It is six years since I took delivery of a brand new Nissan Leaf, four years since I replaced it with a used Nissan Leaf, and two years since I passed that car onto my son so I could take ownership of a new Tesla Model 3. My 100-per-cent electric driving experience is becoming very long term. In fact, it comprises ten per cent of my life. Any regrets? None. Driving is a pleasure. It is relaxing, smooth, controlled, precise, often semi-autonomous; and when I can justify the dropping of my right foot, exhilarating.
For this, my fifth essay on owning the Model 3, there isn't a huge amount to report. The car is consistent and reliable. Nothing has broken. Everything works as it should. The software continues to be improved gradually and the car's efficiency is also getting better. To use a wonderful South Carolina phrase, I'm as happy as a clam!
Phantom braking
I will relate the handful of stories that I have about the car, the first of which concerns a phenomenon many Tesla owners get annoyed about - phantom braking. This is when one is going along the motorway at 70mph and the car is doing the work because Autopilot is engaged. Autopilot is Tesla's traffic-aware cruise control with excellent lane keeping capability. It is both steering and controlling the speed, slowing for a vehicle if front if needs be. My job during this time is to pay attention and keep a slight torque on the steering wheel so it knows I haven't fallen asleep or died. It is truly excellent. But when phantom braking occurs, it does so suddenly and for no apparent reason. The car will heavily apply the brakes by itself.
It seems that this unpleasant action by the car is due to some mismatch between the information coming from its radar and its vision system. The car has eight cameras that look all around. Three face forward. Maybe a reflection from an overhead gantry has caused it, or perhaps a lorry is a little too far to the right side of its lane. There are many suggestions in the forums as to what might cause it. I've certainly been able to pin some instances to occasions when going around a right-hand band on a 2-lane 'A' road, and a large vehicle has come the other way. As it drives under Autopilot, the car is constantly looking ahead, determining the shape of the bends so it can keep to the centre of the lane. It therefore seems to me that one cause of phantom braking is uncertainty about the lanes sufficient that it couldn't be sure that my lane was clear, hence the braking.
Recently, it seems that when phantom braking does occur, it is much less brutal than before and I feel Tesla must have wound this property back via an over-the-air software update. In future, Tesla intend to no longer use the radar as part of its sensor suite and rely instead on its vision system to determine what's ahead. The cars being built now do not have a radar unit installed.
Gleaming Falcon
I've related before about how I had intended to get the car ceramic coated as soon as I bought it and how circumstances thwarted me. At last, it is done and I did it myself. A tiny bottle of Shelby ceramic cost me £35, about a tenth of the cost of hiring a professional, and the car now looks great. When washed, it gleams. It's easier to wash because the hydrophobic surface shrugs off the water, taking dirt with it. I love the effect when it rains, covering the car with shimmering droplets.
I actually bought the coating as part of a kit and I now wash the car with ceramic-infused car shampoo that I think helps to maintain the coat. The kit also included two microfibre cloths, a small supply of make-up pads to apply the coating and a detailing spray that I've no idea how I'm supposed to use. I've probably only used about a third of the ceramic coating bottle for a single coat. I ought to emphasise that I am not one of those OCD car-detailing types who fret over every tiny scratch or other blemish. My standards are far lower, but I am delighted with how good the car looks, even with my meagre care.
Thunk!
Speaking of blemishes, the rash of damage from the reality of existing in Scotland continues to be added to the surface. Only a few weeks ago, I parked at the busy Green Welly Stop in Tyndrum. Another car pulled in beside me and a woman got out. She appeared to be fussing about around the driver's seat with the door at its first detent position. As she continued to bustle about, I watched as her door began to move to its second detent. I knew instinctively that the final position for that detent would be within the mold line of my car. Thunk! I felt my car rock slightly as the door hit the front nearside wheel arch and I immediately launched out of my seat to inspect the damage.
Bless her, she was so sorry and gave me honest contact details. There was a slight deformation of my car's aluminium skin but later, I was able to remove the traces of her car's paint from the panel and decided not to pursue it. Not worth the hassle.
Efficiency
Using the car's trip recorders, I keep note of the miles travelled and the energy used. The car returns a figure for the overall watt-hours required to travel each mile. I reset one of these recorders every six months. The latest result is very encouraging. My first winter required 270 Wh/mile. The second winter saw this figure drop to 262 Wh/mile. The summer of 2020 required 238 Wh/mile while summer 2021 saw the figure drop to 226 Wh/mile.
Possible reasons for the improvement might be tweaks by Tesla as they regularly update the vehicle's software. Certainly when I first acquired the car, I was demonstrating its impressive acceleration to folk on a regular basis, a notoriously inefficient use of the available power. That rarely occurs now. Perhaps I'm unconciously becoming more efficient when driving the car; lighter on the pedal and becoming more adept at one-pedal control. Whatever the cause, it is pleasing to see, especially given that conventional cars are reputed to lose their efficiency over time.
Charging issues.
I buy my electricity from a company called Octopus. They have an off-peak rate called Octopus Go which costs only 5 pence/kWh between 00:30 and 04:30. If the car gives 4 miles/kWh (and it can), means that my 'fuel' cost is only 1.25 pence/mile, a remarkably low rate. I used this for a while before trying a variable rate that changed every half hour based on the wholesale cost of power. This scheme didn't prove to be particularly cost effective so I have returned to Octopus Go. Funny thing is that it took me a ridiculously long time to work out how to have the car start charging automatically at 00:30. All sorted now.
The rise of the EV
Two years ago, when I got the Model 3, they were rare. Other 3 drivers would occasionally wave. Now they are very common. It's not unusual to see a few out on a typical journey around town. So are EVs from other manufacturers and often there is little to distinguish many of the current models from conventional cars without close inspection.
I see many attempts in social media to discredit EVs. Folk will claim that they are worse for the environment than what they replace. That the batteries take so much power to make, to then be thrown away after only a few years. Such claims cherry pick information or are just plain wrong and I don't give them much time. It is clear that very few people who move to an EV have any desire to go back. The few downsides of EVs (initial cost and inadequate range) are being addressed by a relentless march to drive down costs and improve battery technology. We're in the middle of a disruptive change not dissimilar to the rise of the smartphone, and one that is probably far more significant.
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