24000 kilometers, and Tesla's first year

Absrtact: It has been a year since we received the 2013 Tesla Model S of dark green. After four years of waiting, in the first few days, I almost had the world's most amazing car on the tip of my tongue. In a year's time, the Model S experienced a lot: from all kinds of glitches, to extremely cold and hot weather;

It's been a year since we received the 2013 Tesla Model S of dark green. After four years of waiting, in the first few days, I almost put "the world's most amazing car" to the mouth.

A year, the Model S is a great experience: from a variety of glitches to extremely cold, hot weather, from ordinary grocery shopping to road trips, from home meters to "super charging stations", from traffic jams to service shops, from software updates to tire pressure warnings. I had to make some tweaks to its comment on the "most amazing car in the world."

"Fuel" efficiency and cost

The 15234-mile (24374-kilometer) road consumes a total of 5074 degrees of electricity. On average, every mile (1.6 km) is 333 watts. A little better than the EPA-rated 350 watts/mile (560 watts/kilometer), which is just 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) in the electricity. On a road trip, I took about 1275 degrees of electricity from 3 "super charging stations" for free, and ran 4000 miles (64000 kilometers). and the 3000 degrees of the 5074-degree electricity came from my own home meter.

In my New York State, the local electricity bill is about 14 cents/degree, and the cost of charging for a year is 530 dollars, or 3.4 cents per mile (2.125 cents/kilometer). And a Mercedes-Benz S-Series fuel costs about 3000 dollars or 20 cents/mile per year (12.5 cents/kilometer).

But in fact, Model s actually consumes more power than its built-in ammeter shows. The average charge efficiency is 85%. This means that every 100 degrees of electricity on my own electric meter, only 85 degrees of electrical energy is used by the car, the car's meter shows that is 85 degrees. As a result, the actual electricity consumption is more likely to be 5700 rather than 5,074 degrees.

In addition, in the first 10 months, the average daily power consumption of Model s in a fully parked state is 4.5 degrees. After the software update 2 months ago, Model s Average daily consumption of 1 degrees of electricity. I have a rough estimate that the total power consumption in the non driving state is almost 1400 degrees in the year.

Plus 1400 degrees, the total power consumption of the year is 7,100 degrees. In other words, 2.1 miles per degree (3.4 km/h). Parking power consumption and charge loss of electricity, about 820 dollars a year. This is about 1/4 of the same level of non-electric vehicle fuel costs.

Winter and Summer

Like most electric cars, the colder the weather, the greater the power consumption. The April-October Model S averaged 301 watts/mile (188 watts/kilometer) while November-February was 371 watts/mile (232 watts/km). The hottest July is about 290 watts/mile (181 watts/km), compared with January up to nearly 400 watts/mile (250 watts/km).

Sometimes, a trip to the supermarket can power up to 500 watts/mile (312 watts/kilometer), regardless of the parking power consumption and loss of charge. This type of short-distance electricity consumption is the most terrifying because it heats the battery, the cabin, the amount of power needed to start the car, and cannot be spread out into the long mileage.

The average power consumption of long distances during cold weather will steadily decline after the initial peak and eventually fall to 370-380 watts/mile (231-238 watts/kilometer) intervals.

Reliability

I haven't had a big problem this year. Because during the warranty period, some minor faults are solved in the service center free of charge.

The

12 volt battery has been replaced, which appears to be a common problem in early production. The key on the last button shell falls off. Cause the key in the pocket will accidentally start open windows, unlock and other functions. I had to go to the service Center for a new key because the new key was reprogrammed for 4 hours. When the button lid of the new key fell again, I decided to use it. The button lid on the inside of the car that controls the charge switch is also dropped. Tesla with FedEx overnight sent me a replacement, after the button cover is not dropped, the button occasionally failed. The right back door handles the new. The screen occasionally displays a tire pressure warning, and after communicating with the service center, they let me ignore this hint. The two-sided rearview mirror should be automatically adjusted when I switch to reversing mode, and I'm going to check it next time I go to the service center.

Replace the battery

Because of the road trip, I had to upgrade my 60-kilowatt battery to 85-kilowatt in December. The factory first told me that it would not work, and later the service center seemed to have found a way. The replacement process took only 2 days. With new batteries, 2500 miles (4000 kilometers) of road trips from New York to Florida are much more reassuring.

Flaws's 5.

Acceleration: Up to 60 mph (96 km/h) from 0 in just 5.4 seconds. What I appreciate more is its innovative acceleration quality-instantaneous, seamless, quiet, effortless. That's the special thing about the car. Even though it's been a year, I'm going to be so excited every time I pedal.

Deceleration: I also have some doubts about regenerative braking, the purpose of which is to reclaim the energy that would otherwise be lost during braking to recharge the battery. And now I'm in love with this feeling like a drop-file, I hardly ever brake. Unfortunately, my wife gets carsick on a violent regenerative brake. The good news is that it has two gears, my favorite sports profile and my wife's favorite mild slowdown.

Energy saving: Driving an equivalent fuel consumption of 100mpg (100 miles/gallon = 42.5 km/liter), and such a large and high-speed car gives people a sense of unreal. The 2500-mile (4000-kilometer) road trip, which relies on the free "super Charging station" network, gives a magical, seemingly illegitimate, feeling.

After-sales service: Replace 12 volt battery, I have had the best experience with the car. To be honest, I had no idea that the Model S had a 12-volt battery, let alone realize it had a potential problem. At first, I received a call from the Tesla Service center, and two staff members appeared in my driveway. 3 hours after being told the battery had a potential problem, a problem I didn't even realize was solved.

Design: For me, the appearance of the car is very important. I'm not likely to buy a car that isn't good-looking or even looks mediocre. Model s elegance does not fade with time. A year, every time I parked a good car in the parking lot, I will look back at model S.

5 points in the ointment

Long-distance Travel Limited: This is not so much the problem of Tesla itself, not that it is a "super charging station" network. In the northeastern United States, for example, I am still not able to Tesla to visit friends in Maine State, Vermont State, or northern New York State. Hopefully there will be more "super charging stations" coming up.

Parking power consumption: This is not just a waste of energy and money problems. 200 dollars a year is not the most annoying. Instead, Tesla, the world's greatest car, has not solved the most fundamental flaw in more than a year. As far as I know, there is no such problem with all pure electric cars on the market.

Up and down: this is an unavoidable problem, in order to ensure aesthetic and gas mechanics, the driving door design is very low. To me such a 180 centimeter, is already not young person, I need very hard to bend the body to go in. Of course, this is also related to my waist and back pain. Maybe next time I'll try to drive model X.

Winter: Like most electric cars, Model s is extremely inefficient in the cold season. At the beginning of 10-20 miles (16-32 km), Model s will completely disable the regenerative braking function. As the battery heats up, the kinetic energy and regenerative braking slowly recover. It is impractical to run short distances during the cold season. Tyre traction is another problem in winter. Looking at the 4000-dollar set of winter tyres, I'm going to keep using my full season tyres.

Touch screen Ergonomics: Model s design from outside to inside is fascinating yes. But if there is no physical button, the driver must be very accurate in order to adjust the temperature or sound. This is both visual and cognitive distraction. Even worse, dead screens sometimes require multiple clicks. This means a longer period of sight to leave the road ahead.

Although there are complaints, but when I sat in Model S looking out of the window, not once I want to drive another car. Not once. For me, this is still the best car in the world so far.