Need thoughts and advice

[Nayston]

I was dead set on buying an Audi S5 Sportback. Just so happened to see a Tesla dealer and decided to drive a Model 3. To my surprise, I was pleasantly surprised. Got home and did some more research on the car. I would buy a Model 3 Performance edition, and I have several concerns that I don't really know how to get a straight answer. So I'm hoping others here can give their opinion:

1) One of my issues is the radio. I'm an old school AM listener and XM Sirius listener. I never ever ever listen to FM radio. For whatever reason, TuneIn (via the nav screen) did not work in the test car. Not sure why, but it didn't. I actually downloaded the TuneIn app on my phone. Connected it via bluetooth and got it working. I had major buffering issues. I live on the NW suburbs of Chicago, and connectivity is plentiful. If I were to pay the $10/mo for the premium version of Tune In, and run the app from the Tesla Nav screen, will that remove the buffering? What are all your experiences with TuneIn?

2) Sirius XM in a Model 3 doesn't exist, correct? It does in the Model S/X but not the 3. Is that correct? Are there any talks about possibly having a software update for Sirius to come to the 3? I'd hate to be forced to stream data from my phone at all times.

3) Range. I know the expected range is 299 miles in the Performance edition. From what I've read, that only if you keep the car at 65mph or below. Let's assume I have a leadfoot, do a lot of highway driving, and drive around 75-85 mph most of the time. Sad but true. Does anyone else fit that criteria that can give me some more real world range numbers with that kind of driving? I realize I won't get 299 miles. If it were 250, then that would make sense. If it's closer to 150, then that's an issue.

Thanks for the advice and help guys/gals.

 

[Black306]

Can’t help with #1 or #2. Personally, I use Apple Music and the car plays music when I start a drive; haven’t fiddled with any car based music options.

#3. My daily commute is pretty short. However, I did take a ~520 mile trip (~260 each way) shortly after buying the car. With 4 people in the car, full trunk, and driving ~75-80 on the freeway, I was getting ~320Wh/mile average IIRC. That would put a full charge at about 235 miles of range. Realistically, it’s not a good idea to go from 100% to 0% charge; both from a risk-of-running-out-of-power perspective and health of the battery. It’s better to keep the battery between 20-80% or 10-90%. That’ll be ~150-200 miles between charges.

Keep in mind increased freeway speeds has a much bigger impact on range than an ICE car. Simply going down to 70mph can have a significant improvement in range.

Other thing to consider is how often you’ll do a 150+ mile trip within a day. Unlike a gas car, you can plug in an EV when home for the rest of the day and leave the following day with more range; no more stopping at a gas station. That trip was the one and only time I needed to charge before getting to a destination.

 

[Spacep0d]

I was dead set on buying an Audi S5 Sportback. Just so happened to see a Tesla dealer and decided to drive a Model 3. To my surprise, I was pleasantly surprised. Got home and did some more research on the car. I would buy a Model 3 Performance edition, and I have several concerns that I don't really know how to get a straight answer. So I'm hoping others here can give their opinion:

1) One of my issues is the radio. I'm an old school AM listener and XM Sirius listener. I never ever ever listen to FM radio. For whatever reason, TuneIn (via the nav screen) did not work in the test car. Not sure why, but it didn't. I actually downloaded the TuneIn app on my phone. Connected it via bluetooth and got it working. I had major buffering issues. I live on the NW suburbs of Chicago, and connectivity is plentiful. If I were to pay the $10/mo for the premium version of Tune In, and run the app from the Tesla Nav screen, will that remove the buffering? What are all your experiences with TuneIn?

2) Sirius XM in a Model 3 doesn't exist, correct? It does in the Model S/X but not the 3. Is that correct? Are there any talks about possibly having a software update for Sirius to come to the 3? I'd hate to be forced to stream data from my phone at all times.

3) Range. I know the expected range is 299 miles in the Performance edition. From what I've read, that only if you keep the car at 65mph or below. Let's assume I have a leadfoot, do a lot of highway driving, and drive around 75-85 mph most of the time. Sad but true. Does anyone else fit that criteria that can give me some more real world range numbers with that kind of driving? I realize I won't get 299 miles. If it were 250, then that would make sense. If it's closer to 150, then that's an issue.

Thanks for the advice and help guys/gals.

Howdy!

I have a Stealth Performance and it's rated for 322 miles with the Aero wheels. You could get a P and turn that in to a P3D- (wheels only if you like) and gain some range, ride comfort, and a little less worry about those nice 20" aluminum wheels. Or, look for a P3D- with your Tesla Advisor and snap it up if you find one.

As for radio, I listened almost exclusively to talk radio before podcasts came in to vogue. Now, I'm all about podcasts. Anything, any general topic, any political stance....it's all out there. There are some podcasts easily available through premium connectivity, though there's a chance some of the less popular podcasts will come up if you ask nicely 'Play XYZ podcast'. If not, use your phone with Bluetooth connectivity, or download MP3s and put them on a thumb drive (using a USB splitter so you don't lose Sentry mode ability).

Lots of ways to solve these issues. If you really want AM radio though, just ask your car to play the station you want, and there are stations you can tune directly as well. Perhaps you've tried this already or is that what you're calling 'TuneIn'?

 

[chdavis]

Real world range is probably like 200 miles with a lead foot. I have a lead foot and a Model 3 Performance

 

[jjrandorin]

As said, with a lead foot, probably between 200-220 when its warmer out, and less than that when its colder, but unless you drive that range out every single day (as in, your daily commute is 200-220 miles), or, you dont have access to home charging, it simply wont matter much.

I am likely going to get down voted for this, but if this is your first EV, think long and hard about purchasing one (an EV) if you dont have charging at your primary residence. It certainly isnt impossible to live with an EV without home charging, but you have to have some reason other than convenience to do so.

Whatever you do, do NOT make any sort of assumption that "this car is listed for 299 range, my normal commute is 30 miles round trip so I can go 9 or 10 days between charges so I will just use a supercharger or something". It doesnt work even remotely like that. As mentioned, the car is rated for 299 for the performance, but you will get like 220 on a full charge if driving at the speeds you mention. ADDITIONALLY, you will not charge to 100% all the time, nor will you run the car down to 0 pretty much ever. The operating range of the car for daily usage is roughly 20% to roughly 90%. Thats roughly a range of "270 miles" to a range of roughly "60 miles" or, effectively, 200 miles range (NOT counting your lead foot, or weather).

Effectively, for daily use on a model 3P you are looking at 150-160 miles, and also again, unless your daily commute is 150-160 miles a day, it simply will...not... matter in the slightest (as long as you have home charging, or at a minimum charging at work.. home is better though since you know you will be there).

With home charging, every single day your car will leave home with a "full tank" so its a shift in mindset. It doesnt matter that a gas tank has 400 miles before you have to go fill it up or whatever, because you dont have a gas tank in your garage, but if you have home charging you DO have a "gas tank in your garage", so the only thing that matters for most is the actual daily usage.

You also show your location as chicago so you will lose about 30% effective range during the cold. (but you wont have your lead foot then, so it will likely work out to the same general daily usage range).

In any case, Plenty of people start off by looking at the range number of 299 /310 / 250 etc (depending on model) and say to themselves " my daily commute is only 20 miles a day, so I will just fill up at a supercharger every couple of weeks or so, that will be fine" and it doesnt work like that in the slightest.

Note, I am not down on EVs, I love my model 3p more than any BMW I have had before it, and drove BMWs exclusively for close to 2 decades. I just think that a level of pragmatism needs to be there too. EV evangelists will tell you "no one needs home charging, you can get by just fine without it" and thats true, many do it, but its not a good introduction to EVs as it removes one of the main benefits (leaving home with a "full tank" and never having to "go some place to fill up").

EV detractors will state some variation of the range stuff I said above, and tell you "what the real numbers are", kind of like what I just said above. I am telling you both, and that the total range number doesnt matter unless you are a traveling salesperson or something, and drive 150+ miles a day, every day (and even then you could make it work... but lower than that, with home charging, range is simply a non issue).

 

[Nayston]

Thanks everyone. That’s some good stuff. As far as charging I will buy the Tesla charger thing and have an electrician install it.

Anyone have thoughts on TuneIn radio for AM stations and quality/buffering?

 

[viennacoup]

Thanks everyone. That’s some good stuff. As far as charging I will buy the Tesla charger thing and have an electrician install it.

Anyone have thoughts on TuneIn radio for AM stations and quality/buffering?

I have not used Tunein for AM stations in my M3. I don't have to. In Seattle, I find that most of the news and talk shows are broadcast on digital FM as well as AM. For example, KIRO broadcasts on 710 AM as well as 97.3 FM. The digital FM radio in the Tesla shows that 97.3 contains 3 channels: FM1, FM2 and FM3. One of these FM channels is the same as 710 AM. Check with your local AM stations. If they also have an FM signal, I suspect you will be able to receive the content that you are used to getting on an AM radio.

 

[Tam]

...Anyone have thoughts on TuneIn radio for AM stations and quality/buffering?

I too prefer built-in AM which has been very good in Tesla Model S but discontinued for subsequent models X, 3, Y...

So, if you still want a built-in AM, you just have to pay more to upgrade to a Model S.

Since I sold my S, I can still get most AM stations (not small and not well-known ones) from the internet TuneIn built-in app. Its quality has been quite good. Sometimes it freezes or crashes but not that often. So its reliability is not 100% comparing to traditional radio but quite an acceptable substitute.