Chris M.

Tesla owners have noticed a change in the behavior of their cars, specifically in the performance models such as the P85 and the P90DL, where the performance of the cars doesn't seem to match previous or listed results. User wk057 has done some pretty extensive reverse engineering, modifications, and looking into the internal systems of the car, including the battery pack. On TeslaMotorsClub what started as a thread about battery pack capacities not matching advertized amounts, rated amount of available energy doesn't even match the car's own reported energy , turned into a thread called Pack Performance and Launch Mode Limits . This thread has kicked off a bit of a firestorm as these performance limits weren't documented or disclosed. It appears pretty clear that Tesla is counting the number of Launches (done through launch mode), as well as the number of Wide Open Throttle (WoT) events. When those counts go beyond some predefined values the car will reduce the am...

I attended CES 2017 in Las Vegas. Booking the trip late I ended up on Spirit airlines. It was both non-stop, making it six hours to Las Vegas from Boston, and affordable, less than $300 for a one way trip compared to around $700 with JetBlue. Here are some tips that might help you when travelling on Spirit from Boston Logan airport. Eat Spirit is located in the B-terminal, gates B-37 and 38, with its own TSA security checkpoint. While it does have restrooms and places to sit the food selection is limited to a single food stand. I'd recommend eating at the Legal C Bar (number 77 in the image below) prior to going through the terminal security checkpoint. The food and service there were great. Drink The water and other drinks are cheaper if you buy them at the food cart rather than on the flight. Seats The seats on Spirit don't recline. They do this to reduce weight, seat cost, seat maintenance costs, and so seats don't impact the free space of other passengers,...

Faraday Future (FF) unveiled their FF91 electric car at CES 2017 in Las Vegas this past week. Some of the highlights from their presentation: 2.39s 0 - 60 mph, faster than the Tesla Model S P100D 130 kW battery (Tesla's largest is 100 kWh) Autonomous driving. And they demoed parking in this video: Here is their booth on the floor of the show: There were quite a few FF employees attending the show. Normal attendees were kept away from the car but some people were let inside of the area and able to get up close and take a look at it. My take on Faraday future I'm an engineer and an owner of a Tesla Model S. I'm also an investor in Tesla. I'm not skeptical of FF because they are competing with Tesla or claim to be building a better car. There is plenty of room in the EV market for well built vehicles. Due to the growth in the EV market FF could sell tens of thousands of vehicles per year without much impact on Tesla's sales. I'm a fan of E...