musings of the owner of a Tesla model S
If you were to look in the back seat of this Tesla car, you would see that there are three seat belt buckles, and one of them is a different color than the other two. Why is this? Continue reading “Why is one of the buckles a different color?”
Some years ago I decided I needed to be able to read the TPMS (tire pressure monitoring system) sensors on my car. Back then the only game in town seemed to be the Autel TS508 reader, seen at right. Recently, I tried to use my TS508 reader to read the TPMS sensors on a friend’s Tesla Model Y. The reader said that it had never heard of the Tesla Model Y. What gives? Continue reading “Why your existing TPMS reader tool can’t read sensors on your Tesla car”
A friend suggested I read this news article about battery swaps for EVs as a substitute for ordinary charging of the battery. In the article, an EV owner in Beijing pulls into a battery swap station and pushes a button.
[The car] lifts up a tiny bit, and jostles around, followed by a muffled, methodic clanking sound and then, silence. The gray metal floor under the vehicle opens, and a machine rises to the undercarriage.
The car’s entire battery pack, which weighs about 1,100 pounds, or about as much as a grand piano, is unbolted and whisked away, underground. It goes into a closed room on the side of the swapping station where it is plugged in to charge for a future user.
Under the car, there are a few clicks and clanks as a fresh battery is lifted into place and bolted securely to the vehicle. The system runs some diagnostic checks. And that’s it.
The swap is said to have taken “three minutes and eight seconds”. Here is what I think about it. Continue reading “Battery swaps?”