Cold feet - TM3 as sole car?

[TheLocNar]

Considering your location, and places you plan trips to, you will be totally ok. Just be sure that home charging is a viable solution. Some people that live in apartments/condos are unable to have home charging based on cost of installation and/or rules where they live.

*EDIT* Should have kept reading.

I'd get all the info you can about getting a charger installed outside by your car. You may not be allowed to, or it may be too expensive where it's not really worth it. Or, you'll be fine! I think under your circumstances a NEMA 14-50 would be more than adequate.

 

[Galve2000]

Anything I should be concerned about in keeping my Tesla outside? Our parking spot is not covered sadly.

I keep my Model S parked outside mostly as well.. after 3 and a half years no issues with battery degradation or anything.. these cars are so well designed, it still doesn't fail to impress!!

 

[SM18]

Thank you all for your responses! This is very reassuring to hear. I think my takeaway is that it requires a bit more planning than an ICE car, but not so much that the car range becomes the sole topic on road trips.

One more question. Anything I should be concerned about in keeping my Tesla outside? Our parking spot is not covered sadly. Yes, it will be exposed to snow and ice, but not to much direct sunlight or anything. And we are assuming we can install a charging station - that’s a must for us.

Thanks again!

It doesn't even really take planning anymore, unless it's somewhere super remote. You just enter your destination and the car works out all the charging stops to get there. The mobile app even lets you know when you're good to go. The car will also tell you to slow down if it looks like you'll be short on range. Slowing down to 65mph makes a big difference in energy consumption.

Aside from that, just keep it plugged when not in use and use the mobile app to have it warm up before you head out. That initial bit of heating can be fairly energy intensive compared to maintaining the temperature thereafter. Better to do so while connected to shore power. Seat heaters are also much more efficient than using the HVAC.

 

[stonelance]

I think the only issue with leaving the car outside that is different for an EV is that the battery will be colder and less efficient in the winter. You can counter that to some degree by scheduling overnight charging to complete near the time you would leave so the battery is already warm.

Just as one other point to your original question, my wife and I have the Model 3 and an ICE cross over, and we still take the M3 on road trips. It is just way cheaper and the EAP makes normally stressful traffic a breeze. The only "problem" we had was that it was almost too fast to SC as we were barely able to finish lunch before it finished.

 

[davecolene0606]

What they all said, we’ve had nothing but Tesla’s since 2013 (way before SC build out).

Complete no brainer, better than what you have now.

Congrats!

 

[SageBrush]

I’m nervous on embracing the electric life. Should I be?

We own two electric vehicles, though I consider the LEAF an awesome golf cart rather than a general purpose car. Our single real car is the Model 3 and it is spectacular. No worries at all about not owning an ICE, and we live in snowy mountain country, in an area with less Supercharger penetration than the East coat.

The one caveat I can think of for you is to consider snow height and snow removal. This is not EV specific, but true for any car with relatively low clearance. And again not EV specific, but you really should put on winter tyres and not rely on AWD.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Hi folks - would love some advice!

Just put in a reservation for an AWD LR today. If we go through with it, this would be our solo car, replacing a much loved BMW 328 AWD. We live in the middle of a major city (Boston) and only put 20-60 miles on in an average week, although that’s likely to increase next year.

I’m sitting here with a case of cold feet. Sure, it’ll work for our average use case, but for one of our 3-5 annual long trips (CT, VT, or DC) will we be cursing ourselves? How will it handle in snow? What are the odds that we will be unable to find a charger? All the usual things in going from ICE to electric I gather.

We are pushing to upgrade as the tax credit means our downside risk is lower than it will be, but I’m nervous on embracing the electric life. Should I be?

Many thanks!

I just drove the Model 3 800 miles yesterday on a day-trip whim. Earlier this week I went to pick up some wine west of Austin and the road called me a little further.

It's not our only car, but the other one is the BEV commuter that only charges at home.

 

[Nocturnal]

My 3 is my only car (single parent to boot). My 1-2 long trips a year will take slightly longer (though with kids I would need more stops anyway). If I spend an extra 1-2 hours traveling those few times a year that is easily offset by the 15 minutes I save each week by not refueling.

 

[ChadS]

My wife and I got rid of our last gas car in 2009. Since then, we've taken over 40k miles of road trips across the country in our Teslas. Jump on in, the water is fine!

 

[andywv]

My AWD gets delivered next week are we are taking it on a road trip from LA to Austin. We've mapped Superchargers and via chargepoint we have back-up plans just in case. I'm excited to road trip slightly differently. Normally we blast though places as quick as possible, now it's time to enjoy the local fare while charging.

 

[darknavi]

Biggest thing for me was service time. I got into an accident and it took 3.5 months to fix. My insurance only pays for 1 month of rental, so I had to out-of-pocket 2.5 months of rental car. Not the most expensive, but still pretty lame.

 

[Bleedblue82]

Thanks again all! I'm feeling much more confident on making this work.

@darknavi 3.5 months to fix the car?! Did Tesla not offer a loaner? That's a little concerning. We don't need our car with high frequency thankfully, but the idea of having to rent while TSLA fixes a fender-bender or something is not very appealing.

 

[ℬête Noire]

Biggest thing for me was service time. I got into an accident and it took 3.5 months to fix. My insurance only pays for 1 month of rental, so I had to out-of-pocket 2.5 months of rental car. Not the most expensive, but still pretty lame.

Model S or 3? My understanding is that the 3 was coming out better on this than the S?

 

[NeverFollow]

Cold feet - TM3 as sole car?

From the title, I was wondering if you have issue with not been able to charge at home and only be able to charge at a public L2 station.

In this case, since there is no DC Fast charging alternative (Chademo, or CCS adapter for the M3)
you might have to spend few hours waiting for the charge to be completed using L2.

If you have two cars, and two drivers, then you can go back home, which will be more comfortable,
especially if there is not bathroom facility at the L2 station.

 

[brkaus]

A Better Routeplanner

This. Spend some time playing "what if" and see how your trips will change. I find I spend a bit more time on road trips, not a lot because we usually have to stop anyway. But I do save time during the week starting out "full" every day.

You will want a home charging solution if at all possible.

Thank you all for your responses! This is very reassuring to hear. I think my takeaway is that it requires a bit more planning than an ICE car, but not so much that the car range becomes the sole topic on road trips.

Exactly.

@darknavi 3.5 months to fix the car?! Did Tesla not offer a loaner? That's a little concerning. We don't need our car with high frequency thankfully, but the idea of having to rent while TSLA fixes a fender-bender or something is not very appealing.

Tesla does not do body work, that goes to body shops.

 

[Glamisduner]

@Bleedblue82 can you charge at home? If so I think you will be fine. If not it might depend how close the nearest supercharger is to you, how busy it is, and if you ok with waiting to charge. The supercharger network is not complete enough around me where I would consider an electric car if I could not charge at work or home. I'd have to drive like 30-40 miles in traffic, and out of my way to get to a supercharger here (soon to change though).

 

[Bleedblue82]

We have quite a few superchargers around us luckily - Boston is an early recipient of urban supercharger implementation. BUT, for us, home charging is mandatory. The car will be outside and used 2-4 times per week, and during Jan-Mar when temps range between 0-32 here, we know we could end up with a good chunk of phantom drain. If we can't charge at home, we need to dedicate 30-60 minutes a week to charge, don't have confidence we have a full battery leaving home etc. So, we have a few electricians coming by to take a look this week! Fingers crossed.

 

[Kichwas]

Most people use a Nema 14-50 for at home charging. But I have seen videos of the Tesla wall charger as an outside onstall. That is how it is shown in at least one if Tesla’s own videos.

For outside parking if really concerned they di sell one of those car cover things on the tesla shop.

But this car is no different from any other as far as outside storage. So it will be as safe out there as whatever it is replacing.

Range anxiety... is something yoy will quickly get over.

ICE cars give me more anxiety than my Tesla. It has more range than a typical gas car, less than a diesel... But the built in maps shows all the superchargers.

Get your local version of ChargePoint also so you can plug in at places like shopping centers or at work if offered there (my work site has free charging through ChargePoint but then I work in Silicon Valley and I am located halfway between Tesla HQ and the nearest Tesla shop from their HQ).

I see more and more charging stations through networks like ChargePoint along regular streets as time goes on... they aren’t fast like Superchargers, they charge about the same as a home Nema 14-50... which if you find one at a mall or theater / restaurant lot, is perfect...

ChargePoint app is telling me it has extensive coverage in Boston.