The Grand Tour

James May Is “P****d Off” With His Tesla After He Discovers Huge Design Flaw

James May has shown a huge interest in the future of motoring with him investing his own money in not only a hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai, but also an all-electric Tesla Model S. Not long ago he sold the Mirai despite really liking the car, simply because it was too difficult to run with the severe lack of hydrogen fuel stations, but his love the Model S was still going strong. That was until now, anyway.

He reveals in a recent DriveTribe video that, due to lockdown, his Model S has been sat for a long time connected to a charger. This has led to what’s turned out to be a huge source of annoyance for The Grand Tour presenter, as the car decided not to unlock for him. He explains on the video that the car has two batteries. One for the motors and the powering of the powertrain, and a smaller one for the central locking and computer systems. The latter is simply a 12v battery that you’d find on any other car, and because of the lack of use, it had gone flat on James’ car despite it being plugged in.

It turns out that once the big battery is fully charged, the system stops charging the other battery because the charging system turns off. Now, because everything is electrically operated, May couldn’t get into the car to charge the battery. He had to painstakingly take his car apart, pull a couple of emergency latches that are hidden within the wheelwell, and then further take apart the car to actually reach the battery. This took him an hour, he explains.

This could have been avoided if Tesla simply extended a cable from the battery to allow for easy charging.

“It was about an hour’s work,” May explains. “And frankly, it’s p****d me, like comment subscribe!”.

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