lotus Silverstone three weeks back for SOR and it sold 5 days later.
I had my NA Evora for 5 years and 33000 of my miles plus the 5k miles it had when I bought it as an ex Lotus management car. Mine was a Dec 2010 car – a Model Year (MY) 2011 with Tech and Sport packs, reversing camera and Pioneer satnav stereo which has been great.
My 2 daughters (11 and 14) are could not really fit with us all in the car any more so it was time for something with a little more room.
The Lotus has been fantastic to drive - comfy and quiet on a cruise, but an animal that will easily break traction in the wet in low gears if you are not careful! The traction control seems quite relaxed about wheel spin in sport mode!
The looks are fantastic and are way better than any photo shows. I used to still catch sight of it in the car park at work and could not believe it was mine!
I had a full 2bular exhaust and manifold, a BOE air filter and Essex Autosport ECU tune which helped with the torque and the aural drama when you clogg it! The sound was fab, but the power gains are not going to set you hair on fire to be honest. Their Dyno showed 298hp.
The soundproofing was a revelation after 14 years in an Elise. In fact while I say above that the exhaust is quiet, if you open the windows it is another story entirely. If you think you need a sports exhaust (or louder sports exhaust), make sure you run through the gears with the windows down first, you may well be surprised!
The handling is best described as like a big Elise, it stuck to the road like glue, but the ride was great - for example much less harsh than a Mini Cooper S.
I had the long box which is great for economy (30+mpg in the real world) but poor for 3-6th gear acceleration. I am glad I had it for motorway cruising, but cursed it overtaking - I would rather have been able to a lower geared 3rd and ride the torque than drop to second. You should definitely test drive the close ratio and long boxes before you buy if you are considering one. I had a CR Sports racer as a courtesy car from Lotus Silverstone and to be honest the CR box transforms the car, it is much more fun to take it through the gears at legal speeds. In fact the CR box is so good that I have looked into upgrading the gearbox and it can be done at a scary £3-4K. May be wait until the clutch needs replacing.
The other advantage of the long box (if it worries you) is that the MY2011 car like mine got 199g/km which means cheaper tax. It looks like you lose about 4-5mpg with the CR box.
Some servicing cost examples below from my ownership, but bear in mind there are all main dealer costs with a few mods thrown in for good measure, you can get better prices at indys but I have been very happy with Lotus Silverstone. Here are the bills I have had:
5th Year Service +Wheel refurb and Headlight clear coat respray £1541+£343 for a new pair of rear tyres.
4th year service – (the big one) + new mud flap brackets and A pillar trims: £867.
£200 or so on fitting heated seating elements
A full set of OEM Pirelli tyres (18” and 19” were £644 fitted from Headley tyres) Note the 19 and 20s are much pricier!
Essex Autosport ECU crack and rolling road tune: £1068.
3rd year service + fitting of 2bular manifolds and Y pipe and BOE CAI filter kit: £1498.
2nd Year service (with brake fluid and fitting Dynamat to doors): £550.
While I have spent a fair bit (mostly on mods), on the up side the depreciation has been very reasonable – I have dropped less than £7.5k depreciation in 5 years.
I have also had a few niggles which were all sorted under warranty by Lotus Silverstone who have been fabulous. But you should look out for them when buying cars off warranty and get them fixed by the dealer or negotiate with the seller.
One last mention. A while back we all went out to a country show and parked up in the field in the Evora. The 2 girls got out my side from the back and walked round the car, another parent in the car to our left spotted the girls and blurted out before he could stop himself “Where the F**k did they come from?!”
It went to Lotus Silverstone three weeks back for SOR and it sold 5 days later.
I had my NA Evora for 5 years and 33000 of my miles plus the 5k miles it had when I bought it as an ex Lotus management car. Mine was a Dec 2010 car – a Model Year (MY) 2011 with Tech and Sport packs, reversing camera and Pioneer satnav stereo which has been great.
My 2 daughters (11 and 14) are could not really fit with us all in the car any more so it was time for something with a little more room.
The Lotus has been fantastic to drive - comfy and quiet on a cruise, but an animal that will easily break traction in the wet in low gears if you are not careful! The traction control seems quite relaxed about wheel spin in sport mode!
The looks are fantastic and are way better than any photo shows. I used to still catch sight of it in the car park at work and could not believe it was mine!
I had a full 2bular exhaust and manifold, a BOE air filter and Essex Autosport ECU tune which helped with the torque and the aural drama when you clogg it! The sound was fab, but the power gains are not going to set you hair on fire to be honest. Their Dyno showed 298hp.
The soundproofing was a revelation after 14 years in an Elise. In fact while I say above that the exhaust is quiet, if you open the windows it is another story entirely. If you think you need a sports exhaust (or louder sports exhaust), make sure you run through the gears with the windows down first, you may well be surprised!
The handling is best described as like a big Elise, it stuck to the road like glue, but the ride was great - for example much less harsh than a Mini Cooper S.
I had the long box which is great for economy (30+mpg in the real world) but poor for 3-6th gear acceleration. I am glad I had it for motorway cruising, but cursed it overtaking - I would rather have been able to a lower geared 3rd and ride the torque than drop to second. You should definitely test drive the close ratio and long boxes before you buy if you are considering one. I had a CR Sports racer as a courtesy car from Lotus Silverstone and to be honest the CR box transforms the car, it is much more fun to take it through the gears at legal speeds. In fact the CR box is so good that I have looked into upgrading the gearbox and it can be done at a scary £3-4K. May be wait until the clutch needs replacing.
The other advantage of the long box (if it worries you) is that the MY2011 car like mine got 199g/km which means cheaper tax. It looks like you lose about 4-5mpg with the CR box.
Some servicing cost examples below from my ownership, but bear in mind there are all main dealer costs with a few mods thrown in for good measure, you can get better prices at indys but I have been very happy with Lotus Silverstone. Here are the bills I have had:
5th Year Service +Wheel refurb and Headlight clear coat respray £1541+£343 for a new pair of rear tyres.
4th year service – (the big one) + new mud flap brackets and A pillar trims: £867.
£200 or so on fitting heated seating elements
A full set of OEM Pirelli tyres (18” and 19” were £644 fitted from Headley tyres) Note the 19 and 20s are much pricier!
Essex Autosport ECU crack and rolling road tune: £1068.
3rd year service + fitting of 2bular manifolds and Y pipe and BOE CAI filter kit: £1498.
2nd Year service (with brake fluid and fitting Dynamat to doors): £550.
While I have spent a fair bit (mostly on mods), on the up side the depreciation has been very reasonable – I have dropped less than £7.5k depreciation in 5 years.
I have also had a few niggles which were all sorted under warranty by Lotus Silverstone who have been fabulous. But you should look out for them when buying cars off warranty and get them fixed by the dealer or negotiate with the seller.
One last mention. A while back we all went out to a country show and parked up in the field in the Evora. The 2 girls got out my side from the back and walked round the car, another parent in the car to our left spotted the girls and blurted out before he could stop himself “Where the F**k did they come from?!”
AnduHowman said:
Very interesting write up - and a smart looking car in that colour!
You mentioned the volume not being speed related - can you submit that as a request to Tesla as presumably they can update the software to allow that?
On the same vein what other updates can you car receive?!
I will be interested to know how your longer trips go. I am in two minds regarding the enforced longer 'refuelling' stops as it seems it could be annoying to wait an hour at a supercharger but also after 250 - 300 miles on a long trip its probably not a bad idea to stop and have a break. I think after my current V8 expires electric would be fun to try.
You can do that - you can even record comments in the car that Tesla engineers pick up - but I can't remember the button presses to do it. I will ask about it when I go in for the service.You mentioned the volume not being speed related - can you submit that as a request to Tesla as presumably they can update the software to allow that?
On the same vein what other updates can you car receive?!
I will be interested to know how your longer trips go. I am in two minds regarding the enforced longer 'refuelling' stops as it seems it could be annoying to wait an hour at a supercharger but also after 250 - 300 miles on a long trip its probably not a bad idea to stop and have a break. I think after my current V8 expires electric would be fun to try.
Here is a quick list of some of the Over the air updates I found here:
Over the air updates
9/23/2012 V1.9.11
Added projected and rated range
Added Entry / Exit feature – Displays on and Media auto play for entry and decrease volume upon exit
10/9/2012 V1.13.16
Added Driver profiles (up to 10 can be saved)
Added Creep mode (emulate automatic transmission idle forward)
Added Traffic lines in map
Added higher volume granularity
Added Lock and Unlock touch screen buttons separated for ease of use
Added Mobile App Remote Access
11/30/2012 1.15.14
Added cancel button to nav
11/30/2012 1.17.5
Added Vehicle sleep mode (reduced vampire drain)
Added App launcher
Added voice commands
Added auto present door handles
Added vehicle alarm
Added ability to switch between metric and imperial units
Added range mode
Added USB sorting for media
Added ability to call phone numbers from map screen
Added fan speed and sunroof controls to steering wheel controls
Added location aware homelink
3/13/2013 1.19.35
Added scheduled charging mode
6/7/2013 1.31.48
Added supercharger locations to maps
Added visited chargers to maps
Added battery charge limit slider (Standard and Max Range)
6/20/2013 1.33.61
Added contact sorting options
Added new defrost mode
Added battery support (will draw power from wall instead of battery for HVAC)
Added battery ability to heat from utility instead of itself
8/28/2013 1.35.107
Added wifi
Added tow mode
Added screen cleaning mode
Added radio presets to steering wheel controls
Added tracking modes in map (north up or vehicle up)
12/21/2013 1.49.57
Added Current anomaly detection (auto reduce charging amp by 25% if problem is detected)
Added wiper service mode
Added TPMS reset option
5/25/2014 1.51.109
Added RDIO
Added hill assist
Added smart air suspension options (auto lower for highway speeds)
Added home and work locations
9/4/2014 1.64.39
Added Asian font support for media player
Added FOB reprogram/swap ability
Added slacker radio reset ability
11/19/2014 1.67.125
Added traffic aware navigation
Added Calendar
Added more power management options
Added location based air suspension settings
Added custom car name
3/17/2015 2.2.200
Added international OSK (onscreen keyboard)
Added trip energy prediction
Added TACC to AP1 cars
Added auto high beam to AP1 cars
Added forward collision warning to AP1 cars
Added energy option for battery display
Added smart preconditioning (auto warm your car based on habits)
Added reverse lines in backup cam
Added parkview assist
Added shuffle and repeat to media player
Added factory reset option
9/21/2015 2.5.85
Added trip planner with routing via Superchargers
Added range assurance
Added valet mode
Added Blind spot warning
Added AEB (auto emergency braking)
Added pin dropping to navigation map
12/31/2015 2.9.77
Added Launch mode
Added Clock widget
Added RWD Torque sleep
9/18/2016 2.36.31
Added perpendicular autopark
Added Homelink Auto open/close
Added auto brightness to display
Added Supercharger availability
Added Spotify music service
Added Summon to ap1 cars
12/22/2016 2.50.114
Added supercharger amenities
Added automatic driver profiles based on key fobs
Added 2 car visibility to cars with AP
Added ability to name trip meter
Added swipe abilities in navigation
Added cabin overheat protection (cools the cabin if past 40C)
Added homelink audio tone
Edited by Spunagain on Thursday 6th April 14:11
1st Service
Well I was keen to get the car properly checked over by Tesla before 28 days elapsed so dropped ‘Flash’ off to the Bristol Service centre 1st thing on Wednesday. A tidy office and compound on and industrial estate close to the M5 found the corner from the Mercedes garage.
I had 2 niggles to report:
First I have had a warning message on start up a couple of mornings which both times cleared when I got in the car to go home from work.
This has been fixed under warranty by replacing the forward facing camera.
Second was I was having trouble opening the charge port door using the button on the Tesla charging cables – it works fine with the key fob and the GUI controls so not a show stopper. Turns out the sensitivity of the door receiver is adjustable so it does not get triggered by a nearby car, say if you are parked in a spare bay next to a Supercharger. This has been tweaked and all is now well.
The loan car was a white 32k mile 2014 P85+, interesting comparisons to be made (well I thought so!):
1st the handling: this P85 had the air suspension. There are no performance settings but you can change the ride height using the UI. I kept it on the lowest setting and the handling was pretty much identical to mine on the B roads, but the ride was noticeably smoother. The difference is pretty noticable IMHO but I am still happy to have springs and dampers as it will be cheaper to maintain and upgrade in the future if I get afflicted with upgradeitis.
Next, the straight line performance was pretty much identical to mine except at very low speeds where the acceleration felt a bit “crunchy”. I think basically the performance was grip limited which is not the case on my 2 motor version. On paper P85 = 4.2s 0->60 86D is 4.4s. The loan car was however limited to 85mph, can’t imagine why!
They sound surprisingly different inside – it is really difficult to explain but the P car has more top end motor noise than mine and a few odd little noises in the background that mine doesn’t (if it was my car I would call it character). The P is louder than mine at motorway speeds, I thought this might be placebo effect but a little Googling shows Tesla have reduced cabin noise by 3 decibels when measured from 55-85 mph between 2013 and 2016. From the data I can find, at 85mph a 90D is 4 decibels quieter than an M5!
So it does look like the soundproofing has been upgraded over time. Unfortnately I could hear a slight rattle from the P85 from around the front passenger door but only audible with stereo off at very low speeds.
The front boot (I can’t bring myself to call it a frunk or a froot) on the P85 is bigger due to the missing motor:
Mine – the blue hose is my Type 2 cable which I use for free juice at Newbury Parkway
P85
The P85 had the upgraded sound system, and damn it, it really does sound better. The sub bass is definitely better giving a beefier sound, but while it does not feel particularly louder, the stereo “image” does feel better. I am not an audiophile but while I do like my music, I hate a lot of the rubbish spouted about Hi-Fi. But the perceptual position of different frequencies seems to be in the same places on the P85 and seems to be scattered about a bit on mine. It is pretty subtle and not worth spending hundreds of pounds to address. However if I see a Tesla Sub on ebay I’ll grab it and look at fitting it myself with a little Class-D dedicated sub amp. I am not spending $1000 + shipping on The NVX Tesla sub package although it looks like a beautifully engineered solution.
Finally on the stereo, both cars have the 3G connection which has now been updated to 4G/LTE on later cars, I noticed the P85 tended to lose connection on the Spotify app between M4 J12 and J13, whereas mine stays connected which will be device to device variation on the modem. If I start so see regular drop-outs on mine I will find out the cost to upgrade to 4G (or just use music on my USB stick, FW or DAB!)
So my car was ready for pick up on the Thursday morning and I picked it up 1st thing on Friday.
The service was a full 2 year/24k service not cheap at £700. This gave FW updates (I guess for bits that are not done over the air), full geometry alignment, cabin air filters, all fluids, including brake fluid, transmission fluid, motor coolant and aircon re-gas, new fob batteries, new wiper blades, and a detailed check over and lubrication of everything that moves.)
Re RC1807's question:
I have never looked at panel gaps before and to be honest it is not something I look for in a car but just for you RC1807 I looked at a few panel gaps, I am not sure what is considered shocking but now my wife now thinks I am crazy!
Not too shoddy for a 1st stab at a mass manufactured car - well they look fine to me!
Anyway back to the service and all was reported to be well – Yay! I did not buy a pup! As the warranty is not dependent on servicing I look forward to some Independents popping up to look after aging Teslas for tight owners in the future.
While I was there I picked up the Chademo adaptor for £358 which will allow me to get 50kW charging from Ecotricity (and some other chargers). This means on a long trip, if the Tesla superchargers are full or broken, then I have another fast charging option, albeit with less than half the grunt of a Supercharger.
So a very expensive week, but one that has provided a great deal of peace of mind – much needed as this was the most I have ever spent buying a car, but not the biggest servicing bill I have ever had either.
I have now done over 1500 miles, averaging 500 a week!
Next week: Charger fitting, and hopefully my V5 will arrive so I can register and set up the Tesla App on my phone.
Well I was keen to get the car properly checked over by Tesla before 28 days elapsed so dropped ‘Flash’ off to the Bristol Service centre 1st thing on Wednesday. A tidy office and compound on and industrial estate close to the M5 found the corner from the Mercedes garage.
I had 2 niggles to report:
First I have had a warning message on start up a couple of mornings which both times cleared when I got in the car to go home from work.
This has been fixed under warranty by replacing the forward facing camera.
Second was I was having trouble opening the charge port door using the button on the Tesla charging cables – it works fine with the key fob and the GUI controls so not a show stopper. Turns out the sensitivity of the door receiver is adjustable so it does not get triggered by a nearby car, say if you are parked in a spare bay next to a Supercharger. This has been tweaked and all is now well.
The loan car was a white 32k mile 2014 P85+, interesting comparisons to be made (well I thought so!):
1st the handling: this P85 had the air suspension. There are no performance settings but you can change the ride height using the UI. I kept it on the lowest setting and the handling was pretty much identical to mine on the B roads, but the ride was noticeably smoother. The difference is pretty noticable IMHO but I am still happy to have springs and dampers as it will be cheaper to maintain and upgrade in the future if I get afflicted with upgradeitis.
Next, the straight line performance was pretty much identical to mine except at very low speeds where the acceleration felt a bit “crunchy”. I think basically the performance was grip limited which is not the case on my 2 motor version. On paper P85 = 4.2s 0->60 86D is 4.4s. The loan car was however limited to 85mph, can’t imagine why!
They sound surprisingly different inside – it is really difficult to explain but the P car has more top end motor noise than mine and a few odd little noises in the background that mine doesn’t (if it was my car I would call it character). The P is louder than mine at motorway speeds, I thought this might be placebo effect but a little Googling shows Tesla have reduced cabin noise by 3 decibels when measured from 55-85 mph between 2013 and 2016. From the data I can find, at 85mph a 90D is 4 decibels quieter than an M5!
So it does look like the soundproofing has been upgraded over time. Unfortnately I could hear a slight rattle from the P85 from around the front passenger door but only audible with stereo off at very low speeds.
The front boot (I can’t bring myself to call it a frunk or a froot) on the P85 is bigger due to the missing motor:
Mine – the blue hose is my Type 2 cable which I use for free juice at Newbury Parkway
P85
The P85 had the upgraded sound system, and damn it, it really does sound better. The sub bass is definitely better giving a beefier sound, but while it does not feel particularly louder, the stereo “image” does feel better. I am not an audiophile but while I do like my music, I hate a lot of the rubbish spouted about Hi-Fi. But the perceptual position of different frequencies seems to be in the same places on the P85 and seems to be scattered about a bit on mine. It is pretty subtle and not worth spending hundreds of pounds to address. However if I see a Tesla Sub on ebay I’ll grab it and look at fitting it myself with a little Class-D dedicated sub amp. I am not spending $1000 + shipping on The NVX Tesla sub package although it looks like a beautifully engineered solution.
Finally on the stereo, both cars have the 3G connection which has now been updated to 4G/LTE on later cars, I noticed the P85 tended to lose connection on the Spotify app between M4 J12 and J13, whereas mine stays connected which will be device to device variation on the modem. If I start so see regular drop-outs on mine I will find out the cost to upgrade to 4G (or just use music on my USB stick, FW or DAB!)
So my car was ready for pick up on the Thursday morning and I picked it up 1st thing on Friday.
The service was a full 2 year/24k service not cheap at £700. This gave FW updates (I guess for bits that are not done over the air), full geometry alignment, cabin air filters, all fluids, including brake fluid, transmission fluid, motor coolant and aircon re-gas, new fob batteries, new wiper blades, and a detailed check over and lubrication of everything that moves.)
Re RC1807's question:
I have never looked at panel gaps before and to be honest it is not something I look for in a car but just for you RC1807 I looked at a few panel gaps, I am not sure what is considered shocking but now my wife now thinks I am crazy!
| Gap/mm | P85 | 85D | 2013 Volvo XC90 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LH Door front | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||
| LH Door mid | 3 | 4 | 5 | |||
| LH Door back | 2 | 4 | 5 | |||
| RH Door front | 2.5 | 4 | 4 | |||
| RH Door mid | 3.5 | 4 | 5 | |||
| RH Door back | 2 | 4 | 5 | |||
| Bonnet LH | 3.0 | 5 | 5 | |||
| Bonnet RH | 3.5 | 5 | 5 |
Not too shoddy for a 1st stab at a mass manufactured car - well they look fine to me!
Anyway back to the service and all was reported to be well – Yay! I did not buy a pup! As the warranty is not dependent on servicing I look forward to some Independents popping up to look after aging Teslas for tight owners in the future.
While I was there I picked up the Chademo adaptor for £358 which will allow me to get 50kW charging from Ecotricity (and some other chargers). This means on a long trip, if the Tesla superchargers are full or broken, then I have another fast charging option, albeit with less than half the grunt of a Supercharger.
So a very expensive week, but one that has provided a great deal of peace of mind – much needed as this was the most I have ever spent buying a car, but not the biggest servicing bill I have ever had either.
I have now done over 1500 miles, averaging 500 a week!
Next week: Charger fitting, and hopefully my V5 will arrive so I can register and set up the Tesla App on my phone.
Charger installation
I booked the install with from ChargedEV on the the 17th of March, having sent them pictures of the planned charger location, location of the electricity meter wall box and a proposed route. The cost to me minus the government grant was £319 for:
ChargedEV was recommended to me by a friend who has used them and I have been very pleased with them. They handle all of the Grant application process and you just pay the “excess”. The grant covers 75% of the installation cost up to a maximum of £500 and as just been extended to March 2018.
Adam from ChargedEV arrived on the dot of 9:00 on the 10th April and got straight to work.
We talked though the route and he explained some of the compromises to be made. Such as not running the trunking absolutely flush with the wall where there was a step in the wall. This was out of sight so I was not worried. The cable ran from my outside meter box to a new fuse box mounted next to it. Then it ran in trunking round the side of the house and up into the eaves above my porch and inside to the Garage, then down inside my garage and out to the front where the charger was mounted.
The installation was done very neatly and while not the prettiest bit of hardware in the world it does have a bit of an “Eve” from Wall-E vibe about it.
The car now charges happily at 32Amps.
Plenty of volts and amps!
The car will now charge 220 miles in 10 hours which is as much as I should ever need at home. The photo above shows slightly less as it take a little while to ramp to full charge speed and I took the photo straight after plugging in.
I booked the install with from ChargedEV on the the 17th of March, having sent them pictures of the planned charger location, location of the electricity meter wall box and a proposed route. The cost to me minus the government grant was £319 for:
- The 3 hours of installation,
- The charging unit,
- 20m of cable and trunking,
- A second outside fuse box and the trip switches for the 32Amp charger, which also had a spare switch for future installations.
ChargedEV was recommended to me by a friend who has used them and I have been very pleased with them. They handle all of the Grant application process and you just pay the “excess”. The grant covers 75% of the installation cost up to a maximum of £500 and as just been extended to March 2018.
Adam from ChargedEV arrived on the dot of 9:00 on the 10th April and got straight to work.
We talked though the route and he explained some of the compromises to be made. Such as not running the trunking absolutely flush with the wall where there was a step in the wall. This was out of sight so I was not worried. The cable ran from my outside meter box to a new fuse box mounted next to it. Then it ran in trunking round the side of the house and up into the eaves above my porch and inside to the Garage, then down inside my garage and out to the front where the charger was mounted.
The installation was done very neatly and while not the prettiest bit of hardware in the world it does have a bit of an “Eve” from Wall-E vibe about it.
The car now charges happily at 32Amps.
Plenty of volts and amps!
The car will now charge 220 miles in 10 hours which is as much as I should ever need at home. The photo above shows slightly less as it take a little while to ramp to full charge speed and I took the photo straight after plugging in.
Edited by Spunagain on Sunday 16th April 18:24
Road trip.
We regularly drive from Newbury to Sunderland to visit the In-laws, in the family Volvo. With the Tesla on the drive it seemed churlish not to give it a go. We normally do the trip in 3 stages swapping drivers at each stop.
So we set off as soon as the home charger installation was completed at 12:00 on Monday and headed off to the Northampton Supercharger 70 miles away with a range of 263 miles showing. Bad traffic meant it we got there about 1:30 with 178 miles range left. We plugged in and registered the car at the Hotel which hosted the superchargers and discovered their restaurant was closed, so we popped across the road to the Harvester there which was both cheaper and better than the normal motorway food at Donnington.
45 minutes later we were on our way to Woodall services on the M1 - 90 miles to the next supercharger, (unfortunately the southbound one, but it is between 2 very close junctions so it only added a few miles to the trip – I need to find out if it is ok to use the access roads as a short cut). We stopped there for coffee arriving with 148 miles of range, half an hour later got back to the Tesla with a range of 248 miles.
The final leg was 127 miles to Sunderland and got there with 104 miles of range remaining.
Plugged in and immediately the car indicated a cable fault, turned out the earth wire in my FIL’s extension lead had “dropped out”. Some quick rectification of some horrific bodgery and we were plugged in and charging. We charged this way overnight during the stay which easily covered all our short trips and left us ready on Saturday to go home with a topped off battery.
Carwise the week was uneventful and the car did all that was asked of it, pootling around the North East, visiting relatives and the odd sightseeing trip. My favourite being the Ryhope water pumping steam engines which is sometimes under steam on bank holidays. They are huge beasts of machines and my daughters were terrified and awed in equal measures. If you are up there well worth a visit and they often hold classic car events – there was one today! While I was there I was accosted by a very friendly random stranger asking loads of questions about the car, I never got this with the Lotus!
The return journey was slightly different going via friends in Lymm near Manchester. We started with 264 miles of range and stopped for coffee at the Leeds Supercharger at Morley 96 miles away just off the M62. The two superchargers were occupied so I waited while the girls went off for their coffee at the Starbucks in the Hotel who hosted the superchargers. I waited 20 minutes for an empty slot and plugged in. By the time I had got inside the girls were ready to go so we only charged for 10 minutes or so and headed off to Lymm 52 miles away. We stayed for Lunch and the rest of the afternoon and a few miles of demos of the car to my host – a fellow engineer, who swore profusely when I booted it.
We then set off, 33 miles to the Stoke on Trent supercharger where we stopped for supper for half an hour and left with 224 miles of range showing. I can’t remember what was left when we arrived there.
The final leg was 144 miles home and we arrived with 63 miles range remaining.
The car was a great mile eater and very relaxing with the adaptive cruise, I also made a lot of use of the autopilot, it is great for de-stressing the drive but I find I can’t completely relax and find I still need to be alert. Mrs Spunagain does not like the Autopilot, but loves the adaptive cruise. I find it is very tempting to punch the car into gaps using up the torque on tap, and am finding myself consciously having to not drive like a t—t. It is great however when one or more drivers are being idiots to be able to put a safe distance between me and them very quickly.
The only gripe I had with the autopilot was that it was sometimes very reluctant to change lane (indicating should initiate a lane change) I and would often have to override and steer myself at which point she would sulk and disengage.
It looks like the real world motorway touring range is around 200 miles. I have set the car up to match the speed limit and did most of the way at either dead on 70 or around 50 over the many miles of roadworks on the M1 and M6 with a few excursions to other speeds to avoid obstacles without being in the way of faster road users.
The car does generate a surprising amount of interest, and have come back to carparks to see people photographing it and was even videoed leaving Tynemouth, we also get a lot of craned necks on the motorway, again not expected, about the same as I got with the Evora.
It got a rattle around the sunroof
a quick wipe of the sunroof seals with silicone lubricant and she is silent once again 
Finally the V5 arrived while I was away. So I can register it with Tesla and set up my Phone app.
We regularly drive from Newbury to Sunderland to visit the In-laws, in the family Volvo. With the Tesla on the drive it seemed churlish not to give it a go. We normally do the trip in 3 stages swapping drivers at each stop.
- Newbury to Donnington Services on the M1, stop for Lunch.
- Donnington Services to somewhere on the A1 M stop for snack and leg stretching
- A1 M to Sunderland.
So we set off as soon as the home charger installation was completed at 12:00 on Monday and headed off to the Northampton Supercharger 70 miles away with a range of 263 miles showing. Bad traffic meant it we got there about 1:30 with 178 miles range left. We plugged in and registered the car at the Hotel which hosted the superchargers and discovered their restaurant was closed, so we popped across the road to the Harvester there which was both cheaper and better than the normal motorway food at Donnington.
45 minutes later we were on our way to Woodall services on the M1 - 90 miles to the next supercharger, (unfortunately the southbound one, but it is between 2 very close junctions so it only added a few miles to the trip – I need to find out if it is ok to use the access roads as a short cut). We stopped there for coffee arriving with 148 miles of range, half an hour later got back to the Tesla with a range of 248 miles.
The final leg was 127 miles to Sunderland and got there with 104 miles of range remaining.
Plugged in and immediately the car indicated a cable fault, turned out the earth wire in my FIL’s extension lead had “dropped out”. Some quick rectification of some horrific bodgery and we were plugged in and charging. We charged this way overnight during the stay which easily covered all our short trips and left us ready on Saturday to go home with a topped off battery.
Carwise the week was uneventful and the car did all that was asked of it, pootling around the North East, visiting relatives and the odd sightseeing trip. My favourite being the Ryhope water pumping steam engines which is sometimes under steam on bank holidays. They are huge beasts of machines and my daughters were terrified and awed in equal measures. If you are up there well worth a visit and they often hold classic car events – there was one today! While I was there I was accosted by a very friendly random stranger asking loads of questions about the car, I never got this with the Lotus!
The return journey was slightly different going via friends in Lymm near Manchester. We started with 264 miles of range and stopped for coffee at the Leeds Supercharger at Morley 96 miles away just off the M62. The two superchargers were occupied so I waited while the girls went off for their coffee at the Starbucks in the Hotel who hosted the superchargers. I waited 20 minutes for an empty slot and plugged in. By the time I had got inside the girls were ready to go so we only charged for 10 minutes or so and headed off to Lymm 52 miles away. We stayed for Lunch and the rest of the afternoon and a few miles of demos of the car to my host – a fellow engineer, who swore profusely when I booted it.
We then set off, 33 miles to the Stoke on Trent supercharger where we stopped for supper for half an hour and left with 224 miles of range showing. I can’t remember what was left when we arrived there.
The final leg was 144 miles home and we arrived with 63 miles range remaining.
The car was a great mile eater and very relaxing with the adaptive cruise, I also made a lot of use of the autopilot, it is great for de-stressing the drive but I find I can’t completely relax and find I still need to be alert. Mrs Spunagain does not like the Autopilot, but loves the adaptive cruise. I find it is very tempting to punch the car into gaps using up the torque on tap, and am finding myself consciously having to not drive like a t—t. It is great however when one or more drivers are being idiots to be able to put a safe distance between me and them very quickly.
The only gripe I had with the autopilot was that it was sometimes very reluctant to change lane (indicating should initiate a lane change) I and would often have to override and steer myself at which point she would sulk and disengage.
It looks like the real world motorway touring range is around 200 miles. I have set the car up to match the speed limit and did most of the way at either dead on 70 or around 50 over the many miles of roadworks on the M1 and M6 with a few excursions to other speeds to avoid obstacles without being in the way of faster road users.
The car does generate a surprising amount of interest, and have come back to carparks to see people photographing it and was even videoed leaving Tynemouth, we also get a lot of craned necks on the motorway, again not expected, about the same as I got with the Evora.
It got a rattle around the sunroof
a quick wipe of the sunroof seals with silicone lubricant and she is silent once again Finally the V5 arrived while I was away. So I can register it with Tesla and set up my Phone app.
Hi r129sl
Checking the satnav history, the last owner took it down to Italy to the skiing resorts so long journeys seem to be doable!
My only concern is that with more cars coming on line we will see more choked superchargers, but with Tesla’s aggressive building policy and the fact that new cars will have to pay for the charging after a set limit, I hope the supply keeps up with demand!
Hi AyBee
On this last trip I actually spent less on coffee and food that my normal trips as the Harvester near the supercharger was cheaper than the Food at Donnington services we normally stop at. For my long trips the Tesla has exactly the same cadence as Volvo, but with the addition of 20 seconds to plug in and unplug the charging cable! When ferrying the family they all need to be walked and fed regularly or they go feral. I guess for someone who normally just splashes and goes, you could have some extra costs if you needed to occupy your time while charging.
Hi Arfursleep
Be very careful! I never really intended to buy a Tesla, but when I saw mine for sale at the price it was at I never had a chance! I think the pricing of Teslas is interesting as asking prices seem to be held up by Tesla’s guaranteed buy back policy, but it would be very interesting to find out what people really pay for those on sale at Prindeville etc who seem to specialise in used Teslas.
Hi JM5
I would be interested to hear your stories - a readers car thread perhaps. I love the looks of the I8 and if it had had a 60+kWh battery only option it would have been on my radar too.
One of my biggest worries about the jump from Evora to the Tesla has been the driving experience. I am no “Helmsman” but I enjoy driving and the way a car drives in important to me. My Elise was perfect in that the car did just what I wanted almost as I thought it. I am not talking about driving at the limits of grip, just driving normally with a little enthusiasm. The Evora was a slightly larger version but with the same type of connection with the road. The Tesla feels to me like it follows the same path, but it takes a larger step than that from the Elise to Evora as it is that much heavier. It has great levels of grip which I have not (I don’t think) yet got close to the limits of, the steering is direct and not in any way woolly and the throttle response beats both the Elise and Evora into a cocked hat. I am still getting to grips with it but handling and ride wise, it does feel very settled on the road and on the twisty bits it feel composed and not like it will spit you into the nearest hedge in the way my old TVRs did.
I do miss stirring the gearbox, but for overtaking on a B road the Tesla is a joy, both Elise and Evora had the tendency to occasionally baulk gear changes when changing fast, such as when overtaking, and the Evora in particular needed to have its neck wrung to get the best overtaking acceleration out of it. On the Tesla you just check mirrors indicate and floor it, you head is immediately smacked into the headrest and it pulls like a demented dentist as it lunges forward. Overtaking in this car has a tiny time-exposed-to-danger time compared with any other car I have driven (goodness knows what a P100DL is like!), and it is still an addictive experience.
Quick update.
Anyhow the car is still running faultlessly. I am making much more use of the autopilot as the M4 stop start traffic seems to be getting worse again after the Easter break, it really make journeys less tiring. I am still getting the hang of its idiosyncrasies through, occasionally it really does not want to change lane when I indicate and I have not figured out why, it may be that it does not see the target lane as a real lane for some reason, but a quick tug on the wheel finishes the manoeuvre followed by re-enabling the autopilot. Also the autopilot does not like the markings for the roadworks between J12 and 13 on the M4 and will ignore the temporary green studs and aim for the original lane markings. It’s a shame as the lanes there are very narrow and it would have been nice for the autopilot to take the strain as it is a very wide car.
It has now done 24530 miles (2900 miles with us in 7 weeks) and the car is getting more use than any other in the family.
First wash, polish with Autoglym Dad’s Polish and protection using Armourall “Shield” done (and given my past history also for the last time!) I have also touched up the boot lid lip and a couple of stone chips using a Chipex kit I ordered a couple of weeks back. The colour match is perfect, but my skill using the kit leaves a little to be desired! But much better. A Chipex kit also did a great job on my 118k mile Elise’s road rash before I sold it!
I am also driving it a bit more normally, I have been driving with range in mind, but as range anxiety has all but died I am now driving with a little more focus on getting there a bit quicker. My power/mile has now moved from 330w/mile to 410w/mile.
The creak on the sunroof on the passenger side is back. I can’t hear it from the driver’s side or with the radio on but I will have another crack at curing it permanently.
Still waiting for the Tesla App login – should be any day now.
Checking the satnav history, the last owner took it down to Italy to the skiing resorts so long journeys seem to be doable!
My only concern is that with more cars coming on line we will see more choked superchargers, but with Tesla’s aggressive building policy and the fact that new cars will have to pay for the charging after a set limit, I hope the supply keeps up with demand!
Hi AyBee
On this last trip I actually spent less on coffee and food that my normal trips as the Harvester near the supercharger was cheaper than the Food at Donnington services we normally stop at. For my long trips the Tesla has exactly the same cadence as Volvo, but with the addition of 20 seconds to plug in and unplug the charging cable! When ferrying the family they all need to be walked and fed regularly or they go feral. I guess for someone who normally just splashes and goes, you could have some extra costs if you needed to occupy your time while charging.
Hi Arfursleep
Be very careful! I never really intended to buy a Tesla, but when I saw mine for sale at the price it was at I never had a chance! I think the pricing of Teslas is interesting as asking prices seem to be held up by Tesla’s guaranteed buy back policy, but it would be very interesting to find out what people really pay for those on sale at Prindeville etc who seem to specialise in used Teslas.
Hi JM5
I would be interested to hear your stories - a readers car thread perhaps. I love the looks of the I8 and if it had had a 60+kWh battery only option it would have been on my radar too.
One of my biggest worries about the jump from Evora to the Tesla has been the driving experience. I am no “Helmsman” but I enjoy driving and the way a car drives in important to me. My Elise was perfect in that the car did just what I wanted almost as I thought it. I am not talking about driving at the limits of grip, just driving normally with a little enthusiasm. The Evora was a slightly larger version but with the same type of connection with the road. The Tesla feels to me like it follows the same path, but it takes a larger step than that from the Elise to Evora as it is that much heavier. It has great levels of grip which I have not (I don’t think) yet got close to the limits of, the steering is direct and not in any way woolly and the throttle response beats both the Elise and Evora into a cocked hat. I am still getting to grips with it but handling and ride wise, it does feel very settled on the road and on the twisty bits it feel composed and not like it will spit you into the nearest hedge in the way my old TVRs did.
I do miss stirring the gearbox, but for overtaking on a B road the Tesla is a joy, both Elise and Evora had the tendency to occasionally baulk gear changes when changing fast, such as when overtaking, and the Evora in particular needed to have its neck wrung to get the best overtaking acceleration out of it. On the Tesla you just check mirrors indicate and floor it, you head is immediately smacked into the headrest and it pulls like a demented dentist as it lunges forward. Overtaking in this car has a tiny time-exposed-to-danger time compared with any other car I have driven (goodness knows what a P100DL is like!), and it is still an addictive experience.
Quick update.
Anyhow the car is still running faultlessly. I am making much more use of the autopilot as the M4 stop start traffic seems to be getting worse again after the Easter break, it really make journeys less tiring. I am still getting the hang of its idiosyncrasies through, occasionally it really does not want to change lane when I indicate and I have not figured out why, it may be that it does not see the target lane as a real lane for some reason, but a quick tug on the wheel finishes the manoeuvre followed by re-enabling the autopilot. Also the autopilot does not like the markings for the roadworks between J12 and 13 on the M4 and will ignore the temporary green studs and aim for the original lane markings. It’s a shame as the lanes there are very narrow and it would have been nice for the autopilot to take the strain as it is a very wide car.
It has now done 24530 miles (2900 miles with us in 7 weeks) and the car is getting more use than any other in the family.
First wash, polish with Autoglym Dad’s Polish and protection using Armourall “Shield” done (and given my past history also for the last time!) I have also touched up the boot lid lip and a couple of stone chips using a Chipex kit I ordered a couple of weeks back. The colour match is perfect, but my skill using the kit leaves a little to be desired! But much better. A Chipex kit also did a great job on my 118k mile Elise’s road rash before I sold it!
I am also driving it a bit more normally, I have been driving with range in mind, but as range anxiety has all but died I am now driving with a little more focus on getting there a bit quicker. My power/mile has now moved from 330w/mile to 410w/mile.
The creak on the sunroof on the passenger side is back. I can’t hear it from the driver’s side or with the radio on but I will have another crack at curing it permanently.
Still waiting for the Tesla App login – should be any day now.
samro said:
One thing it would be really helpful to know about is the nav/ phone integration, if you don't mind?
Does it use Google maps on the big screen, with all of the traffic re-routing etc? I read somewhere about a Garmin-powered nav in the instrument binnacle screen instead?
Hi SamroDoes it use Google maps on the big screen, with all of the traffic re-routing etc? I read somewhere about a Garmin-powered nav in the instrument binnacle screen instead?
The big screen does just about everything: you can select any of the apps to be displayed half or full screen. The apps I have on mine are Battery, Navigation, Music, Phone, Settings, Calendar, Rear camera and Internet. I generally stick with a 50/50 of Navigation and Music.
The Nav display is Google maps which can be set to map or satellite displays, it shows the congested routes over the entire map as amber or red. You can scroll and pinch zoom in and out like a normal tablet, or centre it on you by touching the arrow icon. I do not know whether the routing is Garmin or Google but it is all seemlessly integrated with map and directions shown on the big screen. There is also a detailed 3rd angle display on the instrument display behind the steering wheel which shows up when you are approaching junctions. All the data comes free from the car’s modem.
I have also read gripes about the Navigation it but can't fault it yet. I have a seriously bad sense of direction (I am not joking it is embarrassingly poor) so I rely on Sat Nav a lot, and it has not let me down at all- the road trip I described earlier was all under Sat Nav guidance with no issues at all.
samro said:
And how does it play with streaming music from an iPhone or equivalent? Any control over tracks etc if plugged in?
Thanks a lot!
Sam.
For music I have Analogue radio, DAB, Bluetooth streaming, Spotify, TuneIn, and USB options on mine.Thanks a lot!
Sam.
The Bluetooth definitely allows me to start and stop tracks on my phone and I think skip tracks with my Samsung GS6, but I do not use it much.
I make a lot of use of my music collection on a USB stick which allow choosing tracks by Album Artist, Folder and you can set up a favourites list. My only gripe is if you are listening to a USB podcast then jump to radio, it does not remember where you were when you go back to the USB menu and it defaults to the USB stick root.
I have not used Tunin yet but when the kids are in the car they use Spotify a lot. You can log in with your own account, but as I do not have a paid for account, I use the Tesla account which is free and ad free. Again you can set up favourites, and can search by album artist and playlist names. The data again comes free from the car’s modem; mine is 3G which seems to be ok but I have had it drop out only a couple of times on all the routes I have travelled while using Spotify. Later cars come with 4G which I can update mine to for I think £400 or so but I don’t think it is worth upgrading to be honest. The 2014 car I had during my service seemed to drop out more than mine so the 3G module may have got upgraded over time.
LordGrover said:
Hi LordGrover
Just an aside, do they go flat sitting idle - e.g. airport car park while on two week holiday - will it start and have decent range?
I am not sure the decay in normal settings which can warm the car up if it thinks I am due to go to work, but you can set it to a low power sleep mode for airport parking and the like which loses 1% battery a day.Just an aside, do they go flat sitting idle - e.g. airport car park while on two week holiday - will it start and have decent range?
It is not obvious
From what looks like an online early (or earlier than the one on my car) UK owners manual
From the US owners manual
So it may be that in low power mode you can leave it longer!
From what looks like an online early (or earlier than the one on my car) UK owners manual
Tesla UK manual said:
"On average, the Battery discharges at a rate of 1% per day. Situations can arise in which you must leave Model S unplugged for an extended period of time (for example, at an airport when traveling). In these situations, keep the 1% in mind to ensure that you leave the Battery with a sufficient charge level. For example, over a two week period (14 days), the Battery discharges by approximately 14%.
So normally 1-2% sounds about right then!From the US owners manual
Tesla US manual said:
Saving Energy
Model S has an energy-saving feature that reduces the amount of energy being consumed when Model S is not in use.
Touch Controls > Displays > Energy Saving
andchoose from the following options:
Model S has an energy-saving feature that reduces the amount of energy being consumed when Model S is not in use.
Touch Controls > Displays > Energy Saving
andchoose from the following options:
- OFF. Model S shifts to the energy-saving mode at night (10 pm to 5 am).
- ON. Significantly less energy is consumed whenever Model S is not in use. The start-up time of the instrument panel and Bluetooth could be slower.
- Always Connected. Preserves cell connectivity when energy saving is active. This allows the mobile app to connect to Model S more quickly, and provide immediate internet access when entering the car. Slightly more energy is consumed.
So it may be that in low power mode you can leave it longer!
Hi All,
Well thanks to the RCOW there have been a few more response and thanks for all the positive responses. I will try and keep updating when interesting stuff happens.
For me yesterday was a bit of a milestone day, I drove 60 miles mostly on B roads and a few A roads doing the usual family picking and dropping, plus a few more errands for myself; I was surprised to see how many miles I had covered as I had thought it was about half that. While there are plenty of features I have not tried yet, (but will do) I feel I have gelled with the car now. The miles I drove yesterday were the sort of miles I would have loved to have done in the Evora, but I enjoyed them just as much in the Tesla, for me I am now convinced it is a worthy replacement. This means I am likely to keep the car for a goodly while, the big decision will be is that going to be a couple of years and then sell it with a year or so of the “Body” warranty and 5 years of the drive-train warranty remaining, or to push though and see it beyond 4 years old. I think time and what sort of issues I come across will tell!
I have also noticed that for full regen to work, the range needs to be about 205 miles. Above that it is limited to 50kW and when it is full there is no regen – this is to protect the battery. I have now set my charge limit to 205 miles to save on brake wear, power wastage and the fact that I enjoy the single pedal driving experience on the slog to work.
So it looks like 90 mph will give you a range of about 150 miles, (I guess at night when the roads are quiet!)
The same model also plotted power vs. speed, and while its only a model is does seems to tie in very well with my experience so far of getting 330Wh/mile at 70mph.
From my experience in the Tech industry I remember hearing guys from Apple complaining about Tesla’s aggressive recruitment of their engineers.
So between start and destination I would plan to charge twice, and budget at least half an hour for each top-up. The rest of the time depends on speed and road conditions. And I guess the location of chargers on your route.
What was it like working for Tesla? The staff I have come across so far (Sales people from Heathrow last year, and the Service guys at Bristol) seem to be incredibly well motivated (and competent!).
The roadster sounds a hoot! I am keeping a look out for more news of the Roadster II which is said to be based on the Model 3 battery platform.
Superchargers really are there for the Roadtrips that are few and far between, I will do my Sunderland run 4 maybe 5 times a year and use the Supercharger network for those, the rest of the time now I have a 32A charger, I will charge from home.
The Supercharger network is growing all the time – in the image below (grabbed) the grey ones are the ones expected to open in 2017
So while my journey was a little different to my normal one (though I would not say inconvenient) I expect the additional charges will make the differences smaller month by month.
Great write-up. I've had my MS P90DL for exactly 10 months today. A similar kind of journey with a few major differences. Happy to post my story but in a different thread so as not to pollute yours.
the NC500 has been done many many times in Tesla. What Scotland doesn't have in Superchargers more than makes up for Rapid CHAdeMO chargers, so that CHAdeMO adaptor is really worth having.
Spunagain, are you on the Tesla Owners Group UK Facebook group? If you're not, I suggest you join. It's a lovely community with more nerdy information than you could possibly imagine. A great ressource and worth having despite the monstrosity that some people say of FacebookCheers! Congrats on the P90, that must be crazy acceleration! I don’t mind you posting here at all, but maybe another thread may get other owners to post as well, as I suspect there are quite a few different experiences, especially with the earlier cars.
I have joined the FB group but I do not “post” much there yet as I am not sure I have anything new to offer (yet!).
I have got the Chademo adapter but not used it yet. My plan is to try it out next time I am at Ikea!
Well thanks to the RCOW there have been a few more response and thanks for all the positive responses. I will try and keep updating when interesting stuff happens.
For me yesterday was a bit of a milestone day, I drove 60 miles mostly on B roads and a few A roads doing the usual family picking and dropping, plus a few more errands for myself; I was surprised to see how many miles I had covered as I had thought it was about half that. While there are plenty of features I have not tried yet, (but will do) I feel I have gelled with the car now. The miles I drove yesterday were the sort of miles I would have loved to have done in the Evora, but I enjoyed them just as much in the Tesla, for me I am now convinced it is a worthy replacement. This means I am likely to keep the car for a goodly while, the big decision will be is that going to be a couple of years and then sell it with a year or so of the “Body” warranty and 5 years of the drive-train warranty remaining, or to push though and see it beyond 4 years old. I think time and what sort of issues I come across will tell!
I have also noticed that for full regen to work, the range needs to be about 205 miles. Above that it is limited to 50kW and when it is full there is no regen – this is to protect the battery. I have now set my charge limit to 205 miles to save on brake wear, power wastage and the fact that I enjoy the single pedal driving experience on the slog to work.
Hazman123 said:
Great write up, thanks! Just wondering about the effect on range of going a bit faster on motorways, say 90 -Would this reduce range significantly?
Absolutely, speed is the killer of range – Tesla have an nice plot showing the effect here:So it looks like 90 mph will give you a range of about 150 miles, (I guess at night when the roads are quiet!)
The same model also plotted power vs. speed, and while its only a model is does seems to tie in very well with my experience so far of getting 330Wh/mile at 70mph.
TwistingMyMelon said:
Amazing progress and development from Tesla, effectively coming from nowhere. Did they develop all the "car knowledge " themselves from scratch or do what other companies do and buy up small companies for the skills and knowledge?
As I understand it they bought in a lot of expertise from the outside even recently (last year) they poached Volvo’s head of design! I think they got a lot of help from Lotus consultancy, not just for the Roadster bring up but also for the Model S development. But I suspect the strategic partnership with Daimler in 2009 included a load of expertise. Oh, and access to parts – all the columns stalks are Mercedes parts as are a fair few parts on the car.From my experience in the Tech industry I remember hearing guys from Apple complaining about Tesla’s aggressive recruitment of their engineers.
Blue62 said:
In real world terms how long do you think a round journey of 400 miles to take? Mix of motorway and A/B roads.
Difficult to answer – easiest answer is “Depends!”, I think if you are driving aggressively you are going to see between 150 and 200 miles on a fully charged battery, but I think keeping your license reasonably safe, you could aim to recharge every 150 miles. The superchargers charge fastest when the battery is empty and slows down when you get to 80% so there is a benefit to running the battery down properly between charges. A supercharger can charge an 85kWh battery to 80% in about half an hour, these things chuck out 120kW! (I have noticed though not always though: the Jn13 M4 charger has been limited to 60kW a couple of time I have used it).So between start and destination I would plan to charge twice, and budget at least half an hour for each top-up. The rest of the time depends on speed and road conditions. And I guess the location of chargers on your route.
greenarrow said:
Would love a comparison on PH with say, a current diesel Panamera as I guess that's the nearest competition in terms of fuel efficiency.... .
There is a guy at work with a Panamera, I will have a chat with him to do a couple of rides and note some comparisons, but don’t hold your breath as quiet times at work are few and far between! Oh and I am not a motoring Journalist so what ever we come up with , it may not be what you have in mind!magic354 said:
P85+ are my favourite models to drive, a little bit lighter, bit more agile, light up the rear tyres when ever you want, and just a laugh.”
I can see exactly what you mean, a friend has bought a 2014 P85 a couple of months before me and he absolutely loves it, although he had his 1st glitch with odd noises coming from the HVAC, which was fixed quickly so he is still feeling the love!What was it like working for Tesla? The staff I have come across so far (Sales people from Heathrow last year, and the Service guys at Bristol) seem to be incredibly well motivated (and competent!).
The roadster sounds a hoot! I am keeping a look out for more news of the Roadster II which is said to be based on the Model 3 battery platform.
saxy said:
But hearing your story reminds me a lot of the tesla drivers in my town. They all end up changing their lifestyles (where to eat, shop) based on where and when they can charge their cars. Sure you save money but buying an expensive luxury vehicle should give you convenience and not inconvenience.
I can see what you mean, I guess it is all part of the early adopter thing. The charging thing is not really about money though, If you are charging away from home really that should be for a road trip. I think the idea of an EV is you charge at home and do you day to day driving on that basis. (If you can’t do that then maybe an EV is not for you – having said that my mate charges his though the window of his flat and does his main charging at supercharges because he just wanted a Model S!)Superchargers really are there for the Roadtrips that are few and far between, I will do my Sunderland run 4 maybe 5 times a year and use the Supercharger network for those, the rest of the time now I have a 32A charger, I will charge from home.
The Supercharger network is growing all the time – in the image below (grabbed) the grey ones are the ones expected to open in 2017
So while my journey was a little different to my normal one (though I would not say inconvenient) I expect the additional charges will make the differences smaller month by month.
tfboy said:
Great write-up. I've had my MS P90DL for exactly 10 months today. A similar kind of journey with a few major differences. Happy to post my story but in a different thread so as not to pollute yours.
the NC500 has been done many many times in Tesla. What Scotland doesn't have in Superchargers more than makes up for Rapid CHAdeMO chargers, so that CHAdeMO adaptor is really worth having.
Spunagain, are you on the Tesla Owners Group UK Facebook group? If you're not, I suggest you join. It's a lovely community with more nerdy information than you could possibly imagine. A great ressource and worth having despite the monstrosity that some people say of Facebook
I have joined the FB group but I do not “post” much there yet as I am not sure I have anything new to offer (yet!).
I have got the Chademo adapter but not used it yet. My plan is to try it out next time I am at Ikea!
tfboy said:
Don't be afraid to go into detail with the finer details of your ownership experience, it makes for interesting reading. .
Cheers tfboy, I will, a friend who has a Leaf delights in sailing close to the wind when it comes to battery remaining and has been rescued at least twice that I know of! I think I may see how low I can run the battery before the range anxiety gets the better of me 63 mile is my lowest so far! I will try to record the range and conditions.The Tesla App
Yay - I have now got the car registered with Tesla so I have not got the app!
It occasionally takes a couple of retries to connect but this is what it looks like…
The home screen looks like this when parked:
The Home screen looks like this while driving:
Not sure if I want Mrs Spunagain to know what speed I am driving!
And this as I scroll down:
The Controls menu looks like this:
I think there is some scope for pranking here! But the horn and lighting controls might help finding the car in a massive car park full of other blue Teslas.
The Climate screen looks like this:
So I can turn the air con on if it is hot before I leave work or turn on the heating while I have breakfast on winter mornings so I can start off with a toasty cabin. I can also freak out my wife by remotely turning down the temperature!
The Location screen looks like this parked:
So I can see where my wife goes when she borrows the car! I suspect this goes both ways as it is ok to run the app on multiple devices!
And when moving, this screenshot was snapped when I was in Maidenhead and my wife was driving the car in Newbury
The Battery screen looks like this when charging:
So happy with my new toy.
I have not set up summon yet but will post when I get around to it!
Yay - I have now got the car registered with Tesla so I have not got the app!
It occasionally takes a couple of retries to connect but this is what it looks like…
The home screen looks like this when parked:
The Home screen looks like this while driving:
Not sure if I want Mrs Spunagain to know what speed I am driving!
And this as I scroll down:
The Controls menu looks like this:
I think there is some scope for pranking here! But the horn and lighting controls might help finding the car in a massive car park full of other blue Teslas.
The Climate screen looks like this:
So I can turn the air con on if it is hot before I leave work or turn on the heating while I have breakfast on winter mornings so I can start off with a toasty cabin. I can also freak out my wife by remotely turning down the temperature!
The Location screen looks like this parked:
So I can see where my wife goes when she borrows the car! I suspect this goes both ways as it is ok to run the app on multiple devices!
And when moving, this screenshot was snapped when I was in Maidenhead and my wife was driving the car in Newbury
The Battery screen looks like this when charging:
So happy with my new toy.
I have not set up summon yet but will post when I get around to it!
Insurance
In my 1st post I forgot to mention insurance which seems to come up a fair bit on the Tesla FB page. There seems to be a few misconceptions about it; for instance my brother thought I would need insurance for me, my wife and the autopilot!
I was with Esure for the Lotus and re-insured in February for £337 or ~1% of the car’s value, I tried to transfer to the Tesla but it turns out Esure do not cover Teslas so they refunded the remainder of my policy with no penalty.
I simply went onto GoCompare and found plenty of cover options and chose Privilege who I have good experiences with, which was 3rd cheapest at £637 or ~1.1% of the car’s value but had the most sensible excess.
So not a perfectly straightforward transfer but not exactly a problem either!
While I am posting – here are some pictures of the inside when it was freshly cleaned at the dealer:
Front seats
Rear Seats
Sunroof
Finally, many thanks to tfboy who took me out in his P90D L and demonstrated Launch control and Ludicrous mode neither of which my car has.
It is utterly crazy on the launch
if you don't place your head on the headrest in preparation you head gets smacked hard into the headrest!
The acceleration is unlike anything (car or plane) that I have ever experienced before, it genuinely felt like it was trying to peel the skin off my face -it is a bizarre sensation and definitely addictive! I am afraid to say it left me giggling like a schoolgirl, the last car that did that to me was a particularly perky TVR Griffith 500 a few years back... Must not start thinking about upgrades so soon....
In my 1st post I forgot to mention insurance which seems to come up a fair bit on the Tesla FB page. There seems to be a few misconceptions about it; for instance my brother thought I would need insurance for me, my wife and the autopilot!
I was with Esure for the Lotus and re-insured in February for £337 or ~1% of the car’s value, I tried to transfer to the Tesla but it turns out Esure do not cover Teslas so they refunded the remainder of my policy with no penalty.
I simply went onto GoCompare and found plenty of cover options and chose Privilege who I have good experiences with, which was 3rd cheapest at £637 or ~1.1% of the car’s value but had the most sensible excess.
So not a perfectly straightforward transfer but not exactly a problem either!
While I am posting – here are some pictures of the inside when it was freshly cleaned at the dealer:
Front seats
Rear Seats
Sunroof
Finally, many thanks to tfboy who took me out in his P90D L and demonstrated Launch control and Ludicrous mode neither of which my car has.
It is utterly crazy on the launch
if you don't place your head on the headrest in preparation you head gets smacked hard into the headrest! The acceleration is unlike anything (car or plane) that I have ever experienced before, it genuinely felt like it was trying to peel the skin off my face -it is a bizarre sensation and definitely addictive! I am afraid to say it left me giggling like a schoolgirl, the last car that did that to me was a particularly perky TVR Griffith 500 a few years back... Must not start thinking about upgrades so soon....
2 Month Update
Not much to report really apart from I am still doing a lot more miles than I expected! Nothing has broken, dropped off, exploded or caught fire! The car is still a pleasure to drive and I actually look forward to my drive to work – I have also discovered the delights of the TED broadcasts on Spotify and the Sniff Petrol Podcasts on line.
Mrs Spunagain is not completely at home with it yet, mostly as I hog it, but feels that will come with time. We both feel that the column shifter stalk motions for drive and reverse are logically the wrong way round. Oh and we have both tried to switch on the windscreen wipers and put the car into neutral!
I have joined a couple of the Tesla Facebook groups and there is a lot of traffic on them. The groups seem to be very TVR like with lots of very good advice, a reasonable number of people with niggles and a very small minority which seem to have terrible trouble with their cars. I might have to post a link to this thread and see what happens!
I also had a quick play in Excel and the following table shows the sort of fuel costs I am seeing. With the cost of the car being so high the cost savings are not really the point but they do help:
Not much to report really apart from I am still doing a lot more miles than I expected! Nothing has broken, dropped off, exploded or caught fire! The car is still a pleasure to drive and I actually look forward to my drive to work – I have also discovered the delights of the TED broadcasts on Spotify and the Sniff Petrol Podcasts on line.
Mrs Spunagain is not completely at home with it yet, mostly as I hog it, but feels that will come with time. We both feel that the column shifter stalk motions for drive and reverse are logically the wrong way round. Oh and we have both tried to switch on the windscreen wipers and put the car into neutral!
I have joined a couple of the Tesla Facebook groups and there is a lot of traffic on them. The groups seem to be very TVR like with lots of very good advice, a reasonable number of people with niggles and a very small minority which seem to have terrible trouble with their cars. I might have to post a link to this thread and see what happens!
I also had a quick play in Excel and the following table shows the sort of fuel costs I am seeing. With the cost of the car being so high the cost savings are not really the point but they do help:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Miles when I picked it up | 21664 |
| Miles now | 26043 |
| Total miles I have done so far | 4379 |
| Supercharger powered miles | 980 |
| Average Watt hours per mile while I have owned it | 340 |
| Date picked up the car | 18-Mar-17 |
| Today | 18-May-17 |
| Home charging kWh | 1155.7 |
| Price/kWh | £ 0.1029 |
| Total cost if I had paid for all charging | £ 153.20 |
| Total cost/mile if I paid for all charging | £ 0.035 |
| Total cost to me so far (- supercharging) | £ 118.92 |
| Total cost to me per mile actual | £ 0.027 |
| Petrol equivalent for comparison | |
| Total miles | 4379 |
| MPG average for my old Evora | 29 |
| Gallons used | 151.0 |
| Litres used | 686.4 |
| Price per litre | £ 1.16 |
| Total cost | £ 798.24 |
| Cost/ mile | £ 0.18 |
| Savings so far | £ 679.32 |
| Charger install | £ 319.00 |
| Total saving - Charger cost | £ 360.32 |
| Projected annual fuel saving this year based on current mileage (-charger cost) | £ 3,813.55 |
| Projected following year saving | £ 4,132.55 |
Hi db
I think Teslas and actually any electric cars available in 2017 are not yet cars for everyone. If for instance one wants to spend 4 hour stints between meals at the wheel at illegal road speeds then electric is not going to meet your needs and perhaps a Bentley Continental would suit sir?
In terms of spontaneity, I decide where I want to go, get in the car and put the destination in the satnav. It then plots me the route via the chargers I need to visit to get there. All the chargers I have visited so far have a coffee shop or restaurant within sight of the charger so it is not uncomfortable.
As a parent my road trips involve the kids so regular stop offs are needed to stop them going feral so it suits me down to the ground. Also for me and I think for the majority of road users, those long trips are few and far between.
Apart from my trip to Sunderland I have not needed to use superchargers at all and that is averaging over 2000 miles a month. I have only visited a petrol station once in the last 2 months to fuel one of my ICE cars whereas before I had to fill up between once and twice a week, which is more of an inconvenience day to day than unplugging the Tesla in the morning and setting off and plugging back in on my return in the evening.
Re. the hands free thing, I am not sure about the legals but the autopilot is not intended to be hands free, when you engage it a big banner appears on the dash reading “Hold steering wheel with both hands”. The steering wheel then detects that you are holding it by detecting the resistance to turning from your hands as it steers the car.
Depending on the road conditions you can let go of the wheel for between about 30 seconds and 2 minutes and then the dashboard screen starts flashing a white border with a “Hold Steering Wheel” banner, the flashing gets faster then beeps at you and the car starts to reduce speed while continuing to steer.
I think Teslas and actually any electric cars available in 2017 are not yet cars for everyone. If for instance one wants to spend 4 hour stints between meals at the wheel at illegal road speeds then electric is not going to meet your needs and perhaps a Bentley Continental would suit sir?
In terms of spontaneity, I decide where I want to go, get in the car and put the destination in the satnav. It then plots me the route via the chargers I need to visit to get there. All the chargers I have visited so far have a coffee shop or restaurant within sight of the charger so it is not uncomfortable.
As a parent my road trips involve the kids so regular stop offs are needed to stop them going feral so it suits me down to the ground. Also for me and I think for the majority of road users, those long trips are few and far between.
Apart from my trip to Sunderland I have not needed to use superchargers at all and that is averaging over 2000 miles a month. I have only visited a petrol station once in the last 2 months to fuel one of my ICE cars whereas before I had to fill up between once and twice a week, which is more of an inconvenience day to day than unplugging the Tesla in the morning and setting off and plugging back in on my return in the evening.
Re. the hands free thing, I am not sure about the legals but the autopilot is not intended to be hands free, when you engage it a big banner appears on the dash reading “Hold steering wheel with both hands”. The steering wheel then detects that you are holding it by detecting the resistance to turning from your hands as it steers the car.
Depending on the road conditions you can let go of the wheel for between about 30 seconds and 2 minutes and then the dashboard screen starts flashing a white border with a “Hold Steering Wheel” banner, the flashing gets faster then beeps at you and the car starts to reduce speed while continuing to steer.
So it seems you can get free supercharging for new cars again, but only if you use a referral code when ordering new cars.
Last year Tesla announced that from 2017 onwards there would be no more unlimited free supercharging, you would get 400kWh free per year and then you would pay about 20p per kWh.
Well it seems that from this week if you use the latest referral codes you can now order a Tesla S or X with free supercharging and a £750 discount.
The codes are linked to existing owners (I got mine once the car was registered to me and it’s just been extended to be valid for the rest of this year).
Here’s mine http://ts.la/phil7565 A prospective owner simply clicks on the link, configures the car, and orders it (or uses the phil7675 code when ordering in the store) and you get the £750 discount and free supercharger access.
Full disclosure here - if you do this and use my code I get some Tesla Goodies like a a kids drivable toy Tesla S, some nice 21 inch alloys and so on depending on the number of referrals.
I found it as a little treasure chest icon just popped up on my Tesla app.
Pressing it gave me this page explaining the new system.
Go on... you know you want to!
Last year Tesla announced that from 2017 onwards there would be no more unlimited free supercharging, you would get 400kWh free per year and then you would pay about 20p per kWh.
Well it seems that from this week if you use the latest referral codes you can now order a Tesla S or X with free supercharging and a £750 discount.
The codes are linked to existing owners (I got mine once the car was registered to me and it’s just been extended to be valid for the rest of this year).
Here’s mine http://ts.la/phil7565 A prospective owner simply clicks on the link, configures the car, and orders it (or uses the phil7675 code when ordering in the store) and you get the £750 discount and free supercharger access.
Full disclosure here - if you do this and use my code I get some Tesla Goodies like a a kids drivable toy Tesla S, some nice 21 inch alloys and so on depending on the number of referrals.
I found it as a little treasure chest icon just popped up on my Tesla app.
Pressing it gave me this page explaining the new system.
Go on... you know you want to!
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