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Night Danger Moose posted:My boyfriend has fallen head over heels in love with the Tesla Model S, and will likely be ordering his 85kWh next week after a second test drive this weekend just to confirm that he really really wants it. Are there any goons that have one that can offer any advice on owning/maintaining one, what we should/shouldn't be doing with it, or anything of the sort? He'll be upgrading from a 2013 Civic EX so it's quite the step up in every way. Basically what eeenmachine said. The 21" wheels especially are expensive. They're great cars. Charge it frequently. What kind of charging setup is he going to use? Most owners I know are totally OK with a 14-50 wall outlet, he probably doesn't need a HPWC unless he drives a lot. Though they are pretty cool. And yeah, especially if you live in an area where there are fewer people with the cars, you will be constantly talking about it in parking lots! Be nice to the guys at the service centers, they work really hard. If you ever need a loaner car, consider asking if they have a Roadster available if he wants to try driving one. They are really fun in a totally different way, but way less practical.
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Jun 11, 2014 11:41
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Night Danger Moose posted:My boyfriend has fallen head over heels in love with the Tesla Model S, and will likely be ordering his 85kWh next week after a second test drive this weekend just to confirm that he really really wants it. Are there any goons that have one that can offer any advice on owning/maintaining one, what we should/shouldn't be doing with it, or anything of the sort? He'll be upgrading from a 2013 Civic EX so it's quite the step up in every way. Super jealous. I spent a few days number crunching to determine that while it was feasible for me to own one, it didn't leave me enough of a monthly safety net to be a good idea. I compromised with a 3 year Volt lease, then take another look at Tesla in 2017. Also, have him ask about current inventory. You can get their loaner and test cars a bit cheaper than a new one. If one exists with the features he wants, he can have it in a few days rather than the 4-5 months wait for a new one. Dbhjed posted:Congrats on the purchase! Hasters posted:I highly recommend the Clipper Creek chargers, the basic unit costs $395 and an electrician should be able to install it in an hour or less. I used to work for Schneider, and still know a lot of people there, so I'll be asking around if anyone can score me a cheap/free one. I'm also interested in this: https://code.google.com/p/open-evse/ The protocol for these things is pretty simple and the most expensive part is the handle. I'm guessing I could build one for $200 or so. In the meantime, $395 for the Clipper Creek isn't bad either. I'm allowed to do my own electrical work in this state, no electrician needed! Hillridge fucked around with this message at 13:02 on Jun 11, 2014 |
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Jun 11, 2014 13:00
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The Locator posted:What sort of actual range do you get in the Tesla when practicing 'spirited' driving? Normal driving? Probably around 200 if you like going 75 on the freeway and having fun off the line. Normal day to day maybe 235. It really is hard to say what the real word total range is when I almost never take it below 60% capacity in a single day and recharge every night.
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Jun 11, 2014 14:43
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Tyro posted:Basically what eeenmachine said. The 21" wheels especially are expensive. They're great cars. Charge it frequently. What kind of charging setup is he going to use? Most owners I know are totally OK with a 14-50 wall outlet, he probably doesn't need a HPWC unless he drives a lot. Though they are pretty cool. I've been living off 14-50 garage outlets for years. Are you a fellow Roadster owner as well Tyro?
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Jun 11, 2014 14:44
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eeenmachine posted:Probably around 200 if you like going 75 on the freeway and having fun off the line. Normal day to day maybe 235. It really is hard to say what the real word total range is when I almost never take it below 60% capacity in a single day and recharge every night. Ugh, this makes me really want one. I have a 110 mile average commute, round trip, including a lunch run. The portion of the commute near my house is on 75mph speed limit interstate (so 80mph is typical) for the first 15-20 miles. The rest is still mostly interstate, but in town with 65mph speed limit and heavy traffic. There is no other EV that has a chance of handling that commute, but your numbers show that the Model S could do it easily. I need to win the lottery.
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Jun 11, 2014 19:39
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Hasters posted:I highly recommend the Clipper Creek chargers, the basic unit costs $395 and an electrician should be able to install it in an hour or less. I also have a ClipperCreek and highly recommend it. Everyone who has seen it comments on how small it is in comparison to most others and I love pointing out that it's actually made in the USA.
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Jun 11, 2014 20:51
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eeenmachine posted:I've been living off 14-50 garage outlets for years. Are you a fellow Roadster owner as well Tyro? Nope but I have driven a lot of Tesla cars 
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Jun 11, 2014 22:19
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Local dealership has some 2015 Leaf SVs in! I'm in for a test drive as soon as I can get the scheduling sorted out.  Although this may not be until next week.
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Jun 12, 2014 04:01
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Hasters posted:I highly recommend the Clipper Creek chargers, the basic unit costs $395 and an electrician should be able to install it in an hour or less. This x 2000. They are ridiculously reliable. Do not buy anything from Bosch/SPX
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Jun 12, 2014 18:43
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Clipper Creek has 3 separate chargers listed as 240v chargers: 15A 240V charger - $395 30A 4.2KW 240V charger - $695 48A 7.2KW 240V charger - $895 All of the literature I've read has just referred to generic "A 240V charger will charge a battery twice as fast as a 120V", with no mention of amperage, or KW measurement. Any thoughts on how much faster one of the more expensive ones will charge over the base model? I assume that since it's for sale as a PEV charger, the typical PEV battery can handle the higher power, yeah?
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Jun 13, 2014 01:52
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'Charger' isn't exactly the correct term since all production EVs have the actual charger onboard. The charge will be limited by whichever the lowest rated item in the chain is. In the case of a Leaf, it has a 6.6KW charger onboard. I have the 30A Clipper Creek unit, meaning I am limited by the EVSE wall unit. If I had the higher power model it would be limited by the car. I believe a Volt only has a 3.3KW charger but I may be wrong. If a Volt were to plug into my EVSE it would thus be limited by the car and not the wall power. What you're essentially buying is a glorified extension cord that's capable of telling the car a maximum amount of power it can take. Do not buy anything more than that since all the extra features are already built into the cars. Leafs have 24KWh battery packs, and I use about 40%, or around 10KW, for my daily commute, so with the 4.2KW EVSE it takes about two and a half hours each night to recharge. Plugged into a regular 120V wall outlet at 1500W (1.5KW) it would be closer to 8 hours daily. Edit: I would get the highest power EVSE you can either afford or be able to have installed right now. You'll never want to go back to gas so it might as well last into a future car, which will likely have a bigger charger. I had to go with the 30A because that's all my house's electrical connection had to spare. Works fine but every once in a while I wish it would charge faster. Advent Horizon fucked around with this message at 02:39 on Jun 13, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 02:36
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Yeah, volt is only 3.3kW. The only Clipper Creek models I'd avoid are the ones like the LCS-25. There's nothing wrong with it, but it costs $119 more than the LCS-20 and has more capacity than the Volt can use, but less than other (and likely your future) EV can use. Either save money and get a 3.3kW model, or spend more and at least double it for some future proofing.
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Jun 13, 2014 04:19
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I've been wondering this for a while now, I've seen Tesla's driving around and have been wondering why they have a grill on the front? It looks like it's 90%+ covered by black plastic already, so what's the deal? Is it just for show/familiarity or does it actually do something? edit: Forgive my ignorance, the only thing I know about electric motors is what I learned repairing pagers in the 90s. blugu64 fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jun 13, 2014 |
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Jun 13, 2014 06:48
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blugu64 posted:I've been wondering this for a while now, I've seen Tesla's driving around and have been wondering why they have a grill on the front? It looks like it's 90%+ covered by black plastic already, so what's the deal? Is it just for show/familiarity or does it actually do something? The air conditioner needs to exchange heat with, wait for it, air. Also the battery cooler. Also EVSE "chargers" should last a long rear end time, even if you have to change the cords to a new standard. I would buy the most amps you can afford. I personally would buy an Open EVSE from the leaf forum from the old engineer that hobby builds them.
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Jun 13, 2014 09:05
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Hillridge posted:The only Clipper Creek models I'd avoid are the ones like the LCS-25. There's nothing wrong with it, but it costs $119 more than the LCS-20 and has more capacity than the Volt can use, but less than other (and likely your future) EV can use. Either save money and get a 3.3kW model, or spend more and at least double it for some future proofing. As I said above, my house only had 30A to spare - I have 200A service for a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house - plus a 20x32 shop and 1 bedroom apartment above it. Oh, and the apartment is heated with electricity. The fact that I could spare 30A is a miracle. If not for the LCS-25 I would have had to get a 3.3KW EVSE.
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Jun 13, 2014 16:33
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So from the sound of it, I should actually get an electrician out to take a look before I even buy the charger, then have them come back out for the install as well? Or will they be able to get everything setup on the first trip, so all I have to do is plug the EVSE in once it arrives?
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Jun 13, 2014 16:45
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Advent Horizon posted:As I said above, my house only had 30A to spare - I have 200A service for a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house - plus a 20x32 shop and 1 bedroom apartment above it. Oh, and the apartment is heated with electricity. The fact that I could spare 30A is a miracle. Sorry, I didn't mean to come off as arguing with you, I just mean it as a general guideline. Did the electrician say you only had 30A to spare? If you have a 200A service, it doesn't mean that you can only have sub-circuits that total 200A, but that you can't draw more than 200A on all the sub circuits combined at any one time. My house used to have electric heat, and if I add up all the breaker values on my panel it's closer to 400A. Granted with the size of your place I can see adding a base load of more than 30A as a potential problem, but at the same time you could charge the car overnight when heat is lower, lights are off, the stove (assuming it's electric) isn't on, etc. I'll be installing mine on a circuit shared with an air compressor, and I just plan to keep the compressor off when I'm charging. If an electrician said that 30A is all you could spare, I'm not questioning that, they know more about it than I do, but maybe something got overlooked and you could upgrade to a faster charge .
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Jun 13, 2014 16:59
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The house used to be electric heat and appliances (now a diesel furnace and propane, oh god I cannot wait to increase my electrical service and put it all back the way it was!) and I have all the documentation from that. Everybody's case is different. I also happened to have a spare 30A breaker left in the panel from those days and that made things much easier. The electrician didn't even have to cut power to hook everything up.
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Jun 14, 2014 03:05
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blugu64 posted:I've been wondering this for a while now, I've seen Tesla's driving around and have been wondering why they have a grill on the front? It looks like it's 90%+ covered by black plastic already, so what's the deal? Is it just for show/familiarity or does it actually do something? In addition to what's been said about A/C and battery pack heat exchangers, cars without grilles always end up lookin kind of dorfy.
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Jun 14, 2014 03:12
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MrYenko posted:In addition to what's been said about A/C and battery pack heat exchangers, cars without grilles always end up lookin kind of dorfy. Counterpoint: the Volkswagen Beetle
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Jun 14, 2014 03:17
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Platystemon posted:Counterpoint: the Volkswagen Beetle  http://i.imgur.com/rNGAUqc.jpgYup, certainly doesn't look dorfy. Somebody fucked around with this message at 23:00 on Jun 14, 2014 |
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Jun 14, 2014 05:33
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Haha link that poo poo. I read this thread at work when I've got free time.
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Jun 14, 2014 06:29
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Automotive Insanity › Vagina & EV anticipation / speculation / discussion electrothread.
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Jun 14, 2014 16:28
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Platystemon posted:Counterpoint: the Volkswagen Beetle Nope. They pretty much prove my point. I love Beetles, but they're the godamned embodiment of dorfy.
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Jun 14, 2014 17:10
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I was able to make it out to the dealership to test drive a 2015 Leaf today. Not too different from the 2012 I drove earlier, although for some reason grey interior is no longer an option -- it's black or nothing. It is still a very nice and comfortable car, and I got to take it out a bit further today, including a brief sprint down the 401, which it handled admirably. For some reason I couldn't get it to understand my USB stick, but based on prior experience with in-car music systems, it probably can't cope with UTF-8, or files with ":" in the name, or something. My wife opted not to drive it but did spend some time inside and gave me the thumbs up. We signed the papers a few hours ago. Unfortunately, we may not actually get the car until 2-3 months from now, because the colour we want -- blue -- is the only colour that Nissan Canada has not manufactured any of. None. Not anywhere in the country. Every other colour is rolling off the assembly lines as I type this, but blue? Nope.  There are other colours we might have preferred, but blue and red seem to be the last holdouts in the slow death of car colours; the Nissan dealership -- and every other dealership on that street -- is a vast sea of white, black, and grey cars with the occasional red or blue vehicle and maybe a dark green minivan somewhere in there. At this rate, five years from now white or black will be the only colours you get on a new car. 
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Jun 14, 2014 23:10
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Could you come to an arrangement with them for a car not in your preferred colour, at sufficient discount to cover a vinyl wrap? They get to sell a car they have in stock, you get a car immediately in any colour you want, and the paint underneath will be kept completely untouched come resale.
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Jun 14, 2014 23:18
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Eh, I think we'll just wait; we're happy with the blue, it's just a bit baffling that the selection of colours is so limited and that they're only actually making four of them so far. The dealership said that we should have it by August, worst case, and we don't actually need it until it starts snowing. Also, we're already getting it below sticker, I'm not sure we could talk them out of the additional ~$4k it would take to get a professional wrap job  Back to the USB thing for a moment -- does anyone know where I can find the actual specs for USB-MP3 support in the Leaf? The manual lays things out pretty clearly, but it's also pretty clearly wrong, because what I have met all the specs -- ASCII or UTF-8 character set, FAT32, ≤8 dir levels, ≤2500 total files and ≤255 directories -- and the car still rejected it. (This may be a weird thing to fixate on, but something I really miss from my old Corolla is the ability to slap in a USB stick with a few gigs of music rather than loving around with CDs all the time.)
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Jun 15, 2014 01:35
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That was something that surprised me as well. Every car I looked at came in only 7-8 colors, 5 of which were shades of white, gray, or black.
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Jun 15, 2014 04:40
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Test drove a Tesla 85W Performance with my father today. Holy poo poo that thing is fast. I drive a hybrid but at highway speeds, passing people effortlessly with no gear changes is phenomenal. My father came in with no intentions but is now considering buying one (albeit the 65W version) 
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Jun 15, 2014 06:48
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ijustam posted:Test drove a Tesla 85W Performance with my father today. Holy poo poo that thing is fast. I drive a hybrid but at highway speeds, passing people effortlessly with no gear changes is phenomenal. My "someday when I'm rich" plan includes getting a Tesla. I don't normally get excited about cars but 
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Jun 15, 2014 13:06
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ToxicFrog posted:My "someday when I'm rich" plan includes getting a Tesla. I don't normally get excited about cars but The future is loving awesome and I can't wait until these things are affordable, because I have to imagine in a few decades they will be highly competitive with normal cars.
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Jun 15, 2014 15:57
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wilfredmerriweathr posted:The future is loving awesome and I can't wait until these things are affordable, because I have to imagine in a few decades they will be highly competitive with normal cars. Advent Horizon posted:You'll never want to go back to gas From the sounds of things, EVs are apparently already highly competitive with "normal cars".
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Jun 15, 2014 18:06
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ExecuDork posted:From the sounds of things, EVs are apparently already highly competitive with "normal cars". Totally, it pains me everytime I have to rent a IC car.
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Jun 15, 2014 18:18
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ExecuDork posted:From the sounds of things, EVs are apparently already highly competitive with "normal cars". With a bunch of caveats, like "if you live in an area where charging stations exist and your driving patterns stay within its effective range". Also, price. $8k here will get me a used Yaris in good condition with an ~800km range. I'm pretty eager for the day when EVs can compete with ICs on price and range, but we aren't there yet.
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Jun 15, 2014 18:44
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They're a lot closer if you do a new vs new comparison. Not equal, but getting there. Compare a Tesla with gas savings factored in against a BMW or MB with the same performance for example.
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Jun 15, 2014 18:48
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Is IC ever really going to go away as a viable long-distance option? I couldnt see a battery-powered electric ever winning at lemans unless you allowed battery pack swaps.
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Jun 15, 2014 18:51
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MattD1zzl3 posted:Is IC ever really going to go away as a viable long-distance option? I couldnt see a battery-powered electric ever winning at lemans unless you allowed battery pack swaps. Yes, lots of battery tech just over the horizon that charges very fast with very large capacity (graphene, algae based batteries to name two.)
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Jun 15, 2014 19:06
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Has anybody had the odd experience of driving an EV for a while and then walking past an ICE vehicle idling on a hot day and thinking 'Goddamn, I forgot how much heat those things put out!'? Happened to me not long ago, I never realized just how far away you can feel it. Hasters posted:Totally, it pains me everytime I have to rent a IC car. I'm taking a vacation to Maui in December and you can rent Leafs there - they need two more charging stations (that were supposedly funded and ready to build last year) before it's feasible for me to go that route Flip side: gently caress it, I'm renting a Jeep.
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Jun 15, 2014 19:23
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sanchez posted:They're a lot closer if you do a new vs new comparison. Not equal, but getting there. Compare a Tesla with gas savings factored in against a BMW or MB with the same performance for example. This is true, if you compare like to like the price comparison is a lot more favourable, especially once you factor in running costs. I meant more that if, say, you are an impoverished student, you still have a lot of options when it comes to cheap to buy, cheap to run, reliable cars, but all of them are ICVs. EVs are competitive new within their price bracket, but ICVs cover a much wider range of price brackets and are much more readily available used.
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Jun 15, 2014 19:46
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Oh, yeah. If you're shopping $4,000 'worth just enough not to send to Cash For Clunkers' vehicles, EVs aren't quite there yet. What happens once the first batch of Leafs come off lease remains to be seen. But new...My numbers on the Leaf say I break even vs a similarly equipped new Subaru Impreza (Leaf is actually better equipped) in January 2015. 7 more months and I'm officially in the butter zone. If they do the rumored $2,200 price drop it will be price competitive from day one.
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Jun 16, 2014 06:58
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