Dear Ones,
I was Charging my 2018 Model X at the Johnson Drive superchargers yesterday evening (in Plesanton, CA) and with 20 minutes to go, a brand new whilte modely Y pulled up and parked next to me to charge. The car still had their paper plates in the license plate holders. However, the occupants stayed in the car and had an animated conversation and gesturing to their phones for several minutes. I guessed what the problem was, I have seen this many times before.... They just picked up their car from Tesla and they were trying to figure out how to charge their car!
I waited until they got out and then introduced myself and asked if they needed help and of course, they did. They had just picked the car up and the delivery center gave them their keycard and activated their Tesla App and advised them to watch their you-tube videos about the car and sent them on their way. So, I showed them the various ways on how to open the charge port and charge their car, how to lock the car with the keycard, unlock the car, open the frunk, set the charging level and some emergency procedures (how to open up the frunk with a power outage to get to the battery and hot plugs). Also showed them A Better Route Planner for planning trips. I showed them my frunk in my model X and showed them the fireman's disconnect and how to pop the plastic covers off the fusebox to get to the charging battery hot plug. I answered all of their questions in the 20 minutes I had left (and the weather was brisk and pretty cold by this time) and they were extremely grateful. I have done this orientation a few times at the supercharger, I just watch for someone with a new car that seems to be confused about what to do.
In the past the local Tesla clubs were welcomed to the delivery center to assist in new owners in getting oriented to their cars but with the pandemic, this seems to have stopped. It is too bad that the new owners are being sent off on their own. Taking the time for helpful hints and orientation can make a bid difference in the attitudes new owners can have towards their cars.
What else should I have showed them about the Model Y?
I was Charging my 2018 Model X at the Johnson Drive superchargers yesterday evening (in Plesanton, CA) and with 20 minutes to go, a brand new whilte modely Y pulled up and parked next to me to charge. The car still had their paper plates in the license plate holders. However, the occupants stayed in the car and had an animated conversation and gesturing to their phones for several minutes. I guessed what the problem was, I have seen this many times before.... They just picked up their car from Tesla and they were trying to figure out how to charge their car!
I waited until they got out and then introduced myself and asked if they needed help and of course, they did. They had just picked the car up and the delivery center gave them their keycard and activated their Tesla App and advised them to watch their you-tube videos about the car and sent them on their way. So, I showed them the various ways on how to open the charge port and charge their car, how to lock the car with the keycard, unlock the car, open the frunk, set the charging level and some emergency procedures (how to open up the frunk with a power outage to get to the battery and hot plugs). Also showed them A Better Route Planner for planning trips. I showed them my frunk in my model X and showed them the fireman's disconnect and how to pop the plastic covers off the fusebox to get to the charging battery hot plug. I answered all of their questions in the 20 minutes I had left (and the weather was brisk and pretty cold by this time) and they were extremely grateful. I have done this orientation a few times at the supercharger, I just watch for someone with a new car that seems to be confused about what to do.
In the past the local Tesla clubs were welcomed to the delivery center to assist in new owners in getting oriented to their cars but with the pandemic, this seems to have stopped. It is too bad that the new owners are being sent off on their own. Taking the time for helpful hints and orientation can make a bid difference in the attitudes new owners can have towards their cars.
What else should I have showed them about the Model Y?
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