New owner questions

[SpokaneM3]

Hello everyone,

I placed an order for a Model 3 about a month ago and I'm very excited for it to arrive soon. The estimated delivery window has changed many times but I did get my VIN today.
I just read an article online today where a Model 3 owner made reference to having solar panels on his M3. Does anyone know if these come standard or is it an aftermarket item that the owner had installed? I don't see any mention of solar panels being part of the M3 on Tesla's website. I am interested in knowing more about them and potentially having them on my M3. It would be nice to be able to charge the battery anytime I am parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Also, I called my auto insurer, Geico, who I've been with for many years and they quoted me $168 a month for insurance on my new M3. That is with a $1000 deductible on Comp and collision, and no rental car or towing coverage. I have a credit score over 800 and a spotless driving record. The $168 seems really high to me.
I'm just curious if anyone can recommend another company that may have better rates. I plan to call around to get some quotes but thought I'd ask Tesla owners their opinion first.

Thanks in advance. I'm happy to be here among many other Tesla and EV enthusiasts.

 

[LaneDS]

I had Geico previously and they quoted me 3.5x what Progressive and USAA did so I dropped them immediately.

Solar panels are not part of the vehicle by default to my knowledge- first I’ve heard of that.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Solar panels on an electric car are basically a joke. They don't come standard, and adding them is a fools errand. MAYBE it would make sense to have a couple panels you could set out if you go camping in Arizona for a few weeks.

As far as insurance, it will vary by state, but I have Plymouth Rock, and pay around $750 a year for very good insurance(with multiple discounts for homeowners and umbrella policies from the same company.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Hello everyone,

I placed an order for a Model 3 about a month ago and I'm very excited for it to arrive soon. The estimated delivery window has changed many times but I did get my VIN today.
I just read an article online today where a Model 3 owner made reference to having solar panels on his M3. Does anyone know if these come standard or is it an aftermarket item that the owner had installed? I don't see any mention of solar panels being part of the M3 on Tesla's website. I am interested in knowing more about them and potentially having them on my M3. It would be nice to be able to charge the battery anytime I am parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Welcome to the forums! I haven't seen anything about solar panels on the Model 3. Tesla does sell solar panels, but only for homes.

Also, I called my auto insurer, Geico, who I've been with for many years and they quoted me $168 a month for insurance on my new M3. That is with a $1000 deductible on Comp and collision, and no rental car or towing coverage. I have a credit score over 800 and a spotless driving record. The $168 seems really high to me.
I'm just curious if anyone can recommend another company that may have better rates. I plan to call around to get some quotes but thought I'd ask Tesla owners their opinion first.

Thanks in advance. I'm happy to be here among many other Tesla and EV enthusiasts.

I'm paying the equivalent of $145 per month for $100 Comp and $1000 Collision here in California using State Farm (with a bunch of different discounts). My previous car I was paying around $63 per month, but I didn't have comp or collision coverage on that car (which if I look at the bill accounts for $94 per month of my current bill for my Model 3). But probably someone in your region will be able to give more comparable rates, as I imagine they vary by state (among other factors).

 

[SpokaneM3]

Thanks for the replies so far. It would be nice if EV manufacturers put solar panels on all EV's.
Might as well use that sun that is hitting my car while I'm parked at work everyday.

And I will definitely be getting some auto insurance quotes. I'm sure there is something cheaper out there.

 

[Tam]

...It would be nice if EV manufacturers put solar panels on all EV's...

Tesla Cybertuck might get built-in solar option that could generate 15 miles or more per day. We'll know more when the production is near (the factory in Austin, TX is still unfinished).

 

[tech_nerd]

I've had Geico for many years now, insurance went from $1200/year to $1800/year with a M3 SR+, and my old vehicle was a similar price. $100k/300k limits, $100 comprehensive, $750 collision deductibles, full rental and roadside.
I shopped around before taking delivery, but no one was significantly cheaper so I stayed with Geico. I will shop around again when my plan is up in a few months, but I believe Progressive and Nationwide were the cheapest options for me.

 

[techzelle]

Same deal, I was on Geico, but they wanted way too much for the Tesla. Went through costco insurance and that was even cheaper than what I was paying for my old car at Geico.

 

[SpokaneM3]

I just got a quote from USAA and it was $67 a month cheaper. I always thought Geico was one of the cheapest out there.
Guess I need to do my research.

tech_nerd - You mentioned that you would shop around when your insurance plan is up in a few months. Can't you cancel a policy at anytime?
Do you have to wait till the policy expires?

 

[Sophias_dad]

Thanks for the replies so far. It would be nice if EV manufacturers put solar panels on all EV's.
Might as well use that sun that is hitting my car while I'm parked at work everyday.

And I will definitely be getting some auto insurance quotes. I'm sure there is something cheaper out there.

Soo... lets go a little further with that, and give some background about my earlier fools errand comment.

A ~400W solar panel nowadays is 1690x1046mm, or 71x41" or 2911 square inches. The 'usable' space on a model 3 roof is 48x64", conveniently 3072 square inches. Assume that Tesla or whoever would rearrange cells to make that 400watt panel fill the usable roof space. 'Usable' is space not heated by the rear defroster, assuming you need to look out the back. Even if you don't need to look out the back, its not that much more space.

Anyway, that's 400W, and adds 42lbs right at the very top of the car, precisely where you don't want it. But its only 65VDC at its rated load, meaning you would need to do some really fancy footwork in the BMS to de-serialize cells or put a DC-DC upconverter in the circuit to get the appropriate high-voltage DC to feed the modules like a super-micro-charger. Tesla would clearly choose the latter, lets assume 100% efficiency, since it'll be more than 90. That DC-DC upconverter will cost something as well, both in purchase price and weight. You'd also want the latter because it could be delivering power while actually driving the vehicle, albeit not much power.

That 400W is barely enough to keep the computers awake. Even the most optimistic model you could come up with, totally neglecting ALL losses, will get you MAYBE 1.5 miles per hour of full-daylight charge. I'd be interested in doing the math for how much dragging around 42 extra pounds costs you, both day and night. Its certainly detectable, but probably not super significant. I guess if you have a 10 mile commute in a place that's sunny all day, you'll be all good!


An add-on aftermarket thing is a much worse proposition, because it isn't at all integrated. You end up not being able to use the DC-DC method, and instead end up with using an inverter to change the DC to AC, and even worse, there aren't inverters that take highly variant DC(12-65V), but rather they only want 12V, so you need to put a circuit in there to get a solid 12V to give to the inverter, and for all this effort, you would get all the power of a THREE amp 120V charging circuit.

 

[SpokaneM3]

Good points

 

[tech_nerd]

I just got a quote from USAA and it was $67 a month cheaper. I always thought Geico was one of the cheapest out there.
Guess I need to do my research.

tech_nerd - You mentioned that you would shop around when your insurance plan is up in a few months. Can't you cancel a policy at anytime?
Do you have to wait till the policy expires?

yea, but I would change homeowners too, which is in escrow and annoying to change and I'm being lazy

 

[SpokaneM3]

yea, but I would change homeowners too, which is in escrow and annoying to change and I'm being lazy

I see. Makes sense.

 

[SpokaneM3]

Wow! Costco insurance is super cheap. Why have I been overpaying with Geico for many years?
Learned my lesson.

 

[thewishmaster]

Thanks for the replies so far. It would be nice if EV manufacturers put solar panels on all EV's.
Might as well use that sun that is hitting my car while I'm parked at work everyday.

There definitely are companies out there trying to make this a reality: Lightyear finds a manufacturer to build its solar-powered EV

 

[Shelburne]

Hello everyone,

I placed an order for a Model 3 about a month ago and I'm very excited for it to arrive soon. The estimated delivery window has changed many times but I did get my VIN today.
I just read an article online today where a Model 3 owner made reference to having solar panels on his M3. Does anyone know if these come standard or is it an aftermarket item that the owner had installed? I don't see any mention of solar panels being part of the M3 on Tesla's website. I am interested in knowing more about them and potentially having them on my M3. It would be nice to be able to charge the battery anytime I am parked outdoors on a sunny day.

Also, I called my auto insurer, Geico, who I've been with for many years and they quoted me $168 a month for insurance on my new M3. That is with a $1000 deductible on Comp and collision, and no rental car or towing coverage. I have a credit score over 800 and a spotless driving record. The $168 seems really high to me.
I'm just curious if anyone can recommend another company that may have better rates. I plan to call around to get some quotes but thought I'd ask Tesla owners their opinion first.

Thanks in advance. I'm happy to be here among many other Tesla and EV enthusiasts.

Try MAPFRE insurance. It's based in Spain but has a strong presence in the Northeast, where I live. Not sure about Spokane though. With MAPFRE, I am paying $94 a month for both my Model 3 and a 14 year old Volvo XC70. The M3 has collision and decently high rates of coverage for liability, etc. The Volvo doesn't have collision but has the same high rate of coverage for liability. I've read numerous complaints on this website about how high the insurance rates are at Geico. But, hey, how else are they going to pay for all those very annoying commercials.
As for solar panels, if they are available at all, it would only be on an aftermarket basis and may void your warranty to have them installed. Check on the warranty issue with Tesla before you even shop for them.

 

[Sophias_dad]

The lightyear thing is okay, but if you read the details, they were only getting around 345 watts out of the panels on average. The real range improvements seem to be partially the aerodynamics and a LOT due to speed. They were using 136wh/mile at 53mph. It apparently has in-wheel motors(yay) and is running on super narrow, probably stupidly overpressurized tires. This is evident at

. Indeed, Bridgestone and Lightyear Combine Forces for the World’s First Long-Range Solar Electric Powered Car suggests its on 175/60/R19's. I really do wonder what sort of efficiency a model 3 could eke out if it had 175/60/R19's and was run around a racetrack at constant(low-ish) speed.

 

[Fashionably L8]

I have USAA insurance, and pay $361 per 6 months for the Model 3 (also have a Tacoma on the policy). I have a clean driving record and carry homeowner and liability insurance with them (so get a bit of a discount).
I've made a few claims (fender-bender type accidents) over the years with zero problems. I do wish they had non-deductible glass coverage.

 

[Fashionably L8]

yea, but I would change homeowners too, which is in escrow and annoying to change and I'm being lazy

Your new insurance will take care of everything, it's very easy to switch (surprisingly).

 

[Jeremy3292]

I had Geico previously and they quoted me 3.5x what Progressive and USAA did

This. I've had Geico for years and their auto has always been way lower for me than any other company. However, with the Tesla Model 3 Progressive was far and away the best price for the same coverage. Quite literally 3x less than Geico, insane. I'm not military but I have also heard USAA is good as well.