Remember your Tesla windows

Protect against freezing your windows to the rubber lists. Specifically important for the Tesla front doors. When you open the front doors the windows go down. If frozen to the rubber list, the window could damage the seal and the flexing of the glass could damage the glass itself. I have not been good at this, but will do this myself asap. The silicon keep the rubber lists soft and prevent them for getting dry and hard. Recommend to use it regularly during winter time. Also remember to use it before you wash your Tesla. Turtle Wax List-Fix would be the simple solution. Just using Turtle wax as an example here. This is not a product placement!!

Testing in deep snow

From the Facebook group: "Divides the power between the wheels. Using highest suspension - Very high. The snow was loose. 30 cm (12 inch) deep. No problem driving a TMX in these conditions in Norway :)

Tablet mount - Seasucker

Here is one nice solution for tablet mount in your Tesla Model X. Tablets like iPad or Galaxy. You can use the back surface of  the front seats or the window above the second row. An excellent solution, can be purchased at Amazon :

Seasucker Naked Flex

Winter Mats from Evannex

Finally got the Winter mats for my TMX. Ordered a Demo set for a 7-seater from Evannex. They do not normally ship outside US, but this was a demo set, so they could sell it to me. Nice fit inside the car. Now the snow can come to Oslo :)

Side3 review of the TMX

Review in Norwegian. Review of the P90D, but generally for the TMX. Summary at the end, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly :)

SIDE3 - TMX REVIEW

Paint Treatment for your TMX

Pitstop Bilpleie at Rud is just a few Falcon wing doors away from Tesla at Rud :) They know Tesla, and have treated many TMS and TMX and Roadsters. I have had problems to remove all dirt and asphalt spots / road tar from the pearl white paint on my Tesla X. Enough is enough. Pitstop Bilpleie have now a new product from Ditec called Ditec Ceramic Ultra. 9 years warranty. No yearly after-treatments needed. Now cleaning my Tesla will be a whole new deal :) Keeping my X nice and shiny. Worth every krone !!!

Norwegian Ditec info at Pitstop Bilpleie:

Pitstop: Ditec Ceramic Ultra

English Ditec info:

Ditec Ceramic Ultra

Summon - tight space

Parking in my Carport, I have two roof poles which I park between. These poles are quite close to the car. So when using the Summon to get the car out of the carport, the TMX refuse to respond. It see the poles as obstacles. This is happening due to default settings for the Summon. To make your Tesla to be able to respond in tight spaces, you must open Settings and find the Autopark section. Choose "Customize", and in stead of "Standard" in Side Clearance, choose "Tight". Now the TMX will be summoned in tight spaces :)

TeslaApps.net

EVE For Tesla is designed from the ground up to create a premier dashboard experience for your Tesla Model S/X. Personalize your dashboard with up to four apps displayed at once. EVE For Tesla connects you to information on weather, stocks, news, and more on a single screen that is designed for optimal viewing and interaction as part of a complete connected car experience.

TeslaApps are available through the web browser and creates a nice multi app screen of your choice. I tried this today. Premium Membership with monthly pay. Calendar synchronized with GMail and Gmail is a nice thing to have. Twitter messages straight in on the screen. Weather screen, clock screen, trip tracker, etc. Hopefully more nice apps will be available soon.

TESLA-APPS

Skiholder / Skirack / Skistativ 2016

The first test using the Fabbri ski rack from www.nts.no. Can hold six pairs of slaloms ski or four snowboards. Testing here only two Snowboards. With two snowboards in this position, you get windbreak. So did not drive faster than 90 km/t (55 mph). After 140 km (87 miles), I checked the state of the snowboards. They were quite dirty :) A quick turn with the Pressure washer (høytrykkspyler) fixed that, but in the future I will buy ski bags and snowboard bags to protect the skis. Not many Fabbri + TMX on the road yet, so a lot of eyes on me today :) Finally people see how we solve this problem :)

Rubbertite Mats for TMX

When I received my TMX in August, I asked Tesla Norway when rubber mats will be available for Norwegians. "We don't know" was the answer. Now, you can buy from Evannex. They have accessories for both inside and outside of the Tesla. Many good solutions and improvements :) Winter in Norway always results in bringing a lot of snow and ice with you into the car!! Specially the kids. So rubber mats which keep the snow, ice and water, can easily be taken out and emptied before the water sinks into the floor of the car. Evannex sell several smart products for Tesla - Have a look!! :

Evannex Accessories

Autopilot - The eyes of Tesla

Demontration on how the Tesla analyse the surroundings while driving itself. The video has been slowed down to better see what the Tesla Model X capture around it. For instance, you can see it capture:

- Pedestrians
- Cyclists
- Fog
- Constructions
- Curves
- Cars parked on shoulder
- Increased cross traffic

More expensive Tesla in Norway?

The popularity of electric vehicles has surged here in Norway, encouraged by generous subsidies including tax exemptions on their purchase and free use of toll roads for e-car drivers. But now politicians suggest that this price-feast has to stop. One of the biggest political parties - Arbeiderpartiet (AP) - wants to remove most of the generous subsidies, making the Tesla for instance 200 000 NOK more expensive. That's $23400 more expensive. Signature models would then go from 1100000 NOK to 1300000 NOK ($128000 to $151400). Approx 20% increase in price. Time will tell :)

Tesla Model X P90D vs. Ferrari 458

TMX streamlining production

Tesla continues to reduce the number of unique features it offers on its fleet of vehicles in an effort to streamline production, this time creating a set of pre-defined interior options for the Model X. This will make the earlier TMX's more luxurius versions since their combinations will not be possible anymore :)

Teslarati: Streamlining Production

Skiholder for Tesla Model X

Then i finally received my Fabbri skiholder. This probably the only robust solution for TMX owners right now. Bought this from www.nts.no, from their store in Høvik. 4990kr for this skiholder which is a must for Tesla Model X owners who plan go skiing of some sort this winter and using their Falcon wing car :) The skiholder can be tilted backwards so you can open you trunk, but you have to hold it tilted while opening your trunk, there is no fixed tilted position. NTS has another product (from Italy) that they are testing out, but this will not be available until 2017.

Golden Steering Wheel

Today, we are truly honored to announce that Model X has been awarded the Golden Steering Wheel (Das Goldene Lenkrad), one of the most prestigious automotive awards in the world.

Golden Steering Wheel

Driving in -10 C

On My way to hunt grouse again. From Veggli (233 meters above sea level) to Rødberg (371 meters above sea level), its 33 km. I used 51 km with my TMX. Started with battery on 140 km, when I reached the charging station in Rødberg, it said 89 km. In Rødberg I charged the Battery up to 172. Drove to Imingfjell Mountain Lodge (1070 m above sea level). Arriving, Battery read 105 km. All together, i used approx 120 km, from Veggli to Imingfjell. The real distance is 60 km, and the climb is 1070-233=837 meters. Now, not strange that I use twice as much battery than true distance when I drive uphill all the way. The interesting thing is that when I drove back again, from Imingfjell to Veggli, I only used 35 km of the battery. Downhill all the way :) Used the climate and radio. It is -10 °C outside. Varying from -8 °C to -14 °C ( 7 °F - 17 °F). So....Important to have good battery capacity when driving in winter uphill in Norway, you have less control of distance. Setting on the Distance on the battery is set to Typical (not Rated)(normal setting in Norway, due to climate and topography).

Tesla Model X driving in -14 C

Early in October, I drove to my cabin in the temperature range: 1-6 °C (34-43 °F). Then I used 221 km on the battery on the diving distance 160 km. Today I drove from Oslo to the cabin in the temperature range -10 to -14 °C (7-14 °F). The point here is that I started on a battery which had 309 km left in Oslo. At the cabin, I had 89 km left. So had used 220 km on 160 km. This is exactly the same as in October where the temperature was on the plus side. A bit surprised about not using more battery, for ex heating. This tells me that the battery is well protected!!! Next time we try this will be in the
-C (7-14 °F).

The TMX on snowy / icy roads

The roads in this clip is steeper than it looks. We have now quite snowy and icy roads in the mountains in Norway. Just wanted to confirm the good grip and driving capabilities the TMX has on winter roads, which I gladly compare with my previous car, the BMW X5, which I think is an excellent car in winter, like in summer. But the TMX is really up there, on the same level. Really liked how it behaved up the mountain !!!

Falcon wing door with snow and ice

The 5 cm of snow is not much on the Falcon wing doors. But it could block the sensors or hinder the door from opening, like it did for the trunk. Testing testing...

Dew on side window

This was a bit disappointing. Temperature difference outside vs inside the Tesla is 24 Cdeg. In my previous car, BMW X5, this was not a problem. Here I experience problem with looking in the side mirror. The window also seem to get little air (climate control) to get dry. Can't control this. Will investigate if Tesla has a solution!!

Tesla on snow - good feeling

Driving my TMX on snow covered mountain road for the first time. It was a good feeling. My winter tires are Nokian Hakkapeliitta. These are very good. Also standard for the TMX in Norway. The TMX is a heavy car. So sliding off icy roads is my worst fear. But the feeling this time was good. And nice to know that the TMX is a 4WD :)

Pre-Heat your Tesla !

During our weekend at the mountain cabin, the Tesla was covered in ice and 5 cm snow. Seeing how the ice covered around the window, resulting in a possible problem for the window to not go down before the front door opens up. This has damage doors earlier on Tesla cars.

Therefore: During winter I will turn off the "auto open" front door and I will warm up the Tesla for 15 min before I plan to use it if it's covered with snow. Warming up the Tesla also makes the removal of snow and ice much easier :)

Ice and Snow on TMX

The mountains in Norway are getting white with more and more snow. So it's time to test the Tesla Model X in these conditions. This weekend, my TMX was covered with 5 cm of snow, with ice-droplets under the snow. This affected the trunk sensors, maybe it thinks there is an obstacle holding it back, but it could also the weight of snow bringing the trunk to sudden close again.

Fully autonomous

Tesla announced on Wednesday that from now on all of its electric cars will be built with the components required to turn them into fully autonomous vehicles at a later date. Now chief executive, Elon Musk, has released a video showing what that really means. The car drives itself from A to B, and parks itself after the driver has left the car. Tesla cars already produced will not be able to get this update. The new cars will have new hardware that is required when the fully autonomous feature comes at a later date. personally, that is fine with me. I like to drive the Tesla myself :)

Time for Winter tires

Got my winter tires today from Tesla at Rud. Went straight to Dekkspesialisten at Skøyen where they could change my tires straight away. They also have Tire-Hotel (Dekkhotell). Dekkspesialisten is situated just beside Tesla Skøyen. They know Tesla :) I also ordered to paint the summer tires wheel rim black. It will look nice. White X with totally black tires&trim :)

TMX 60D - RIP

Just three months after introducing the Model X 60D, Tesla has cut the model, which had a lower driving range than other Model Xs, but a sensible starting price of about $74,000. But Even with a low starting price, the model probably didn't sell very well, so Tesla cancelled it. That's the rumor!

Read more:
CNET.COM

Battery vs. Climate heating

Woke up this morning with a car that had -0.7 degC. -2 degC outside. Started heating the X up before planned "takeoff" :) When reaching 22 degC inside, which was fast, the battery had gone from 322 km to 315 km. Lost 0.7 km due to heating. Car was not plugged in. The TMX was just upgraded to version 8.0.

"Keep'n the juice"

Medium cold in the Mountains in southern Norway, and freezing this morning. Checking how the battery acts during 10 hours from 4 degC to -2 degC this morning. Inside TMX temperature went from 4 degC to -0.7 degC. Battery kept almost constant. Will do this again for lower temperatures during winter. Can go down to -20 degC up here. Will warm up the X to 20 degC, will see how that affect the battery.

Obstacle detected - nothing there

The last week, a ghost obstacle is following Tessa and me constantly. My front door (driver side) opens just 10 cm, and warn me about an obstacle. There is nothing there. The same for the FWD on the driver side. So according to my X, the whole left side has an obstacle blocking for the doors to open 100%. Hoped it would go away, but think now that I have to contact the Ghostbusters (read: Tesla service). Will update this post.....

To the cabin: 6 C to 1 C

Again I am going to the mountain cabin this weekend. Like 3.September. But I am driving alone in my Tesla Model X. And temperature is close to 0 Celsius (32 F). The battery was charged to 333 km when I started. To Veggli it is 149 km, and then 11 km more to the cabin. Veggli is situated at 233 meters above sea level, so not a big climb. From Veggli to the cabin at Veggli mountain at 850 moh (meters above sea level), it is then a 620 meters climb in just 11 km.

I did not drive economically. Really used the acceleration several times from Oslo to Veggli. Still driving like when I had my BMW X5. At Veggli before the last climb, the battery had been reduced to 151 km. That's 182 km for the X during 149 km. The last climb is only 11 km, but arriving at the cabin, the battery ended on 112 km. That's approx 40 km for the X during 11 km. The battery using approximately four times the real distance. So for the total of 160 km to the cabin, I used 221 km of battery on 160 km.

This is 21 km more than last time (10% increase). I am alone in the car. But the biggest difference is the temperature. 6 degC in Oslo, 1 degC at the cabin (degC = degree Celsius, 1 Celcius = 33.8 Fahrenheit).

Ghosting in Norway

(Picture from internet) Just a fem days after receiving my Tesla Model X Oslo, Norway, I immediately noticed double lights from cars coming towards me. New straight away what I was, due to several cases in US where owners have reported double vision and gotten new front windshield. Talking to Tesla Norway, they said straight away that this we will fix. Tesla uses Hurtigruta Carglass in Oslo To change Tesla front windshield. What my contact person didn't know was that Hurtigruta has not trained their guys to change the Tesla X windshield yet. So now I have to wait, until they get the expertise :) But at least, Tesla Norway have said that they will change it, and that's reassuring!! I think I am the first in Norway to ask for this, so really hope they do an excellent job first time :)

Why we get double vision: WIRED.COM explains

TMX in top 3

Tesla Model X is on second place in last weeks registration statistics in Norway, with 171 registered cars. VW Golf in the lead with 250 cars. Tesla Model X is currently on fourth place for September month, with 383 new X's. So far this year there has been registered 581 Tesla Model X's in Norway (since June).

September is over and the September result is like you see in the picture, 601 sold TMX in September, making second place for this month. This means that there has been delivered approx 800 Model X since July this year :)

Tesla Model X and Trailer

Then it was time to test the Tesla Model X with a trailer. We drove approx 45 km, while the car showed 50 km. So a little bit extra because of the trailer. This was expected. Bought a converter for the power/signals to the trailer connector from the gas station where I rented the trailer. Everything installed perfectly. The tow hitch was very easy to install (See YouTube - LINK: TOW HITCH) and keeping an eye on the hitch and the trailer with the rear camera gave an extra insurance about the whole trip. Feel now confident to take longer trips with a trailer and the TMX :)

What's new - Software 8.0

So in bulletpoints, what are the new features and enhancements for the 8.0 version software:

- Redesign of Teslas touch-screen
- A more intuitive media player
- Favorite panels in front/in the middle of the screen
- Search functionality are more powerful
- Speech control are more simple and faster to use
- Speech control feedback, ex "command is understood"
- Visual tip on available speech commands
- Map covers now the whole screen
- Cleaner Nav window and route planer when active
- Speech command for destination search
- New zoom function on the map: "What you should see"
- Navigation to home/work with a simple sweep
- Autopilot functionality is enhanced
- Cabin overheat protection - COP

Cabin Overheat Protection - COP

This week the update 8.0 will bring some changes that will be noticed. One is the "Cabin Overheat Protection" that will never let the temperature in the Tesla cabin go towards health threatening. So if you have forgot your kid or your pet in the car for too long a warm summers day, the Tesla will always monitor and keep the temperature in the cabin at normal level.

TMX on dirt road

Starting the TMX from the cabin where it is pavement. Default setting on the Suspension then is LOW. When entering the dirt road, which make me drive slower and make the TMX shake and "dance" more, automatically changes the Suspension back to HIGH which I set it to previously when I drow on dirt road :) So far, the TMX works perfectly as a Hunters car to use on dirt roads in the mountains :)

Super charging at Elverum

My first supercharging. On my way to grouse hunting in the mountains by Trysil. Needed to charge on the way. Charging at approx 400 km/hour. Excellent. Rema1000 and Biltema shop near by, so I could do the shopping during charging. And take a hamburger at JAFS 30 meters from the charging station. Very nice :)

FalconWing doors in Rain

Ski rack / Skistativ

In USA there are several ski racks to choose from. Even Thule has a ski rack in the states, but that is not CE approved in Europe. In Norway I can (currently) find two ski racks that can be used on Tesla Model X (I think).

The two different Ski racks that are possible to buy in Norway:

YAKIMA
www.NTS.no

Tesla Wall connector

Today, my Tesla Wall connector was installed. Using my normal charging cable, the car can extract 13A from the 16A avalable from the socket. With my Wall connector I get 20A from the 20A available. This results in an increase in charging ratio from 11 km/h to 19 km/h. 72% increase. Worth it I think.

Bjørn does a PR stunt

Last week Bjørn Nyland drove to Aker Brygge (in Oslo), opened the falcon wing doors and walked away a few meters to see what happened. After 2 minutes, the car was a people magnet. People were swarming the TMX. Bjørn started to regret a bit what he started but he say in the video on YouTube that he "...asked for it" :) There are coming more and more TMXs in the streets in Oslo but still to few to make people used to them yet :) Talking to Tesla service at Skøyen, they believe that TMX will not be as common as the Tesla S is today in Oslo.

Driving economical

Driving home again from the mountain, I decided to drive economical. Again 160 km to drive. Starting with TMX at 297 km on the battery. The first 11 km was downhill, so it actually charged the TMX with 10 km more, ending up at 307 km when coming down to Veggli. Really tried to drive economically. Not easy :) But coming home at 149 km on the remaining distance. 297-149 km = 148 km, that is a huge difference than 200 km. Mainly due to the 11 km downhill versus 11 km uphill :) 148 km compared to 200 km is quite a difference. Going to the mountains in Norway or else in the world with a Tesla, remember the battery will use 3-4 times the distance on the battery than the true distance, when driving uphill.

First "long" drive with the X

Going to the mountain cabin this weekend. My wife, my two boys, baggage and me. The battery was charged to 283 km when we started. Had forgotten to charge it to the full 374 km (Typical setting, and not Rated which is 462 km. Rated used for totally flat terrain- ex. in Denmark). To Veggli it is 149 km. Veggli is situated at 233 meters above sea level, so not a big climb. From Veggli to the cabin at Veggli mountain at 850 moh (meters above sea level), it is then a 620 meters climb in just 11 km. This last part is the big question in battery drainage. I did not drive economic. Really used the acceleration several times :) At Veggli before the last climb, the battery had been reduced to 117 km. That's 166 km for the X during 149 km. The last climb is only 11 km, but arriving at the cabin, the battery ended on 80 km. That's 37 km for the X during 11 km. The battery using approximately four times the real distance. So for the total of 160 km to the cabin, I used 200 km of battery. Next time I will try economic driving to see how much I save :)

TMX and Carport

I park my Tesla X in a carport. To be sure it doesn't hit the 2-by-4's 226 cm above the floor, I put up a white panel zone where I am sure the sensors will see where to stop. Default when the doors see obstacles, it open half way if the obstacles is not to close. Extending the doors closer to the panel-sealing, the control panel will after a few times ask if the door height should be extended as for this particular location - GPS location. It will then override the default safety distance for the doors and extend to the wanted height. But remember to also set the same suspension as well, to ex. Low or Very Low.