Prepping for the colder months – New Comers...

[Magnetic]

We will soon be departing the stinky barnyard discussions (A/C smells), filter replacement, cleaning the coils, and revisiting:

Decreased Range
Tire pressure drops
Blue dots – Loss of regen
Frozen door handles/windows
Charge port stuck
Climate settings and Heated Seats
Frozen washer fluid
Snow tires vs All Season
Depart Charging vs Scheduled charging vs Manual charging
Battery Conditioning in rte to Super Charger
Slow super charging see above
Auto Pilot vs Manual driving in the snow/ice
AWD vs RWD

All these answers and more can be found here from your esteemed Tesla owners so stay tuned or feel free to search one or two in advance. You are allowed to read ahead and be prepared.

Did I miss any????

 

[webbah]

Gummipflege on the door seals and windows! ;-)

 

[webbah]

I personally coat all the plastic trim, rubber seals, and soak my tires (tread included) in 303 Aerospace Protectant. This is a year round thing to do, but especially during winter I will redo the outside and especially the tires on a monthly basis. I was blown away at how awesome 303 really is especially on prolonging the life of tires. There are cars out there getting 100K miles on a set of tires that were rated for 50K.

Posted that video in another thread, but worth sharing here too.

I also coat the rims in ceramic coating (Gyeon Rim) every 6 months. It's $50 and works wonders. Simple rinse and they look new.

 

[one2many]

I hear what you are saying but most is just the same as an ICE car.
The big difference is you can preheat your car in the garage or outside
to make it toasty warm. Running an Ice car here to heat it here is illegal,
not in a garage. I guess we all know why.
Frozen washer fluid, it that from the 70's.
Auto Pilot on sheet ice sounds fun.
Range will always be a fun topic.
Sorry, carry on.

 

[webbah]

I also have a driver profile called "Winter". Disable folding mirrors, set chill mode vs sport, etc. Use when icy or snow.

 

[toshman]

I also have a driver profile called "Winter". Disable folding mirrors, set chill mode vs sport, etc. Use when icy or snow.

that’s a smart idea.

 

[Landwomble]

I personally coat all the plastic trim, rubber seals, and soak my tires (tread included) in 303 Aerospace Protectant. This is a year round thing to do, but especially during winter I will redo the outside and especially the tires on a monthly basis. I was blown away at how awesome 303 really is especially on prolonging the life of tires. There are cars out there getting 100K miles on a set of tires that were rated for 50K.

Posted that video in another thread, but worth sharing here too.

I also coat the rims in ceramic coating (Gyeon Rim) every 6 months. It's $50 and works wonders. Simple rinse and they look new.

I can't see coating tyre TREADS being a good idea. If it's changing the way it wears, it's changing the way the tyre behaves. If you're changing either how hard the compound becomes, or altering the friction between it and the road, I can't see how that can really be safe...

I drove my old mk1 Miata/Eunos when I first got it on what looked like brilliant tyres - loads of tread. On the first roundabout I discovered how old tyres can just kind of turn into hard plastic...it wasn't a fun experience!

 

[HaroldC]

I also have a driver profile called "Winter". Disable folding mirrors, set chill mode vs sport, etc. Use when icy or snow.

That's a great idea. Going to use this!

 

[GtiMart]

I see so many people use chill mode... You know you are limited to around 200hp max instead of your full 290, 447 or 550ish right? There are dynos to prove it. I drive in snow all winter in Quebec so I know it's slippery I just can't bring myself to not getting all my power. The alternative is to control the throttle.

 

[KenC]

I also have a driver profile called "Winter". Disable folding mirrors, set chill mode vs sport, etc. Use when icy or snow.

I call mine, "Snow Day".

 

[Gasaraki]

I see so many people use chill mode... You know you are limited to around 200hp max instead of your full 290, 447 or 550ish right? There are dynos to prove it. I drive in snow all winter in Quebec so I know it's slippery I just can't bring myself to not getting all my power. The alternative is to control the throttle.

Yeah I don't get that. Are people just mashing down on the petal every time they need to move?

 

[one2many]

How about winter floor mats, there are experts on here.

 

[one2many]

sorry for the bottom readers it would be nice for a quick
reference to floor mats, brand, cost.
This is the first year in my life that i bought some. I normally
just went to a carpet place and got the carpet they could not sell.
maybe a link if people are interested . If not I will try later.

 

[Ofarlig]

This will be my first full winter with the 3 instead of the S and it will be interesting to see if the 3 takes a bigger hit in winter weather compared to the S. Many people seem to say the range gets hit a lot on the 3 and my experience from the S say it did effect it but not by some crazy amount.

How about winter floor mats, there are experts on here.

I would say keep the fabric one for winter, they are the best, then just have them washed after the winter (or replace them when you cannot easily spray them off yourself since they are quite cheap).

 

[webbah]

This will be my first full winter with the 3 instead of the S and it will be interesting to see if the 3 takes a bigger hit in winter weather compared to the S. Many people seem to say the range gets hit a lot on the 3 and my experience from the S say it did effect it but not by some crazy amount.

You will take a hit due to the 3 not having a heat pump for the battery. You can minimize this to an extent if you can precondition and warm the battery before you depart from home by scheduling departure, etc, but doesn't help much if you then park it in the cold at work, only take short trips and multiple of those during a day, etc. In Switzerland I typically see anywhere from 10-25% range hit in winter depending on the weather. It's easy to manage once you are aware of it as I simply plan my charging habits accordingly.

As others have mentioned using the seat heaters instead of the cabin heater uses less energy. I do that as much as possible but I also like my comfort so just deal with it and charge more often.

 

[Nickage87]

This will be my first full winter with the 3 instead of the S and it will be interesting to see if the 3 takes a bigger hit in winter weather compared to the S. Many people seem to say the range gets hit a lot on the 3 and my experience from the S say it did effect it but not by some crazy amount.



I would say keep the fabric one for winter, they are the best, then just have them washed after the winter (or replace them when you cannot easily spray them off yourself since they are quite cheap).

How about protecting sides? Also water and dirt will be all over and under mats since they are flat

 

[webbah]

How about protecting sides? Also water and dirt will be all over and under mats since they are flat

I see a lot of people buy aftermarket mats and that works for them. I ponied up and bought the full coverage Tesla Winter mats with side protection and they are stellar! Love them.

 

[Ofarlig]

How about protecting sides? Also water and dirt will be all over and under mats since they are flat

The fabric one soaks the water in after the snow melts, that is why I prefer them. Never had a problem with the sides getting too dirty, just clean the car after the winter and it's fine.

You will take a hit due to the 3 not having a heat pump for the battery. You can minimize this to an extent if you can precondition and warm the battery before you depart from home by scheduling departure, etc, but doesn't help much if you then park it in the cold at work, only take short trips and multiple of those during a day, etc. In Switzerland I typically see anywhere from 10-25% range hit in winter depending on the weather. It's easy to manage once you are aware of it as I simply plan my charging habits accordingly.

As others have mentioned using the seat heaters instead of the cabin heater uses less energy. I do that as much as possible but I also like my comfort so just deal with it and charge more often.

Heat pumps doesn't really do much in winter climate anyway, the heater isn't the problem as it's not using much compared to propulsion even at -20 C. The question is whether all the snow and such would have a much bigger impact on the 3 that is more efficient than the S from the bigger.

 

[webbah]

The fabric one soaks the water in after the snow melts, that is why I prefer them. Never had a problem with the sides getting too dirty, just clean the car after the winter and it's fine.



Heat pumps doesn't really do much in winter climate anyway, the heater isn't the problem as it's not using much compared to propulsion even at -20 C. The question is whether all the snow and such would have a much bigger impact on the 3 that is more efficient than the S from the bigger.

The heater can use 4-6 Kw continuous if on at a higher setting. This will kill your range. In snow I have no issue other than my car is lowered and with the carbon lip I can do free snowplowing for the city.

 

[webbah]

The fabric one soaks the water in after the snow melts, that is why I prefer them. Never had a problem with the sides getting too dirty, just clean the car after the winter and it's fine.



Heat pumps doesn't really do much in winter climate anyway, the heater isn't the problem as it's not using much compared to propulsion even at -20 C. The question is whether all the snow and such would have a much bigger impact on the 3 that is more efficient than the S from the bigger.

The Model 3 uses the front motor instead of the heat pump in a Model S/X and now the Model Y. You can hear this when the car is "preconditioning for Supercharging" as an example with the high pitched whine that sounds like a turbo. In Winter the car will always try to keep the battery warm to prevent damage, and during driving if you start with a cold battery you will suffer a lot. The heat pumps use a lot less energy to get things up to temp. Just give it another few weeks/month and you'll see the flood of posts into the forum about range loss when winter hits.