Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Admittedly, the door handle design and issue needs to be rectified.
The door handle design is seemingly all the rage in more expensive vehicles. More complicated than it needs to be as far as I'm concerned, but several manufacturers use the whole flush door handle design element now.
IMO its fracking stupid. Way to take something that was easy and intuitive to use and make it obtuse. Some designer or engineer didnt check with their UX person...
Because people with a $100K 600HP GT-R monster keep it in a garage and away from the snow, muck, and salt.Heck, GT-R's have had that design on the door handles for a while and it seems to have never caused any complaints.
Because people with a $100K 600HP GT-R monster keep it in a garage and away from the snow, muck, and salt.
Why they whining, my V6 had trouble too. It's cold what do you want?
15 amp@120v=1800 watts that's way more than you need to keep a battery warm 20 below zero
Pretty sure this issue is lessened a lot if you put it in a garage that has any form of warmth.
I love how these pompous pricks call everything they don't like a "flaw".
This is just how the technology works and one of its shortcomings. They should have known this before buying.
Traditional internal combustion engines struggle in the extreme cold too, being more difficult to start, and a lot less fuel efficient until they warm up (and when we are talking -40 degree temperatures, reaching nominal operating temperature range takes a LONG time.)
There is no news here. Just a bunch of whiny crybabies who didn't do their research before buying.
I've always said that whenever you buy anything, especially a large pruchase like a car, you should have researched it to the point that you know more about it than the person selling it to you. If you didn't, it's all on you.
Technical details matter. Learn them.
Ever noticed that your kettle only has a 1m cord? There's a reason for that!
Because it only uses 18 gauge aluminum wire?
Couple of things here if people aren’t familiar with Teslas... The cars use the battery to keep the battery warm during cold weather. So the issue isn’t the battery getting cold, it’s the amount of energy being used to keep the battery warm. Also if you plug a Model S in to a 110v outlet, this isn’t power enough to offset the amount of energy being used to keep the battery warm. So running extension cords and shit to the car isn’t going to maintain range, unless it’s coming from a 220v outlet. The cars will still lose range even when plug in to 110v during really cold weather.
And sure people should be using dedicated charges and such, however they don’t think about this when traveling and visiting people. During three seasons of the year, a slow 110v charge is fine to keep the car charging. During the winter, not so much... People are figuring this out now.
True, there's some cheap-bastardness in the manufacturing that plays into it. However, I rarely see home owners using 12ga extension cords for their driveway needs, so I'm willing to bet their cars are getting choked. At least a block heater is a low-draw.
Do you have a citation for this? Basic math says a Tesla using 110V X 10A = ~1KW continuously to heat the battery and still lose its charge seems unreasonable to me. Just charging a battery causes it to warm up.
Heck, GT-R's have had that design on the door handles for a while and it seems to have never caused any complaints.
Pretty much this....GT-Rs are bought by people who love cars. They understand it isn't a do everything design and if they DO use it to do everything, they expect it to be sub-optimal sometimes.
Teslas by and large are bought by people who think of cars as an appliance, and they just bought a $60,000 toaster.
Teslas by and large are bought by people who think of cars as an appliance, and they just bought a $60,000 toaster.
Pretty much this....
I hear all kinds of non-techie people who want a tesla so they don't have to buy gas. No way they are going to understand battery issues like this.
I like the idea of being able to leave my garage on a full 'tank' every morning. Nothing sucks worse than putting off filling it and then it's the worst weather possible and you need gas to get to work. Likely pay much more for electric but the convenience is nice. Would like them to have a bit more years under the belt first before I dive in but I am interested in them. But I also live where a gas station is 15 minutes away and country roads are probably not the idea place for one.
Can't say I have much sympathy. Anyone who snow skis knows that the cell phone batteries die very quick when they get cold.
The door handle design is seemingly all the rage in more expensive vehicles. More complicated than it needs to be as far as I'm concerned, but several manufacturers use the whole flush door handle design element now.
Keyless ignition. Another problem that didn't need to be solved and created theft issues since most car manufacturers are not electronic security experts and didn't think to consult any.
Moving to all touchscreen for controls - no thanks!
Stupid shit for the sake of design alone. Would love to just throttle some of these "designers" with some of this shit.
Don't even get me started on automatic transmissions on cars under 200hp and costing under $30k....
I've never met one that didn't annoy me to death.Do tell. I've got the time and you love talking about cars.
This is my DD and kind of an icon of my community because of it and everyone knows me. It's got a 660cc 3cyl HEMI, 5spd trans with 4x4 rated for a little over 1/4 ton load in it's 50"x6'6" bed ( just as capable as S10/ Ranger ).. People don't really get it until I tell them it gets 39 mpg. I put the 14" wheels on it with Nokian snow tires since the 12" golf cart tires are no good in the snow.. I'm working on adding EFI since it's carburated and that should further improve MPG, since the carb is actually still tuned for Japan so it's actually a little rich. I have a JA11 Jimny ( Samurai ) coming from Japan right now. Has the same 660cc engine but EFI and turbocharged. That will probably replace this as a DD as it has more creature comforts and the turbo will make it more enjoyable
These kinds of cars should be legal in the USA as they are in most every other country. But they only become legal once they turn 25 years old
View attachment 139712
We had a power outage during the polar vortex and I watched equipment that has battery backup that should last about 12 - 20 hours drain the batteries about 2 - 3 times faster than it should. But then again when the batteries are well below 0F I expect that to be the case. Fear of winter driving in the Midwest has caused me to be slightly fearful of a fully electric car.
Even inside of a garage, if it isn't heated it was still really damn cold. With wind chill in places below -40F some getting as low as -60 or -70F, -20 through -40F without wind chill. This lasted for over 48 hours. So inside of a garage you would still be looking at well below zero if you didn't have anything in there to heat the garage.
You can't engineer out basic physics. When you convert energy to heat its expensive, a fucking hair dryer pulls more wattage than my car charging on a 120v outlet. The only way for Tesla to mitigate battery drain for the heater is to overprovision on battery capacity and only use that extra space for the heater. Electric motors are incredibly efficiency so there isn't much waste heat you can harvest to help heat the car.I think most (non-techie) people are expecing a $70,000 device to be a lot more fool proof & better engineered than a "free"* (with 2 year contract) cell phone.
How about heating coils around the battery?You can't engineer out basic physics. When you convert energy to heat its expensive, a fucking hair dryer pulls more wattage than my car charging on a 120v outlet. The only way for Tesla to mitigate battery drain for the heater is to overprovision on battery capacity and only use that extra space for the heater. Electric motors are incredibly efficiency so there isn't much waste heat you can harvest to help heat the car.
How about heating coils around the battery?
With that being said, you have to realize that the average person has the reading comprehension of a 5th grader. Some of those people make enough money to buy a Tesla. They are still going to expect the issue to be "solved"
How about heating coils around the battery?
With that being said, you have to realize that the average person has the reading comprehension of a 5th grader. Some of those people make enough money to buy a Tesla. They are still going to expect the issue to be "solved"
[/MEDIA]
Now keep in mind a Model 3 battery is 1000 pounds and a Model S battery is 1200 pounds. When you park that battery outside in cold temps with high winds, 1000 watts isn’t actually a lot to keep that much thermal mass warm.
If you park in a garage or use a dedicated charger, this isn’t much of any issue.
Weird - I use the built-in block heater on my 6.7L cummins last night (-2 deg F) and just 6-7 Amps out of a 110V outlet had enough power to keep the engine coolant in that monster block over 100F. This is outside, in the snow and cold and wind. I dont buy it.
People are making mountains of out molehills to justify shitting on something.