Hawaii Tesla Owners

[Akikiki]

How to Register the car and get tags in Hawaii

JKams, guide should work in most cases but in my case my VIN wasn't put into the system and I had to take it to the compliance office to get them to visually inspect the car VIN.

the compliance office is where you would take your vehicle to get the reconstruction sticker if you made major/non-standard changes to your vehicle. an example of this would be if you jacked your truck's suspension about 6 feet higher than stock. they would inspect your vehicle for road worthiness and issue you the sticker to go along side your normal safety stickers. no stickers in my case, they just needed to see the car and sign the form.

these are the steps I took:
1. Tax office (missing the final configuration sheet that had the personal delivery charges)
2. Tax office 2nd try success, (4.5% on MVPA less personal delivery charges)
3.. Ala Moana Satellite City hall (forgot my safety inspection)
4. Safety Inspection, needed proof of insurance (got blue form)
5. Ala Moana Satellite City hall (VIN not in system request for inspection submitted, (also informed Tesla that HI did not get my VIN), told to wait on phone call for appointment)
6. Wait for phone call 1-2 business days (no phone call)
7. Kalihi Satellite City hall (VIN still not in system. request for inspection resubmitted, told to wait on phone call for appointment)
8. Wait for phone call 1-2 business days (phone call 1 business day later)
9. appointment for next day 7AM, recieved VIN Verification form.
10 Ala Moana Sattelete City hall, turned in all forms, Paid registration fee (just over $400), recieved plates.
11 Rear plates attached with safety inspection sticker bracket. (Note: tesla provided screws use allen wrench to secure. the ones holding the factory tesla frame are phillips head)
12 tomorrow: will mount plate using the 5/16" "toilet bolt" method. (or zip tie if it takes me longer than 10 minutes to mount...)
13 tomorrow: will take to original place I got the blue safety inspection form and get the permanent forms. (white and goldenrod?)

dsmith: You did a great job documenting the steps and repeats of getting your car registered and tagged. With Hawaii owners help this gecko has been chased all around the room. But I am hopeful we can get a little more. Maybe some of us going through this can add still more detail to simplify for the next. It would be great if anyone can add the name of the city employee that they worked with in these steps. It would be useful to talk to the city employee that is already helped a Tesla owner, such as one that helps with VIN verification. Can anyone remember name or even male/female at the different city places you worked with?

Anyone: where did ya'll go for your safety inspection?

My Garage reports my status as car is being built. When mine gets on island and I begin my tagging process, I promise to give back what all of you have already done so well. Thank you.

 

[808oman]

Once the service center is open here at the end of this month, do they take care of the safety, registration, etc as other dealerships do when you buy? I sure hope so.

My delivery estimate is Feb 28-Mar 15th.

 

[Akikiki]

Once the service center is open here at the end of this month, do they take care of the safety, registration, etc as other dealerships do when you buy? I sure hope so.

My delivery estimate is Feb 28-Mar 15th.

Wow! that's an excellent question/point. You are right on target. All other dealerships do, it make perfect sense that they would. Looks like dsmith had to run all over the place and it must have taken close to a week with all the waiting for phone calls. It makes sense that an official Tesla company rep would do all that. I mean when you buy a new car from a local dealer, they do Safety check and even go pickup your tags. Once there's a Tesla rep, doesn't it make sense the rep would do those errands if you were picking up your car at the Service Center? (Anyone from Tesla listening?) I'd wait a day or two or week to let the company do those things for me. We'll see, I guess.

 

[dsmith2189]

I posted my front licence plate mount front licence plate mount here
I purchased at "West Marine". while I was there someone smashed the window in a Black Mustang Convertible to get a bag left on the seat.:scared: Park in front of the door when you go in. I almost parked where the Mustang parked and would have been "mildly" upset:cursing: if it had been me. I was parked only about 50 feet away in front of the door, grabbed my parts and left ASAP. (BTW. my old car is a Black Mustang Convertible, I had to stop and think when the staff was aksing who drove a Black Mustang Convertible.)
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dsmith: You did a great job documenting the steps and repeats of getting your car registered and tagged. With Hawaii owners help this gecko has been chased all around the room. But I am hopeful we can get a little more. Maybe some of us going through this can add still more detail to simplify for the next. It would be great if anyone can add the name of the city employee that they worked with in these steps. It would be useful to talk to the city employee that is already helped a Tesla owner, such as one that helps with VIN verification. Can anyone remember name or even male/female at the different city places you worked with?

Anyone: where did ya'll go for your safety inspection?

My Garage reports my status as car is being built. When mine gets on island and I begin my tagging process, I promise to give back what all of you have already done so well. Thank you.

It was just one big adventure....
The only thing I forgot was to ask if I could get a license plate to match my VIN.
Since I am retired Military, I did my inspection at the Navy auto-hobby shop. normally they take your documents and drive it to a stall for their checklist. horn, brakes, etc...
I had to "instruct" him how to drive it and how the emergency brake works. He just threw his hands up and surrendered. He gave me the blue slip with no problems.
When I went back to pick up the pink and goldenrod copies they just put the sticker on. I bought a sticker bracket at checker/O'riley that is fastened under the rear licence plate and sticks out to the side.

 

[Akikiki]

Telsa iPhone App:
Everyone: Those of you lucky enough to already have your car. The iPhone Telsa app is available. When you search the app store look for Tesla Model S.
It links you to your car. Those of us waiting on the car, can't login.
Have fun ya'll.

 

[islesowner]

The app is neat, but rudimentary. It will allow us to;
honk the horn
flash the lights
lock/ unlock the car
check battery levels
check car locationcheck/set temperature
It does not allow us to schedule charging start or end times. There is a much lonmger list on the app wish list on the main page, but setting charging would be really nice IMO.
The car, is awesome!
I use a 240/40 charger, cost $350 to install. I charge 200+ miles a night, between 9PM and 5AM. I have a 65KW model S with twin chargers, so I charge once a week. If I get through a week, I charge on Saturday using my PV. I no longer spend $400 a month on gas. I spend about $100 on electricity. I have 40KW of PV on my roof.
There is a lot to learn when you convert from starting a car to booting a car. What fun though!

 

[dsmith2189]

Telsa iPhone App:
Everyone: Those of you lucky enough to already have your car. The iPhone Telsa app is available. When you search the app store look for Tesla Model S.
It links you to your car. Those of us waiting on the car, can't login.
Have fun ya'll.

I got the android version a few days ago. it has already saved me time when I charge. Since I don't have my carger installed yet I had to keep checking the car to see how much longer... Now I just pull up the app and it tels me how much longer I have to charge on the publich charging station or if one of those "nasty" Leaf or volt owners has unplugged me.

I also picked up a pair of LED bulbs for the rear licence plate to replace the stock incandesant bulbs.

 

[Akikiki]

The app is neat, but rudimentary. It will allow us to;
honk the horn
flash the lights
lock/ unlock the car
check battery levels
check car locationcheck/set temperature
It does not allow us to schedule charging start or end times. There is a much lonmger list on the app wish list on the main page, but setting charging would be really nice IMO.
The car, is awesome!
I use a 240/40 charger, cost $350 to install. I charge 200+ miles a night, between 9PM and 5AM. I have a 65KW model S with twin chargers, so I charge once a week. If I get through a week, I charge on Saturday using my PV. I no longer spend $400 a month on gas. I spend about $100 on electricity. I have 40KW of PV on my roof.
There is a lot to learn when you convert from starting a car to booting a car. What fun though!

isle owner: Me too. I have a 60 Kw S on order. And with Twin chargers. I am working with contractors to get the service installed in the garage. Mind if I ask who you used? Who did it for you? $350 was a bargain. I have 26 PV panels now and will add 4 more in May. I'm currently making 25% more than I use. The next 4 should push generation up to about 45-50% total more than currently needed. I hope the demand that the car uses will allow me to break even. Free electric for the house and free electric for the car.
Thanks.

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Yes, me too on the bulbs. (I don't even have the car yet and I am buying stuff.)
You said stated you don't have your charger installed. I don't understand that. Did you mean something else?

 

[hawaiikaiguy]

Hi All,

Just caught up on the entire thread. Thank you everyone for all of the fantastic info. I agree if we could continue to build on the Honolulu registration process that jkam laid out so nicely back on Page 11 of this thread, that would be immensely helpful to everyone.

We reserved back on Jan 10th to be #18,185, and our Finalize button became available today -- so we did! May/June is estimated delivery, and we're very excited and surprised that it may be shorter than the 9 months we had been hearing about. Looks like production issues are ironed out!

Questions:

At what point in the process:
1) does the payment/financing come into play?
2) can we choose service plans?

40kWh, blue, pano, 19", tan leather, obeche gloss, tech, sound, air, rear seats, parcel

 

[nanimac]

Hi All,

Just caught up on the entire thread. Thank you everyone for all of the fantastic info. I agree if we could continue to build on the Honolulu registration process that jkam laid out so nicely back on Page 11 of this thread, that would be immensely helpful to everyone.

We reserved back on Jan 10th to be #18,185, and our Finalize button became available today -- so we did! May/June is estimated delivery, and we're very excited and surprised that it may be shorter than the 9 months we had been hearing about. Looks like production issues are ironed out!

Questions:

At what point in the process:
1) does the payment/financing come into play?
2) can we choose service plans?

40kWh, blue, pano, 19", tan leather, obeche gloss, tech, sound, air, rear seats, parcel

Hi Hawaiikaiguy,

Nice to see another blue Tesla coming to Hawaii! I got a May/June delivery estimate too but ordered in November. Will be interesting to see what the real or more accurate timeframe is once the production of the 40kwh starts next month. The sooner the better of course

 

[spleen]

Hi All,

Just caught up on the entire thread. Thank you everyone for all of the fantastic info. I agree if we could continue to build on the Honolulu registration process that jkam laid out so nicely back on Page 11 of this thread, that would be immensely helpful to everyone.

We reserved back on Jan 10th to be #18,185, and our Finalize button became available today -- so we did! May/June is estimated delivery, and we're very excited and surprised that it may be shorter than the 9 months we had been hearing about. Looks like production issues are ironed out!

Questions:

At what point in the process:
1) does the payment/financing come into play?
2) can we choose service plans?

40kWh, blue, pano, 19", tan leather, obeche gloss, tech, sound, air, rear seats, parcel

1) when your delivery button becomes active in My Tesla, you will tell Tesla whether you plan to finance through one of their approved lenders. Of course, nothing's preventing you from getting your own financing from your own bank.
2) not yet.

Welcome!

 

[islesowner]

Akikiki My $350 was cheap because the conduit run is less than 8" from the subpanel in my garage. I had 2 open slots in my breaker box, so the job was really simple. I should have stated as much, but my point was more so that the $1200(+) chargers don't make sense to me. For a few hundred bucks, I get plenty of mileage. I use the TOU right now since I drive the car over the hill (I gain miles on the backside of the Pali too). I charge twice a week, at night (9PM to 5AM) and I use my PV on the weekend. Hence, to my second point, the app should allow for charge times to be set. Silly, the Leaf does that much...! But, I can honk my horn from my phone app, and freak out the kids; once.

Nanimac, I have asked Barry several times about the service plan. No replies yet.

 

[Jkam]

Yesterday I plugged in at the Better Place charger at the Aina Haina Shopping Center. I got my Better Place pass so I could use their chargers - free until April 2013. Anyway I plugged in and walked into Foodland to buy my groceries. I checked on the iphone app, and my car was only getting 8A/215V of juice from the charger. I'd get maybe 2 miles of range per hour. After I figured that out, I figured it really wasn't worth it and I used the iphone app to turn on the A/C so my car would be cool when I was done.

Is that typical of Better Place chargers, 8A/215V? That's really pitiful. I guess I can't complain since it is free.

 

[hawaiikaiguy]

Yesterday I plugged in at the Better Place charger at the Aina Haina Shopping Center. I got my Better Place pass so I could use their chargers - free until April 2013. Anyway I plugged in and walked into Foodland to buy my groceries. I checked on the iphone app, and my car was only getting 8A/215V of juice from the charger. I'd get maybe 2 miles of range per hour. After I figured that out, I figured it really wasn't worth it and I used the iphone app to turn on the A/C so my car would be cool when I was done.

Is that typical of Better Place chargers, 8A/215V? That's really pitiful. I guess I can't complain since it is free.

Hi Jkam, my understanding is that for NEMA 14-50 outlet, it draws at 50 amps + 240 Volts. 50 a * 240 V = 12 kW. And that gets about 31 miles of range per hour I think? 8 A * 215 V = 1.72 kW -- or 14 1/3 % of what the NEMA 14-50 can do. So I'd expect something of 31 * .14333 ~= 4.5 miles of range per hour or so. (My understanding of how it works could be off, however)

 

[hawaiikaiguy]

Yesterday I plugged in at the Better Place charger at the Aina Haina Shopping Center. I got my Better Place pass so I could use their chargers - free until April 2013. Anyway I plugged in and walked into Foodland to buy my groceries. I checked on the iphone app, and my car was only getting 8A/215V of juice from the charger. I'd get maybe 2 miles of range per hour. After I figured that out, I figured it really wasn't worth it and I used the iphone app to turn on the A/C so my car would be cool when I was done.

Is that typical of Better Place chargers, 8A/215V? That's really pitiful. I guess I can't complain since it is free.

Hi Jkam, my understanding is that for NEMA 14-50 outlet, it draws at 50 amps + 240 Volts. 50 a * 240 V = 12 kW. And that gets about 31 miles of range per hour I think? 8 A * 215 V = 1.72 kW -- or 14 1/3 % of what the NEMA 14-50 can do. So I'd expect something of 31 * .14333 ~= 4.5 miles of range per hour or so. (My understanding of how it works could be off, however)

 

[islesowner]

That is the same experience I have had. I called them and was told it was supposed to increase when the sites were "fully operational (in other words, pay per use I am guessing). Fair enough.

 

[Jkam]

That is the same experience I have had. I called them and was told it was supposed to increase when the sites were "fully operational (in other words, pay per use I am guessing). Fair enough.

Just saw this: Better Place To Shut Down U.S., Australian Operations - Forbes

And there is a thread on this website: Project Better Place - Page 69

I guess Better Place is going to disappear. Didn't seem like a sustainable business model to me. I wonder what will happen to all the chargers they have installed already. Probably they get removed. Oh well, I was able to suck maybe 1 kWh (approximated 33¢) of free electricity from them.

 

[dsmith2189]

Yes, me too on the bulbs. (I don't even have the car yet and I am buying stuff.)
You said stated you don't have your charger installed. I don't understand that. Did you mean something else?

Guess you mean me...:biggrin: While I am waiting for my NIMA 14-50 plug to be installed by SolarCity I am subjected the humiliation of charging at public chargers next to... leafs. It's a few minutes walk to the nearst one and with the Phone app I can tell lf it's worth walking to get my car and how close to being done it is. of course I note how long it will be when first plugging in, but now I can double check it with the App.

 

[Akikiki]

Charging Outlet: My house has 100 amp service. My Mod S has twin chargers (when it gets here). I intend to put the NEMA 14-50 outlet in my garage, if possible. According to the Tesla web, it uses a 50 amp circuit breaker and 14-50 is the plug for 40 amp service. Then there's also the NEMA 14-30 for 24 amp service. Question please? Anyone else trying to do this? Anyone else already done this? The electrician I am talking to says this is borderline feasible or borderline to code. He says he talked to four city inspectors. Two say is okay to install the 40 amp. He says the other two say no. This has become a judgment call then for the area city inspector. Another question to all? Anyone have experience with the discussion to do or not do? Has anyone had a problem with 100 amp service? I'd apprciate anyone's everyone's comments...

 

[dsmith2189]

Just saw this: Better Place To Shut Down U.S., Australian Operations - Forbes

And there is a thread on this website: Project Better Place - Page 69

I guess Better Place is going to disappear. Didn't seem like a sustainable business model to me. I wonder what will happen to all the chargers they have installed already. Probably they get removed. Oh well, I was able to suck maybe 1 kWh (approximated 33¢) of free electricity from them.

Currently charging on a public Chargepoint charger (Free) It takes about 5 to 6 hours to add 100 miles.
I Started at 142 miles, currently 170 Miles (with a max std charge of 242), 3 Hr 59Min remaining, 13 mi/hr, 200V 30/30A)