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Ride the Lightning: Tesla Motors Unofficial Podcast

Tesla enthusiasts looking for a show about the latest news and analysis on the all-electric vehicle company need look no further. Ride the Lightning: Tesla Motors Unofficial Podcast is a weekly show made for Tesla fans and owners by Tesla community veteran Ryan McCaffrey. Each week the podcast covers everything happening with the Cybertruck, Model 3, Model S, Model X, Model Y, Roadster, each Gigafactory, and more!
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Ride the Lightning: Tesla Motors Unofficial Podcast
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Now displaying: Page 1
Nov 12, 2017

I spent an hour driving the Model 3 and I want to tell you all about it. Plus: Tesla buys another company, a new software update lets you voluntarily slow down your Tesla if you want to, an update on the US federal EV tax credit situation, and more!

If you enjoy the podcast and would like to support it, please check out my Patreon at www.patreon.com/teslapodcast and consider a pledge. Every little bit helps!

Don't forget to leave a message on the Ride the Lightning hotline anytime with a question, comment, or discussion topic for next week's show! The toll-free number to call or Skype is 1-888-989-8752.

And if you're buying a Model S or Model X, use this referral code in order to get free unlimited lifetime Supercharging (which is no longer available otherwise) and give me a chance to win a Tesla! http://ts.la/patrick5008 

And here's the link to the EV tax credit petition/contact form if you're interested: http://action.pluginamerica.org/p/dia/action4/common/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=22515 

1 Comments
  • six and a half years ago
    Adrian the nerd
    I'm bummed to hear that the rear visibility does not go down very low (you mentioned not seeing the headlights of cars behind you). Awesome visibility is one of the things I've been looking forward to in the 3. Hopefully they'll take your advice and adjust the rear view camera to compensate!

    Regarding how fast a 3 could be versus an S, here is what I see for stats online:
    Model 3 LR weight: 3814lbs
    Model S 100D weight: 4736lbs
    The model 3 dual motor might be a bit heavier, but this gives us a ballpark relative weight different of the S being 20-25% heavier.

    Guesstimate Model 3 battery capacity: 75-80kwh
    Model S battery capacity: 100kwh
    This gives us a ballpark relative energy difference of the S having 25-33% more battery.

    Or if we express it as a mass/battery ratio then it's 47.3 lb/kwh for the S and around something in the 48 to 51 lb/kwh range for the 3. Basically a 10% advantage in this ratio for the S.

    Now sure, the S motors could be tuned more for acceleration, across its motors, battery chemistry, tire dimensions, and inverter, but from a basic look at overall battery and overall mass, I don't think there is any reason to think that a ludicrous model 3 *must* be significantly slower than an S.

    Now you might think that Tesla wouldn't want to make a 3 that fast, because it will cannibalize sales for the S. I totally agree, but in the next few years we'll quite likely see cars with high performance and quality from Porsche, Jaguar, and others, so Tesla is not only competing with themselves in what they finally deliver on with the 3. Although they may very well keep a performance gap with the S *until* the other competitors force them to unlock more performance :)
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