New M3LR delivered - some questions...

[spon88]

A few too many glitches there for me. My car had a few issues, slightly misaligned bonnet etc, but was actually presented reasonably well. They had tried to get it to a half decent state. I subsequently had the paintwork properly fettled and PPF applied but other than that and a couple of "known" issues, it's been OK. I too have a slightly deformed boot seal which may fail in time but I don't have the water ingrees like that.

I'd log the issues and let them sort it. None of it looks significant and should be easy enough to rectify. But they shouldn't have delivered it like that IMHO. Just appears very, very lazy, so mark their card and tell 'em to get their fingers out.

Charging - I tend to go to 80 - 85% other than for a longer run. They say a full charge from low periodically helps the battery calibration, but don't leave it with low or high SoC for too long

 

[Adopado]

Now SoC... Keeping topped up to 90% OK or will it ruin the battery? It appears no hard and fast rule other than only charge to a 100% for a long trip.

I started off routinely charging to 90 (which should be fine) but eventually realised that was unnecessary so now I tend to judge it depending on expected use...so usually somewhere between 75 and 85 ... a lower average should benefit battery longevity but I have no qualms about using 95+ if necessary for a long trip.

 

[bookeyuk]

New M3 LR and now fully charged (long trip tomorrow) I was expecting more than 310miles as the quoted range.

 

[LongRanger]

Pretty sure that’s what it says when full, I think they use the (made up) US/EPA figure instead of the (made up) EU/WLTP figure.

 

[MrBadger]

New M3 LR and now fully charged (long trip tomorrow) I was expecting more than 310miles as the quoted range.
View attachment 579407

I would take it for a spin and take some energy out of the battery, say back down 90% to be sure. You don't want to leave it on 100% unless you are immediately about to leave for a trip. If you really need 100%, you can hopefully top it up before you leave. Batteries don't like being left at high or low state of charge for much of a period of time. Also, high state of charge gives little or no regen braking, so another thing to watch.

 

[Js1977]

I would take it for a spin and take some energy out of the battery, say back down 90% to be sure. You don't want to leave it on 100% unless you are immediately about to leave for a trip. If you really need 100%, you can hopefully top it up before you leave. Batteries don't like being left at high or low state of charge for much of a period of time. Also, high state of charge gives little or no regen braking, so another thing to watch.

I would disagree (in part). Its true that these batteries dont like to be left on a "very high" state of charge for a long time but you we are talking weeks if not months here. As for the low state the same does apply but having said that they are never really unsafely low since they have an electronic protection for that (they will never get to zero voltage).

As for the regen braking, that won't always be the case since the battery will drop voltage at some point in the journey. The upside of this is that you maybe get to use the actually brakes for a bit and give them a bit of exercise.

 

[Adopado]

Pretty sure that’s what it says when full, I think they use the (made up) US/EPA figure instead of the (made up) EU/WLTP figure.

Correct ... the WLTP figure never appears as a predicted range on the real vehicle.

Let's all remember that this doesn't tell you how far you can actually drive either! That's why many people choose to give up on miles and set their battery to show percentage. Obviously your route, gradients, temperature, wind strength and most particularly how you use your right foot will determine how far you can go. On trips it can be useful to check your energy usage graph which will try to give you a better idea of energy use by taking account of your current driving and the gradients of your route. People who have ever run out of charge (or come very close to it) usually admit to not following the energy advice from the car or from A Better Route Planner.

 

[Durzel]

I don’t know why people get so obsessed about quoted ranges.

Drive the car and you’ll find that the estimated range changes as you drive. In other words, it might not go down by 1 mile for every actual mile traveled. It might even go down by more, but it might not go down in a linear fashion.

When I was driving a i3 quite often I would be driving along and the range on the display either wouldn’t go down at all for several miles, or actually went up if I changed my driving style for long enough, etc.

Basically what I’m saying is - anticipate needing to charge ~50 miles before the estimated range, and you won’t go far wrong imo. Obsessing over degradation - actual and imagined - is a sure fire way to go mad.

 

[Dougall1248]

+1

Mine was too.

Me too!

 

[AnthonyLR]

+1

Mine was too.

My M3 was great. I had it ceramic coated and the detailer said the white paint job was very good (better than an Aston)

 

[EVMeister]

My M3 was great. I had it ceramic coated and the detailer said the white paint job was very good (better than an Aston)

My Model 3 (delivery) was good overall. A few minor imperfections, the ones that bothered me now fixed. Haven't had any specific problems with Tesla communication or using the app to get things done.

Do you notice a nice difference in how easy it is to keep clean and how it looks when clean after the ceramic coating? Just curious about what you notice with ceramic coating on a light-coloured vehicle. I'll be getting mine coated shortly, but it's a dark colour.

 

[Medved_77]

My Model 3 (delivery) was good overall. A few minor imperfections, the ones that bothered me now fixed. Haven't had any specific problems with Tesla communication or using the app to get things done.

Do you notice a nice difference in how easy it is to keep clean and how it looks when clean after the ceramic coating? Just curious about what you notice with ceramic coating on a light-coloured vehicle. I'll be getting mine coated shortly, but it's a dark colour.

I have ceramic coating on a MSM model 3.

It's certainly easier to keep clean, I snow foam, rinse, shampoo, rinse then dry. The ceramic coating cuts out the need for using polishes and waxs. As soon as its dried after a wash it starts to sparkle.

 

[AnthonyLR]

I have ceramic coating on a MSM model 3.

It's certainly easier to keep clean, I snow foam, rinse, shampoo, rinse then dry. The ceramic coating cuts out the need for using polishes and waxs. As soon as its dried after a wash it starts to sparkle.

Ditto

 

[Neilio]

I don’t know why people get so obsessed about quoted ranges.

Drive the car and you’ll find that the estimated range changes as you drive. In other words, it might not go down by 1 mile for every actual mile traveled. It might even go down by more, but it might not go down in a linear fashion.

When I was driving a i3 quite often I would be driving along and the range on the display either wouldn’t go down at all for several miles, or actually went up if I changed my driving style for long enough, etc.

Basically what I’m saying is - anticipate needing to charge ~50 miles before the estimated range, and you won’t go far wrong imo. Obsessing over degradation - actual and imagined - is a sure fire way to go mad.

Great comment. This is no different for any EV or ICE car. It's impossible for the quoted range to be accurate. The car can't possibly know what the next 300 miles of driving will bring. Weather conditions, road conditions, inclines, driving style, equipment being used in the car, traffic. EVs also have the added "problem "of regen . ICE vehicles at least know they are not likely to start filling back up if you drive down a mountain.