New owner of a Brand New Model-3 (Long Range AWD with Dual Motor)

[SeanManks]

Hello Model3 Owners,

This is my first post after taking delivery today afternoon of a brand new Model-3. Am amazed at the overall handling and performance of the car. Still getting used to the overall concept of an all electric vehicle with it's "bells-n-whistles".. have driven only fifty odd miles coming home from the Dealership & taking a short drive again in the evening.

Will post photos later.. but please share anything I need to know about the vehicle to get most from it... also, any tips on how to keep it's paint safe and maintenance.

Thanks,
Sean.

 

[Marsnaut]

A feature I never knew about was brake hold. I was shocked when my car started sliding backwards while moving my foot from the brake to accelerator (on a hill). If you press the brake down hard, the screen should have the letter H with a circle around it to indicate that the car will engage the brakes until you hit the accelerator (quasi-park).

Two "shortcuts": 1) if the screen bugs, you can hold down both the scroll wheels to reset it while retaining driving capabilities, 2) if you hold down the right scroll button it enables the voice control (useful for setting navigation and playing songs on Slacker)

To keep paint safe, a lot of people use a combination of paint protection film (PPF) or ceramic coating. It is quite expensive depending on the installer but can go upwards of $2k. I opted out of both but I use the two bucket method for washing to minimize paint swirls from dirt.

Enjoy the car! I found stupid reasons to be able to take it out for a spin. I drive way more than I used to because every ride is a joy ride.

 

[ewoodrick]

First, drive the car, enjoy the car, play with the car.
With this you should start to learning charging and some of the features on the car.
Now go read the manual, things should start to make more sense and you will find many of the other things.
Go drive the car again.
Test charging at Superchargers and destination chargers.
Look at PlugShare to see what J-1772 options there are near you and where you travel and see who owns the plugs and if you need to subscribe to any networks. The go charge at a J-1772 plug, maybe find one near a lunch stop.

After a few weeks, take the "How far can I go trip" With the Model 3, that's a long trip, but maybe set the charging limit to 50% and see what range anxiety can feel like, and the options available when you get low in charge.

and Enjoy the car!

 

[Rockster]

A Tesla can go from zero to jail really quickly! Watch those Virginia speed traps!*

*I remember from my youth on the east coast that Virginia is pretty serious about enforcing speed limits.

 

[emeraldap]

A feature I never knew about was brake hold. I was shocked when my car started sliding backwards while moving my foot from the brake to accelerator (on a hill). If you press the brake down hard, the screen should have the letter H with a circle around it to indicate that the car will engage the brakes until you hit the accelerator (quasi-park).

I came from an ICE so had had Creep set to on by default upon the delivery agent's recommendation - for over 2 months.

If you have creep set to OFF, the brake hold acts a lot more civil (doesn't need that donkey's kick to engage) and is so much nicer at stop lights etc. Since I discovered this feature, I heave left creep at the off position. Note however, that the car does roll backwards on a hill when it comes off the brake hold. So I've conditioned myself to step on the accelerator before that happens...

 

[ℬête Noire]

I came from an ICE so had had Creep set to on by default upon the delivery agent's recommendation - for over 2 months.

Yeah, Creep is a trap.

-- -- --

So to is the Low regen and, generally, Chill. You're driving an EV, embrace it as your friend and future. It'll feel a bit weird at first but just think of it as driving a standard transmission that is always downshifted. The righthand pedal is no longer an accelerator, it is a speed control. In a day or two and it'll be 2nd nature, and you'll never want to go back. You'll quickly build the skill to smoothly transition to slowing down by gradually moving you foot up rather than what you've been doing for years, fulling removing your foot from that righthand pedal.

Caveat to the above is watch out if you do end up back driving an ICE occasionally. You may experience an "oh yeah, the brake pedal is a thing to use" moment a time or three until you fully separate out in your head the Tesla driving from the ICE driving.

 

[SeanManks]

Thanks for your great suggestions... I have it just for 4 days now & am thoroughly amazed by it. This car sure seems to have a "personality" of it's own.