Automobiles

[bigbill]

I find that being a cyclist causes me to drive different routes than most. More than once I've been happily driving to a destination, only for my wife to tell me I'm not on my bike and the faster way is over there.

That's me. There are several ways to get to PHX from my house and the shortest is my least favorite. When we drive to Wyoming for the summer, the route we take is about 1200 miles, with about 200 of that on interstates.

[j44ke]

I always drive the back way everywhere because that’s where the cows are. @Mabouya is going to retire watching construction sites, and I’ll be making sure the cows are still cows.

[Saab2000]

Update for anyone interested.

A week ago today I took my first mini road trip, from the western burbs of Chicago to Grand Rapids, MI. I stopped to charge at the Gen 2 Supercharger in St. Joseph, MI. My completely unscientific observation is that I went from about 30% state of charge to about 80% in about 25-30 minutes. I got a bite to eat and when I was done my car was ready to finish the journey.

If I were to charge to 100% I could nominally easily make it from my house to my destination there without a charge, but Tesla generally recommends keeping the car between 20% and 80% for most usage, so that's what I've been doing. Besides, a short break on a 3.5 hour drive isn't a bad idea.

Additionally, we did a bike ride while I was there and I wanted to test the viability of my 1UP rack on the vehicle. There had been doubt about it being able to be in the vertical storage position but it works fine, with about 1.5cm to spare. Trailer hitch option is a success.

The lack of Apple Car Play is a slight annoyance. It's far more intuitive and user-friendly (IMHO) than Tesla's UI.

Vredestein winter tires are now installed, hubcaps are off and contrasting nut covers and center cap are installed. Next step: get the rims painted or powder coated black.

A couple comments and a commentary - Tesla's charging cables are a bit short. My first attempt at backing in wasn't enough and I had to reposition the car to get it to be within reach. Another couple feet of cable would be helpful. It's likely the newer generation (Gen 3) Superchargers are better in this regard. Also, these are useless for anyone with a trailer. I know it's rare, but it's not never either that a Tesla pulls a trailer. I've seen several and they sell this model and the Model X with trailer hitch options.

Finally, I am disturbed by the amount of trash everywhere. I do believe most of us try hard to dispose of our garbage properly but it often ends up everywhere anyway. I wish as a species we didn't produce as much and that which we do we'd dispose of better. Plastic doesn't decompose, it just becomes part of the ecosystem as it sinks into the dirt over time.

[j44ke]

They put that painted line in the parking lot in the wrong place. I'd park about 2 feet over and ignore the yellow line.

[72gmc]

That 1up rack fits just right on that car. And it looks to me like the bike isn't wider than the car. My Ripley peeks out from both sides of our CX-9.

[Saab2000]

That 1up rack fits just right on that car. And it looks to me like the bike isn't wider than the car. My Ripley peeks out from both sides of our CX-9.

It does fit perfectly. The bike isn’t wider than the car. There are pics elsewhere here with the rack on my VW Tiguan where it looks wider but it’s not on either vehicle.

It isn’t clear how much of an efficiency penalty the rack and bike induce but I’m sure it’s there. But it’s otherwise seamless. No obvious extra wind noise in the cabin. This should be a nice vehicle for cycling events.

[AngryScientist]

This is an AWD vehicle correct saab? From what I can gather, this is the motor layout on these below. I suppose the motors are just dual shaft, but not locked together. Can they be locked? I guess the base question is can this tesla put power to all 4 corners in limited traction conditions? I would imagine so, but...

[Saab2000]

It is a dual-motor, AWD vehicle. As far as I know, there’s no locking of the driveshaft that the driver controls. I haven’t dug into the menu too far but I’m quite certain everything is controlled electronically without driver intervention.

It’s really a marketing term to call this or the Model X any sort of SUV. They’re just not. It’s a slightly lifted car. This maybe has an inch or two extra ground clearance and drives like a sedan for the most part.

I expect the AWD is for traction in all conditions, including dry, because the car has immense power and torque.

Given Tesla’s safety reputation, which is real and not just hype, I’m sure the traction and stability controls are quite sophisticated and are largely invisible to the user unless they’re turned off (reduced in authority) in the Performance versions of the 3 and Y, which can be drifted in track mode from what I’ve seen. This one has no such ability that I know of but does have a few modes for soft surfaces and getting unstuck.

From a driver’s POV, you just get in and select D or R (or N) on the right stalk and P by pushing in the button at the end of that stalk. It’s really easy to just drive.

[AngryScientist]

Got all that saab, what I was really wondering is if the e-car had an advantage wrt traction by eliminating the need for differentials. Dug into it a little further and realized I was completely wrong about the motor/driveline arrangement.

As you may or may not know, most 4WD and AWD vehicles have open diffs which really means the engine power can only go to the wheel with the least traction. On road, this is perfectly fine, but in low traction situations a locking differential which allows power to go to both wheels is a huge advantage. I was [incorrectly] assuming an electric car could couple the axles directly to motor output but that does not appear to be the case, at least for Tesla.

The same as any other differential, the only technical difference is that the “engine” is directly coupled to it rather than going via a transmission. The electric motor drives the pinion shaft of the differential directly and the rest of the internal construction of the diff is the same as on any other car.

I do see that aftermarket performance companies are already on it in this regard.

To me, for as much as a tesla costs, and just how much torque is available, not equipping them from the factory with an LSD is mark missed.

https://unpluggedperformance.com/pro...tesla-model-y/

[j44ke]

Got all that saab, what I was really wondering is if the e-car had an advantage wrt traction by eliminating the need for differentials. Dug into it a little further and realized I was completely wrong about the motor/driveline arrangement.

As you may or may not know, most 4WD and AWD vehicles have open diffs which really means the engine power can only go to the wheel with the least traction. On road, this is perfectly fine, but in low traction situations a locking differential which allows power to go to both wheels is a huge advantage. I was [incorrectly] assuming an electric car could couple the axles directly to motor output but that does not appear to be the case, at least for Tesla.



I do see that aftermarket performance companies are already on it in this regard.

To me, for as much as a tesla costs, and just how much torque is available, not equipping them from the factory with an LSD is mark missed.

https://unpluggedperformance.com/pro...tesla-model-y/

Whoa - that's a worm hole. Now I want to drive a souped Tesla.

[jmgorman]

[QUOTE=Saab2000;1088947]Update for anyone interested.


Finally, I am disturbed by the amount of trash everywhere. I do believe most of us try hard to dispose of our garbage properly but it often ends up everywhere anyway. I wish as a species we didn't produce as much and that which we do we'd dispose of better. Plastic doesn't decompose, it just becomes part of the ecosystem as it sinks into the dirt over time. ]

The lack of trash cans at superchargers is a big problem. People are filthy and just don't care even if they are driving the EV - it just goes straight to the ground. Here on the east coast, Sheetz is beginning to put trash receptacles (with window fluid!) near them and it makes a huge difference. (And Jorn's right about the line - that's wrong, they usually aren't offset like that.)

[72gmc]

Almost anywhere people stop moving, there needs to be a trash receptacle.

[TonyP]

Almost anywhere people stop moving, there needs to be a trash receptacle.

Problem is that too many people won't walk ten feet to dispose of their trash in said receptacle. And then there are the others that'll just throw the trash out the window of the car before parking.

[AngryScientist]

Who are these animals? I pretty sure never in my life have I considered throwing trash on the ground.

[Saab2000]

I think in this case much of this trash comes from the dumpster. People at the charger throw their stuff into the dumpster and when it’s emptied out some falls to the side.

This charger is located at a strip mall that has several nationally known food chains who probably use this dumpster.

There absolutely needs to be trash receptacles at charging stations and the owner/operator needs to take accountability for these, like gas stations do.

We often choose stations based on our experiences of cleanliness. I know I do.

[j44ke]

Also: one man's food trash is another man's soup kitchen.

So more trash cans needed and more soup kitchens needed that also have trash cans.

I remember trash cans disappearing when the IRA started putting bombs in them.

[SeanEasley]

They put that painted line in the parking lot in the wrong place. I'd park about 2 feet over and ignore the yellow line.

Spoken like a true Tesla-owning @*$@-head

[rimshot]

[j44ke]

Spoken like a true Tesla-owning @*$@-head

[rimshot]

I had a feeling that was going to be the witty rejoinder.

[TonyP]

Who are these animals? I pretty sure never in my life have I considered throwing trash on the ground.

Me neither, but I see it all the time. Hell, I've seen guys, while waiting at a red light, open the car door lean out and tap their ashtray empty on the street.

[cs124]

...To me, for as much as a tesla costs, and just how much torque is available, not equipping them from the factory with an LSD is mark missed...

To me it seems odd that a high end EV would use mechanical diffs at all.
Just use a separate motor for each wheel, mounted inboard of the suspension to minimise the un-sprung weight.
That way they could control each wheel independently.
Torque vectoring for performance or safety, whichever you prefer.