Posts by Todd R. Lockwood

Fill 'er up: 'Leccy car firm Tesla brings back PUMP SERVICE

Robotic plug is for HOME use!

In case everyone missed it, Tesla's robotic plug-in technology is intended for HOME use, not for its public Superchargers. The title and photo used for this article are misleading in that regard. Model S owners, like me, do 99% of their charging at home at night. This is usually accomplished with a 240V/40A outlet, and it typically requires only 2 to 3 hours of charging per night. I rarely charge on the road.

Tesla's free public Superchargers require only a 15-20 minute charge for each 150 mile leg of a trip, and they are located near food, shopping and other services. You don't sit in your car while charging unless you've got nothing better to do.

Students hack Tesla Model S, make all its doors pop open IN MOTION

This sounds more serious than it really is. Here's why:

1. The Tesla owner's smartphone or the owner's sign-in credentials would have to be in the possession of the hacker.

2. The smartphone itself would have to be unlocked.

This poses no greater danger than one's unlocked smartphone being lost. None of the app control features are critical to driving the car. Additionally, the Tesla owner can instantly deactivate external control via a button on the car's touch screen.

We got behind the wheel of a Tesla S electric car. We didn't hate it

A few details from a Model S owner

Note to the author: It is possible to program the thumb wheel on the right side of the steering wheel to function as a dimmer control for the touch screen. In my Model S, I keep the touch screen in Night Mode at all times; It has less blank white area in this mode. Combined with the dimmer control, I can set it perfectly for any situation.

One of the extraordinary things about the Tesla Model S is that its software is constantly evolving. New features are added regularly, and they are often derived from customer feedback, which brings up an interesting point: Can you name another car manufacturer that actually listens to and uses customer ideas?

The software updates are sent wirelessly over-the-air. There's no need to go to the service center to get them installed. While other manufacturers will hold feature improvements until the next model year, Tesla releases them all the time, even to the earliest vehicles from 2012. I took delivery of my Model S fifteen months ago, and I've received six software updates, many including terrific new features.