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Despite 302 miles of range when Henry Payne left home in Oakland County, Michigan’s cold weather would degrade the battery so that the Tesla Model 3 would only have 48 percent of range left when it arrived in Marshall, Michigan, 114 miles away (228 mile round trip).\u00a0(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News)<\/span><\/em><\/p>\nTesla announced last week that my Model 3 sedan will soon get a 5 percent increase in power and 15-mile extension in range. In a software update. Delivered over-the-air while my car\u00a0sits in the\u00a0garage.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never owned a car that did that before.<\/p>\n
But I’ve also never had to wait two months for a simple parts repair due to Tesla’s Michigan service model of Mobile Repair Units. With Tesla dealer-service centers banned in the state, a front-bumper sensor repair dragged on for weeks.<\/p>\n
My first Michigan winter with the Model 3 has been full of such paradoxes in a premium brand that has\u00a0defied industry convention. I crave its electric torque, yet am\u00a0anxious about its range limitations. I marvel at its electronic advances, yet worry about quality issues. It’s the coolest car I’ve owned, yet I caution potential\u00a0buyers on its limitations.<\/p>\n
Re-imagining the auto business is central to Tesla\u2019s appeal and a key reason I ordered a $57,000 Model 3 in 2016. From online ordering to smartphone-like updates to electrification to its own dealer network, the\u00a0start-up automaker is challenging industry norms just as tech peers Apple and Amazon upended cellphone and retail markets.<\/p>\n
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and Mercedes-Benz and Volvo\u2019s Polestar brand have followed the Silicon Valley-based company\u2019s lead in connectivity and electrification. But as my experience suggests, the jury is still out on innovations like battery-power\u00a0and mobile service.<\/p>\n
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Detroit News auto critic Henry Payne drove to Eaton’s proving grounds in Marshall, Michigan, in his Tesla Model 3 on a crisp December day.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n\u00a0I left my house on Dec. 4 for a business appointment in Marshall, Michigan, in a Model 3 pregnant with electrons and a significant over-the-air update for autonomous driving.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
I had charged my car to near-capacity, 302-miles range (310 is the max) overnight for the 228-mile round-trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cNavigate to Eaton Corporation, Marshall, Michigan\u201d I barked at the car just as I would Google Maps on my Android phone, and it quickly charted my route. It also told me I would have less than half of battery capacity remaining when I arrived and would have to recharge at a Tesla Supercharger station nearby to get back home.<\/p>\n
What?<\/p>\n
The car\u2019s computer was honest enough to tell me what most EV advocates only whisper \u2014 that battery range degrades significantly in cold weather. At the speed limit in 30-degree December temps, I would only get 70 percent of battery range, burning 154 miles of range to roll up\u00a0114\u00a0miles on the odometer.<\/p>\n
As the mercury dropped below 20 degrees in this winter of the polar vortex, my range has degraded as much as 50 percent.<\/p>\n
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Henry Payne parked his Tesla Model 3 at a Tesla Supercharger in Marshall, Michigan, to load up on electrons for his return home to Oakland County.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\nThis is a common problem for all EVs and why the public has been shy to embrace the technology. They plug into your home and are simple to operate, but can they get you where you want to go on time?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The drive to Marshall was typically invigorating. Not just because of the Model 3\u2019s wicked acceleration and handling (cloverleafs are a blast), but because of the opportunity to test the car\u2019s latest upgrade: navigate on Autopilot.<\/p>\n
Autopilot has been controversial (not least because its name suggests airliner-like full self-driving)\u00a0for allegedly being engaged in numerous accidents. Properly driven as a semi-autonomous Level 2\u00a0system, it is quite good. And it got better with the upgrade.<\/p>\n
Once on the highway, I put the Model 3 on Autopilot, rested my hand on the steering wheel (the car will squawk at you if you go hands-free) and relaxed. When I reached my off-ramp\u00a0the Tesla\u2019s big center screen displayed a blue line suggesting I move right to exit.<\/p>\n
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At the Tesla Supercharger in Marshall, Michigan, Henry Payne set his Tesla Model 3 to charge for a total of 45 minutes — adding a little over 100 miles of range for his journey home.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<\/div>\nI toggled the right turn signal and the Model 3 automatically changed lanes \u2014 but not before my blind-spot indicator lit up red to warn me I should\u00a0let another car pass first. Both features were unavailable before the software update the night before.<\/p>\n
The Model 3 computer had accurately predicted my cold-weather range degradation. With just 148 miles of range left, I would not be able to return home without recharging on the Marshall Supercharger.<\/p>\n
I charged for 45 minutes, adding 110 miles of range for insurance should I need to make a detour. Two other Model 3s shared the station with me, one of them a businessman from Chicago who regularly makes 500-mile round trips to Ann Arbor, stopping twice for lengthy Supercharger refills.<\/p>\n
\u201cBest car I have ever owned,\u201d he said. \u201cBut these long recharging stops are wearing on me.\u201d<\/p>\n
He was considering switching to a gas-powered vehicle to make the trip, leaving the Tesla behind in Chicago as an urban commuter.<\/p>\n
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Henry Payne was visited by a Tesla Mobile Unit to fix a sensor and LTE WiFi card in his Model 3. Mobile Units make house calls so Michigan customers don’t have to take their cars to the nearest service center in Cleveland. Tesla service centers are banned in Michigan by law<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
For all of Tesla’s ambitions as a mass-market automaker, such inconveniences are why many believe EVs are\u00a0niche vehicles limited to urban commuters or luxury enthusiasts with other\u00a0cars in the stable.<\/p>\n
Two more days passed before my first Model 3 service issue since taking delivery in late October.<\/p>\n
Automatic lane-change stopped working, as\u00a0did Summon (another neat trick where you can remote-control-drive the Model 3 out of a tight parking space). I called my service center …\u00a0in Cleveland.<\/p>\n
Michigan is one of 27 states at war with Tesla dealer\/service centers (though it allows Tesla \u201cgalleries\u201d where cars can be seen\u00a0but not ordered). If\u00a0I was to get serviced, it would be by house-call from a Mobile Unit.<\/p>\n
The good news was\u00a0the service center knew what was wrong (and my car was otherwise perfectly driveable).<\/p>\n
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In addition to replacing a broken sensor at Payne’s home, the Tesla Model Unit mechanic ran a diagnostic check to make sure everything was in good shape.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/aside>\n\u00a0\u201cYour front-left sensor is out,\u201d said the tech. A rock had knocked it senseless.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cHow do you know that from Cleveland?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019m looking at your car on my computer just like a smartphone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bad news: I would have to wait weeks for a Mobile Repair Unit to show up at my house.<\/p>\n
In Tesla\u2019s backyard where its cars are common, the company uses a mix of dealerships (\u201cstores\u201d in Tesla parlance), over-the-air fixes\u00a0and mobile units for repairs. But in Michigan, where Tesla\u2019s suit overturning the Legislature\u2019s ban on company-owned stores is pending in the state Supreme Court, the automaker is dependent on over-the-air and traveling technicians.<\/p>\n
Given the rapid growth of Model 3 sales to all 50 states, service has been strained and there have been long waits for parts from the mothership.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy top priority this year is making service amazing,\u201d Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a conference call with journalists last week.<\/p>\n
That promise, too, may be paradoxical,\u00a0as Tesla plans to shut down some service centers to cut costs so it can deliver the long-promised base Model 3 at\u00a0$35,000. That will make\u00a0the company even more dependent on mobile\u00a0housecalls.<\/p>\n
My friendly traveling mechanic replaced the sensor\u00a0as well as an LTE Wi-Fi card that had gone bad after just 1,700 miles.<\/p>\n
Tesla owners are beta-testers for\u00a0the most audacious automotive start-up in my lifetime. While waiting for service\u00a0I got an over-the-air software update for security, climate controls … and an electronic whoopee cushion to\u00a0prank passengers.<\/p>\n
Such\u00a0details help make the sometimes-bumpy journey worthwhile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Despite 302 miles of range when Henry Payne left home in Oakland County, Michigan’s cold weather would degrade the battery so that the Tesla Model 3 would only have 48 percent of range left when it arrived in Marshall, Michigan, 114 miles away (228 mile round trip).\u00a0(Photo: Henry Payne, The Detroit News) Tesla announced last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23506"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23506\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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