First Model 3 Highland drive planning

[SamWhu30]

I'm awaiting delivery of my M3 Highland RWD which is my first EV.

In mid February I will be driving myself and a couple of friends to Nottingham for a football match from Essex, the drive is about 150miles.

I will have to pay for parking when I get there but I was looking on an app where people rent their driveways that have EV chargers.

I have found a driveway that is £25 for 5 hours and they have a 7kw charger and the other option would be using the superchargers that are on route or using the supercharger that is really close to the stadium which I could park at as we arrive for 20 mins or so and then move to a car park, but there's always a chance that on the match day it's going to be busy.

In the 5 hours that my car would be on the drive I could get about 80% charge (according to my calculations) which would cost about £17.50 on a supercharger, meaning that the parking would cost about £7.50 which isn't bad considering how close it is to my destination and haven't got the worry of people hitting your car in a busy car park. Obviously depending on how much battery I use on the way up there I might not even need 80% charge.

I'm unsure what would be the best thing to do? I don't want it to feel like a lot of hassle for the passengers as I'm not used to EV driving and charging. I'm assuming that getting to Nottingham will be fine without charging on the way (I take it that the cold weather and 70mph roads won't kill the battery that much that I can't do 150 miles)

What are peoples thoughts?

TIA

 

[Stuart1714]

Thanks for the info. I saw the charge in priory road but has been booked since so I got another one which was a couple of quid dearer. It’s on a new build estate so should be fine there.

With just park I noticed that you only get charged for the parking and then the charging at the end of the month?

I assume it doesn’t matter how much charge I use so do you have any idea what the point in this is?

Payment for charging can vary. Most places that I’ve used charge a one off fee which is taken out after you’ve parked. You pay for parking straight away and the charge fee once you’ve charged. It comes out pretty quickly after the parking session expires.

I have used one at Bow where they charged a one off fee plus a per Kw cost which you had to pay with a credit card to start the charge so it worked out quite pricey.

 

[SamWhu30]

Payment for charging can vary. Most places that I’ve used charge a one off fee which is taken out after you’ve parked. You pay for parking straight away and the charge fee once you’ve charged. It comes out pretty quickly.

Strange way of doing it but looks like the situation as a whole is going to work out quite well for me

 

[browellm]

Trent Bridge Superchargers are generally busy. On a match day, the area around there is generally mobbed. Would advise caution if you intend to make that your primary charging stop.

 

[SamWhu30]

Trent Bridge Superchargers are generally busy. On a match day, the area around there is generally mobbed. Would advise caution if you intend to make that your primary charging stop.

Yeah that was my main worry, I have opted for the driveway charging

 

[SamWhu30]

Good news is that superchargers in France are almost half the cost of what they are here!

Wow really?! Was not aware of that. I do a fair bit of driving to France so that’s good news. Can’t wait to get full access to the app so I can see the journeys and costings etc for planning

 

[WannabeOwner]

I always wondered what battery percentage it would come with

Could be plenty, might be not-very-much ... No idea why it varies. if you are picking up from a provincial "distributor" I think you stand the chance of a decent charge (ie.. they will have plugged it in). If its a 200-cars-a-day-handover site then probably "whatever it came off the boat with"

have my first super charger experience before getting home

Make sure you have a credit card lodged on your My Tesla account. But ... that said ... there is the risk that it won't work, e.g. if Finance company is involved and they haven't set up everything for APP and so on ...

... but, conversely, I think Tesla take the view that "Day One" they'll let you charge whatever, and sort out the bill later. Sometimes Day One charging (or maybe "up to some limit") is free. But that too seems to vary.

 

[spdpsba]

always wondered what battery percentage it would come with. I won’t have my charger at home installed by the time I collect my car so I might even drive to the supercharger at lakeside shopping center on the way back. It won’t be busy at 12pm in January so will be a good chance to top it up and have my first super charger experience

My recent MY came with 14% charge. It does vary.

You picked the right time at the lakeside. Given the recent traffic chaos I wouldn’t go there anytime earlier. I recently had to wait for 2hrs to get out of the car park and 30minutes to find a parking space.

Are you picking up from Dartford? There are chargers both there and at blue waters shopping centre.

 

[SamWhu30]

My recent MY came with 14% charge. It does vary.

You picked the right time at the lakeside. Given the recent traffic chaos I wouldn’t go there anytime earlier. I recently had to wait for 2hrs to get out of the car park and 30minutes to find a parking space.

Are you picking up from Dartford? There are chargers both there and at blue waters shopping centre.

Yeah I'm picking up from the Bluewater car park. I said to the person on the phone I can't go any earlier as the bridge can be a nightmare with commuter traffic.

 

[spdpsba]

Yeah I'm picking up from the Bluewater car park.

Then you can charge there itself. They normally provide 100 miles free credits. You can try supercharger for your experience.

 

[SamWhu30]

Then you can charge there itself. They normally provide 100 miles free credits. You can try supercharger for your experience.

Ah nice I didn’t realise they done that cheers

 

[WannabeOwner]

Everyone else might be wanting to charge there too ...

Suggest you immediately move the car to the chargers (and get in the queue if necessary) and only then set about doing your PDI checks, and configuring everything to your liking (that will take a while ... I've ridden shotgun with people collecting a Tesla for first time ... if you can take an existing owner with you they will probably talk you through all the settings more usefully (as a first step) than you will do yourself

For example : Profiles list in the order created ... just in case you are not the most important person in your family then create them first

 

[spdpsba]

are not the most important person in your family then create them first

Mrs Wannabeowner has some influence. Btw, I never thought about it as my wife and son were happily shopping and eating (promised me they will bring a cup of tea) when I was going thro the check list in the rain. And that was hers last worry.

 

[spdpsba]

you immediately move the car to the chargers (and get in the queue if necessary)

Dartford service centre isn’t too far off from Bluewater and that has I think 16scs.

 

[SamWhu30]

Suggest you immediately move the car to the chargers

Do they literally just give it to you and that’s it?

 

[spdpsba]

Do they literally just give it to you and that’s it?

If they are close enough I guess they don’t mind you moving the car to charger while you are examining it. But the issue will be the free credit that can be sent to your account once you agreed to accept the car. Not sure whether you can charge even before that as the supercharging network access may not be active.

 

[SamWhu30]

If they are close enough I guess they don’t mind you moving the car to charger while you are examining it. But the issue will be the free credit that can be sent to your account once you agreed to take the car. Not sure whether you can charge even before that as the supercharging network access may not be active.

I kind of meant is there not much of a handover process other than here’s the key cards, have a nice day?

 

[spdpsba]

I kind of meant is there not much of a handover process other than here’s the key cards, have a nice day?

You will be given the key card first to examine the car. You can take as much as you like and thoroughly go thro it. Then you list the faults/or things you need sorting out and let them know. If they are some minor stuff they try and fix them then and there. All the other issues will be logged in and you are asked to complete the sign off in the app. If finances are cleared then that’s it, you can take the car and go. You only need your licence as id.

 

[SamWhu30]

You will be given the key card first to examine the car. You can take as much as you like and thoroughly go thro it. Then you list the faults/or things you need sorting out and let them know. If they are some minor stuff they try and fix them then and there. All the other issues will be logged in and you are asked to complete the sign off in the app. If finances are cleared then that’s it, you can take the car and go. You only need your licence as id.

Cool, thanks for letting me know. I’ve had it before when picking up a new car and the dealer tells you every small detail about the car which is great but can be a bit tedious, this is going the complete opposite direction

 

[spdpsba]

Cool, thanks for letting me know. I’ve had it before when picking up a new car and the dealer tells you every small detail about the car which is great but can be a bit tedious, this is going the complete opposite direction

Yes and no selling of GAP insurance and all the other profits they can make. It is a different model and forum members have very different views about picking up a dirty car from a car park

 

[spdpsba]

and the dealer tells you every small detail about the car

They may tell you some basics but as far as I can remember some basic introductory videos pop up automatically for the first few days.