Some initial impressions

[roblab]

Buying new technology always requires dealing with a learning curve. Some car buyers don't do well with that and complain that they need the numbers where they always were, buttons that do specific things, a gas engine to sit up front and make noise and vibrate and spew smoke, etc., etc.

The solution is to stick to what you know. Used Hondas and Toyotas are pretty cheap.

Or, expect to learn new things. When you're old (who, me??) it takes longer. But I always figure that I'll get it down one of these days, or that the folks at Tesla will send an upgrade to makes it easier. For me, it makes life more interesting. Evidently for a lot of other folks, too. Hang in there!

And I still drive behind people who shouldn't be driving, in Hondas, Toyotas, etc.

 

[claudelaval]

Pick a supercharger!
View attachment 276359

north of the border it doesn't look that great!

 

[TEG]

And North Dakota is a dead zone.

 

[jjh1234]

And North Dakota is a dead zone.

No superchargers either.

 

[T34ME]

And North Dakota is a dead zone.

There is no there, there

 

[ölbrenner]

No superchargers either.

At least they have ONE destination charger .

 

[napabill]

This whole experience morphed into a discussion of UI design in a way I wasn't expecting.

I still never figured out a good way to make the sketchpad go away. I didn't see any [X] button to close it.

So someone must know the answer to this! Please!

 

[TEG]

My (adult) kids had said that the rear seats seemed a bit low... I see it mentioned here:
Rear seat height seems really low | Tesla
I assume it is to maximize headroom for tall people.
If you are short enough to have extra headroom, a pillow on the back seat might make sense so your knees don't have to bend as much.

 

[TEG]

Another review:
600 Miles in a Tesla Model 3: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | Tesla

 

[TEG]

Nissan says that the weird headlight shape on the LEAF was to direct wind away from the side view mirrors to reduce noise.
Maybe Tesla wasn't willing to compromise the look/style of the car in an effort to stamp out every last bit of wind noise.

Also, see this:
LEAF headlight shape for wind noise

I guess low CD and window noise are not totally "hand in hand". You could cause some extra resistance to divert wind away from something that would cause interior noise.

 

[TEG]

I have been given the amazing opportunity to borrow this Model 3 again for a while !
( Great thanks to the owner )

This while I still wait for my day 1 line-waiter reservation to get invited to configure...

Right away I notice some improvements that came with firmware updates since I first had this car.
#1: The FM radio tuner is working properly now.
#2: When I hold the card key against the pillar after I exit it locks the car.

I am sure there are many other things I will discover as I spend more days with it.

Currently it has firmware 2018.4.9.700fb88

 

[TEG]

I notice when I use the key card to lock it (holding the card against the pillar), it auto-folds the mirrors.
*but*, when I lock another way: open the door, press the tiny lock button on the touch-screen, then get out and close the door, it no longer folds the mirrors... It just locks.

I wonder why the mirrors don't fold shut when I do that open-door, lock-button, close-door procedure.

 

[TEG]

I see that there is an exit button on the sketch pad now. The user manual is in this firmware. The live supercharger free slot map is nice!

Sure is a lot of capacity at Kettleman City !

 

[TEG]

The 2 things that are still taking me a while to adjust:

#1: The blinker switch expecting a 2nd tap in the same direction to stop. I continue to accidentally turn on the wrong direction blinker when I am just trying to turn off the one I was using. This is turning out to be a hard habit to break. I have never had a car before that operated like this. I guess it is common on some German cars these days?

#2: Occasional double takes at night because no dashboard lights in front of me. I don't miss having gauges behind the steering wheel in the daytime, but that lack of lights there at night makes me occasionally have a moment of micro-panic that I must have forgotten to turn on the headlights. Again, decades old habits still there.


The audio system continues to impress. I am not sure if I am imagining this, but it seems like the streaming music sounds better to me than when I drove this car before. Maybe the newer firmware helped the quality on (some of) the internet streaming music stations?

I am still listening to a lot of hand picked music put on USB flash drive, but I am thinking I will listen to the streaming channels more than I originally planned.

The navigation maps on the touch screen are so impressive. Being able to use phone like touch gestures to zoom, & rotate is so much better than a typical NAV. It is so responsive. And the maps work for the whole world so you can look around at what is going on with superchargers in other places. If you are parked somewhere thinking about going for a drive, the NAV screen is a nice place to virtually explore when thinking about possibilities.

The "instant torque at any legal speed" and good dose of regen braking is such a joy. I got stuck temporarily going back to ICE car(s) after my daughter took my LEAF, so it is great to be back in an EV that is so ultra-responsive like this.


I had been hoping to report observations based on my own Model 3, but still can't configure, but at least I can start off by checking out this friend's car.

 

[TEG]

I noticed the little vents under the front bumper are opening and closing even when the car isn't being driven.
I saw this mentioned as a source of slow battery drain. Does anyone know if they fixed that in newer firmware?
Again, this car currently has 2018.4.9.700fb88

 

[MP3Mike]

Yes i think it has been.

 

[TEG]

...
The audio system continues to impress. I am not sure if I am imagining this, but it seems like the streaming music sounds better to me than when I drove this car before. Maybe the newer firmware helped the quality on (some of) the internet streaming music stations?
...

It seems vary quite a bit between "stations". Some "Tunein" music today didn't sound all that great. But the "Tesla favorites" streaming channel can sound fairly awesome.

Got some "loading errors" trying to play streaming music today too: