Many 3 questions

[nursebee]

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

Are driver seat and steering wheel preferences saved for 2 drivers?

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions? Our Subaru shuts down in the worst of rain.

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.

How can charging times be controlled. We have solar and need to save our off peak excess and prefer to charge at peak times.

What side is the charge port on?

I can't find my list but think we had a few more questions, will add later.

Thanks.

 

[redan]

Are driver seat and steering wheel preferences saved for 2 drivers?

Yes, definitely two and I think up to four.

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions? Our Subaru shuts down in the worst of rain.

I haven't had any problems with it shutting off in heavy rain. If snow or leaves cover the cameras or sensors, I can imagine it shutting off.

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.

Not sure about this one. I'd imagine it would be tough to accomplish, but more and more third party/aftermarket products will keep getting released.

How can charging times be controlled. We have solar and need to save our off peak excess and prefer to charge at peak times.

You can set to charge at any time. I typically set mine to charge early morning so the car is warmed up when I'm ready to leave.

What side is the charge port on?

Driver side.

 

[swaltner]

For the solar charging, there are no out of the box solutions that let you only charge from your on-site solar installation and not draw from the grid. There is currently no standard way for home automation to get the amps/kW that on-site solar is producing or measure how much you’re pulling from the grid and provide that to automation tools. This means that each implementation needs to support all the other implementations out there. Not very scalable.

The wi-fi interface on the OpenEVSE units has an option to tie into solar production and automatically adjust the amperage the car draws based on how much the on-site solar panels are producing. This used some power monitoring system that I wasn’t familiar with. I have full Net Metering without ToU rates, so I didn’t investigate further than thinking, “that’s a cool feature.”. They also support an API where anything on your local network could adjust t(e amperage that the OpenEVSE unit provides to the car.

There’s a project being discussed here on TMC to decode and impersonate the communication protocol used by Tesla on multiple wall connectors to stay below a shared current limit. This is software you run on an Arduino or Raspbery Pi (pretty sure it’s the RPi). One could write a little code to integrate this into whatever monitoring you have on-site for your solar panels.

If you’re just wanting to charge at certain times of the day and are fine with charging at a fixed speed (not tracking real-time solar production), that capability is built into the car with its relatively simple charging timer. It lets you start charging at a fixed time each day.

 

[Aellinsar]

Mostly echoing jareade

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

Are driver seat and steering wheel preferences saved for 2 drivers?.

Yes, S and X have many more than 2. My 3 has 3 saved, I'm not sure what the max # is.

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions? Our Subaru shuts down in the worst of rain.

I'd say it works surprisingly well in heavy rain. I have not driven in snow.

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.
.

Sorry, no experience

How can charging times be controlled. We have solar and need to save our off peak excess and prefer to charge at peak times.

It required 2 button presses on the touch screen - quite easy to change the start time of charging. (Requested feature: change the end time of charging and have the car auto-calculate the start time for you.)

What side is the charge port on?

Driver's side

 

[L-P-G]

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

Are driver seat and steering wheel preferences saved for 2 drivers?

Yes, you can even have more than 2 profiles.

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions? Our Subaru shuts down in the worst of rain.

TACC itself without the steering aspect works by radar, my AP1 which is dumber than that on the 3 always works in the rain. (quick tip, since in the Tesla world you can activate TACC without steering, when you're asking questions if you're interested in answers regarding autonomous acceleration and steering you may want to ask with EAP instead of just TACC)

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.

Here you go, pics and instructions
2018 Tesla Model 3 Trailer Hitch - EcoHitch
Model 3 Roof Rack
https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/downloads/model-3-roof-rack-owners-manual-en-us.pdf

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

How can charging times be controlled. We have solar and need to save our off peak excess and prefer to charge at peak times.

You can control it from the app on your phone or set a starting charge time on the cars controls

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

What side is the charge port on?

Driver.

 

[coleAK]

In the snow EAP does not work at all and TACC does not work well. But you probably shouldn’t be using any cruse control on snow covered roads.

 

[eokie]

Here is great video on a rear hitch.

 

[jkoya]

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions?

Worked good for me in heavy fog.

 

[jjrandorin]

Here is great video on a rear hitch.

Page 149 of the Tesla model 3 manual states:

=======================
TOWING A TRAILER

"Warning: Do not use Model 3 for towing purposes. Model 3 does not currently support towing. Towing can cause damage and increase the risk of collision.

Caution: Using model 3 for towing before Tesla -Approved towing components and accessories are available may void the warranty"
======================

So if one cares about warranty, one would not put a trailer hitch on a model 3. of course. some people dont care about this type of thing, but many do. People should know that it is specifically called out as not to do in the official documentation though, and make their decisions based on whether that matters to them or not.

 

[eokie]

Page 149 of the Tesla model 3 manual states:

=======================
TOWING A TRAILER

"Warning: Do not use Model 3 for towing purposes. Model 3 does not currently support towing. Towing can cause damage and increase the risk of collision.

Caution: Using model 3 for towing before Tesla -Approved towing components and accessories are available may void the warranty"
======================

So if one cares about warranty, one would not put a trailer hitch on a model 3. of course. some people dont care about this type of thing, but many do. People should know that it is specifically called out as not to do in the official documentation though, and make their decisions based on whether that matters to them or not.

I am not adding it to mine, but it was a fun video to watch.

 

[ewoodrick]

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

Are driver seat and steering wheel preferences saved for 2 drivers?

Yes, still manual driver selection though. It may become automatic in future.

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions? Our Subaru shuts down in the worst of rain.

Better than Nissan's solution. I've used Subaru's a little, I'm pretty sure better. Tesla doesn't tend to turn off except for those situations in which many drivers would have problems. This is today, it is better than it was 6 months ago, and expected to get even better.

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.

There are two 3rd party hitch manufacturers. There is also a Tesla roof mount. (Model 3 Roof Rack)

How can charging times be controlled. We have solar and need to save our off peak excess and prefer to charge at peak times.

You can set charge start times, but not end. Up to 80kWh is a lot of sunlight, so if you are going to charge at night, you probably need some bigger solar storage batteries and more panels.

What side is the charge port on?

Rear Drivers side. I'll bet you never find it in photos

 

[Swampgator]

We finally sat in a 3, realize it could be a car for us. Some questions:

Are driver seat and steering wheel preferences saved for 2 drivers?

How well does auto pilot and TACC work in adverse conditions? Our Subaru shuts down in the worst of rain.

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.

How can charging times be controlled. We have solar and need to save our off peak excess and prefer to charge at peak times.

What side is the charge port on?

I can't find my list but think we had a few more questions, will add later.

Thanks.

If you only sat in the car, I suggest driving it. Then PM me for my referral code when you place the order

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.

For the hitch, you should follow the progress in the thread below. The hitches require cutting the black lower portion of the bumper cover, regardless. However, if you have the ability to weld, it's probably best to modify one of the existing solutions, as the hitch will tend to be too low and limit your departure angle (and I guess impact aero a bit) - that's what is covered in this thread. Hopefully someone will come out with one that doesn't hang so low at some point, though I doubt it will happen soon - it's actually a bit of a tolerance problem (different from vehicle to vehicle) to get it at just the right height (if you're manufacturing it yourself this is less of an issue).

What about the tow hitch?

There should be some more posts in this thread with the finished product soon I would think.

For the roof rack, see above link to Tesla solution. Probably the way to go vs. the ones that clamp on to window trim, suction on, etc., at least until someone else comes out with one identical to the Tesla version.

 

[longshot49]

RE: TACC /EAP

EAP works pretty good in most weather.

Rain : I drove in the pouring rain, the kind you almost can't see through. I wanted to test EAP limits and I "only" had to reduce EAP speed to 55-60mph vs my usual 75mph.

Snow roads : It ping pongs when it can't see the left or rightside snow covered lines. Work rather well with a lead car. It got to a point that I got a warning auto lane change was disabled on account of conditions. Not sure if it was dirty cameras or powder snow.

 

[brianman]

(I don't have as much experience with X but I presume it's similar to S....)

Both the S and 3 will store 10 driver profiles.

 

[eokie]

Rather than the hitch or OEM roof rack (that sold out in minutes) I am going to try a SeaSucker bike rack.

Car Racks

 

[Needsdecaf]

Rather than the hitch or OEM roof rack (that sold out in minutes) I am going to try a SeaSucker bike rack.

Car Racks

I was thinking about a SeaSucker the other day. I had a thought that since the M3's roof is all glass, and is pretty much open on all edges, and you're essentially attaching to the roof....I wonder if you'll cause long term problems with the roof glass seal / installation by having this only attached to the glass? Think about the wind force the rack will be generating on the roof when you've got a bike loaded up there and flying down the road. I wonder if it would develop issues or lead to a denial of a warranty claim?

EDIT:

Just read the Tesla Roof Rack instructions and it looks like their system clips under the edges of the glass. I had assumed it clipped onto the metal roof rails. So Tesla's product will produce the same forces.

Interesting. In that case, the Sea Sucker shouldn't be an issue then!

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I was thinking about a SeaSucker the other day. I had a thought that since the M3's roof is all glass, and is pretty much open on all edges, and you're essentially attaching to the roof....I wonder if you'll cause long term problems with the roof glass seal / installation by having this only attached to the glass? Think about the wind force the rack will be generating on the roof when you've got a bike loaded up there and flying down the road. I wonder if it would develop issues or lead to a denial of a warranty claim?

EDIT:

Just read the Tesla Roof Rack instructions and it looks like their system clips under the edges of the glass. I had assumed it clipped onto the metal roof rails. So Tesla's product will produce the same forces.

Interesting. In that case, the Sea Sucker shouldn't be an issue then!

Actually there are small metal tabs that the Tesla rack hooks onto. It does not hook onto the glass - though they say over tightening will break the glass - probably because the tab will eventually bend, if too much force is applied - and then the glass will start getting bent.. The tabs are hidden under the rubber seal next to the arrows on the glass, check for yourself. This makes it likely a superior solution to the other solutions available (in terms of attachment method anyway).

There is a thread here with pictures too.

 

[jlghertner]

TACC definitely shuts down with slush on the front. I carry a small squirt bottle of cleaner and rag and am on the road again. It is a pain that you can’t use the old fashioned basic cruise control without the sensors.

 

[mnevar]

Does anyone know how well after market roof carriers or trailer hitches go on? Any pictures out there with model 3 hitches? We are passionate bikers, want to carry our 3 wheel recumbents when we travel. They fit in our Subaru, used to fit on hitch mounted rack on a VW. Sales center said it cant be done. 200# max we need to carry.


Thanks.