The Best way to improve your Model 3 Trunk Lighting

[drgallo]

Trying to find something in the trunk of your Model 3 at night is difficult at best. The LED lighting is just too dim to really illuminate the trunk completely. I toyed with the idea of replacing the trunk LED with a higher wattage LED, but I came upon a solution that cost me $13 and took me 10 seconds to install.

Home Depot (and probably other places as well) sells a surface mount, AA battery-powered, motion-detecting, stick-on light called "OverLight". (Stock Number 1003-253-126).

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• drgallo
• Feb 1, 2020

There was a perfectly flat spot to mount it, facing downward, on the trunk shelf of my 2020 Model 3.

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• drgallo
• Feb 1, 2020

It provides great pure-white LED lighting to all corners of the trunk. It is light-sensing, so it doesn't come on in the day and the motion detector built into the light turns it on quickly after opening the trunk lid at night, keeps the light on while it senses motion, and then shuts the light off in 2-3 minutes after the motion stops.

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• drgallo
• Feb 1, 2020

I'd recommend this to anyone, and it seems to make so much more sense than changing the LEDs in the trunk.

 

[Scrutmonkey]

I hardwired two 12v led strips and spliced them in. Plus I upgraded the two leds with Abstract oceans. Everything is lit like crazy now.

 

[WilliamG]

I’d just go (and did go) with the Abstract Ocean LEDs. Takes just a few minutes to replace the OEM useless bulbs. Worth every penny.

I fail to see how adding an additional device that requires batteries/charging/stays on for 2-3 minutes redundantly is a better solution or “makes more sense” than something that’s integrated!

 

[Fresnel]

I’d just go (and did go) with the Abstract Ocean LEDs. Takes just a few minutes to replace the OEM useless bulbs. Worth every penny.

I fail to see how adding an additional device that requires batteries/charging/stays on for 2-3 minutes redundantly is a better solution or “makes more sense” than something that’s integrated!

Agree. I just swapped out my trunk lights with Abstract Ocean ones and they're great. I'm about to do my puddle lights too.

 

[WatcherXP]

Nice simple upgrade, i like!

 

[Magnets!]

This looks good. I often have my trunk open for awhile after a bike ride and before loading the bike and I noticed that the trunk light goes out after a few minutes so adding brighter trunk lights won't solve that issue. One thing I wonder about though does the motion and shaking of the car or trunk contents cause the light to remain on?