The Electric Vehicle Thread

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl The car will get into the passing lane even if there is someone in that lane, far back but approaching fast (over the speed limit). Then it will stay at the speed limit even as the speeder comes up and tailgates.

That explains the a-hole in the Tesla out in the passing lane who was tying up the highway for everyone today.

As I said earlier, it's not safe to go faster OR slower than the traffic flow. You are not doing anyone any favor by setting yourself up as a rolling roadblock. You're just being an overly-smug jerk.

[Edit: That was directed at my fellow traveler on the road today, not Al!!!]

[HFWR]

During rush, or in heavy traffic, it’s every autonomous vehicle for themselves!

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptTom As I said earlier, it's not safe to go faster OR slower than the traffic flow. You are not doing anyone any favor by setting yourself up as a rolling roadblock. You're just being an overly-smug jerk...

Many years ago, on the I-10 freeway going from Phoenix to LA, I saw a cop stopping 3 or 4 cars who followed each other at a high speed. These cars passed me, and a few minutes later, I saw a patrol car speeding past me and caught up with these cars. Of course these cars all slowed down when the patrol car zoomed past them. They probably thought they got away this time, and that the cop had an emergency to which he had to respond.

Nope! The cop pulled over some distance ahead, jumped out of his car, and pointed to each of these cars as they drove past him and motioned for them to pull over. Of course they obediently pulled over. The cop most likely had radioed ahead to his buddy down the road, and nobody dared run away.

Now, imagine being the last driver that received his ticket. He was kept waiting for a long time until the cop got to him.

Anyway, I thought it was good that the cop got them all, else it would be unfair to give a citation just to the "leader" car, and let the "followers" get away free.

[Ready]

I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive significantly above the speed limit just because everyone else is doing it. I don’t let people intimidate me because I’m trying to obey the law and they want to drive like a maniac. If I need to move over to a slower lane I will do that. But some people have the idea that it’s OK to speed if everyone else is. It is not.

[CaptTom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound ...Anyway, I thought it was good that the cop got them all, else it would be unfair to give a citation just to the "leader" car, and let the "followers" get away free.

Agreed. I've seen this, too. I've also seen where they set up one officer shooting radar, with a few more farther down the road waving people over and writing tickets. Good for them! Laws are pointless if not enforced.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive significantly above the speed limit just because everyone else is doing it. I don’t let people intimidate me because I’m trying to obey the law and they want to drive like a maniac. If I need to move over to a slower lane I will do that. But some people have the idea that it’s OK to speed if everyone else is. It is not.

I also tend to agree, but with a caveat. There's an old saying: "the law is what the lawmen do." Having just driven over 1,200 miles and passing dozens of speed traps across a half-dozen states, I'll tell you exactly what they do. They won't stop anyone unless they're going at least 10 miles over the limit. Often more. I personally went by probably a dozen of them yesterday at 8-9 miles over, driving safely at a good following distance and keeping up with traffic. None of us were pulled over.

Here's my beef: Everyone knows the speed limits are set artificially low, and hence everyone has no respect for them. Eroding respect for the law isn't a good thing.

In my imaginary perfect world, I'd set the speed limits at the highest safe speed, and ticket anyone who exceeded them. But in the real world, it just doesn't work that way. Some self-righteous a-hole out in the left lane trying to make everyone else slow down is far more dangerous than the attentive driver keeping up with traffic.

[aaronc879]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive significantly above the speed limit just because everyone else is doing it. I don’t let people intimidate me because I’m trying to obey the law and they want to drive like a maniac. If I need to move over to a slower lane I will do that. But some people have the idea that it’s OK to speed if everyone else is. It is not.

I agree with everything you just said.

[tn3sport]

Im a fan and watching these discussions closely as I'm done buying purely fuel supplied cars. Done. Will never buy another gas only vehicle. My next will be hybrid or plug in EV.


However, you can could call me Pragmatic Pete.... I just have to take a realistic view on situations to determine if plug-in only EV is the way to go.



I refill my car when it goes to 1/4 tank. I'd be on pins and needles if I let it go to 1/10 of a tank living where I do. You just never know when or where one of those I-75 two hour back-ups is going to occur and I don't want to be low on fuel (or EV charge). So, I never let my car go below 1/4 tank.

So, does the OP really let the battery go to 10% charge before a recharge? is that recharge interval in the map realistic?


Anecdotal experience: My cousin bought two Teslas. He loves them. Can't say enough good things about them. His reason for buying? Atlanta traffic. He gets to use the EV lanes and uses autopilot. His 1 hour commute is more enjoyable now. He was able to turn the most high stress miserable 2 hrs of his day into a pleasant ride. 2 hrs/day 5 days/wk. Significant improvement in quality of life. Now... if he and his wife could only get his kids on board.... They refuse to get out of a car at school with gull wing doors...

[Chuckanut]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tn3sport So, does the OP really let the battery go to 10% charge before a recharge? is that recharge interval in the map realistic?

I thought Teslas will warn a driver if she is approaching the point where the remaining charge won't get her to a charging station.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tn3sport Im a fan and watching these discussions closely as I'm done buying purely fuel supplied cars. Done. Will never buy another gas only vehicle. My next will be hybrid or plug in EV...

One of my wife's nieces bought a hybrid car. As many young people, she is quite idealistic about protecting the environment. She recently had to replace it with a new car, and this time it was a regular ICE car. I have not talked to her to learn the reason, but heard that she had enough trouble with the hybrid and did not want a repeat.

What a shame, as a hybrid car would work so well for her on the congested LA freeways.

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack However, is it also true an autopilot equipped Tesla will change lanes if the driver just signals? Or maybe only when nav is enabled?

Yes, that's exactly right. You can tell the car to change lanes by fully depressing the turn signal stalk but only when in the proper mode.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack I don’t understand the logic that would have the car move to the left lane, but if a driver sees a faster car approaching from behind, she could just turn on the right turn signal and the car would change lanes and maintain.

Yes, you can always override at any point by signaling that you want it to change lanes or by taking control.

Here's how it works when in Navigate on Autopilot:

You're driving at 65 MPH and you're coming up to a car driving 62 (you can specify this differential).

Depending on another option you set, the car will either ask you to confirm the lane change (by turning the wheel slightly), or it will go ahead and make the lane change automatically. You can override the change (e.g. if you see a car approaching). It will only make the change when it's safe.

After passing the car, it will sometimes change out of the passing lane but sometimes not.

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tn3sport So, does the OP really let the battery go to 10% charge before a recharge? is that recharge interval in the map realistic?

That's an option you set in the route planner (ABetterRoutePlanner.com—not run by Tesla):



I simply hadn't set it (10% is the default). 10% would be about 31 miles for our car. I'd probably want 20% or more for going through the Nevada desert.

Tesla's onboard route planner is similar.

I think it's realistic based on the experience of others on the Tesla forums, etc. The onboard planner monitors things along the way, so it will warn you if anything's changed (no first-hand experience with this yet).

There are lots of fun videos on Tesla road trips.

Here's one by a Valley Girl that's kind of "random" (Valley Girl talk, apparently). At one point they have to reroute because they didn't have enough juice (10:09).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_ZYxEkvrF8

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I don’t think it’s a good idea to drive significantly above the speed limit just because everyone else is doing it. I don’t let people intimidate me because I’m trying to obey the law and they want to drive like a maniac. If I need to move over to a slower lane I will do that. But some people have the idea that it’s OK to speed if everyone else is. It is not.

Sounds good, but not necessarily safer to travel at much lower speed than the flow. In most major cities, Chicago to be sure, almost no one drives the speed limit on major roads. On the TriState-I 294, the average speed must be 70-75mph - driving 55 mph is more likely to cause an accident. Parts of I 294 have a 55 mph speed limit posted, but I'd be surprised if 1% are going that slow in fair weather.

And as far as I can tell, few observe the slow and fast lane construct anymore (except maybe on interstates well outside cities where slower cars may stay in the right lane).

[NW-Bound]

In more than one instance while driving on European freeways (Spain, Portugal, France), I was driving at or a bit less than the legal limit, and found myself having to keep changing lane to pass the slower trucks. So, I thought it was safe for me to maintain the center lane in order to pass the trucks, while still allowing the faster cars to pass me on the leftmost lane.

Nope! Faster drivers would come up behind me and flash their headlights. Good grief! Could they not pass me on the leftmost lane? Or is that reserved for Ferraris and Lambos that could go 150mph? This was not in Germany where one could go as fast as he wanted.

PS. I need to add that when the above happened, the freeway was not at all congested, and sparsely occupied. Apparently, what I did was not according to the local etiquette. Or did they pick on me with the rental car?

[TromboneAl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Midpack And as far as I can tell, few observe the slow and fast lane construct anymore (except maybe on interstates well outside cities where slower cars may stay in the right lane).

Fortunately, that's where we find ourselves. Definitely fewer aggressive and obnoxious drivers here.

I remember driving in Long Beach in 2007 and commenting that: "'at the speed limit' in LA means about 10 MPH slower than everyone else; it makes you feel like a rock in a stream."

[TromboneAl]

I made a video today showing how the Tesla will change lanes when it sees a lot of cones next to it. The cones mark off a closed rest area. The car then stays in the passing lane, though that may be because there's a slower car ahead. I signaled for it to change back, first pushing it just a little, and then more firmly.

Lena's recording the video while I'm driving (car in autopilot):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Es42lU0M6-Q

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TromboneAl I made a video today showing how the Tesla will change lanes when it sees a lot of cones next to it. The cones mark off a closed rest area. The car then stays in the passing lane, though that may be because there's a slower car ahead. I signaled for it to change back, first pushing it just a little, and then more firmly. Lena's recording the video while I'm driving (car in autopilot):

Thanks for the video, that was interesting. After watching it, I'm guessing not only could there be more cones, but you can actually be issued a ticket in many jurisdictions for excessive lane changing. Now, I don't think any officer would issue one for you moving away from a potential hazard and then moving back over at the earliest opportunity, but the software isn't able to make those kinds of value judgements...yet! EDIT: My point was, I think the software may be programmed to limit lane changes to X per minute unless there's a hazard that overrides that, and moving out of the passing lane wouldn't qualify.

[ncbill]

Haven't LIDAR systems gotten a whole lot cheaper recently?

Think there's a chance Tesla will switch over?

[eroscott]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Or the software can be programmed to turn the right blinker on, and to go back to the right lane.

It does that with "Navigate on Autopilot (aka NoA)" blog about it below:
https://www.tesla.com/blog/introduci...gate-autopilot

It has had some regression on how well it moves out of the way in the fast lane or switches to a faster lane (there are settings) over the different OTA updates.

AND there have been regulation changes in Europe as well as the laws can vary by state and certain roads if the left is *only* legally used for passing.

I used NoA on my summer 5500 mile Tesla trip as well as as 1500 mile trip south with good success. It can be useful for it to get to the correct lane when there are 'Y' in the roads or when you are getting close to exits and you are in the middle of conversations or listening to S.Y.S.K., etc.

[eroscott]

An example of what the Tesla camera see from all they places they have cameras.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Tightwad Nope. I can tell you don't have any experience charging an EV. Tesla usually has 8-14 superchargers (and some are 24 in the US, and 50 in China) at each location. Let's say you're at a location with 12. If you charge from 50% to 80%, it takes 20 minutes. That means even if the chargers were at full capacity, someone is done charging and pulls away in less than two minutes, ON AVERAGE. So if your 12 charger location was completely full, you would wait 3-4 minutes, ON AVERAGE, in your example. As for the guy that took 45 minutes in your example? If your car is done charging you get a 5 minute grace period before you get charged $1 a minute for blocking other people. That keeps people from lingering once your Tesla is charged. I have been to a supercharger 8 times in the last week. None were full. Zero wait each time. Only 15% of Tesla owners use the superchargers. I do because it's free for me.

Sure I don't have an EV.
So you are saying that if there are 12 occupied that folks line up far away to wait one at a time for the next one to become free ?
Unlike gas pumps where a line forms for each pump, and often I find I didn't pick the fastest one.

I do like the $1/minute idea, that would make sure folks hustle along, I wonder if all chargers (not just Tesla ones) have that feature ?