Pick Up Saturday: What should i think of. Never driven an EV

[bottomsup]

Hi

So my situation is that i pick up the car Saturday night and need to leave it sit for 8 days due to a trip I'm taking. I only have 110v installed as i didn't expect it to arrive so fast.

I guess i just park it in garage and leave it on 110v to trickle?

Also no spare spooks me. What plug/compressor whatever do you recommend?

That's all i'm thinking. anything else? Oh and VIN 49xxx on LR model

 

[xyeahtony]

Hi

So my situation is that i pick up the car Saturday night and need to leave it sit for 8 days due to a trip I'm taking. I only have 110v installed as i didn't expect it to arrive so fast.

I guess i just park it in garage and leave it on 110v to trickle?

Also no spare spooks me. What plug/compressor whatever do you recommend?

That's all i'm thinking. anything else? Oh and VIN 49xxx on LR model

Its no big deal, flat tires are rare. but tesla sells a tire repair kit/pump on the online store.

leaving it on the 120V* to trickle is fine. youll still get 3-4mph in charging.

 

[brkaus]

Hi

So my situation is that i pick up the car Saturday night and need to leave it sit for 8 days due to a trip I'm taking. I only have 110v installed as i didn't expect it to arrive so fast.

I guess i just park it in garage and leave it on 110v to trickle?

Also no spare spooks me. What plug/compressor whatever do you recommend?

That's all i'm thinking. anything else? Oh and VIN 49xxx on LR model

Yup. Just plug it in and it will be fine. 8 days and would be fine without plugging in too.

The general consensus here is set the charge level to 50%. Better on the battery chemistry. How much better? No one knows for sure!

 

[Kermee]

I guess i just park it in garage and leave it on 110v to trickle?

Yes. Maybe set the charge level between 50-60% also.

EDIT: @brkaus beat me to it.

 

[compu85]

The car comes with a small compressor & can of tire goo.

 

[ewoodrick]

Welcome to the world of electrics.

Once you get your car, you should be able to use the app on the phone to look and manipulate some of the features on the car. You should probably set the max charge down to 80-90% as one of the first steps once you get home. This can be done on the car or the phone.

Driving the car is a little different, not that you have to learn to drive different, but because you have to do so much less. The main things that you will want to be familiar with when driving off the lot is how to put in forward and reverse. You might as well ask how to turn off the car, so you know what to do when you get home. The biggest difference for many people is the regen, basically you will find that you don't coast in the car, if you let your foot off of the accelerator, you will slow down. It takes a few days to get used to, but it is easy to do. It keeps you from having to use the brakes as often.

110V may be all you need anyway, it depends on your commute. So you don't necessarily need to fret about getting the plug installed. Also, check PlugShare.com for chargers. The car will come with the J-1772 adapter, so you can use these as well as Tesla chargers. The J-1772 and Tesla destination chargers will charge a empty battery in 4+ hours, while a Supercharger will go from about 0 to 75% in an hour.

As to a spare. When was the last time that you had a flat? If you do get one, Tesla roadside service should take care of you. There definitely is a little apprehension, but I've been driving without a spare for about 4 years now and haven't needed one in probably 15 years. My wife needed one about 5 years ago, but that's about it for modern history. Spare tires generally just get confused when you are rotating tires.

While all the negatives on the forums are generally true, remember that they tend to represent a very small percentage of owners. So take them all with a grain of salt on top of the margarita that you should enjoy while waiting to get home and play with your car. I too am on a trip and have had only 1 day in the last 3 weeks with my car.

 

[iwannam3]

The car comes with a small compressor & can of tire goo.

Mine didn't, it is an $80 item at the Tesla store. I added a plug kit and I need to get needle nose vice grip to jank out screws etc.

 

[bottomsup]

thank you for this very informative post

 

[brkaus]

Mine didn't, it is an $80 item at the Tesla store. I added a plug kit and I need to get needle nose vice grip to jank out screws etc.

I think it depends on state (country) law.

 

[StellarRat]

If you've never owned an EV my biggest piece of advice would be to watch your speed carefully. No joke. It's so quiet and smooth that you will be over the limit in no time without even knowing it. Don't get a ticket on the way home. Even my Leaf fooled me for the first few days. The Model 3 is much worse on that count.

I got by with 110v charging for 7 years with the Leaf. If the car can sit and charge for 8 - 10 hours at night and you only drive about 40 miles a day or less on average you might never need a 220v plug. You could just set the charge level at 90% or so and that way you have a reserve for a long trip available at all times. It will gradually rebuild the reserve over a couple days of charging if you happen to drive a long way every once in a while.

I put the 220v plug in only because it's pretty cheap to do it yourself IF you know how without frying yourself. Fortunately, my brother knew all about this, so my total cost was about $60 to DYI a 50 amp 220v plug for the charger that comes with the car. All the parts and wire are available at Home Depot.