You'll be needing your own wind turbine to power all that lot!

He he, that will blow some fuses 

in other news, another Tesla has caught fire.

 

http://www.pyrofire.co.uk/fire-news/tesla-model-s-catches-fire-while-charging/

 

This one was plugged into a charger at the time.

in other news, another Tesla has caught fire.

 

http://www.pyrofire.co.uk/fire-news/tesla-model-s-catches-fire-while-charging/

 

This one was plugged into a charger at the time.

 

That's the one that was reported a few days ago.

Well, same location and picture anyway.

 

Post 855 on this thread.

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/265813-going-electric-richards-ev-thread/?p=4485723

Edited 7 January, 201610 yr by BossFox

Picked it up today after it's new car detail and paint sealant.

1,200 miles in but I made sure not to wash it first.

 

 

Very nice

I've decided mine will be the midnight grey metallic

 

I've coined a new acronym: I'm now suffering from PTTDD (Post Tesla Test Drive Depression) :(

You'll be needing your own wind turbine to power all that lot!

Regarding the SC network, they are apparently pretty much neutral energy - all of the power comes from renewable sources, mainly solar. At least that's what they say for the ones in the US.

I know the SC in Reading next to me is predominantly powered by the wind turbine in Green Park (overall).

It does make a good case for going solar where possible. Maybe we don't get enough sun or subsidies to do it and it's deemed not worth the RoI, but when you think of all the business with a large foot print, it seems a missed opportunity. Surely there must be a scheme where you can get help installing PVs if you offer a charging point for EVs?

 

In the US, Tesla have this thing called "Destination chargers" which are low to medium powered charging points that aren't SCs or directly owned by Tesla, but supported by them. I see they now have a tie-in with Airbnb where Tesla will supply a Wall Connector free of charge (!) if you pay for the physical installation and any leccy used. Your Airbnb property is then listed as a Tesla-approved one and added on the Destination Charging list. There are virtually no Tesla-listed DCs in Europe. But I'm sure the more people ask, the more you'll get hotels and other places offering it and even use it as a selling point to attract those with EVs.

Mr Fox, I like Xavier and many others dream of Teslas...but realistically (for me) that's not going to happen!

I look forward to any updates you have on your shiny new Kia Soul EV fleet?

^^^ same, here. sadly my fabia vRS will be an "out of reach" car soon, and I will be back to bangers.... but I will enjoy reading about this car, and look forward to teslas new smaller cheaper model ! (later this year?)

^^^ same, here. sadly my fabia vRS will be an "out of reach" car soon, and I will be back to bangers.... but I will enjoy reading about this car, and look forward to teslas new smaller cheaper model ! (later this year?)

I fear the Model III will more likely be 2017 by the time the production car is available in UK. I guess we'll have a better idea around March time when they'll be showing the prototypes. From what I remember reading, the value of the Model III depends on the running of their Gigafactory which will give Tesla far better economies of scale, particularly with the ability to produce just about everything, including the expensive batteries, directly on site.

 

From asking Tesla, I think they said the battery in the Model S accounts for around 30-40% of the cost of the car.

 

Now here's my speculation / man maths thing based on today's retail pricing:

 

- A Model S70 is £51,900, S85 is £60,300 that's £8,400 for an extra 15kWh (rest of the car spec is identical). Which equates to around £560 / kWh.

- If you upgrade the S85 to a 90kWh battery, it's an extra £2,600. That equates to £520 / kWh.

 

Let's round it down to £500/kWh, then:

- A Model S70 has £35,000 worth of battery power which is around 67% of the car cost.

- A Model S85 has £42,500 worth of battery power which is around 70% of the cost.

 

Obviously there are margins and other costs, but from that, it's a clear indication that the batteries are biggest single cost to the car.

 

With their Gigafactory up and running, they reckon the cost for the batteries will decrease by about 30%. That would take the cost down to £350/kWh.

 

Based on that, then S70 would have £24,500 of battery, so over £10k saving. A S85 would have £29,750 of battery so well over £10k saving.

 

I asked whether that price reduction of around £10k will be reflected in future pricing making the "premium" cars cheaper, and the response was "no - the pricing will stay at the luxury level, instead we'll be adding more toys free of cost and/or including current optional equipment as standard." In fact, they've already started doing that: the first model S didn't have parking sensors and of course far less toys inside the cabin. The quality of the materials inside were lower as well, and it's something Richard confirmed from his early 2013 test drive.

 

However, it does mean that if a Model III  has, for argument's sake, a 50kWh battery pack, then it's £17,500 cost. If the target is around £25-30k (USD 35k is Elon's target) for a sale price, then that leaves them with around £10k for the rest of the car, give or take a few grand either side. And that, in my opinion, is entirely achievable

 

Dubious man maths session over

^^^ same, here. sadly my fabia vRS will be an "out of reach" car soon, and I will be back to bangers.... but I will enjoy reading about this car, and look forward to teslas new smaller cheaper model ! (later this year?)

 

As Xavier said I expect 2017.

It's coming out March in the US, RHD versions will be at least a year behind as there will be huge demand in America for this car.

So like the Model S I think a RHD version will be done a little while after the launch.

 

In the two or so years the Model S has been out (which is significantly more expensive) they've already sold over 100,000.

Well. Richard kindly allowed myself and a couple of others to experience the the Tesla tonight.

What a car, the acceleration has to be felt to be believed, it's hard to describe, you expect it to be quick, but you expect a gear change to interrupt the acceleration, it never happens and you are just propelled forwards in one seem less motion.

Some very nice touches, the way the door handles slide out for you to handle, and it's just so comfy.

The big info panel, just seems to blend in.

It is a very nice car and has changed my view of EV's,

Thanks again Richard.

http://jalopnik.com/you-can-now-autonomously-park-and-summon-the-tesla-mode-1752037395

Wow some amazing updates with the v7.1 software. Neat.

http://jalopnik.com/you-can-now-autonomously-park-and-summon-the-tesla-mode-1752037395

Wow some amazing updates with the v7.1 software. Neat.

Very neat but is it legal in the UK?

Unless on private land I would assume you still need to be in ready to take control of the car, i.e. In the car, hands on / near the wheel.

However, this is the future

Edited 10 January, 201610 yr by 999pooch

Others in EU (Belgium / Holland) who've had the 7.1 update have said that the autonomous parking isn't available. Something that's currently limited to the US market

I am currently updating to the 7.1 software while at work.

 

Almost 1,600 miles done so far.

And all I can say is that it really is an amazing bit of kit.

So with this update, it's going to become Kitt Beta?

Update done.

 

Some nice tweaks and new features.

 

 

 

Tried to read through that, the autosteer just confused me lol. The parking and the visualization look quite good though.

Good stuff, thanks for the screens Richard

 

It sounds like with the Autosteer, they're removed its function from roads where there isn't a centre line in the middle so any "single track" roads even if they're wide enough for two cars to pass. Makes sense to me - I would want to be in control in those cases.

 

Interesting how they say it's also improved where lines are fading and on entrances / exits. I wonder how much of that is new "code" and how much of it is tweaking from its auto-learning and auto-feedback-to-mothership...

 

Summon didn't make it across the pond (yet?) but nice to see the parallel and perpendicular parking for those lazy enough. I think Homelink was originally mainly for the American market but know of people in Europe who've also managed to control their gate / garage blipper from the car. I don't know how much of a convenience it would be for me at home (only time I would use it) as when I'm arriving back home (getting the car to park automatically in the garage) or leaving home (getting the car to raise garage door, drive out, close door behind, pre-heat the cabin, etc) I'd still have to manage the charging cable. Now if it could eject the cable from the charging port and auto-roll it tidily out of the way, now you're talking!

 

BTW, you clipped the bottom of the TACC section

BTW, you clipped the bottom of the TACC section

 

I just put the interesting stuff up, about 50% of the stuff.

They've changed quite a few things a little here and there.

BTW, last night's BBC news at 10.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06vj5x4/bbc-news-at-ten-11012016

 

Jump to around 27m 15s in

"Autosteer" has 'been improved' to keep the current lane when passing highway exits"

 

Surely that should be default behaviour anyway? Alternatively, perhaps it should allow the car to move out a lane since that can be positively good driving when you reach the associated "on ramp"?

I think that's the case when the exit isn't clearly marked on the road with a dashed line. Suppose you have a dual carriageway, in some countries, an exit can be a veer off to the side which isn't clearly marked. In this case, Autopilot will monitor the lane separating line between inside and outside to see it's an exit and it should follow the line marking between the two lanes.

 

I think this is the best example I've seen

 

Worth watching the whole thing. A proper in-depth German review

"Autosteer" has 'been improved' to keep the current lane when passing highway exits"

 

Surely that should be default behaviour anyway? Alternatively, perhaps it should allow the car to move out a lane since that can be positively good driving when you reach the associated "on ramp"?

 

The camera monitors white lines.

Because the ones on junction exits are often driven over a lot and worn out the car could get a little confused and hesitate, not sure to follow the line on the left (going up the slip road) or the right (along the road you are on).

Sonar is a back up, but obviously on an exit there is no kerb, barrier, bushes etc... to help the car out.

 

I had it once, out of passing over 100 junction exits.

The car slowed a little and hesitated, with the passenger wheels almost on the worn out markings for the slip road.

Thus giving the driver chance to help it as you are supposed to watching what's going on.

 

The Auto pilot has definitely been improved as of yesterday when I updated to the new 7.1 software in a number of ways.

It's smoother.

Plus it used to only find lines painted on the road as the boundaries of the lane, now it can see kerbs too.  So on a road with one white line and a kerb it's driving bang in the middle rather than close to the white line as it didn't know where the other side of the lane was.

 

A nice extra feature is it now shows various vehicle types on the screen too, although that's not really a functional thing.