Australian Model 3 Highland experiences, tips, tricks

[divstar]

Hey guys couple of accessories questions;

1. will installing a Front Lower Bumper Air Inlet Grille Insect Guard impact the vehicle's efficiency? Considering it adds an additional barrier to airflow akin to whatever underneath the car, could this potentially lead to overheating due to reduced airflow?

2. as someone who predominantly drives on highways daily, is it still advisable to install mud flaps on a Tesla? Additionally, could the presence of mud flaps affect the car's mileage efficiency?

3. concerning the small, subtle spoilers often found on third party Tesla accessory sites, do they genuinely contribute to improved aerodynamics and reduced drag coefficient, or are they primarily ornamental in nature rather than serving practical aerodynamic purposes?

I have both and my wh/km is like 125 average so I don't think we are talking anything significant. I'm confident enough air gets through the car, and like dronus said, I had only done 3000km and found cigarette butts in there too already.

 

[Arashiii]

alright ill order them right away lol

 

[dronus]

The grills have vents to the side of them that allow air to go around too incase it’s needed.
They can be unclipped and removed too, just be careful to not scratch the bumper.

 

[dronus]

I have both and my wh/km is like 125 average so I don't think we are talking anything significant. I'm confident enough air gets through the car, and like dronus said, I had only done 3000km and found cigarette butts in there too already.

That vent is pretty close to the ground and would suck up so many pubes and leaves which would be worse.
The vents do close when less cooling is needed like this time of year but I wouldn’t want anything stuck in there.

I wonder how they get on in places like the desert or snow? I was reading in another part of this forum that people have had to get stuff replaced as it fills up with sand and dirt etc.. dunno

 

[Arashiii]

That vent is pretty close to the ground and would suck up so many pubes and leaves which would be worse.
The vents do close when less cooling is needed like this time of year but I wouldn’t want anything stuck in there.

I wonder how they get on in places like the desert or snow? I was reading in another part of this forum that people have had to get stuff replaced as it fills up with sand and dirt etc.. dunno

sand will still infiltrate those grill nonetheless

 

[divstar]

That vent is pretty close to the ground and would suck up so many pubes and leaves which would be worse.
The vents do close when less cooling is needed like this time of year but I wouldn’t want anything stuck in there.

I wonder how they get on in places like the desert or snow? I was reading in another part of this forum that people have had to get stuff replaced as it fills up with sand and dirt etc.. dunno

Yeah I don't understand either why there isn't more protection as standard. Who knows.. this car is a masterpiece sprinkled with some dubious design decisions

 

[mashes4242]

Im considering tinting the side windows at the moment.
Does anyone know what the rating is on the rear windows by default? I'm trying to work out whether i need to tint the rear doors or just match to what they have.

Any help appreciated!

 

[Tesl3on]

Im considering tinting the side windows at the moment.
Does anyone know what the rating is on the rear windows by default? I'm trying to work out whether i need to tint the rear doors or just match to what they have.

Any help appreciated!

I don’t believe there is any tinting/privacy glass at all on the side windows. I got 20% tint for the sides.

 

[mashes4242]

Yeah you're right, its just the model Y that comes default with darker rear doors. Shows I've never sat in the back seat clearly

How do you find 20% at night?

 

[Tesl3on]

Yeah you're right, its just the model Y that comes default with darker rear doors. Shows I've never sat in the back seat clearly

How do you find 20% at night?

Nil issues at all! Usually I always go darkest legal but I’m willing to risk it for the uniform look.

 

[kmsyd777]

You can answer your own question with the Energy App on the infotainment screen.

When you get back to your car, open the Energy App, and click on the "Park" tab, which will show you how much energy your car consumed while parked, broken down into sub-categories. One of these will be "Climate" which will show you how much the Over-temperature Protection used (unless you also used other climate options while parked).

I was reading on another forum and I was hoping to validate this with what people on this forum might have seen - having an iOS widget on your phone apparently leads to some battery power loss as well each day. The way someone explained was that it keeps pinging the car at a set interval and so the battery needs to be awake to respond to it. And they also said that having your Tesla app running on your device can also eat into the battery. Has anyone had a similar experience?

 

[dronus]

Finally might get to use the wipers as long as this hangs around for the drive home

 

[Hairyman]

I was reading on another forum and I was hoping to validate this with what people on this forum might have seen - having an iOS widget on your phone apparently leads to some battery power loss as well each day. The way someone explained was that it keeps pinging the car at a set interval and so the battery needs to be awake to respond to it. And they also said that having your Tesla app running on your device can also eat into the battery. Has anyone had a similar experience?

The apps used to cause phantom drain by waking the car up, but now I’m pretty sure Stats for Tesla, TezLab, TeslaFi and Teslascope leave the car asleep. I haven’t noticed much phantom drain unless I have sentry on in a place that is fairly busy.

 

[Arashiii]

The apps used to cause phantom drain by waking the car up, but now I’m pretty sure Stats for Tesla, TezLab, TeslaFi and Teslascope leave the car asleep. I haven’t noticed much phantom drain unless I have sentry on in a place that is fairly busy.

speaking of apps, which one is worth buying/using other than the tesla app?

 

[cafz]

speaking of apps, which one is worth buying/using other than the tesla app?

Apart from the charging network apps, the two I use a bit are ABRP (ABetterRoutePlanner) and Plugshare.

 

[ezpz]

speaking of apps, which one is worth buying/using other than the tesla app?

I’m using Tessie which seems pretty good. Keeps track of some nifty stats and I’ve got it set to not auto wake when using the app.

 

[Arashiii]

is it safe to allow authorization to those apps?

 

[Hairyman]

speaking of apps, which one is worth buying/using other than the tesla app?

I have both Stats for Tesla and TezLab. TezLab is good for fine detail, including costs of charging and performance. Stats is good for comparing your car with the rest of the fleet.

 

[Hairyman]

is it safe to allow authorization to those apps?

They get a token via the Tesla API which you can revoke whenever if you are concerned about a security issue. None have direct access to your Tesla account

 

[Max Spaghetti]

having an iOS widget on your phone apparently leads to some battery power loss as well each day.

I use the Tesla widget on iOS and I don't believe it leads to battery power loss unless you interact with it. It doesn't regularly update its info on the widget in real time unless the car happens to be awake anyway (from my anecdotal experience). Which makes it of dubious benefit sometimes. However, it can be handy as a really quick way to perform an action (e.g. open charge port/frunk, turn on climate, or lock/unlock). Sometimes it's handy if I'm charging at a DCFC and I'm wandered off to a cafe or something just to keep an eye on the charge.