I guess that’s almost as good as having consistent panel gaps and bumpers that don’t fall off when it rains.
That sounds like they (Tesla employee) inadvertently defeated an advertised safety feature.
41% is a big drop. But AAA doesn’t mention if they tested at 20 degrees before or after allowing the batteries to warm up. Only that they used the SAE procedure.
AAA tested the BMW i3s, Chevrolet Bolt and Nissan Leaf from the 2018 model year, and the 2017 Tesla Model S 75D and Volkswagen e-Golf. All have a range of at least 100 miles per charge. They were tested on a dynamometer, which is like a treadmill, in a climate-controlled cell.
At 20 degrees, the average driving range fell by 12 percent when the car’s cabin heater was not used. When the heater was turned on, the range dropped by 41 percent, AAA said.
41% really doesn’t surprise me. Electricity is a grossly inefficient way of generating heat. Unlike in a gasoline powered vehicle where you’re just capturing waste heat from combustion via the cooling system to use to heat the cabin an electric car just doesn’t generate enough waste heat at 20 degrees to run through a heater core and heat the cabin. So you’re left with having to run an electric heater, and if you’ve ever looked at the wattage of electric heaters you’ll realize why it kills the battery range. Now imagine how well it works when it’s -10 degrees at night with a high of 0 like we had last week.
Yeah, from a cold start with cold batteries I could see it dropping that much. But at least the Model S has a way to warm the batteries to operating temps first (while still plugged in) then off you go. So if you give yourself announced extra 5-10min of warming time, which some of us do anyway with gas cars, you’ll be fine. There’s still range loss but not that much.
I could be wrong though. I remember talking about this at the Tesla dealership.
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This guy says 15-20 min warning time needed. Also says you really can’t use the 120v charger in winter because the battery warming uses more than the charger outputs.
a Tesla should be parked inside anyways.
My cars are parked inside but when it’s -10 out my attached garage with the single small heat vent coming off my house is below freezing.
But yeah, they should only be inside nice warm 70 degree garages… proving yet again Tesla’s aren’t really cars as much as tax credit funded toys for rich people. 
So many people ask me why I don’t have a Tesla. This video shows all of the little BS you have to deal with up north. Just not worth it.
Ah boy…
The proposed hike is more than 57 times the current yearly fee of $17.50 for electric vehicle owners in the state.
Gas tax pays for the roads. If you’re not using gas you’ve got to contribute to the road fund somehow. $1k seems ridiculous though.
In NY that’s .44 per gallon when you take state and fed gas taxes. 15k/yr @ 25mpg average that’s 600 gallons of gas or $264 in tax a year. So where are they getting $1k?
They’re getting it from fuck off that’s where. Basically. lol they’re gonna charge whatever the eff they want and they’ll worry about justifying it later. Welfare state. Same with NY and Cali.
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Enjoy auto-pilot while you can. Now that a 2nd Tesla has decapitated someone in similar fashion to the last one (by not seeing a semi truck crossing in front of the Tesla) NHTSA is investigating. Former NHTSA head who’s now VP of consumer advocacy at Consumer Reports is talking about recalls to disable it.
And this is why the fully autonomous car is still far, far away.
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May’s making some solid videos lately, his reviews included.