Have a deal in place to purchase my first Tesla (17 S 90D). Also have a few weeks until it arrives...what do I need to know and/or prepare myself for? I've only ever done a test drive at a Tesla sales office, which wasn't a lot of time with the car. Also looking at doing a road trip in it to see what that's like with the supercharging and having to wait vs filling up with gas quickly. I have a 10-30 outlet at the front of my garage (pays to clean out the garage occasionally) so I think I need to order that adaptor, but wasn't sure if I needed other cables or adaptors etc.
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First Tesla Preparations
- Thread starter CactusJack
- Start date
Congratulations on the soon-to-be car! My three tidbits for you are about your home charging, a tesla.com account, and connecting with other Tesla owners.
It's great that you've got the NEMA 10-30 in your garage (I'm going to assume you've got it properly wired, up to code, etc.). This lets you "refuel" in the convenience of your own garage, overnight, so you have a "full tank" when you head out each day. (you'll probably want to set the car to charge to somewhere between 70-90%) That outlet should give somewhere around 22-23 miles of range per hour. You'll definitely want the NEMA 10-30 adapter for that. One thing to figure out is what charging connector comes with your car. There are two versions...based on the build date of your car it's probably the older one ("Gen 1", a.k.a. "Universal Mobile Connector"). Operationally there isn't really a difference between Gen 1 and the newer "Gen 2", but the adapters are different for the two versions, make sure you buy the right one.
You'll want to set up a tesla.com account if you don't have one already, so you'll have remote access to the car via the app. If you're buying the car from a Tesla location they should be able to get that set up for you. If a private party sale, there's a procedure for transferring the car from the old owner's account to your...there's probably a bazillion posts here saying how to do that (I don't know personally).
If I were a new Tesla owner I might want to link up with some other owners nearby. You might find some folks here on TMC in the Southwest forum, there's probably an official Tesla owners club somewhere near you. The TMC forums are a great resource, of course, and feel free to ask if you have any questions you can't find the answers to.
Bruce.
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beatle
Active Member
I would also pick up a J1772 adapter if the car does not already come with one. That will let you charge at the free charging stations at malls, shopping centers, parking garages, and some hotels. Plugshare is a good resource for finding those charging stations. I used it on my maiden voyage to find a hotel where I could charge overnight. I also found the charging station of a nice Leaf owner who allowed me to charge for a few hours in Blacksburg while I was visiting some friends. There is also a CHAdeMO adapter that gives you access to some other DC fast chargers. It is expensive, however, and you may not need it if there are other charging stations available.
abetterrouteplanner.com is a good site for planning trips and charging stops. The in-car navigation will also do this to an extent, but ABRP is more versatile and IMO provides better guidance on when to charge and to what level.
There are a few online services that use the car's API to gather data on energy use, mileage, trip logging, charging, and remote control. I use TeslaFi, but there is at least one other.
abetterrouteplanner.com is a good site for planning trips and charging stops. The in-car navigation will also do this to an extent, but ABRP is more versatile and IMO provides better guidance on when to charge and to what level.
There are a few online services that use the car's API to gather data on energy use, mileage, trip logging, charging, and remote control. I use TeslaFi, but there is at least one other.
