# Silver Cylon Logs



## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

After spreading out some of my experiences and data, I figured I'd keep a log of our car (code name: Silver Cylon) experiences and stats for future reference. Hat tip to @LUXMAN, @Quicksilver, @Michael Russo and all the other owners who have dedicated spaces for their beauties and gave me this idea.


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## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

Pinecrest Trip Stats:

We recently completed a weekend camping trip to Pinecrest in the Stanislaus National Forest. I was a bit nervous because the nearest supercharger (Manteca) was 80 miles away, and there were no readily available charging options within the Pinecrest lake vicinity, so the climb up the mountain for the last 50 or so miles seemed a bit daunting. We also used to have the aero 18's but this was the first long-distance trip since we installed the stiletto 19-inch wheels.

First Leg: South Bay to SF (drove to the city to pick up family).
Starting charge: 278 miles (~90%)
Arrival: 243 miles
Distance driven: 35 miles
Wh/mi: 243
Payload: ~500 pounds
Comments: Typical Bay Area rush hour drive (yawn) going between 20-50 mph, thankfully most of it was on AP. AC was on and no efforts to really "save" battery as we were heading for a charge later on anyway.

Second Leg: SF to Manteca
Starting charge: 243 miles
Arrival: 163 miles
Distance: 80 miles
Wh/mi: 227
Payload: ~700 pounds
Comments: I really tried to run the battery down here because I wanted to get to Manteca with less than 50% SoC and charge up faster. AC was ~68C and music was on, and I was driving around 70-85mph for most of the trip. No dice, the darn car was still very efficient, and we were foiled because of traffic and construction near Dublin.
My fondest memory of this leg though was our cousin calling to share that he had just been assigned his Model 3 VIN and was super excited about getting his own Tesla very soon.  Also, I kept asking my brother if he was comfortable in the backseat since he is 6'0" tall and was sitting behind my 6'3" husband. He said he was very comfy and had plenty of legroom even though we had a couple of backpacks on the floor.

Lunch Break/Supercharger stop at Manteca:
We plugged in and went to have lunch. After only about 20 minutes, I got a notice that the car was almost done charging (almost at 90% SoC). It was a hoot because we had just sat down and put in our order, so it is very true that, 99% of the time, the car is ready before you are! Thankfully we were planning to charge up to the full 100% so that gave us a little more time.
I also left the AC running in the car to keep our things from baking in the sun. There were a few Model S's around, a couple of X's and another Model 3 also charging at this location. I really liked this stop overall, great food and amenities, and this was one of the fastest charge rates I'd ever seen (72kW at one point).

Third Leg: Manteca to Pinecrest
Starting charge: 304 miles
Arrival: 177 miles
Distance: 87 miles
Wh/mi: 338 (29kWh used)
Payload: ~700 pounds
Comments: Driving this leg, we stayed between 40-60 mph mostly because this was through rural/small town roads and lots of trucks and RVs going slow as well. I was happy at this pace since we wanted to conserve energy. At one point, we passed a blue Model 3 near the exit for Yosemite, and I blinked my lights at him. 
When we really started to climb, the Wh/mi starting ticking up, and it was a little freaky to see the range dropping quickly. At one point we hit 350Wh/mi efficiency, though I was maintaining a steady 45-50mph up the mountain. Some other cars zipped by us, when there was a passing lane, but I chose to stay in the slow lane and enjoy the drive, especially when AP was in use. The last 10 miles were great as we rolled down the windows and enjoyed the fresh pine smell and I let her loose a bit to enjoy the fantastic handling on the twisty roads.

At the lake: We stayed in the area for two days, and didn't drive the car during that time, but it did lose 12 miles over two days from regular use (the constant opening and closing of the car as we took out and put back camping gear) and the cold (mid-30s at night). Not bad at all.

Homeward bound: Pinecrest to Manteca
Starting charge: 165 miles
Arrival: 117 miles
Distance: 87 miles
Wh/mi: 132
Payload: ~500 pounds (my brother rode in our other family's car for the trip home)
Roundtrip Pinecrest/SC stats: 174 miles, 41kWh used, 235 Wh/mi
Comments: Going down the mountain was fun.  Regen was amazing; at one point we hit 35Wh/mi. In fact, the trip meter said we could have made it back home without stopping for a charge and still get there with 20% battery left, but we decided to stop at the SC anyway just because we had to walk the dog and use the bathroom. We left Manteca with over 90% SoC again (holy smokes those chargers are fast!) and the rest of the trip I didn't document as much because it wasn't as eventful. I did worry a bit on the ride home because we drove through really horrible roads as the freeway was being repaved, but the 19's handled it well.

Overall, a very relaxing and I am definitely more confident of the 3's capabilities now- next time I'm driving up that mountain faster!


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## Quicksilver (Dec 29, 2016)

Maevra said:


> After spreading out some of my experiences and data, I figured I'd keep a log of our car (code name: Silver Cylon) experiences and stats for future reference. Hat tip to @LUXMAN, @Quicksilver, @Michael Russo and all the other owners who have dedicated spaces for their beauties and gave me this idea.


Love the name! Silver Cylon sounds cool! Looking forward to seeing future postings. I am about to do a few more things on Quicksilver and will share soon...so stay tuned.


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## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

So yesterday I experienced the "side collision avoidance" safety feature. I was driving down the freeway (totally manual, no AP) and came upon a construction zone. There were concrete barriers on the shoulder and I was driving in the leftmost lane right next them, probably around 65-70mph. Suddenly I got two loud beeps and felt the car twitch the steering wheel to the right, and the car moved over a few inches. I looked down and saw the grey ultrasonics pinging off the barriers, but no other indicators. 

I wasn't 100% sure it was a Side Collision Avoidance event, so when I got home I called Tesla SC and they confirmed it. They advised I likely didn't see the visual indicators because I wasn't looking at the screen and it happened so fast, but logs showed I got within less than two feet of something on the left side of the car. 

During the little "twitch", I didn't feel like I ever was in danger or that the car moved over too much to the right (there were other cars in the next lane over), so it was really just a little adjustment. Overall pretty cool to experience it but I hope never to trigger a safety event like that again!


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Maevra said:


> but logs showed I got within less than two feet of something on the left side of the car.


Eek. I think I'm regularly within two feet of the jersey barriers in construction zones.


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## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

garsh said:


> Eek. I think I'm regularly within two feet of the jersey barriers in construction zones.


I've definitely been on some narrow roads or close to barriers where the sensors were glowing red on the side (scary) but this is the first time collision avoidance ever happened. I do wonder how the AI chooses "it's ok to be this close" vs. going into avoid collision mode.

ETA: Maybe it saw something jutting out lower on the side that I couldn't see? Gah, what I wouldn't give to have cameras down there.


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## Love (Sep 13, 2017)

Maevra said:


> So yesterday I experienced the "side collision avoidance" safety feature. I was driving down the freeway (totally manual, no AP) and came upon a construction zone. There were concrete barriers on the shoulder and I was driving in the leftmost lane right next them, probably around 65-70mph. Suddenly I got two loud beeps and felt the car twitch the steering wheel to the right, and the car moved over a few inches. I looked down and saw the grey ultrasonics pinging off the barriers, but no other indicators.
> 
> I wasn't 100% sure it was a Side Collision Avoidance event, so when I got home I called Tesla SC and they confirmed it. They advised I likely didn't see the visual indicators because I wasn't looking at the screen and it happened so fast, but logs showed I got within less than two feet of something on the left side of the car.
> 
> During the little "twitch", I didn't feel like I ever was in danger or that the car moved over too much to the right (there were other cars in the next lane over), so it was really just a little adjustment. Overall pretty cool to experience it but I hope never to trigger a safety event like that again!


I have a narrow bridge I use twice daily (weekdays) and had a similar experience. It really freaked me out the first time because it's a two lane bridge and the guy in the right lane was coming over into mine. So when my car beeped and the steering wheel fought me from moving more to the left I was really scared I was going to be hit on the right!!
It's happened enough since then I'm used to it (the beeping, not the crowding by a bad driver) and actually expect it.
I'm not a big fan of it, I was in total control and know how close I am to the side of the bridge. There isn't any other way on this old narrow AF thing, which thankfully is being replaced (new bridge under construction). But I do appreciate the audible warning, and the efforts of the car to avoid hitting things!


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## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

Lovesword said:


> I have a narrow bridge I use twice daily (weekdays) and had a similar experience. It really freaked me out the first time because it's a two lane bridge and the guy in the right lane was coming over into mine. So when my car beeped and the steering wheel fought me from moving more to the left I was really scared I was going to be hit on the right!!
> It's happened enough since then I'm used to it (the beeping, not the crowding by a bad driver) and actually expect it.
> I'm not a big fan of it, I was in total control and know how close I am to the side of the bridge. There isn't any other way on this old narrow AF thing, which thankfully is being replaced (new bridge under construction). But I do appreciate the audible warning, and the efforts of the car to avoid hitting things!


This is a good point, and your experience makes me appreciate how hard the situations everyone in the self-driving industry has to work around! How does the car choose which side to be on? Does it let you smash into the wall or let the guy who was crowding you hit you? And in that case (thankfully it didn't happen, but hypothetically) whose fault would it be? Yours for not moving over, or his for crowding you?

I did think about the "what ifs" yesterday too a few hours later: what if there was a car really close to me on the right as well? Would the AI choose to let me scrape the side of the barrier vs. slam into another car at that point? How does it choose? This brings to mind the movie I-Robot with Will Smith every time I think about these kinds of scenarios.


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## Maevra (Oct 24, 2017)

Update: I passed by the same barrier today and took a look at where the side collision warning triggered and indeed, there was a big metal triangle attachment on the side of the barrier that was jutting out maybe 6 inches. Still don't think I would have hit it really badly if the car did not adjust, but it would have been close!

@garsh someone in NJ had the experience too with those barriers you mentioned.


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