Misc. Model 3 questions

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Winter questions -
1. I remember with my Model S, the heater kinda sucked. My feet were never warm. How is it with Model 3 with an outside temp. of around 10F?
2. Model S dual motor gave you better range, better handling, better acceleration. Why is this not true for Model 3? Do you have "range mode" in Model 3?
3. How much range loss do you see in winter?

Towing questions -
1. Strange that Model 3 in US has no towing option but in Europe it does. Are there professional installers for 3rd party tow hitches?

Summer questions -
1. How is the tint on the glass roof, does the hot sun in summer bother you? I did bother me in Model S (I had pano roof), but tint helped.

Other questions -
1. How is the AC? Model S AC was like a helicopter, very loud. How is it in Model 3's AC?
2. Sentry mode - does it pretty much eliminate the need for 3rd party dash cams?
3. Tire alignment - do you take it to Tesla for this, or outside?
4. Brake Caliper cleaning - I used to have to pay $185/year for Model S on top of service. How is the story in Model 3 in snowy climate/salty roads?
5. How is the regen compared to Model S?
6. How many MPH charge rate do you see on a 14-50 NEMA 40amp plug at home?

Thanks!

 

[IraB]

I can answer a few of the above questions, but other than a brief loaner of an old and tired Model S, I have no Model S experience.

In the US, there is no "range mode" on the Model 3, there is a "Chill" mode. I have never used it, so no comment on effect on range.

Tint on the glass roof is impressively effective in rejecting solar heating. Not as good as a solid metal roof painted white, but definitely not an oven or a greenhouse.

Alignment was off a bit on delivery of my Model 3. Service center took care of it on first visit. I assume a good third party alignment shop could have done the same.

The app and the car report adding 36 miles per hour of charging on 40A on my Model 3 Performance.

 

[JulienW]

2. The dual motor does offer better acceleration and handling. In the S (not new Raven) less efficient better performance induction motors were used. In the 3 the rear motor is a permeant magnet motor and is more efficient. Tesla added an induction motor to the front for better performance at the price of some efficiency.

3. Since you had an S YOU KNOW. Capacity loss (range in cars) to climate extremes (especially cold) is fairly consistent to all lit-ion batteries, Tesla to iPhone. Lit-ions are a lot like us. They are most efficient at room temp (72ºF) and get "sluggish" in the cold and "uncomfortable" in the heat.

 

[nicholb]

Had mine through one MN winter and had no complaints about the heat even on the couple sub -20 days. The car warms up quite quickly.

Also notice no excessive AC noise this summer with a couple 90 degree days.The long vent in the 3 does a lot to make the the air flow quite and comfortable. No large blast of air from a small vent where you are cold if it hits you and hot if it doesn't. It has a very even defused flow.

I only use Sentry rather than a dash cam, Just be aware it currently does not record the rear camera and it does not record sound.

 

[focher]

Can’t compare to S, but we have an X in addition to the 3P. We don’t live in a cold winter climate and while we do seasonal trips in our X, have no comparison to the 3P. Also don’t tow in either car.

1. Summer heat through glass roof - I don’t have an issue with it, but have a neighbor with a 3 and he bought the mesh screen insert for the roof as it was bothering him. About $80.

2. AC Noise - Our X is terrible on this front during hot days. Sounds like a jet about to take off. I haven’t experienced any such noise on the 3.

3. Sentry Mode - It’s definitely better than nothing - actually more accurate to say “pretty good” - but not as good as a dedicated dash cam system. This will likely improve over time.

4. Capacity Loss - On the 3P, cold conditions have the same impact. Between running a heater and just general battery chemistry, there’s an impact during cold weather. However, the bigger range impact is my driving style!

 

[jebinc]

Very good questions, OP. I'm relatively new and will follow this thread as I'm interested to see what some of the answers are as well!

 

[amedv]

One more comment about DashCam and Sentry mode.
These are two distinct modes. The former is used during the drive and once activated, it always records during the drive. It also keep recording some time after you parked and then goes off until the next drive. The quality is OK, but there is one reason to get a dedicated dash cam - even though M3 [obviously] has a rear camera, DashCam only records front and two sides, but no rear.
If you happen to get rear-ended, you won't get footage of that (might be able to get something useful from side cams).
Sentry mode is used exclusively in parking mode and you need to activate it every time you want to use it (can do it from the main screen or phone app). Usefullness is somewhat limited, as it reports " X events happened", but there is no way to review it in the car, unless to take the thumb drive out and connect it to a computer or a smartphone ( TeslaCam/Sentry Reviewer is a neat third-party app for that, shows all three feeds at once and you can delete reviewed feeds from the app). Also, unlike DashCam that records in a loop, Sentry "events" are stored permanently, you need to clean them up manually.
I wish there was a Dash/Sentry video viewer built in. Maybe, some day....

 

[Knightshade]

Sentry mode is used exclusively in parking mode and you need to activate it every time you want to use it

that has not been true for several firmware versions now- you can have it on by default, on automatically except for certain places, etc...

 

[cleveland97]

I can answer some of your questions based on my experience (20k miles driven over the last 9 months in Northern Ohio):

Winter:
1) I haven't had any issue with the heat (footwell or otherwise). My only nitpick is that I do miss the heated steering wheel of my 5-series BMW.
2) Efficiency of dual motor - Others have answered this better than I can. Bottom-line: difference motor config in 3 vs. S
3) In my experience ambient temperature has a SIGNIFICANT impact. I was as high as 400 wh/mile on one long trip in very cold and windy weather in the winter, but have been very happy with the range in the summer. From October through March I averaged 312 wh/mile, from April through today I've averaged something closer to 240 wh/mile. Someone else said the battery prefers 71 degrees - my experience so far has been that the battery keeps getting more efficient the hotter it gets outside. I just drove 40 miles today in 90 degree weather and got around 220 wh/mile. I can certainly see why someone who lives in a hot climate has no concept as to why 300 miles of "rated range" isn't enough for those of us that don't. The reality is that in the winter I learned to expect only 200 miles. I await the day when I can put this car into the Tesla fleet to earn money while I go buy one that has 500 miles of rated range.

A winter question you didn't ask - "What else should I be concerned about in the winter?". I found that the car LOVES to fishtail around showy/icy corners despite being Dual Motor. I ended up putting it in Chill Mode most of the winter because of this. The windows do tend to freeze up more than any other car I've ever owned. The door handle is also prone to freezing. The inside of the windows fog up in the winter far more than any other car I've ever owned.

Summer:
1) I haven't had any issues with the glass roof. I did buy the mesh shade but have actually never felt the need to use it.

Other Questions:
1) I haven't noticed the AC being especially loud, but I've never driven a model S to compare.
2) Sentry - It's not as good as a dash cam, but you'll have to decide if it's "good enough".
3) Alignment - haven't need one despite swapping to winter tires and back.
4) Brake caliper cleaning - is that a thing?
5) no idea
6) I get ~39 miles per hour of charge on a 50 amp 14-50 circuit. It charges at 80% of the circuit rating or 40 amp.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

Thanks @cleveland97 (and others) - I didn't realize Model 3 would fishtail in snowy conditions. I've owned 3 Tesla's in snowy weather (S-RWD, S-Dual and X-Dual), and never ran into the fishtail issue. Good to know!

 

[GregD60]

Thanks @cleveland97 (and others) - I didn't realize Model 3 would fishtail in snowy conditions. I've owned 3 Tesla's in snowy weather (S-RWD, S-Dual and X-Dual), and never ran into the fishtail issue. Good to know!

It's not so much that the car fishtails; it's just that the Model 3 traction control system allows a certain amount of tail out behavior before correcting for it. If you just steer where you want to go, and let the car correct it, it will. The amount of oversteer the traction control system allows is greater than in any other car I've driven with its traction control in standard mode, and is more akin to sport or track modes on other sporty cars. It's not bad if you know to expect it, but it caught me out when I drove the car on snow and ice a couple of days after picking it up.

 

[GregD60]

Regarding charging with the 14-50 socket, the charge rate varies depending on the mobile connector used. If you use the standard Gen 2 connector provided with the car, it charges at about 30 miles per hour. To get the higher rate noted by cleveland97, you need to use a "Corded Mobile Connector", similar to that used with the Model S or X.

 

[daniel]

I didn't like the idea of the glass roof, but even here in Maui, with the sun right overhead, I don't feel it. In a convertible I feel the sun like a weight on my head if I'm not wearing a hat.

The A/C works great. Above a fan speed of 6 or so it's pretty loud, but at 5 it's not bothersome. If I forget to leave A/C on when I park in the sun I might run the fan at 8 for three minutes, and then the car has cooled off enough to cut it back to 5 even on very hot days. It gets into the low 90's here.

Can't help on any of your other questions. EAP is the best thing there's ever been, and well worth the money. Not sure I ever use features of EAP that aren't also in AP, except for auto lane change on the highway.

 

[Leafdriver333]

the summer heat does make the car hot.
i bought a screen from amazon for $40. the fit is pretty good.

 

[al503]

Winter questions:
It doesn't get down to 10F where I live so can't answer the heater question. I had no issue with it, though and think it would be adequate.
Range loss: I got roughly 2/3rds of the stated range on the very cold days (25F).

Summer question:
It doesn't get nearly as hot in Oregon as it does in other parts of the country. I still got the Tesla mesh screen for the front roof and it definitely helps. The rear roof and all other windows are tinted. I intentionally didn't have the front roof tinted as the extra light in the gray/dreary months (we have a lot of those) is welcome.

Other questions:
I think the AC is mediocre at best. The AC in the Lexus and even my mom's Rav4 feel like they channel the arctic in comparison. The preheat/pre cool app function is great, though.

Happy with dashcam.

14-50 provides 29 miles of range/hour for me. Tesla wall charger provides 44 miles of range/hour.

 

[Roy Wasson]

Hotter in Miami than Maui, so whenever I cannot park in shade I just leave the a/c running, or start it a few minutes before arriving at car.

 

[gavine]

I had a Model S 75D loaner recently and it seemed to me that the regen was weaker than my AWD Model 3. The difference was slight, but noticeable. Could just be that the S has more mass to slow down with the same amount of actual regen capacity.

 

[daniel]

I had a Model S 75D loaner recently and it seemed to me that the regen was weaker than my AWD Model 3. The difference was slight, but noticeable. Could just be that the S has more mass to slow down with the same amount of actual regen capacity.

I think I read that the 3 does have stronger regen than the S. Not as strong as my Roadster had, though, but still nice. I've only driven an S a couple of times, so can't compare myself.

 

[IraB]

For the strongest regen, use Track Mode. I have read that it cranks up the regen higher than any of the other modes.

 

[Sir Guacamolaf]

the summer heat does make the car hot.
i bought a screen from amazon for $40. the fit is pretty good.

Link?