Tesla Model S Performance, Range, and Charging Experience
A detailed account of a weekend test drive of a Tesla Model S reveals significant discrepancies between advertised specs and real-world performance. The vehicle, driven from Austin to Bryan-College Station, Texas, achieved approximately 180 miles of range despite claims of 350 miles. The experience was characterized by "white-knuckle" range anxiety, noisy low-profile tires, and a frustrating charging process at Texas A&M University that required specific membership apps rather than standard credit cards.
tesla model s· elon musk· electric vehicles· range anxiety· college station· charging stations· autosteer
00:00 Nowadays, arrest them. White-knuckling through the battery car experience and broadcasting live from the capital of the drone star state here in downtown Austin, Tejas. In The Cluedio! In The Morning everybody I'm Adam Curry And from northern Silicon Valley where i'm feeling my oats and they're making a mess all over my hands I'm John C Dvorak It's Crackpot & Buzzkill In The Mornin' Uh... What? What?! What about your oats messing up your hand
00:43 I was feeling my oats, and had a handful. Oh! Is Mimi writing for you again? No. Okay. My materials is far superior Well we almost didn't have a show John What happened? Bah...I uh Did you get protested by the kids? Nah nah nah no no I had a full on overnight point of no return test drive in a battery car It crapped out? No, no it didn't crap out but The former New York banker, he needed to go to Galveston and I've always said hey you know anytime you need my truck take the truck leave the Tesla with me. So we call he calls me up says I gotta take my kid to Galveston then the Tesla can't make it so well this weekend I happen be going to Bryan College Station
01:35 Which is 110 miles from Austin? Oh yeah, no problem. You can go round trip on the Tesla No! No sir. I mean...no. No, no, no The Tesla will do really real road performance about 180 miles No, no that's not true. Yeah okay I just did this! I'm just telling you I've seen the specs. Yes I've heard what Elon said. Oh Elon! Specshmek Who am i supposed to believe? You or Elon? Do you mind if I just run through my experience so we can have a final on the battery car known as Tesla Go
02:17 So he's all worried. He's like, oh you won't make it so now I'm staying overnight don't worry about it find a place second He owns the car yes And he says you won't make it when it's a known fact they do 350 miles 350 miles which Tesla is that I'd buy all of them. No, I don't know which one he has the S90? I don't know which model... I think that's the hot rod it's a hot rod oh it's a hot rod we already discussed this so I've driven this before but never done an overnight and then he was like well you know you get to charge it and it takes you know eight hours dude don't tell me anything at this would be great for the show or we won't have a show so let me try it out
03:02 He says okay, that's funny do that. Okay great So I get in the car and I'd driven it before but i'm sitting there And he drives off from the truck like shit. I forgot how to start this thing That's how stupid It was like oh you don't have to start it if you just got to put into drive I couldn't I was looking for a button You know Like my truck has a button you press the button the car starts so that's how disoriented I was But anyway I remember how it works. I start driving and he left me with about, it said 200 miles on the... on the range, the range meter. So I started driving now this is a multiple roads it's 290 71 21 so there's you know the roads aren't really great highways all the way and some surface issues which man you drive in a Tesla on a poorly surfaced road it's noisy its very noisy
03:58 And I'd also forgot, yeah. Oh yeah, I think the tires or something it's low profile tires. Low profile tires are the worst. Very very noisy and i've forgotten that you actually have to keep your hand on the steering wheel when you do the auto steer And it says after, oh put your hands on the wheel. Like okay and I kept forgetting this because it's just plugging along 65 miles an hour. It's steering itself like ah love this thing. Can't you get some clip-on hands? Well I'll tell you a couple of things You don't want that because these roads, you know sometimes there's a little construction it splits off at least twice I had to really grab the wheel and disengage because it would have taken me off into the Into the side of the of the range of the drink. Yes It's not hazard style. It's not that great If you really don't you really don't want to take but I did keep my hands off three times and then it goes bing-bing
04:55 Uh, AutoSteer no longer available for this trip you stupid slave. He get put in jail! You get put in the auto steering jail. And you have to pull over, you gotta put it in park and then... ...then you can use the auto steer again But I'm telling you John No one should rely on this auto steer Unless your on a proper highway with at least three lanes You really don't want to do this! I am telling you two times Really I would've gone off... yeah Dukes of Hazzard style Anyway so I get there Remember I started out with 100 and well little under 200 I get there, and I've got four... no, I have 35 miles left. It's a 110-mile trip so already the battery thing is like your phone you know it tells you got a couple hours but then when you get right down to it you really don't yeah you got 15 minutes yeah and um I had to find a charger in just a hotel well you already met one
05:55 But you had already mapped it out, so this was not a problem. No I had downloaded... You got to get a million apps! You gotta get Charge Station and you gotta get EVgo. You have to understand what the different charging options are level 1 level 2 and then the big honker which is the supercharger which pretty much only exists at Tesla stores i think? Yeah I'm out here in California. Yeah sure in California but not in Texas So I'm like, now luckily this is Aggieland. This is Texas A&M so they got a big campus and sure enough there's a whole bunch of Chargers but they're all three miles away because it's you know... It's College Station everything's three miles away. So I'm driving around and yeah You ever been on campus in the weekend? And all the gates are up and down that thing's like a penitentiary Texas A&M is a fucking jail
06:48 Everything is a gate this cameras looking at your license plate scanning you before you can go in I feel I finally find the garage after trying to pull into one that had a charging station but was only for students and now i'm down like 15 miles you know it's... So you're getting white knuckle? I'm getting low battery warnings. We're going to shut- This is great because this is the worst part of it, I've tested all these electric cars and the white knuckle thing is the worst! Yeah well and I'm like You know you can't go get a can of gas So and it's giving me these warnings, and you know which flash on and off they go away before You can really read them properly as we're gonna shut down stuff like what are you gonna? Shut down. Yeah, it shut down the heated seat shuts down the air conditioning is getting a little okay finally I'm in the garage there It is the charger And now I really start to realize what all of this entails because you have to have you bet to be a member Of The Charger Network
07:45 So it says hold your card. I don't have a card, i just want to charge! I need some power and this is a level 2 so there's really no more than 220 volts and you know you jam that in and it'll take...I think it gives you 18 miles per hour that you sit there charging. Let me get this straight instead of accepting a normal credit card or American Express It requires you actually be a member. Yes, oh wait let me guess why because it serves alcohol? I think it would be for tracking purposes You really don't feel very free in this ecosystem
08:23 So now luckily, well you can download their app and we know what that means they get all your information And then you can sign up with your credit card with your name. So now they have everything on me I can't just anonymously tap up or tank up or top-up? I have to tell them who I am then you can use your phone as the you know, the near the NFC near field communication click okay and then you can finally start and you put it in and You know, I walked away and of course I had to drop a pin tell Tina where it was so she'd come and pick me up in her car. Her gas car? Her gas car! Her gas guzzler! Her horrible climate change causing vehicle...
09:09 So, you know I and like how do i know that you know it's still charging? Yeah what happens if the craps out in the middle of the charge decides to stop. Well... The app doesn't say oh well wait wait wait! You're a member of the club and you've got this app and all so if that happens your are immediately alerted Possibly. Look, so I got enough charge we still had to leave last night at 10 o'clock it's a good two-hour drive certainly at night So it really only charged for six hours when we left I had 155 miles to go I got in on like a Penn Light battery charge pretty much into the garage that are placed in downtown Austin
09:53 But you know this car and also after two hours of driving, you don't want to drive this more than it can do. You're tired It's a sports car! It's rough. It's not a smooth ride This product I can't speak for all electric vehicles, but this product the Tesla has got to be one of the stupidest things ever invented and people who buy one are either virtue signaling have too much money or both. It's a it's stupid stupid for in the city. This is not the same report you gave us the last time I don't even know it's not, You're right maybe its because the cars been on the road for a couple of years and I don't know maybe they did an upgrade maybe it was you know the sophomore experience like now this really was not great product in my mind its not great its not good. I would like somebody to find the old clip
