Yesterday was the momentous day we collected our M3P from West Drayton! We arrived at Tesla HQ at about 9:45 for a 10:30 collection slot. There were already 2 or 3 keen owners waiting. Luckily we were ushered in to the makeshift reception straight away in order to do the final checks and signatures. The car was brought out 5 minutes later and were shown around and given some time to look around and confirm that we are happy. 20 miles on the odo. At this point, the car was added to our Tesla account and we were on our way (to the Superchargers in the adjacent car park, since the car was supplied with only 30% charge).
Vin is 755 and the car has wireless charging and USB-C. However, there is no blue commando connector with the UMC, only the 3 pin 13A. I thought both are included?
By the time we finally set off around 11, there were loads of people queuing up for test drives and collections.
First trip was straight up to Richard and Chris at PP Protect (PP Protect – Vehicle Ceramic Glasscoat and detailing specialists) for window tints. This was about a 2 hour drive and we stopped at Northampton Grange Park Supercharger for a quick top up on the way.
Chris did an absolutely fantastic job as expected, having done a huge amount of Tesla's, and Model 3's in particular. I highly recommend making the trip if you want your Model 3 done properly!
Back just in time to pack and head off to France this morning (yes, i know), and eventually on to the Algarve until mid-September (more on this in a separate thread).
Next - my questions and impressions. This is my first Tesla, and my first ever experience even driving one. I'm a complete and utter car nut though, and well informed (i think) about the Tesla experience, thanks to this forum especially.
1. This is the quickest car I've ever driven. It made me genuinely burst out laughing the first time I floored it off the line. I have been driving a 911 Turbo for the past 12 years, so I know what a fast car feels like. This would smoke the Turbo, until maybe 120-140 mph.
2. We left the car charging on the TWC overnight, and it reached 99% before saying Charging Complete. Now sitting at 98% and still plugged in. Is this normal, perhaps because it's brand new? Any particular reason why it wont go to 100%?
3. Autopilot is revolutionary. It was easy to use and incredibly intuitive for someone who has always driven "manually" with lots of input. Having done a lot of long distance driving in various (mostly German) cars - this experience is incomparable in terms of comfort and relaxation while driving. However, there were a couple of minor "incidents" which, while not completely unexpected, are still worth noting:
4. Supercharging is quicker than I expected. However, Northampton Grange Park would only give me a consistent 115kW both times I was there even though all other bays empty. SoC was around 20% on arrival both times. Is this just a issue with the location and the supply, or something to do with the car?
Similarly, Park Royal only ramped up to 166kW instead of the full 250, although SoC was around 30% on arrival.
tl;dr nice car charges and drives fast. very clever but requires close supervision. Nothing new
Vin is 755 and the car has wireless charging and USB-C. However, there is no blue commando connector with the UMC, only the 3 pin 13A. I thought both are included?
By the time we finally set off around 11, there were loads of people queuing up for test drives and collections.
First trip was straight up to Richard and Chris at PP Protect (PP Protect – Vehicle Ceramic Glasscoat and detailing specialists) for window tints. This was about a 2 hour drive and we stopped at Northampton Grange Park Supercharger for a quick top up on the way.
Chris did an absolutely fantastic job as expected, having done a huge amount of Tesla's, and Model 3's in particular. I highly recommend making the trip if you want your Model 3 done properly!
Back just in time to pack and head off to France this morning (yes, i know), and eventually on to the Algarve until mid-September (more on this in a separate thread).
Next - my questions and impressions. This is my first Tesla, and my first ever experience even driving one. I'm a complete and utter car nut though, and well informed (i think) about the Tesla experience, thanks to this forum especially.
1. This is the quickest car I've ever driven. It made me genuinely burst out laughing the first time I floored it off the line. I have been driving a 911 Turbo for the past 12 years, so I know what a fast car feels like. This would smoke the Turbo, until maybe 120-140 mph.
2. We left the car charging on the TWC overnight, and it reached 99% before saying Charging Complete. Now sitting at 98% and still plugged in. Is this normal, perhaps because it's brand new? Any particular reason why it wont go to 100%?
3. Autopilot is revolutionary. It was easy to use and incredibly intuitive for someone who has always driven "manually" with lots of input. Having done a lot of long distance driving in various (mostly German) cars - this experience is incomparable in terms of comfort and relaxation while driving. However, there were a couple of minor "incidents" which, while not completely unexpected, are still worth noting:
60mph through the roadworks on the M1 by Luton in torrential rain and approaching darkness. Running on Autosteer (No FSD) in the middle lane. While passing a lorry in the inside lane the car slammed on the brakes because it thought there was an object ahead. It seems to have been a combination of this lorry slightly creeping out of its lane while passing under a bridge, and the heavy rain and splash. Not too concerning but it may have pissed off the guy tailgating me..
When changing lanes in Autosteer, the Lane Departure warning often starts screaming at me. What's the correct procedure? Indicate first, then nudge it out of autosteer by turning the wheel (a bit jerky), or disable autosteer by pushing the right stalk up before switching lanes?
When changing lanes in Autosteer, the Lane Departure warning often starts screaming at me. What's the correct procedure? Indicate first, then nudge it out of autosteer by turning the wheel (a bit jerky), or disable autosteer by pushing the right stalk up before switching lanes?
4. Supercharging is quicker than I expected. However, Northampton Grange Park would only give me a consistent 115kW both times I was there even though all other bays empty. SoC was around 20% on arrival both times. Is this just a issue with the location and the supply, or something to do with the car?
Similarly, Park Royal only ramped up to 166kW instead of the full 250, although SoC was around 30% on arrival.
tl;dr nice car charges and drives fast. very clever but requires close supervision. Nothing new
