First Tesla pick-up, road trip concerns

[aricsautos]

Good Evening all!

I am flying out to pick up a 2018 M3P Saturday morning from a private seller just outside of NYC. It’s about 650 miles to my home back in Michigan. I am extremely excited and somewhat anxious. I want to make sure that I’m prepared for everything that comes my way. This will be my first EV and I’m trying to make sure this isn’t a terrible experience. I’ve mapped my route using the online route planner thru Tesla and ABRP so it looks like 4 stops. The seller promised a 100% charge (even though he has never charged over 80% in his time with the car).

My main concern is access to supercharging, we plan on transferring the car into my Tesla account when we complete the sale, I’ve heard this can be instant and I’ve also heard this can take some time. I’d really not be stuck 400 miles away from home waiting so I was looking for some input. Has anyone done this? Am I worrying for nothing? Any good alternatives to plan my route using another charging system? Will I need an adapter if I go that route?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[Resist]

I would tell the seller not to charge the car to 100%, because you don't know how long it will be sitting at 100% and that's not good for the battery health.

But yeah your concern about the transfer for Supercharging not being instant is valid. So you could just charge at Non Tesla stations and use the J1772 adapter that should be included with your car.

 

[RayK]

Try reading this: Selling our M3, need advice [on any gotchas regarding vehicle transfer]

edit: As far as alternate means of charging, given the time involved there's not much you can do besides using the J1772 adapter. That means slow recharges (~22 miles of range per hour). If you had more time, you could have tried to source a (pricey: $500+) CHAdeMO adapter which is limited to 50kW transfers so that's a bit slower than the slowest Supercharger.

 

[Resist]

Try reading this: Selling our M3, need advice [on any gotchas regarding vehicle transfer]

Nice referral, that's an excellent thread and should help him out!

 

[Rocky_H]

I had a friend who bought a used Model S a couple of years ago. The ownership transfer was pretty quick but not instant. I think it's not an automated process, and needs someone to review it and do the thing, so if you try this like Friday night at 7 PM, there may not be someone who sees it and makes it happen until Monday morning. But it's usually within a day or two.

 

[aricsautos]

That post was helpful and definitely helped ease my mind. Thank you!

 

[KenC]

Good Evening all!

I am flying out to pick up a 2018 M3P Saturday morning from a private seller just outside of NYC. It’s about 650 miles to my home back in Michigan. I am extremely excited and somewhat anxious. I want to make sure that I’m prepared for everything that comes my way. This will be my first EV and I’m trying to make sure this isn’t a terrible experience. I’ve mapped my route using the online route planner thru Tesla and ABRP so it looks like 4 stops. The seller promised a 100% charge (even though he has never charged over 80% in his time with the car).

My main concern is access to supercharging, we plan on transferring the car into my Tesla account when we complete the sale, I’ve heard this can be instant and I’ve also heard this can take some time. I’d really not be stuck 400 miles away from home waiting so I was looking for some input. Has anyone done this? Am I worrying for nothing? Any good alternatives to plan my route using another charging system? Will I need an adapter if I go that route?

Thank you so much in advance.

I'd put a $100 on a debit card, and see if the seller could put that into his Tesla acct, just in case the transfer isn't immediate. Should be less than $100 supercharging on the way home.

No need for a 100% charge, stick with 80%.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

The seller promised a 100% charge (even though he has never charged over 80% in his time with the car).

I know this wasn’t your question, but I assume you have checked and know what the 100% charge level will be? Always good to know before finalizing the deal, in any case. Sounds like the car has been cared for well, and anything above 280 is good.

I would not worry about having the car charged to 100% the morning before you pick it up. It is a non issue. Go for it.

Regarding alternative charging methods, there are none that are easy (you would need Chademo adapter which is expensive and would be slow). You will need to charge three times (possibly 4 as you say but depends on how you want to do it) on the way home (150-200 miles between charges) so just work out with the seller how to pay for this on his account somehow. The lowest risk (to you) thing would be to accomplish these charges on the old account and just settle up those charges. Looks like the referenced thread has details on how best to do that.

J1772 is useless to you unless you plan on an overnight stop somewhere (and even then at most 6kW chargers it would likely be marginal).

 

[Candleflame]

I would tell the seller not to charge the car to 100%, because you don't know how long it will be sitting at 100% and that's not good for the battery health.

But yeah your concern about the transfer for Supercharging not being instant is valid. So you could just charge at Non Tesla stations and use the J1772 adapter that should be included with your car.

this is actually a myth. The worst % to sit at is actually 80%. charging to 100% should only be avoided because charging only to 90% doubles cyces and essentially doubles battery life.

The other myth is that keeping the battery at 50% is best for the battery when actually (technically) 0.1% is best for the battery - indeed most lithium ion manufacturers recommend to discharge their batteries and then freezing them for maximum storage life (some others recommend 5C and at 10% or smth)

 

[MP3Mike]

I had a friend who bought a used Model S a couple of years ago. The ownership transfer was pretty quick but not instant. I think it's not an automated process, and needs someone to review it and do the thing, so if you try this like Friday night at 7 PM, there may not be someone who sees it and makes it happen until Monday morning. But it's usually within a day or two.

If the seller transfers via the app it is automated and practically instant.

 

[Candleflame]

Also if there are any issues tesla are usually happy to remotestart free supercharging - I have read about this so many times and I dont think this has ever been an issue. Tesla wont leave you stranded just because there are issues with getting a supercharger connection going.
There was a guy here who had to drive like 800 miles home and called tesla like 4x to start the supercharger. (some issue with his credit card getting rejected)

 

[Resist]

this is actually a myth. The worst % to sit at is actually 80%. charging to 100% should only be avoided because charging only to 90% doubles cyces and essentially doubles battery life.

The other myth is that keeping the battery at 50% is best for the battery when actually (technically) 0.1% is best for the battery - indeed most lithium ion manufacturers recommend to discharge their batteries and then freezing them for maximum storage life (some others recommend 5C and at 10% or smth)

No, it's not a myth! Lithium Ion batteries all react the same way. They don't like 100% and prefer to be at 50%. You are telling misinformation!

 

[Candleflame]

No, it's not a myth! Lithium Ion batteries all react the same way. They don't like 100% and prefer to be at 50%. You are telling misinformation!

the degradation intensity curve is spoonshaped, its not linear. the worse % is 80%. you need to stop letting your feelings and assumptions influence you. what matters are the cold hard facts.

 

[aricsautos]

Quick update. We added my card to the sellers account before I left. I stopped and was able to supercharge at 4 locations before making it home. We transferred ownership officially in the app and it was instant! Ended up supercharging again today. One of the best road trips I’ve ever had, the supercharger network is incredible. Thank all, I’m looking forward to learning more.

 

[Unclepaul]

Enjoy your new Tesla. Ownership can be life altering.