Tesla Owners in Alberta

[3s-a-charm]

I’m hosting a mini meetup to display our new TOCA tent this Sunday from 10am-Noon. Point your GPS to 222 Crescent Road NW in Calgary. Weather looks decent - we can have a show & shine and talk about winter tires, reduced range, and all the crazy things Elon has said in the past 2 months! Hope to see many of you there.

 

[Lon12]

222 Crescent Road NW in Calgary is exactly where I took this picture today! Aero caps off.
Beautiful location overlooking downtown, river and mountains.
Hope I can make it on Sunday as well.

 

[M3AB]

Congrats to all the new Model 3 owners, I feel like we're starting to reach the tipping point here in Calgary.

Starting to spot a lot of them now, my record is 3 in one day (1 red, 1 blue, 1 white)!

 

[GlenM]

I've only seen 2 others. I was in Vancouver over Thanksgiving and I saw a lot more Model 3's on the road there.

 

[krazykanuck30]

Question about service.
I have an annoying issue, looks to be a bug or perhaps one of my cameras aren't working correctly, do I call the Tesla 1-800 number or the Calgary Service Centre directly?

I'm not in Calgary and would likely need a ranger service if they need to replace any parts.

Sorry, I'm a little confused, this is my first time with an issue that needs to be looked at.

 

[Vawlkus]

Question about service.
I have an annoying issue, looks to be a bug or perhaps one of my cameras aren't working correctly, do I call the Tesla 1-800 number or the Calgary Service Centre directly?

I'm not in Calgary and would likely need a ranger service if they need to replace any parts.

Sorry, I'm a little confused, this is my first time with an issue that needs to be looked at.

I’d try the local shop first. A Ranger would likely be deployed from there anyway so they might as well be in the loop from the getgo.

 

[TLej]

@krazykanuck30 Not sure if you would contact the 1-800 or Calgary directly, but Jamie the Ranger is based in Edmonton so there shouldn't be an issue in the event it's a hardware thing unless it's not something that can be replaced outside of the shop (I'm thinking like a B-pillar camera maybe).

Personally I would probably start with the 1-800, as they might be able to diagnose remotely whereas the service centre can't do that. If it's not something that can be fixed remotely, they'll refer you to the service centre.

 

[krazykanuck30]

@krazykanuck30 Not sure if you would contact the 1-800 or Calgary directly, but Jamie the Ranger is based in Edmonton so there shouldn't be an issue in the event it's a hardware thing unless it's not something that can be replaced outside of the shop (I'm thinking like a B-pillar camera maybe).

Personally I would probably start with the 1-800, as they might be able to diagnose remotely whereas the service centre can't do that. If it's not something that can be fixed remotely, they'll refer you to the service centre.

Thanks, I'll give the 1-800 number a call. Maybe they will be able to provide me more details, like which camera is acting up or if maybe I just need a full reboot.

 

[S'toon]

@krazykanuck30 Not sure if you would contact the 1-800 or Calgary directly, but Jamie the Ranger is based in Edmonton so there shouldn't be an issue in the event it's a hardware thing unless it's not something that can be replaced outside of the shop (I'm thinking like a B-pillar camera maybe).

Personally I would probably start with the 1-800, as they might be able to diagnose remotely whereas the service centre can't do that. If it's not something that can be fixed remotely, they'll refer you to the service centre.

Saw him drive by the other day as I was waiting to cross the street.

 

[krazykanuck30]

Called the 1-877 number. On hold about 15 minutes, not too bad.
Customer service confirmed he saw the errors and said he would contact the mobile team.
I gave him a list of other outstanding items I had and he said I would get a call within 24hrs from the local technician.

Overall, I'm pleased. Hopefully it's something simple and my car doesn't have to go to Calgary to get fixed. *fingers crossed*

 

[TLej]

Let us know how it goes. I haven’t needed Jamie’s services yet, but any of the Edmonton guys who have, have been very complimentary.

 

[Roger North]

I have had Jamie come out to take a look at my Model 3 trunk (doesn't fit right, going into Doug's Place in two weeks to get looked at). He was great and it was the first time he had to take apart that area of a Model 3 so a bit of a learning experience there.

He mentioned it wouldn't be easy to go back to working on ICE cars with all the fluids, cables, dirt and mess compared to an EV.

 

[TLej]

Welcome to the forum, Roger!

 

[YYCSTORMS]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum, new to Tesla's, looking for info.....

I live in Canmore and commute 4 days a week to the west side of YYC 4 days a week. 90km each way. 180km/dayx4days/weekx48weeks/year=35,000km/year, and that's just work, never mind running kids around, etc.

I have a 2016 Santa Fe V6/XL/AWD. Love this car for many reasons. But the gas is starting to hurt. Like a lot.

I am considering the Tesla 3, RWD with no other 'options' in order to keep the cost down. I like to drive, so don't want/need all the fancy autopilot stuff.

Is this the car for me?

Between gas and my current car payment, I am over $1k/month on the santa fe. Something needs to change.

Is the Tesla as good of a highway commuter as i hope it will be? Is it THAT good of a winter driver?

Your input is appreciated.

YYCSTORMS

 

[bpjod]

Hi everyone,

New to the forum, new to Tesla's, looking for info.....

I live in Canmore and commute 4 days a week to the west side of YYC 4 days a week. 90km each way. 180km/dayx4days/weekx48weeks/year=35,000km/year, and that's just work, never mind running kids around, etc.

I have a 2016 Santa Fe V6/XL/AWD. Love this car for many reasons. But the gas is starting to hurt. Like a lot.

I am considering the Tesla 3, RWD with no other 'options' in order to keep the cost down. I like to drive, so don't want/need all the fancy autopilot stuff.

Is this the car for me?

Between gas and my current car payment, I am over $1k/month on the santa fe. Something needs to change.

Is the Tesla as good of a highway commuter as i hope it will be? Is it THAT good of a winter driver?

Your input is appreciated.

YYCSTORMS

It's the perfect car for what you describe. Here's some points to consider:

• The most basic configuration they offer today has a mid-range battery rated at 418 km, starting at $53,400. That's the only way to get a RWD version of the TM3 today, the larger battery is only available in AWD. If you charge the mid-range battery to 80% and want to get home with at least 10% then that's 70% x 418 km = 292 km range on a dry summer day, no problem for your commute.
• The worst efficiency I've seen yet is -15C with fresh snow on the road, I took a 40% hit in efficiency. 292 km - 40% = 175 km which would be a little tight on the worst of days; however if you charge up to 100% and plan to get home with 5%, you'll have 238 km of range so lots to spare.
• To improve your range further, you can plug in while at work.
• Another way to increase your range considerably is to drive slower - I'm amazed at what a difference that makes. I was testing driving around with a canoe on the roof, trying to figure out how fast I could drive to go 370 km. Turns out that driving 100 kph rather than 95 kph with a canoe on the roof used 15% more energy! I set the TACC to 95 kph and made it with energy to spare!
• Also drafting can make a huge difference and TACC makes drafting super easy (get EAP...).
• Regardless of what I mention above, I doubt you'll ever have a concern with range with the mid-range Model 3 on your commute unless you forgot to plug it in the night before.
• You have a SuperCharger in Canmore! While I recommend plugging in at home, the SuperCharger would be a great help if you ever did forget to charge up the night before. Also, if you get home from work and want to head to Lake Louise right away, you can quickly top up at the SuperCharger and get on your way.
• My TM3 RWD with winter tires has been great in the snow and freezing rain we've had so far. The traction control is amazing. No regrets on the RWD yet.
• The seat heaters are the fastest I've ever encountered, the heater is very quick too.
• My only concern with winter driving would be those days where the extra ground clearance of the Santa Fe will get you through the deep snow and the lower clearance of the TM3 won't. Might happen a few days each winter.
• With your phone you can preheat the car from anywhere. It's nice to start warming my car up when there's only a couple minutes left in the hockey game and by the time I get to my car it's toasty warm.
• You said basic car, but EAP (which includes TACC) would be so amazing on that commute. I love to drive too, but driving Hwy 1 from Calgary to Canmore is not FUN driving--it's BORING driving. We stay at a friend's cabin at Lac des Arcs about a half dozen times a year and I'm bored of that stretch of the drive. It's only exciting when you turn the corner at Exshaw and hit the ice and bad snowstorm. Seriously, give EAP consideration.
• You think you love driving now in your Santa Fe? Just wait until you take a TM3 for a test spin!
• 35,000 km/yr x 0.160 kWh/km x $0.12 /kWh = $672 worth of electricity per year.
• 35,000 km/yr x 11 L/100km x $1.15 /L = $4427.50 worth of gas per year (ave. fuel economy from Fuelly website). Then add in all the extra maintenance costs ICE vehicles require.

Any other questions?

 

[YYCSTORMS]

It's the perfect car for what you describe. Here's some points to consider:

• The most basic configuration they offer today has a mid-range battery rated at 418 km, starting at $53,400. That's the only way to get a RWD version of the TM3 today, the larger battery is only available in AWD. If you charge the mid-range battery to 80% and want to get home with at least 10% then that's 70% x 418 km = 292 km range on a dry summer day, no problem for your commute.
• The worst efficiency I've seen yet is -15C with fresh snow on the road, I took a 40% hit in efficiency. 292 km - 40% = 175 km which would be a little tight on the worst of days; however if you charge up to 100% and plan to get home with 5%, you'll have 238 km of range so lots to spare.
• To improve your range further, you can plug in while at work.
• Another way to increase your range considerably is to drive slower - I'm amazed at what a difference that makes. I was testing driving around with a canoe on the roof, trying to figure out how fast I could drive to go 370 km. Turns out that driving 100 kph rather than 95 kph with a canoe on the roof used 15% more energy! I set the TACC to 95 kph and made it with energy to spare!
• Also drafting can make a huge difference and TACC makes drafting super easy (get EAP...).
• Regardless of what I mention above, I doubt you'll ever have a concern with range with the mid-range Model 3 on your commute unless you forgot to plug it in the night before.
• You have a SuperCharger in Canmore! While I recommend plugging in at home, the SuperCharger would be a great help if you ever did forget to charge up the night before. Also, if you get home from work and want to head to Lake Louise right away, you can quickly top up at the SuperCharger and get on your way.
• My TM3 RWD with winter tires has been great in the snow and freezing rain we've had so far. The traction control is amazing. No regrets on the RWD yet.
• The seat heaters are the fastest I've ever encountered, the heater is very quick too.
• My only concern with winter driving would be those days where the extra ground clearance of the Santa Fe will get you through the deep snow and the lower clearance of the TM3 won't. Might happen a few days each winter.
• With your phone you can preheat the car from anywhere. It's nice to start warming my car up when there's only a couple minutes left in the hockey game and by the time I get to my car it's toasty warm.
• You said basic car, but EAP (which includes TACC) would be so amazing on that commute. I love to drive too, but driving Hwy 1 from Calgary to Canmore is not FUN driving--it's BORING driving. We stay at a friend's cabin at Lac des Arcs about a half dozen times a year and I'm bored of that stretch of the drive. It's only exciting when you turn the corner at Exshaw and hit the ice and bad snowstorm. Seriously, give EAP consideration.
• You think you love driving now in your Santa Fe? Just wait until you take a TM3 for a test spin!
• 35,000 km/yr x 0.160 kWh/km x $0.12 /kWh = $672 worth of electricity per year.
• 35,000 km/yr x 11 L/100km x $1.15 /L = $4427.50 worth of gas per year (ave. fuel economy from Fuelly website). Then add in all the extra maintenance costs ICE vehicles require.

Any other questions?

Hot Damn!!!!! Just what i was looking for. And thank you for doing the math at the end. That's a pretty telling story. And that $4400 is minimum fuel cost. We do lots of other driving, again, kids, mountain bike, ski, etc.

The car will get beat up on the highway, but I have read about the wraps and other paint protection.

I just went through some gas bills, and when i combine car payment, insurance, gas and saving for maintenance, I am well over $1k/month for the Hyundai. We have a second car that my wife uses for work, and the Tesla would help reduce her costs as well.

So, Musk is an eccentric and somewhat random fella. What do you guys see as the future of the company? Are they making enough investment in the Cars/Trucks to be around for the next 10+ years??

It makes me nauseous thinking how much I am spending on gas these days.

 

[TLej]

Not trying to talk you out of it, goodness knows I love my car and would never go back to ICE, but a few other things to consider:
a) in your calculation you include insurance and saving for maintenance in your $1k/month number. Just remember you still need insurance, and “lower mantenance” does not mean “no maintenance”. I don’t follow Telsa’s recommendation exactly, I got my first service done at 2 years (40-something-thousand km) and will get my next service done just before I hit 80,000 in probably six months or so. However the service ain’t cheap, so you’ll still need to set something aside for maintenance
b) “mountain bike, ski...” - make sure you look into roof racks if you’re doing activities like this with more than one person. Apparently you can fit a bike in the back through the trunk, and you can fold down one side of the back seat for skis, but this isn’t like pretty much any other car where you can just go and get a hitch put on or buy a Thule for the roof. I imagine there are some roof racks available, but I expect selection will be limited compared to a typical vehicle.

Again, I fully support anyone looking to kick the fossil fuel habit, but it’s important to carefully consider all your use cases before making a decision or risk unforseen disappointment.

Do I think they’ll be around in 10 years? Personally yes, but it’ll take a few more quarters/years of profitability before I would say they’re a sure thing. Making money from building cars is hard.

 

[YYCSTORMS]

Not trying to talk you out of it, goodness knows I love my car and would never go back to ICE, but a few other things to consider:
a) in your calculation you include insurance and saving for maintenance in your $1k/month number. Just remember you still need insurance, and “lower mantenance” does not mean “no maintenance”. I don’t follow Telsa’s recommendation exactly, I got my first service done at 2 years (40-something-thousand km) and will get my next service done just before I hit 80,000 in probably six months or so. However the service ain’t cheap, so you’ll still need to set something aside for maintenance
b) “mountain bike, ski...” - make sure you look into roof racks if you’re doing activities like this with more than one person. Apparently you can fit a bike in the back through the trunk, and you can fold down one side of the back seat for skis, but this isn’t like pretty much any other car where you can just go and get a hitch put on or buy a Thule for the roof. I imagine there are some roof racks available, but I expect selection will be limited compared to a typical vehicle.

Again, I fully support anyone looking to kick the fossil fuel habit, but it’s important to carefully consider all your use cases before making a decision or risk unforseen disappointment.

Do I think they’ll be around in 10 years? Personally yes, but it’ll take a few more quarters/years of profitability before I would say they’re a sure thing. Making money from building cars is hard.

Great points. Thank you!

Not sure if we are allowed to mention other cars here, but I am also waiting to hear about the Hyundai 'kona Electric. It sounds like a promising vehicle. Any thoughts or opinions on that one?

 

[bpjod]

We do lots of other driving, again, kids, mountain bike, ski, etc.

How many kids? Two is comfortable in the back seat. Three could fit, but I wouldn't do that to my kids for long-distance trips.

One of my biggest complaints is the lack of a ski pass-through in the rear seat. The rear seat is a 60/40 split so my kids have to sit together on the larger portion of the rear seat while the smaller portion is folded down to accommodate skis inside the vehicle.

One 29"r MTB fits inside the car with the rear seats folded down, no problem. I throw a packing blanket down to protect the interior of the car from mud and dings. For more than one bike, I use a SeaSucker roof rack, ours holds 3 bikes. Works great. I also use the SeaSucker Monkey bars for hauling around paddleboards, ladders, canoe, etc. Might give it a try with a roof box when we go skiing in Banff this winter.

So, Musk is an eccentric and somewhat random fella. What do you guys see as the future of the company? Are they making enough investment in the Cars/Trucks to be around for the next 10+ years??

He doesn't strike me as odd, that's just how his detractors and the press likes to portray him. He's driven, optimistic (to a fault), on a mission (well a number of missions) and doesn't suffer fools. Lots of opinions on whether they'll be around in 10+ years. I'm confident they will be. I wouldn't even be surprised if they're the largest company in the world by sales and market cap in 10+ years at the rate the other auto makers are avoiding making the change to BEV. I'm not saying they will be, but I'm surprised and appalled by how there's no one else committed to producing highly desirable BEVs in volume yet after Tesla proved what was possible 6 years ago. I'd estimate Tesla has at least a 5 year lead on the competition, and in 5 years when the others are (maybe) getting to where Tesla is today, where will Tesla be? One thing about Tesla, they don't rest on their laurels, they're constantly innovating and improving.

If you want to read over 60K messages on what others think of the future of Tesla, head over to the investment forums.

 

[bpjod]

Again, I fully support anyone looking to kick the fossil fuel habit, but it’s important to carefully consider all your use cases before making a decision or risk unforseen disappointment.

Agree fully. Not sure what your wife's vehicle is, but I'd consider keeping a SUV (such as your Santa Fe) as a good complimentary vehicle to the TM3. We've kept a Highlander as we frequently tow a travel trailer, go canoeing in Northern Saskatchewan far from any charging infrastructure, and I'm not sure I'd even be comfortable going on a family ski trip to Marmot Basin in the winter. We'll make a few trips to Banff this winter where I've got access to Superchargers in Red Deer, Calgary and Canmore en route to get more experience before venturing off to Jasper. We also go off road once in awhile. It was a bit scary the time I did it this past summer in my TM3 with it's low ground clearance. I'd have much rather have had our SUV.