Oh dear, what have I done

[Stinsy]

My XC90 PHEV had an automatic heated steering wheel. And glorious it was too. I’m sure it saved energy because you can tolerate a colder cabin if you have warm hands.

[Joeboy]

Same here on the leaf Tekna. How did we ever get by without!

[nowty]

Up in the north again seeing my folks. Overnight before setting off I had an Octopus Intelligent failure of the final charging slot. Not an Octopus issue, but there was more than an hour between the final two slots and my charger has a habit of self locking after an hour of inactivity so I had to set off on my 250 mile journey with 95% SOC.

But I still made it non stop and arrived with 17% SOC left, and drove at very similar speeds all the way to my previous identical journey. Last time in early Oct, I set off with 100% and arrived with 16%, but its now colder although still reasonably mild for December. So I think Zen was a bit too conservative with the range when the battery was new, but now maybe has learnt a little.

Also I decided to leave the gas boiler still switched off back home and so far, SWMBO says the house is warm, has hot water and is automatically behaving itself.

[Joeboy]

So swmbo is kicking ass towards the Octopus gas reduction goal? Nice one!

[nowty]

Back home again now after the 250 mile return journey, there was a bit less traffic so I drove a bit faster when I could. Started to think like a grand prix driver with the supercharger being a tyre change. Do I spank it all the way but need a 10 or 15 min one stop strategy or do it a little slower for the non stop strategy and maybe still get home sooner.

Zen started off giving me the usual pessimistic, stay under 65 to get to your destination, then changed its mind to stay under 70, then stay under 75. Changing from the M42 to the M40 is the exact half way point for me and I had 52% SOC.

Decided to attempt it non stop and the closer home I got, the more certain I was going to make it, although no doubt the battery was going to be low in single figures SOC.

For the whole journey Zen was pretty spot on with the destination estimate of SOC, started with a 9% estimate, went as low as 4% but for the last 120 miles Zen kept its destination estimate at 7% no matter how I drove and I arrived back with 7%.

Did the 250 mile journey in about 3h 40mins which is about as quick as I could do in the old Ford Focus, so happy with that.

[Mart]

Hiya Nowty, did the accelerator pedal get heavy at th end of that trip? On a long haul I got back with 4%, but I could have lifted off a bit, so it was fairly well managed, but at the 7% or 8% mark, I noticed my right foot starting to tire a bit and realised that the accelerator pedal had got harder to push. I was doing about 85, as it was later and quiet, and all motorway/dual carraigeway, so that may be relevant to the pedal pressure?

I wouldn't want to gamble on it, but the TM3 LR should have around 25 miles left when it reaches zero percent ...... should have!

[nowty]

Hiya Nowty, did the accelerator pedal get heavy at th end of that trip? On a long haul I got back with 4%, but I could have lifted off a bit, so it was fairly well managed, but at the 7% or 8% mark, I noticed my right foot starting to tire a bit and realised that the accelerator pedal had got harder to push. I was doing about 85, as it was later and quiet, and all motorway/dual carraigeway, so that may be relevant to the pedal pressure?

I wouldn't want to gamble on it, but the TM3 LR should have around 25 miles left when it reaches zero percent ...... should have!

I saw about a dozen other Tesla's on my journey and I passed them all but not particularly quickly, I find most (maybe all) Telsla drivers are quite considerate. I had a nice play with a Porsche with a roaring engine, I didn't pass him but I think I made him realise I could of easily if I wanted to.

The penultimate bit was the fastest bit for me as the last 10 miles has a 50mph average speed roadworks section, so I knew even if it was looking a bit marginal, when you drop down to around 50mph you can add another 50% or so to the range you get compared with the more "normal" motorway speeds.

As a test, I floored it during the last 1/4 mile from arriving at my house and was surprised that the acceleration felt was just as good as when I started the journey. One thing I love about the TM3 LR is the accuracy and slight conservativeness of the range. I have never (yet) had any range anxiety with it at all.

[Mart]

Anyone interested to see what happens when ~1tonne of tree lands on a TM3 glass roof?

Tesla Owner Saved By Glass Roof When Car Crushed With 2000 Pound Tree

[Joeboy]

Outstanding, Sam just got his Xmas present!

[nowty]

Anyone interested to see what happens when ~1tonne of tree lands on a TM3 glass roof?

Tesla Owner Saved By Glass Roof When Car Crushed With 2000 Pound Tree

I doubt you could invent a worse type of destruction test for the roof, the tree had snapped off and was in freefall, you can see the car actually bounce from the impact.