Model 3 has no spare tire

[Devils son]

It’s pretty pathetic that the Model 3 doesn’t have a spare tire. We just got simple flat tire in pouring rain and have been sitting here waiting for the past 40 minutes for roadside service to call us back and then who knows how much longer for them to get here. I mean who sells a car w no spare tire? If this freakin car had a spare tire, I would have been long gone on way home already. It’s pathetic if you ask me.

Cars I owned without spare:

Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Audi RS6 V10
Porsche 911 Turbo
Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3

All pathetic...?

 

[gilscales]

It's economics, performance (spares and jacks and lug wrenches add real weight that is always costing you performance and efficiency) and convenience (most flats happen close to services and home). Just catch an Uber and have someone else fix your flat. I've had so few flats using modern tires, properly inflated, that I really don't see the point of hauling everything around "just in case" (and I'm generally "old school" in terms of being prepared).

It would probably make more sense to carry around a cardiac "shock machine" in case someone had a heart attack!

So you don't have one of these in your trunk? https://americanaed.com/products/co...1yaRNC_0qFmT78j5iyma8ngG0WYd1iF4aApoSEALw_wcB sheeesh, what a rookie!

 

[StealthP3D]

Cars I owned without spare:

Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Audi RS6 V10
Porsche 911 Turbo
Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3

All pathetic...?

What's pathetic is all the whining and bitching about trivial things. Here's my favorite on-line rant of 2019:

 

[StealthP3D]

So you don't have one of these in your trunk? https://americanaed.com/products/co...1yaRNC_0qFmT78j5iyma8ngG0WYd1iF4aApoSEALw_wcB sheeesh, what a rookie!

The best thing about the emergency defibrillator is it only weighs 3.3 lbs. and is smaller than the Mobile Connector! It also costs less than a spare tire, floor jack and torque wrench!

 

[Daniel in SD]

It's economics, performance (spares and jacks and lug wrenches add real weight that is always costing you performance and efficiency) and convenience (most flats happen close to services and home). Just catch an Uber and have someone else fix your flat. I've had so few flats using modern tires, properly inflated, that I really don't see the point of hauling everything around "just in case" (and I'm generally "old school" in terms of being prepared).

It would probably make more sense to carry around a cardiac "shock machine" in case someone had a heart attack!

Not everyone drives there Teslas where we can just Uber home. I’d be curious how long it would take Tesla to deliver me a spare tire in the Owens Valley (east of the Sierras here in CA). I don’t carry a spare around town since I could just Uber home and get one but I do carry one on road trips. I just wish they had made the trunk well or frunk big enough.

 

[Daniel in SD]

Recommend use a torque rench to torque the nuts to appropriate force and to loosen the nuts. The metal is “too soft” to use a traditional 300 ft-lb torque gun - it does not work.

Is this your previous vehicle?

What passenger car has a torque spec of 300ft-lbs?

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Not everyone drives there Teslas where we can just Uber home. I’d be curious how long it would take Tesla to deliver me a spare tire in the Owens Valley (east of the Sierras here in CA). I don’t carry a spare around town since I could just Uber home and get one but I do carry one on road trips. I just wish they had made the trunk well or frunk big enough.

Maybe they can fix those broken Superchargers while they are out there?

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

It also costs less than a spare tire, floor jack and torque wrench!

Is this that new math they speak of, or do you buy all your tools from Snap-On?

 

[StealthP3D]

Is this that new math they speak of, or do you buy all your tools from Snap-On?

Why? How much did your defibrillator cost? Or do you just take your chances when in a remote area?

 

[Silver Ghost]

You carry a floor jack and a spare tire everywhere you go? And a torque wrench? Do you have an emergency water filter, some iodine for nuclear attacks/disasters, and a folding bicycle in case you break down? Oh, yeah, don't forget to wear a helmet and carry a defibrillator in case someone has a heart attack.

How did you know I had all those things. Hmmmmmmm...... got to find that hacked hidden camera.

 

[tam-o-shanter]

My favorite part about this comment is how most of California's solar energy comes from Inland Empire

Just came here to say that much of our solar energy comes from the middle part of the state:

Under construction

• The Blythe Solar Power Project is a partially completed 485 MW photovoltaic power station which is located in eastern Riverside County.
• The California Flats Solar Project is a planned 280 MW photovoltaic power station to be located in Monterey County.[25]
• The San Pablo Raceway Solar Plant is a 100 MW photovoltaic facility located in Los Angeles County that is in the beginning stages of construction.[26]

Operational
See also: List of power stations in California § Solar

• The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 MW solar power plant in Riverside County, that uses thin-film solar CdTe-modules made by First Solar. The plant was completed in December 2014.[27]
• The Imperial Valley Solar Project is a 99 MW power station, located in Imperial County.
• The California Valley Solar Ranch (CVSR) is a 250 MW solar photovoltaic power plant, built by SunPower in the Carrizo Plain, northeast of California Valley.[28]
• The Mount Signal Solar project was completed near the Mexican border in May 2014. The installed PV capacity of the solar farm amounts to 265.7 MW (206 MWAC).[29][30][31]
• The Topaz Solar Farm is a 550 MW power station located in San Luis Obispo County. It was completed in November 2014 and was the world's largest PV power plant at the time.
• The Desert Stateline Solar Facility is a 300 MW power plant near the Nevada border in San Bernardino County.
• The Redwood Solar Cluster is a group of 4 smaller solar generating stations that amount to 100 MW located in Kern County. The final phase was completed in March 2018.[32][33]

 

[EVnut]

Is this your previous vehicle?
View attachment 392388

So... what's the proper quantity of spare tires to carry for something like THAT? Like four? And I'm guessing the jack needs to be a bit more robust than your standard scissor unit.

Now searching for cheap defibrillators.

 

[electrictorque]

I had a flat tire during a recent long trip. I plugged the tire in place and was back in the road in less than 15 minutes.

 

[EVnut]

I had a flat tire during a recent long trip. I plugged the tire in place and was back in the road in less than 15 minutes.

That's my plan! Hole plug and mini compressor takes up about as much space as a beer can, and weighs about the same too. Great compromise, I think. I just have to carry one less can of beer.

 

[drj3]

Cars I owned without spare:

Porsche Cayenne Turbo
Audi RS6 V10
Porsche 911 Turbo
Tesla Model S
Tesla Model 3

All pathetic...?

According to Consumer Reports 1/3 of new cars today do not come with a spare tire.

 

[kbecks13]

According to Consumer Reports 1/3 of new cars today do not come with a spare tire.

It's amazing how these threads come full circle - we pointed this out in the 3rd post

 

[siai47]

I recently put together a spare tire for my Model 3 with 18's on it. I bought a new take off wheel and a TPMS sensor from E-Bay. I was surprised about how difficult the tire was to get. I had originally contacted the Tesla service center about purchasing a spare but I only got a recorded message that they would call me back---and they never did. The tire is a Unique Tesla spec tire whose description of the size ends in "TO" unlike all of the other Michelin tires in the standard 235/18R 45 catalog. The tire wholesaler only found five in warehouses in the US and four were on the West coast. It took over a week for the tire to show up. Of the cars I own that do not have a spare, I always have built up a full size spare that matches the other road wheels on the car. In the case of my older Model S RWD, the spare could be carried in the frunk. In the M3 it fits in the rear trunk plus room for a jack, jack adapter and lug wrench in the lower bay under the floor. Make sure you have a long breaker bar and a six point 21mm socket with a short extension (or a deep well). Its a lot of torque to remove/tighten the lug nuts and without the breaker bar (unless you are Arnold) you'll never get them tight. I only carry the spare on a road trip because if I really tear up a tire (sidewall failure, cut, pothole, etc.) trying to get the proper replacement tire that you will have to eventually purchase really isn't possible on the side of an interstate in the middle of nowhere. For local driving I carry a compressor in the frunk and no spare. The compressor I use is large enough that it needs to be connected to the battery with alligator clips as it draws about 30 amps. The hose is long enough to reach all four wheels from the center of the car. The best place to connect the compressor is under the right rear seat where the 12 volt battery cable enters the top of HV pack. Its easier to get the seat out for access then removing the grille behind the frunk to get to the battery itself. Don't buy one of those little cheap compressors that plug into a lighter because (as others have said) they are unreliable and very slow to fill to the pressures you need in the M3. If I am not carrying the spare and really mess up the tire, I can at least get the car on a roll back and taken to where I keep the spare. Or possibly a friend can bring it to me. I never venture more than about a 30 mile radius without it. And yes, I did need the spare once on the Model S several years ago and was happy to have had it.

 

[Dinoraptor101]

Why so many automakers are ditching spare tires

I owned Smart Car, and Nissan Leaf, neither came with spare tiers. Smart Car however came with the repair kit.

 

[EVnut]

The best place to connect the compressor is under the right rear seat where the 12 volt battery cable enters the top of HV pack. Its easier to get the seat out for access then removing the grille behind the frunk to get to the battery itself.

Pro tip: access the 12V battery next to the frunk once and install a pigtail connector that will then be available and accessible for any high-power 12V needs (I use mine for inflating water "toys" and for tire compressor, and even for putting a trickle charger on the battery). No need to be pulling out the rear seat on the side of the freeway.

 

[StealthP3D]

That's my plan! Hole plug and mini compressor takes up about as much space as a beer can, and weighs about the same too. Great compromise, I think. I just have to carry one less can of beer.

I carry a tire plug kit but if it impacted my beer carrying capacity I would leave the plug kit at home!