This article is not directly related to electric car charging, but it may help someone in choosing and buying a TESLA Model S.
If you are buying a new vehicle, the seller will be happy to provide you with a lot of information. But what if you are considering buying a used vehicle of this type? In this case, this article is intended for you.
In this article you will learn:
Why the Model S?
How should you choose a Model S?
What is the range of the TESLA Model S?
What affects the range of an electric car?
What should you pay special attention to?
What needs to be done after buying a vehicle?
Why the Model S?
Because when I made my choice, the available driven TESLA production came out as the most reasonable alternative for both work and family use:
- decent interior space even for 5 people
- relatively large luggage compartment
- the possibility of folding the rear backrests and occasionally transporting larger items, a bicycle...
- pleasant driving characteristics
- higher quality processing and interior materials compared to model 3
- a lot of equipment from which you can choose what you really need
- the possibility of adjusting the height of the chassis (mainly for people moving occasionally in worse snow conditions)
- display also in front of the driver, somehow I'm just used to having the instrument panel in front of the driver :)
- the option of a free Supercharger on the VIN of the vehicle
- 8-year warranty on battery and motors
So how should you choose a Model S?
In any case, I recommend answering the following questions:
- will I use all 4-wheel drive? So we are interested in the version with the letter D at the end. For example 75 D or P90 D .
- do I need the longest possible range? In this case, a version with a 90kWh or 100kWh battery. I will discuss the details of the journey below.
- will I use the adjustable chassis height? In that case, we have to carefully monitor the equipment, this element has up to 20% of the S models on the market.
- do I want autopilot? Personally, yes, although rather as a possibility for the future - it is still quite limited within EU regulations. In any case, I'd be looking at a car built after 2016 where they've already officially put the full hardware on autopilot and the rest is a matter of software package/on-board computer update. At the same time, every single car already has autopilot functions: emergency automatic braking, lane keeping and a system for solving risky vehicle avoidance. Personally, I would rather recommend the models after 2016, because the seats have already undergone changes, which are significantly better, the display in front of the driver supports the autopilot of the newer generation, the cars already have fully LED lights that shine absolutely amazingly and other little things that were changed as part of the facelift. I will discuss this in more detail in one paragraph below.
- do I want to enjoy extreme dynamic parameters? In this case, we are interested in the version with the letter P at the beginning of the model designation. For example, P 90 or P 90D - P means that the car has a double rear engine. The most extreme will be the version with an extra charge of the so-called Ludicrous mode, which has a power of over 700 horses...
- Other things are more or less a matter of equipment preferences. In the TESLA Model S, you can have, for example, a panoramic glass roof (all-glass, non-opening), an openable sunroof (I suspect only from 2016 to 2019), heated front and rear seats, additional 21" rims (not a completely suitable option for Slovak roads ), additional child seats behind the second row of seats facing the direction of travel (a bit strange, but a legal thing), a black Alcantara headliner... The options are quite wide, but the truth is that a lot of the equipment a normal person needs is already in the Model S itself basically :)
What is the range of the Model S?
Let's skip the official data, which starts with the 75kWh model somewhere at 470km and ends with the 100kWh version at 630km... However, the reality is a bit different. In practice, of course, you can theoretically reach almost these values, or let's put it 10% lower, but we are talking about driving around districts at a relatively constant speed that will not exceed 90-100 km/h with minimal use of heating and air conditioning. However, if you use the vehicle in a completely normal way, you will reach values about 100 km lower than the indicated paper value. However, a different situation can arise during highway use, especially at speeds well exceeding the permitted limits, in which case you will easily reach half of the stated range. From this you must also see the suitability of the electric vehicle for your use. An important detail is also that the designation of the models does not match exactly with the battery capacity, therefore the indicated ranges do not "fit" linearly with the declared battery capacity, you can find more accurate data in the technical specifications of your car (it means that if you have a P90D model, in fact, the battery capacity will not be a full 90kW, but something between 85 and 90kWh, but we are going into a little more technical details about that). It follows from the above that your driving style has the most significant influence on the range of electric cars. It is followed immediately by weather conditions and the associated use of air conditioning and vehicle heating. If you have ever used a BMW with a driving economizer in the alarm clock, you will find something similar in the TESLA, but in a more modern graphic form. Based on this indicator, a person can learn within a few weeks what benefits the range and what, on the contrary, destroys it. In my case, thanks to the consumption display, over time I learned to use the car in such a way that I moved significantly below the "paper" consumption (on paper it was 186Wh/km, in reality I was able to go for example 118Wh/km on a 50km route).
Display of the calculated range, instrument panel in front of the driver:
Display of the calculated range, MMC screen, the upper charging limit is set with a dashed line (beneficial for battery life):
In my opinion, the TESLA Model S is ideal for drivers who drive up to 300-400 km a day. Otherwise, it is necessary to count on charging along the route. I know people who also use TESLA for work trips throughout the EU, because navigation in TESLA can plan your journey even with stops on chargers, where you can see the time and how long you will be there. Considering the extreme performance of Superchargers, where you can normally charge over 550 km/h, these scheduled stops are surprisingly short, within 30-50 minutes. It remains questionable whether this is exactly for you if you drive hundreds of kilometers long routes every day. I personally consider long routes to be the only weakness of these currently unrivaled cars.
What should you pay special attention to when buying?
First of all, focus on the condition of the vehicle and batteries. Use the possibility of a vehicle status report, the list of cell status and the charging history of the given vehicle will tell you a lot about the battery.
List of battery cell status: List of battery parameters and related technology:
Each TESLA records the number of charge and discharge cycles in the computer memory, but mainly the amount of kWh charged on superchargers (fast TESLA chargers) and on regular chargers/recovered energy. Of course, faster charging has a more significant effect on battery degradation, so we prefer to look at a car that has been charged more on a standard home charger than on a supercharger. The given statement can be obtained from the vehicle diagnostics, where the data is recorded in relatively great detail. If we were not so concerned about battery degradation, cars that were mainly charged at Superchargers usually drive like taxis (quick and mainly cheap charging for the operator) or were operated on long routes. This usually goes hand in hand with a higher average annual mileage. For taxi services in big cities, two-year-old Teslas usually have 160-200 thousand km. I don't want to say that these cars are a write-off, they are not, but personally I would think twice about buying them precisely because of the operating conditions and mostly fast charging.
Rough listing of charging records: Detailed listing of charging parameters and history:
In the next part, I would focus on the condition of the vehicle and the possible guarantee that the vehicle was not seriously damaged. This can be checked from the service history statement and by a possible inspection/check of the originality of the vehicle, where all insurance payments registered by insurance companies are part of the statement. TESLA "sees" its cars online, so it is difficult to hide an accident from them. By default, the car is limited and blocks some functions online after an accident, and only after repair at the TESLA service is the car "unblocked" for normal use. The same basically applies to the state of mileage, where everything is recorded in the online system, so any "winding up" here is basically not even realistically possible.
Display of mileage, data is transferred to TESLA online records:
It is important that no error message lights up in the car, for example, regarding the malfunction of some part of the electronics (radio, GPS, Spotify), with which there may subsequently be bigger problems. The on-board computer of this car is indeed a powerful computer, denoted by the abbreviation MMC, which in certain versions may suffer from some congenital defects/settings. If it's in the breakdown stage, keep your hands off that car. The repair is unpleasant, it can be quite expensive, and it is difficult to determine whether the given error will be a banality, where only the SD memory card of the GPS module will be changed, or whether the TEGRA module will need to be replaced or, in the worst case, the entire MMC... No one will confirm these things for you in advance and even seemingly banality can have a serious consequence.
But last but not least, it is necessary to check the required equipment, so that the car has everything we want :)
What needs to be done after buying a vehicle?
One of the advantages of TESLA vehicles is the possibility of remote access to the vehicle from your phone. Through this, you can view the vehicle's charging status, interrupt charging, or remotely ventilate or unlock the car. You can also warm up the car before driving, or see where the car is currently located... All this very simply and elegantly with a few clicks. Both Android and iOS operating systems are supported.
You might think that this is not at all necessary for me to have, but beware. TESLA solves absolutely everything through this remote access, i.e. also ordering a service, possibly recall service actions or online inspection of the car if something is not right. Therefore, the "online" transfer of ownership in the TESLA system is indeed an important step after the purchase, and sometimes it is not a quick or easy process (if the online transfer is blocked by the previous owner, leasing company, etc.). Therefore, request the seller's cooperation in this operation in advance. Even before this process, it is necessary to create your own TESLA account on the webwww.tesla.com, where you subsequently have your vehicle assigned to you and only then do you pair this account in the mobile application, where your vehicle will appear.
Display of vehicle status in online applications via smartphone - parking, driving (location can be displayed on the map by clicking)...
Last but not least, the installation of a home charger, a so-called wallbox, should be considered. The S model has an on-board charger with a power of 11kW, which allows you to charge with a current of 3*16A, which after calculation means approx. 60km/h. If you would like to use a single-phase 220V charger, it will charge you at a speed of approx. 16-20 km/h. Compared to a classic three-phase socket, charging through a wallbox has the following advantages:
- easier connection and disconnection of the vehicle
- much higher process safety, control of leakage of AC/DC currents and stopping of charging in the event of a dangerous phenomenon
- temperature monitoring during charging
- control and measurement of charged kWh into the vehicle
- access control to the socket (RFID card), impossible to abuse the socket and at the same time higher safety for children than the classic 380V socket in front of the house
Displaying TESLA in applications while charging on the wallbox:
Facelift versus pre-facelift of the S model
I will try to write down the differences in the form of bullet points, the list may not be complete, I may have missed something.
EXTERIOR:
- front mask without the black "cooler" part, the bumper is all in the same color
- front lights are fully LED with extended functionality, pre-facelift has xenon lights
- several parts are painted in body color
- there is no longer a chrome element of the tear-off edge of the diffuser on the rear bumper
Interior:
- the central console received a "shelf" inside and the lower part of the tunnel is divided into two boxes (the charger is usually installed in the back)
- the seats are of the second generation, better, better seating, better support for the back
- the display in front of the driver is of a newer generation with a higher resolution and support for the newer generation autopilot
- many elements of additional equipment became standard after the facelift, but they canceled something (the opening sunroof is no longer there since 2019)
TECHNOLOGY:
- full autopilot hardware is standard in the facelift, the selected package is a matter of package software/on-board computer update
- a new generation of "radar", transferred under the Tesla sign
- the on-board charger has a power of 11kW, the possibility of a double charger has been canceled (it can be increased to 16kW for a fee)
- battery cells are said to be of improved construction (information from unofficial sources)
- the charging connector has an electric drive to open and close the cover flap after charging (don't forget to close it)
- The HEPA filter is much larger, in addition with the function of Bioweapon-defense mode (each after facelift)
- the on-board modem has LTE/4G network connectivity, before the facelift it only had 3G connectivity (important, a car without connectivity will lose some functions and the Internet)
Above is the pre-facelift version, below it is the facelift version. Notice the central part of the front bumper and the detail of the lights, this is the main distinguishing feature. At the back, a chrome detail of the bumper diffuser.
