Any advice to EV Beginner?

[junwaa]

Hi,

I am getting my very first EV (Model 3) on this Dec. (have not even owned hybrid)

Although I have done homeworks on EV (e.g. how to recharge with minimum impact on battery's life and so on), as I have Nil experience on EV or Hybrid, it would greatly help me if I could get some advices from experienced users.

Could you guys please give me some advices on must have items and things I need to study or know to operate EV safely and efficiently?

Thanks,

Joon

 

[RobDickinson]

3 RWD?

EVs have no additional safety requirements, the 3 has many safety features,worth a read though the manual.

Dont sweat it. Charge it to 100% once a week, top up charge when you need it, precondition the car via the app if its cold before you get in (5-10min).

Unless you are going on a road trip dont worry about efficiency. Do switch on one pedal driving and enjoy.

If you are doing a road trip the car will plan it for you but you may need to stop at 3rd party/chargenet chargers so get an account setup for that. See what the car predicts for % at destination, anything lower than 10-15% I would be stopping to charge somewhere on route.

 

[junwaa]

3 RWD?

EVs have no additional safety requirements, the 3 has many safety features,worth a read though the manual.

Dont sweat it. Charge it to 100% once a week, top up charge when you need it, precondition the car via the app if its cold before you get in (5-10min).

Unless you are going on a road trip dont worry about efficiency. Do switch on one pedal driving and enjoy.

If you are doing a road trip the car will plan it for you but you may need to stop at 3rd party/chargenet chargers so get an account setup for that. See what the car predicts for % at destination, anything lower than 10-15% I would be stopping to charge somewhere on route.

Yes, 3 RWD, Thanks for the advice.
I have already setup chargenet account. it's like im back in my 10s when I first drove my frist car.

 

[LoudMusic]

I set up a bunch of EV charging accounts in the US and never use them. I charge at home, superchargers, and hotels.

Otherwise, only charge over 90% if you're going to use it immediately. Plan your route and charging ahead of time. Wash with appropriate soap and water.

 

[RobDickinson]

Otherwise, only charge over 90% if you're going to use it immediately.

Not with the LFP cars.

 

[Audietron]

Hi,

I am getting my very first EV (Model 3) on this Dec. (have not even owned hybrid)

Although I have done homeworks on EV (e.g. how to recharge with minimum impact on battery's life and so on), as I have Nil experience on EV or Hybrid, it would greatly help me if I could get some advices from experienced users.

Could you guys please give me some advices on must have items and things I need to study or know to operate EV safely and efficiently?

Thanks,

Joon

If as a kid you ever driven bumper cars at amusement park? You are experienced EV driver (if you can avoid bumping)...

There are plenty posts on what to do and what to avoid, but most importantly EV cars are secure, software based (compared to traditional cars), always accessible, can almost drive themselves (I did feq trip around north island), can be almost free to drive (if you park at most council parking, just use EV charging place, I did tauranga trip for free by charging when parking)... and most importantly, even with all positive and safety features, they are still experimental as most car manufacturers are new to market, so you must have patience and forgiveness if delays or some imperfections found during delivery...

And yeah, your lifestyle might change, as you can park anywhere, watch movies, enjoy sceneries when parked or driving (FSD)

 

[meloccom]

1: Make sure your ready to charge your car at home.
Talk to an electrician and decide to either install a power point for your UMC or a circuit for a wall connector close to where the left hand rear fender of your Model 3 will be when parked at home. a 10A standard power point is all you’ll need if you don’t do a lot of driving but a wall connector set to 32A is 7Kw and will meet most owners needs easily.
The size of your home supply, the loads from your house and your budget will determine what you can install.
2: Learn the difference between AC charging, generally at home or at destination chargers like hotels and DC quick charging and download the charging network apps and create accounts.
3: Download the PlugShare app and visit any chargers in your area, particularly if you won’t have home charging at first or at all.
4: View the Tesla instructional videos for your car on YouTube.

 

[Ecoli]

plugshare app, very useful for finding charges

PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge

Find EV charging stations with PlugShare, the most complete map of electric vehicle charging stations in the world!Charging tips reviews and photos from the EV community.

www.plugshare.com

A Better Route Planner, you can use this to plan your trips, also available as an app

ABRP

ABetterRouteplanner is the world's most popular consumer EV routeplanner - both for beginner and experienced EV drivers. And of course for anyone curious about EVs.

abetterrouteplanner.com

Supercharging is easy, just plug the car in
Maybe worthwhile testing supercharging and chargenet before going on a road trip.
So you know it's working and what to expect.
try to resist buying accessories until you've lived with the car for a while.
You might find you don't really need that gold carbon fibre combo sunvisor toast rack

Teslamate if you fancy logging were you have been, how far, how fast, and how much $ you've spent on charging, plus more
it's free and you can run it at home on a raspberry pi . Your data stays with you

GitHub - teslamate-org/teslamate: A self-hosted data logger for your Tesla 🚘

A self-hosted data logger for your Tesla 🚘. Contribute to teslamate-org/teslamate development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Be prepared to know how it feels to be a time traveler.
So this is an ICE car, I have to turn it on and off, how quaint

 

[wellblade]

I was in the same boat, ice car not hybrid even straight to a tesla.

For me I just realised electricity distributors now offers ev discounts so definitely talk to your company for an ev discount. They may not offer publicly but for example wellington electricity told me that at go green expo.

I got used to 1 pedal driving in about 2 days and the european indicator shifter in 4 weeks

Done a service call as back bumper color mismatch. Was pretty smooth. Panel beaters loan car sucks though...

Precondition the car in the morning like using the scheduler in the app or defrost would help battery and regen breaking etc.

Enjoy

 

[junwaa]

If as a kid you ever driven bumper cars at amusement park? You are experienced EV driver (if you can avoid bumping)...

There are plenty posts on what to do and what to avoid, but most importantly EV cars are secure, software based (compared to traditional cars), always accessible, can almost drive themselves (I did feq trip around north island), can be almost free to drive (if you park at most council parking, just use EV charging place, I did tauranga trip for free by charging when parking)... and most importantly, even with all positive and safety features, they are still experimental as most car manufacturers are new to market, so you must have patience and forgiveness if delays or some imperfections found during delivery...

And yeah, your lifestyle might change, as you can park anywhere, watch movies, enjoy sceneries when parked or driving (FSD)

thanks for your advice, im now reading through threads in this community.

 

[junwaa]

1: Make sure your ready to charge your car at home.
Talk to an electrician and decide to either install a power point for your UMC or a circuit for a wall connector close to where the left hand rear fender of your Model 3 will be when parked at home. a 10A standard power point is all you’ll need if you don’t do a lot of driving but a wall connector set to 32A is 7Kw and will meet most owners needs easily.
The size of your home supply, the loads from your house and your budget will determine what you can install.
2: Learn the difference between AC charging, generally at home or at destination chargers like hotels and DC quick charging and download the charging network apps and create accounts.
3: Download the PlugShare app and visit any chargers in your area, particularly if you won’t have home charging at first or at all.
4: View the Tesla instructional videos for your car on YouTube.

thanks, yes I feel the biggest challenge for me is the charging thing,( which I have never experienced before with petrol vehicles).
I would be using tesla supercharging and other chargers as I live in apartment.

 

[junwaa]

plugshare app, very useful for finding charges

PlugShare - EV Charging Station Map - Find a place to charge

Find EV charging stations with PlugShare, the most complete map of electric vehicle charging stations in the world!Charging tips reviews and photos from the EV community.

www.plugshare.com

A Better Route Planner, you can use this to plan your trips, also available as an app

ABRP

ABetterRouteplanner is the world's most popular consumer EV routeplanner - both for beginner and experienced EV drivers. And of course for anyone curious about EVs.

abetterrouteplanner.com

Supercharging is easy, just plug the car in
Maybe worthwhile testing supercharging and chargenet before going on a road trip.
So you know it's working and what to expect.
try to resist buying accessories until you've lived with the car for a while.
You might find you don't really need that gold carbon fibre combo sunvisor toast rack

Teslamate if you fancy logging were you have been, how far, how fast, and how much $ you've spent on charging, plus more
it's free and you can run it at home on a raspberry pi . Your data stays with you

GitHub - teslamate-org/teslamate: A self-hosted data logger for your Tesla 🚘

A self-hosted data logger for your Tesla 🚘. Contribute to teslamate-org/teslamate development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Be prepared to know how it feels to be a time traveler.
So this is an ICE car, I have to turn it on and off, how quaint

thanks for your advice, I could find enough public charging point through the plugshare app. that really helps.

 

[Daniel Hutt]

Congrats on the new purchase! I'm getting my M3 in Dec also so may see you there.

Quick question for the group: I originally ordered the Cybertruck in 2019, then when it was delayed changed to an M3 RWD, then like a fool, edited my order to go in black and now I'm outside of the free charger window.
I've seen a few non tesla brand home mobile chargers (I can't install at our rental atm and the tesla brand ones are out of stock on their site).

Are these any good? Any particular brand that people recommend and use?

Thanks!

 

[Audietron]

Congrats on the new purchase! I'm getting my M3 in Dec also so may see you there.

Quick question for the group: I originally ordered the Cybertruck in 2019, then when it was delayed changed to an M3 RWD, then like a fool, edited my order to go in black and now I'm outside of the free charger window.
I've seen a few non tesla brand home mobile chargers (I can't install at our rental atm and the tesla brand ones are out of stock on their site).

Are these any good? Any particular brand that people recommend and use?

Thanks!

Congratulations on your new car.

If you are interested in original Tesla mobile charger, message me privately... I received it with car but got wall charger at home.

I also booked Cybertruck, model S, model X... all in 2021... fingers

 

[Daniel Hutt]

Congratulations on your new car.

If you are interested in original Tesla mobile charger, message me privately... I received it with car but got wall charger at home.

I also booked Cybertruck, model S, model X... all in 2021... fingers

I'm an idiot. The colour change was in May so it should be within the free charger window I think?

It was originally supposed to arrive in March 2023, and the email and VIN just came through for first week of Dec so I'm rushing around with work, xmas and sorting this so the brain is fried ha.

Just waiting on compliance to clear then I can sort the delivery date

Sidenote: Totally ordered a nerdy DND license plate for it also

 

[Audietron]

I'm an idiot. The colour change was in May so it should be within the free charger window I think?

It was originally supposed to arrive in March 2023, and the email and VIN just came through for first week of Dec so I'm rushing around with work, xmas and sorting this so the brain is fried ha.

Just waiting on compliance to clear then I can sort the delivery date

Sidenote: Totally ordered a nerdy DND license plate for it also

You are well prepared...
Live the license plate choice .