New Owner - preparations?

[dozodomo]

There may be a better thread for this so apologies if in the wrong place.

Hi Tesla people of Japan. I am based in Tokyo and just purchased the Model S (P90)...currently waiting to collect it from Yokohama in March........like I am sure most of you did at the start of your ownership, I spend most my days counting down and checking the delivery status on an hourly basis!

Just wondered what lessons you guys had to share for things that I should get prepared before pick up so that I can get the full use out of the car straight away! Any tips, apps, cards, etc that you think I should download, apply for, check out?

I have so far:
Downloaded Plug Share app which seems to be a pretty decent way of locating charging stations across the country.
Checked out the Supercharger nearest to where I live (Odaiba)
Registered here and read through a load of threads!
Read TeslaInnJapan blog.....(which I am guessing is from JayInJapan?) really helpful as my Japanese is somewhat limited!

Any tips very gratefully received.
Can't wait to get behind the wheel.

Thanks!

 

[Lloyd]

You need to prepare where you park the car while you sleep for appropriate charging overnight according to your normal daily driving.

 

[dozodomo]

You need to prepare where you park the car while you sleep for appropriate charging overnight according to your normal daily driving.

Thanks Lloyd. I live in an apartment complex which unfortunately doesn't have a charger installed. However there is a supercharger very very close to me (10mins) which I am planning on using. I won't be driving daily, mostly weekends and the odd day to work (where there is also a supercharger right next to my office). I am presuming that this will be sufficient?

 

[Lloyd]

From what you described even a slow charging recipticle will be sufficient for your driving. It's better than waiting at a supercharger several times a week if you don't have to. Just my opinion.

 

[Ormond]

When did you place your order? I passed time listening to the Ride the Lightning podcast and watching the Tesla videos on using the touchscreen. I also read parts of the owner's manual.

Waiting is hard, but you'll love your Tesla.

 

[dozodomo]

When did you place your order? I passed time listening to the Ride the Lightning podcast and watching the Tesla videos on using the touchscreen. I also read parts of the owner's manual.

Waiting is hard, but you'll love your Tesla.

Placed the order in October and should be arriving mid March....long wait but as you say I'm sure will be worth it.

If YouTube were like the old VHS video tapes it would have static lines on it now I've watched and rewatched so many films!!

I guess I'm more concerned about making sure I have all the right things to charge from ChaDemo chargers and things. Seems like there are a number of cards in japan that you have to sign up for. Most info is in Japanese though so it's a bit of a slog!

 

[hiroshiy]

Hi, @dozodomo , one of the Japanese TMC member here. Any questions welcome! I had Model since September 2014 no autopilot but loved this car. Absolutely no way to go back to ICE. Or any other manufacturer than Tesla.

It seems you live in one of the high rise wangan apartment complexes. You don't have charging there? Are you sure? I heard some newer condos have charging. Also if you're renting you could pay the installation cost to install a Tesla charger. I live in a condo and no charging at home, but at work I have a rented parking $650 per month and installed a charger at my expense. I have 80A circuit (100A breaker) but charge at 64A as my colleague use 15A for his BMW X5e PHEV.

You also may want to do some decent glass coating and/or wrapping. I fully wrapped my model S and will fully wrap next car as well.

BTW I'm getting a Model X RHD tomorrow! Bye bye to my Model S...

 

[dozodomo]

Thanks for the welcome @hiroshiy and hows the Model X?! Congrats

I am a bit further toward Toyosu than the Wangan apartments but not far off. There are a few options such as the charger at the Autobacs just nearby and the superchager in Odaiba. I may move from my current apartment at some point therefore not hugely keen on investing in installing the charger here just yet.

Have a question about the ChaDemo chargers. Are their registration cards or something necessary to be able to sue the network? I read something about a number of different registration cards but still unsure which ones are needed!

Cheers.

 

[hiroshiy]

Thanks for the welcome @hiroshiy and hows the Model X?! Congrats

I am a bit further toward Toyosu than the Wangan apartments but not far off. There are a few options such as the charger at the Autobacs just nearby and the superchager in Odaiba. I may move from my current apartment at some point therefore not hugely keen on investing in installing the charger here just yet.

Have a question about the ChaDemo chargers. Are their registration cards or something necessary to be able to sue the network? I read something about a number of different registration cards but still unsure which ones are needed!

Cheers.

It is more convenient to use the cards but it requires monthly charge. If it doesn't bother you, I'd recommend one. You can order Tesla Charging Card from my Tesla.
If you use CHAdeMO chargers less and only once or twice a month, you can always pay by credit card. Most highway chargers are on NCS and JCN network, and if the are on JCN you can pay very easily with your smartphone. The cost is very high though, people with card pay 450yen per 30 minutes but 1500yen without the card. However if you use only once or twice a month, paying 1500yen is definitely cheaper.

There's a free CHAdeMO charger at Toyosu Civic Center, unlimited. Note most chargers stop after only 30 minutes. This one seems to be unlimited, and also high power 50kW. Super autobacs has only 25kW.
豊洲シビックセンター - EVsmart
豊洲シビックセンター｜EVsmart

 

[JayInJapan]

HI @dozodomo,

Welcome to the forum and the Tesla family. I've had the flu for the past week and a half and been out of commission. @hiroshiy is the man when it comes to how to get things done here. I'm down in Kyushu, and yes, Tesla in Japan is me. I drive to Kanto 3-4 times a year and will be passing through Monday-Tuesday next week. Not sure about the return, but it should be a week-ten days after that. I'm going to give my new winter tires a run to Hokkaido, weather-permitting. I'll put a blog notice up when I get rolling.

If you have more questions, shoot. Someone here will be only too happy to help.

 

[dozodomo]

I

There's a free CHAdeMO charger at Toyosu Civic Center, unlimited. Note most chargers stop after only 30 minutes. This one seems to be unlimited, and also high power 50kW. Super autobacs has only 25kW.
豊洲シビックセンター - EVsmart
豊洲シビックセンター｜EVsmart

Thanks for the info on the Toyosu charger! I received word that (FINALLY!) my car will be ready for pick up by the end of this month!
Massively looking forward to getting behind the wheel. Saw a guy in a Tesla jacket in Otemachi the other week and had to stop myself from just saying "hey...I am waiting for mine now!!" haha.

 

[dozodomo]

HI @dozodomo,

Welcome to the forum and the Tesla family. .

Thanks for the welcome. Looking forward to blogging some of my trips hopefully when I finally get behind the wheel.

 

[hiroshiy]

Thanks for the info on the Toyosu charger! I received word that (FINALLY!) my car will be ready for pick up by the end of this month!
Massively looking forward to getting behind the wheel. Saw a guy in a Tesla jacket in Otemachi the other week and had to stop myself from just saying "hey...I am waiting for mine now!!" haha.

Wow congrats! It's an owesome car! You'll keep trying to find some time to drive the car for any kinds of errands.

I just got an X in late January but it went to full XPEL and coating so just got the car back and now having real fun every day. Got two silicone fob covers from Abstruct Ocean. Now I need to get a HotWheels Model X!

 

[SG13]

Hope you enjoy your new car! For me the most difficult part was to find a parking. I live in Kachidoki, one of the high rise buildings and due to the size limitations I couldn't rent a parking spot from the building.
Finally, found a parking lot in Tsukishima.

 

[dozodomo]

For other soon to be owners looking for info, few observations for prep that is needed from 3 months ownership that might help:

Parking
As SG13 said above, the car is BIG so make sure you can secure a spot that fits. Also might want to check out parking near work or wherever you usually go as I have found some car parks I actually can't fit in now (too wide).

Charging
Make sure you order the charging card from Tesla. My dealer didn't give me the details until I came to pick the car up and it took me another week for it to come through which was a bit annoying.
Watch tutorials of how to charge- it is simple but the CharDemo ones can be tricky at times working out how to get it started
Note opening times of charging stations! I didn't realise the Odaiba Supercharger closes at 7pm (a lot of the chargers at municipal facilities also closed on weekends)

Early Ownership
Over last few months I have noted a few problems with the car that you prob won't have noticed when pick up as too excited! Nothing major but just little things that aren't right (normal with brand new cars)- windscreen wiper on wrong, too much grease in sunroof, rubber sealing not fitted right on back seat, mirror motor not operating correctly, sunroof sometimes not responding. So I found it handy to keep a notepad in the car to jot things down as I find them, and rather than just take it in every time I just notified them of the details last week in one go.

Plan some trips! You'll definitely want to find excuses to drive is as soon as you get it! Izu coastline has been my favourite so far.

In all so far I have loved the first 3 months of ownership and can't wait to get on some longer roadtrips.

 

[JayInJapan]

Grats on the car. I know you're enjoying it.

 

[hiroshiy]

For other soon to be owners looking for info, few observations for prep that is needed from 3 months ownership that might help:

Parking
As SG13 said above, the car is BIG so make sure you can secure a spot that fits. Also might want to check out parking near work or wherever you usually go as I have found some car parks I actually can't fit in now (too wide).

Charging
Make sure you order the charging card from Tesla. My dealer didn't give me the details until I came to pick the car up and it took me another week for it to come through which was a bit annoying.
Watch tutorials of how to charge- it is simple but the CharDemo ones can be tricky at times working out how to get it started
Note opening times of charging stations! I didn't realise the Odaiba Supercharger closes at 7pm (a lot of the chargers at municipal facilities also closed on weekends)

Early Ownership
Over last few months I have noted a few problems with the car that you prob won't have noticed when pick up as too excited! Nothing major but just little things that aren't right (normal with brand new cars)- windscreen wiper on wrong, too much grease in sunroof, rubber sealing not fitted right on back seat, mirror motor not operating correctly, sunroof sometimes not responding. So I found it handy to keep a notepad in the car to jot things down as I find them, and rather than just take it in every time I just notified them of the details last week in one go.

Plan some trips! You'll definitely want to find excuses to drive is as soon as you get it! Izu coastline has been my favourite so far.

In all so far I have loved the first 3 months of ownership and can't wait to get on some longer roadtrips.

東京-お台場SC(タイム24ビル) - EVsmart
東京-お台場SC(タイム24ビル)｜EVsmart
Re; Odaiba Supercharger, it is open 24 hours. After hours, you can use the intercom on the wall to open the garage door.

 

[SG13]

I got 'Silk' this past Sunday!

I mean I got fw upgrade to ver. 2017.28c5.......... but driven very little on it so far. First impressions: it's less jerky and overall more smooth. But, it seems to quit a lot more often then the previous version... Phantom braking is still there but seems a bit less aggressive then before. Have not tried new lane change yet. Need a *lot* more testing. Interestingly I noticed a new section about data and video sharing prefilled with agree check boxes and agreed - don't recall being presented with the dialog on this before... maybe I simply don't remember but it indeed asked.

Another funny thing happened at Odaiba Supercharger recently, a few days back I showed up a few min past 8pm and it was already closed. I buzzed the intercom and was told to wait a little for them to 'open' it up. Some 15 or so minutes later a guard showed up, apologized and started fiddling with the ticket machine to manually open the lift gate... which he did, so I am driving down the slope into the basement and the entrance is blocked by the chain link curtain/door. He ran back and forth a couple of times and then finally they figured it out and opened it remotely. Looks like a new and fairly young shift of guards not fully familiar with the protocol. Anyways, hope it was an educational experience for them and anyone else coming through would get a quicker and 'silkier' experience ;-)

PS I got a 'free' extra set of two 30min tickets for the trouble - cool!

 

[kort677]

There may be a better thread for this so apologies if in the wrong place.

Hi Tesla people of Japan. I am based in Tokyo and just purchased the Model S (P90)...currently waiting to collect it from Yokohama in March........like I am sure most of you did at the start of your ownership, I spend most my days counting down and checking the delivery status on an hourly basis!

Just wondered what lessons you guys had to share for things that I should get prepared before pick up so that I can get the full use out of the car straight away! Any tips, apps, cards, etc that you think I should download, apply for, check out?

I have so far:
Downloaded Plug Share app which seems to be a pretty decent way of locating charging stations across the country.
Checked out the Supercharger nearest to where I live (Odaiba)
Registered here and read through a load of threads!
Read TeslaInnJapan blog.....(which I am guessing is from JayInJapan?) really helpful as my Japanese is somewhat limited!

Any tips very gratefully received.
Can't wait to get behind the wheel.

Thanks!

everything you've done is fine however the best thing that you could do would be to install a charger where you will be parking the car.

 

[hiroshiy]

I got 'Silk' this past Sunday!

I mean I got fw upgrade to ver. 2017.28c5.......... but driven very little on it so far. First impressions: it's less jerky and overall more smooth. But, it seems to quit a lot more often then the previous version... Phantom braking is still there but seems a bit less aggressive then before. Have not tried new lane change yet. Need a *lot* more testing. Interestingly I noticed a new section about data and video sharing prefilled with agree check boxes and agreed - don't recall being presented with the dialog on this before... maybe I simply don't remember but it indeed asked.

Another funny thing happened at Odaiba Supercharger recently, a few days back I showed up a few min past 8pm and it was already closed. I buzzed the intercom and was told to wait a little for them to 'open' it up. Some 15 or so minutes later a guard showed up, apologized and started fiddling with the ticket machine to manually open the lift gate... which he did, so I am driving down the slope into the basement and the entrance is blocked by the chain link curtain/door. He ran back and forth a couple of times and then finally they figured it out and opened it remotely. Looks like a new and fairly young shift of guards not fully familiar with the protocol. Anyways, hope it was an educational experience for them and anyone else coming through would get a quicker and 'silkier' experience ;-)

PS I got a 'free' extra set of two 30min tickets for the trouble - cool!

Thanks for the info and a little training to the Odaiba new staff. I posted a similar story to the Model X main thread for 2017.28 c528869 and I agree it seems a lot of training required for Tokyo Metro Expressway. However i had a previous version for a while and I drove to Nagoya and back 350km one way, and I drove 300km in autopilot without disengaging! So I think the tech is maturing and it still needs big improvement for narrower highways. Hope Tesla notices my steering corrections and AP disengagements every day and fix the problem soon.