I've not mentioned that I purchased a new car. It's kind of a long story, if you're interested here goes. I've always enjoyed new technology. I don't know why, I guess it's because learning something more advanced than we previously had is kinda cool.
I've been watching the Tesla automaker for quite a few years, because of their quest for Full Self Driving Vehicles. When the Model S came out 7 years ago, it was way too expensive and then they came out with the Model X a few years later, and I still could not afford it. The Tesla Model 3 came out over a year ago and I've been doing quite a bit of research, over 200 hours checking out both the car and also the entire company as to commitment. I took a test drive early in December 2018. Quite amazing! I went home and ordered it on the computer. No high-pressure salesman. The price you see on the screen is it, there's no negotiations, take it or leave it. I told them in correspondence that I didn't want the car till after I got back from Hawaii. I didn't want the new car here and I couldn't drive it, because I was in Hawaii. I got home from Hawaii on a Friday Jan. 18th and the next morning I was picking it up at 8:30 AM. Quite an experience! It took about 5 minutes to sign the paperwork, again no pressure to sell aftermarket services that are highly inflated. If you've ever bought a new car you know what I'm talking about. They make you sit in the room with a guy and he sells you upgrades.
I would like to share with you my experiences after driving 5000 miles. But, first I would like to answer a few of the questions that are asked repeatedly. What is the driving range? 310 miles. Aren't you afraid of running out of energy? I just ask them when was the last time you ran out of gas? The answer for me is never. Same with electricity. I wake up every morning with enough charge to drive to LA and back and still have left over driving capability. No more trips to the gas station, I used to get gas for my car twice a week.
How fast is it? I have the dual motor all-wheel-drive 450 hp 471 foot lbs of torque. It's a lot faster than my Corvette which I had when I was 21 years old, 1967 with a 427 engine.
My Corvette; pic taken in my Dad's driveway. He had just finished reupholstering this beautiful sofa. These pics are 52 years old. Color is not very sharp.
Frying the tires
What about stop and go traffic, like traffic jams on the freeway and running out of energy? It's just the opposite of an ICE car (internal combustion engine). When you are stuck in a traffic jam for 45 minutes with an ICE car, your engine is running all the time, using fuel. In an Electric car the motor is not using any electricity unless you're moving forward or backward. So it is more energy efficient in stop and go traffic. These are the real questions I get every time. This feature in the stop and go driving takes the stress out of what used to be a real chore.
Don't worry, I will tell you the negative. Next question: won’t your electric bill go up? Duh, my electric usage went up 2 1/2 times usage from what it was in the same billing cycle one year earlier. Total cost of electricity used for an entire month was..... First let me explain I projected that the electric cost would go up between $50-$75 per month instead of $350 which I normally spend on gas per month. I was shocked, simply shocked, it only cost $20.53 to drive over 2200 miles. You're probably asking yourself why? Because when you buy an electric car there are all sorts of savings to encourage it. SDG&E has a special rate that you have to apply for and it drops all your electricity cost down to an incredibly low amount. In my previous car I was getting 24.4 miles per gallon but let's rounded up to 25 miles to a gallon, it just makes it easier. Divide 25 into 2200 miles and you get 88 gallons of gas used to drive that distance. The cheapest price for gas currently, locally is at Costco for $3.75 per gallon, total $330. So as you can see it's a savings of over $300 per month.
Tesla’s only have 2 fluids in the car, brake fluid and windshield washer fluid. The brake fluid needs to be replaced after 2 years and that's the full extent of service other than rotating tires. It's clear that you pay upfront more for an electric car then an ICE car. But, when you do the math there are no more oil changes, no more tuneups, no radiator, all the radiator and heater hoses, no more fan belts, timing chains, spark plugs, those fun smog checks, mufflers, catalytic converters, transmission problems and so on. Tesla’s do not have transmissions they have direct drive. When you look at this over a five-year period, when you include all the savings, your gas bill goes down to zero, maintenance is almost nonexistent. Because of the regenerative braking, brake pads can last over a hundred thousand miles. So when you factor in all the savings because of the lack of maintenance, gas savings and rebates which includes a $3500 credit for your taxes and a check from the state of California for $2500, the Tesla ends up being a really good deal. How much is always the question? My answer is to go to Tesla.com and price one out. The motor's have been tested to 1 Million miles and the battery to 350,000 miles.
I am going to tell you the negative and it's probably the biggest drawback and that is, going on a road trip and charging your car and this applies to any EV. Tesla's come from the factory standard set to start charging batteries at midnight every night if it's plugged in, to take advantage of the lower electric rates during that time. It just takes seconds to plug it in and then seconds to unplug it, but when you're on the road what then? Tesla has over 12,000 charging stations that you can pull into and they charge at much higher rate of speed much faster than at home (at home I have charging using 220v and it adds about 30 miles in one hour). They have the newest charger that will add 166 miles of driving distance in just 10 mins. So if you are on a trip, Tesla's navigation system will map out every charger that you will need, tell you what your charge level will be when you arrive and how long you're going to be there. If you can space these out about every 3 to 4 hours which is normal, then you can park the car, stretch your legs, go get something to eat, make a pit stop and then come back in about 30 minutes and you're ready to go. Personally, I have not driven out of San Diego County in 4 years, if I'm leaving, I fly. Some people could not handle this charging situation, which means they need to stay with their gas polluting car. That was tongue-in-cheek, because there's something to be said about gas powered cars. The sound of revving a powerful engine, dropping the hammer and smelling burning clutch as you are frying the tires, brings back good memories. But, that's not where I'm at today I want to get the best mileage possible and spend the least amount of money. Besides regardless of how much noise a big motor will produce it does not mean it is better, it is just noisier.
Another thing I hear and it's not really a question it's a statement and that is that electric cars get their electricity from petroleum, so it's not that big of a savings for the planet. I am not trying to save the planet. But I looked in to this. Putting aside that in California 13% of the electricity is generated from a hydro-dam projects and 11% of electricity is from windmills and solar panels, an ICE car's efficiency is between 19% and 21% which averages out to 20% efficiency and 80% of the energy in the fuel is dissipated as heat and that's why you have a radiator, to keep the engine cooled down. This 80% efficiency loss has been around since I have been dealing with cars, they just can't seem to make them more efficient. Tesla's model 3 car has 60% efficiency on energy right now and it is getting better, meaning that the energy used to actually turn the wheels and make the car move is much more efficient by a factor of 3 times than a gas powered car.
You know, when you start looking at the facts, it really makes sense to go electric with your car. I know, people say what about the, fill-in the blank electric car that's coming out this year or next year? Or the concept car that is so good? There is no car company that has a vehicle in production at this time that is as capable, has the technology, has the range and as efficient as Tesla's first car that was put into production 7 years ago. That is how far ahead Tesla is of everybody else.
Two really important things are distance you can travel on one charge and information gathering. Tesla's have the longest range which eliminates the range anxiety. You can get an electric car for less money and it will take you somewhere around 124 miles. That's not enough miles. No one has charging stations set up like Tesla. But the real big point and this is very important and that is data collection. All half-million Tesla's that are on the road are sending data back to the “Mother-ship” (Telsa’s main Computer) about driving and if there are any problems the “AI” (AI is Artificial Intelligence) learns and makes adjustments for everybody using a Neural Network. There are over 1 million miles being logged and more than 100,000 Automatic Navigational Lane changes done by these cars every day . All the data is used to further the progress to Full Self Driving. They say it will be out by the end of this year, that would be great, but next year is fine too. This leads me to the next thought, Independence. You may have seen this happen to your parents. I saw it in my dad and my mother-in-law. Very difficult to give up driving and your driver's license, you loose your independence. I assume that this full self driving car will extend independence, we will see.
This is turning into a book! I guess I'm on a roll.
Something else to consider, when you buy a new car and drive it off the lot, they normally don't get better by themselves. The newer model comes out the following year and it has features your model does not have. I don't know if you've heard, but Tesla sends out software updates to your car, just like your cell phone provider will upgrade the operating system of your cell phone. I just bought my car a little more than 2 months ago and these are the new upgrades I've received in that amount of time:
1.They upgraded the system so that you have 3 video cameras recording video constantly when you're driving not just the forward facing camera. They're stored on a flash drive and it's kinda cool to see how it works.
2.They introduced “Sentry Mode”. When engaged if anyone comes around your car the screen will light up and you'll see a big red circle in the middle of the screen if you recall the movie 2001 Space Odyssey, Hal? That's exactly what it looks like and it says on the screen Sentry duty recording video if anyone looks inside they can see that. If they try to brake into the car, the music turns on full volume and all the the lights flash. The cars send you a message to your smart phone that there is someone trying to break into you car and of course the cameras are recording everything.
If you go on YouTube you can already see examples of how people that are trying to rob and break into the car are videoed. Somebody posted a video from their Tesla Model 3, The guy parked right next to the Tesla was driving a Cadillac Escalade and he is a Judge running for political office (In the South no less!). The Judge is backing out and backs into the Tesla. He pulls forward, gets out of the car goes over and inspects the damage and tries to erase it with his hand and then gets back in his car and drives off. You can plainly see who it is, recorded on the drivers side rearward facing camera. The Tesla owner also knew who it was and call the person up after getting his phone number and told him that he ran into the Tesla and the Judge denied it! Then the Tesla owner said I have a video of you and of course the judge rolled over and gave him the insurance information. This is real life. This is where the rubber meets the road.
3.They also added dog mode, I know it sounds funny. You can leave your pet in the car and a little digital doggie wagging his tail is on the 15 inch screen and it says don't worry it's 70° my pets fine, driver will be back soon. I would never use it because I don't have a pet, but I think it's kinda cool. I know my brother would like this one for his dog.
4.They included an option to use a 4 digit pin code. You get in and out of the car using the app on your smart phone the car knows you're in the vicinity and it locks and unlocks the door automatically when you press the handle. So, in theory if someone had your cell phone or one of the Tesla credit card that unlocked the door, they could get into your car, but not drive it. I don't use this at this time because my car is in a very safe environment, but if I go somewhere that I have any question as to safety I activate the 4 digit pin and also the Sentry options.
5.Remember this is all in the past 2 months. 5% performance increase! You're saying how can they do that? The whole car is software driven. Someone described it as an iPad on wheels. They have upgraded performance without me doing anything.
6.They did an option upgrade for Navigate on Autopilot. This only works from On-ramp to off-ramp on any freeway. Once you are in this Navigate on Autopilot, then the car will navigate and change lanes, change freeways and get you to your final off-ramp from the freeway, and return control to you. This is not perfect, but it's really good.
I have been working on this blog post for a few days. I woke up this morning and turned my cell phone on. I had a notice from Tesla that I have a software update. I accepted it and started the download. It took 25 mins. I will not go into each point I will just list them. I figure you can get the idea:
Navigate on Autopilot improved.
Supercharger Improvement, cuts charging time by 25%
High Speed Performance
On-Route Battery Warmup
Additional Language Support
Web Browser, now using Google Chrome
Tire Pressure Monitoring System upgrade
Software Updates
TeslAtari, Yes you can play Atari on the screen when in Park
Autosteer Stop-Light Warning lets you know you are running a red light
I will include a pic/screen shot I took and will add them to the end after Harriet's Pic, if you are interested in the details of each of the above.
There is a feature that was already on the car called Summon. If you're in a tight parking place, somebody pulled up real close to you and you don't want to try to open the door and bang the car next to you, you can either drive forward or backward, drive the car out, using your smart phone. I know, it's crazy, but it works. The reason I bring it up is because the upcoming software update will Give Us Advanced Summon. If you're in a parking lot within 150 feet of your car (½ the length of a football field) you can summon the car to your presence and it will either back out of the parking place or do what it needs to do and pick you up. I think this is going to be cool! The car goes real slow 3 mph and if anything gets in the way, of course, it navigates around it. There are 12 ultrasonic sensors, 8 cameras and radar, which map out all the surroundings. The car knows exactly how close it is to everything around it to the inch. I was showing my son Daniel that if you stand in front of it or behind it and have the car come toward you in the Summon mode, if the car senses an obstacle in the way it will stop short. So, when would you ever need to use the Advanced Summon feature? How about in the rain? Or if you can't walk very well, have the car come and pick you up. I can hardly wait to try it out.
The point I am making is that my car is better now than it was when I bought it! And it will continue to get better and better. I was asked if I would want to go back to a gas car. My answer is if you have used a smart cellphone for any period of time, would you want to go back to a Blackberry or Flip phone? That would be going backwards in technology.
The National Safety Council finds that 92% of all accidents are caused by driver error, that is what initiated the accident. As in my case last July, I was able to stop on the freeway because of traffic backup, but the car behind me ran right into the back of my van, totaling out my van. Do you know what he said? "I didn't see you stopping". Which means he was either texting, talking on the phone or looking elsewhere. The computer is always watching and if he would've had a vehicle equipped as the Tesla, his car would have stopped.
Tesla just announced last week that they have a new computer processor that is 7 times better and faster than the one that that the cars right now. There are 2 main processors, everything is duplicated in an effort to be fail-safe. That includes the motors that steer the car there are 2 of them. It almost sounds like it's over engineered, but it's really a matter of safety. That new computer processor will be installed in my car and you know how much it's going to cost? Zero. Ask yourself when was the last time a car that you purchased got all these upgrades and it didn't cost you anything more than what you pay for the car originally? It's never happened to me and I don't know anybody else that does what Tesla is doing. They really are leading technology to Full Self Driving (FSD). Sorry pic is black and white. You can see dual processors.This will process 144 Trillion operations per second.And it is all focused to make FSD a reality.
The main reason I purchased this car is for the technology. Specifically enhanced autopilot, is what it is called but the name is misleading because it's really not full autonomous driving. It will keep you at a safe distance from the car ahead of you, which you can adjust to your preference. It will keep you in your own lane without any help from you. This is fantastic in stop and go traffic. The car in front of you moves up, your car moves up always keeping one car length minimum distance from the car ahead of you. Then there's the navigate on autopilot which is even better because it will initiate Lane changes if the car ahead of you is going slower than what you have set on your cruise control. It does not work very well in stop and go traffic. I'm just being honest. You know in stop and go traffic you have to take control if you want to make a lane change rather abruptly, if you get my drift. The problem is the Tesla is too safe. I must confess that the first month I had the car when I was driving in the enhanced auto pilot mode my foot was hovering over the brake, just in case. Not so anymore, the car has proven to me what it can do and does each time you use it.
I wanted to show you some screenshots so you can see what it looks like when you are driving. You can see all the car around you, on your screen.
You can see on the display my speed is 65 mph, cruise is the number below that, 70 mph but I am kept at the speed the car that is front of me is traveling, keeping a safe distance. Notice you can see the cars in front and around my car.
This one shows you a car in my right side blind spot. Note how far ahead it is looking.
The radar looks ahead 260 meters, so you can see 2-3 cars ahead of you.
The pic below, I am stopped at a signal light, you can see cars all around me and they show up on the screen.
The driving force behind Tesla is Elon Musk. He is either a genius or crazy. He is the driving force behind Space X, you know the ones that are launching things into outer space. He is doing what NASA was unable to do, shoot a rocket up into the air with a payload and then have the boosters and rocket come back to earth and land successfully. It has cut the cost of putting things into outer space. Elon Musk built a superfast electric sports car and then launched it into outer space and it is orbiting the planet Earth right now. Who else does this kind of stuff? I think he's a crazy genius. The DC Venture Capitalist Chamath Palihapitiy said: "The minute you sit is that car (Tesla Model 3) your definition of what is expected is altered forever. And you wonder why every car around does not have the same ability?"
Tesla has a "Giga Factory", where they make their own batteries. These batteries have been tested by independent sources and they are the most advanced batteries available for any car. That is why they are getting more energy/distance out of 75kw battery. I mean when you think about it, he is getting all the ducks in a row so as not to have any production problems in the future. For example Kia is making a nice electric car, but they're having trouble getting batteries, enough batteries to make it work. Because a whole bunch of companies are now starting to get on the bandwagon. But, Tesla is the only one that has a factory that makes their own batteries so they will not be caught short.
I've probably giving you more information then you are interested in and maybe most people have tuned out. That's okay. It was a learning adventure for me and I'm just trying to distill the information and pass along even a small portion of what I've learned.
I took my grand-kids out on Sat. and we saw the new Avengers movie. When I drop the kids off, my son Joe told me that he spent $75 on gas and did not even fill up the tank all the way. I guess I'm loving my electric car more and more as the price of gas goes up up up. Do you remember the gas lines during the 70s? I was thinking about that the other day and I don't ever remember there being in electrical shortage for our houses. Just saying…..
On another topic, I finished my five-part series of the 7 Mile Miracle on the North Shore of Oahu. When I was there in January I videoed the entire 7 mile coastline using my drone and I made a commentary about each area. It really was a lot of work but I've think it will be fruitful in years to come when people that are interested in going to the North Shore of Oahu find it.
I guess that's all I know. I spilled my guts this month. If you have any questions about electric cars, shoot me a note or add a comment and I'll answer it. By the way, I know that our gas prices are the highest at $4 a gallon. I checked 3 different states, Florida, Ohio and Oregon where I have family in each of those states. I realize you guys paid closer to $2.50 to $2.65 a gallon for gas and that is cool. That's a lot better than the $4 we're paying. You need to check with your state to see if they offer a special discounted electrical price if you buy an electric car. If you should decide to buy a Tesla, use my code and get 5000 miles of free charging from Tesla. You must use the code at the time of ordering: https://ts.la/frank76339 This offer is valid till May 28th, 2019.
I sure wish Harriet was here so I could teach her how to use this car and enjoy it.
Maranatha,
