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Tips for new Tesla owners.
- Thread starter mzairboy
- Start date
Playing from a thumb drive with lossless music is far better than any over the air music.I get the appeal of XM/Sirius. In my current car, I just have HD Radio (and iPhone Ipod adapter). It's not perfect, but much better than standard radio, especially on an upgraded stereo system.
garsh
Re Member
Big Virgil
Member
I plan on being a Tesla owner soon (yay for me). Anyway, reading through this thread I'm not sure my day time charging plan will work the way I thought it would. Plan on charging at work during the day using a standard outlet in my parking garage. It is cold as heck during the day in that garage in the winter, so I planned on charging using a standard outlet using a heavy duty extension cord so I don't have to transport the Tesla mobile connector daily. I may have a less than desirable set up at home for charging where carrying the mobile connector daily isn't feasible. Can I charge using only a heavy duty cord, on a 120 Volt outlet, or do I still need a mobile connector for the electrical "handshake"?
The garage is so cold this will keep the car powered and cover 90 or 95% or my charging costs.
The garage is so cold this will keep the car powered and cover 90 or 95% or my charging costs.
Congrats!
You will still need to use and bring your UMC (mobile connector). It will come with a 120v outlet adapter. The end that goes into the tesla is unique to tesla's.
In 2013, I plugged my 60 into a 110v in a parking garage in Ft Lauderdale. It was August...I noticed my car would stop charging at about noon, and wouldn't start charging again until around 6pm. Apparently there wasn't enough juice to charge AND operate battery temp management. I'm not sure if this is still the case. If it is, I'd assume the same could happen in low temps as well. Just something to be prepared for.
Good point, that wasn't the case back in 2013. That was a software update, to allow it to use "shore power" when not charging.
Some folks here have reported that when it's cold enough you notice that charging is much slower than normally but you still get some charge from 230V/13A. So it uses portion of the power to heat up the battery.
FlatSix911
Porsche 918 Hybrid
Correct. The Tesla battery management system will cool or heat the battery to maintain optimum temperature for charging.
Scannerman
Member
It depends on the particular utility company. San Diego Gas & Electric averages about 18 cents/kWh, when charging between 12 Midnight and 5am, assuming you have arranged to be billed on their TOU 2 plan. (TOU stands for time of use).
Scannerman
Scannerman
Member
I live in Washington with only $0.08/KWh, but I've been comparing my electric bill this year to last year. This summer's bills are lower than last year with the Model S plugged in all the time. It's been a bit cooler which has meant less air conditioning, but basically the cost of charging the car is lost in the costs for air conditioning.
Dinoraptor101
Dinoraptor101
I'm a tech freak :3 ill try to answer ALL your questions. Or say I don't know if I don't.
1. Charging: Should I plug in often, Lithium batteries love full cycles, however tesla uses thousands of small batteries which means it doesn't matter at what percentage you start a charge, what matters is that you charge to 90% everytime (avoid topping unless for trips, avoid charging in multiple small cycles VS one cycle)
Don't worry about hear Tesla has built in cooling system for battery.
2. Insurance: Good insurance companies for better rates? Things to be aware of?
Ask insurance to provide you better rates for a clean car, some insurance companies offer more money if you have autonomy (cruise aid, etc). My favorite is progressive.
3. Air suspension vs regular suspension: Tesla has foam filled wheels to absorb turbulence, you should also go with the smaller 18inch wheels to have more rubber to absorb shock. Air suspension are third party and not covered by warrenty or can void it.too. Use them if you are nice on highway
4. Sound system: I figure that since I will be driving a vehicle with virtually no noise, I will listen to the radio more often. Can guys with the premium upgrade chime in on if it is an impressive improvement over the regular sound options?
The full premium package adds a second amp, a subwoofer, a sit of speakers behind the rear seats, (tons more on premium package features beside sound)
The partial premium still sound great, just don't buy standards... All suck.
5. Service: Nearest Tesla station is over an hour away. I won't need to go probably more than once a year? Do you recommend prepaying for a service plan?
6. Warranty: comes with the car and don't worry, no you won't be coming yearly to tesla dealership (unless inspection maybe) all software issues are solved OTA, most hardware issues (almost never happen) like break pads etc can happen at your house.
7. Tesla App: The app is the crucial part of Tesla you might say without the app you don't really have the tesla experience. Here's a few of things you can do on app, Summon drive the car with your phone, popup trunk, frunk, or lock, flash lights, boop horn, turn on SENTRY MODE, AC control, Phone serves as key to your car, approach car opens, Remote Start car from anywhere in the world, Valet mode, Speed limit mode (If you give it to a teen lol), and much more.
8. Charging Cables: Tesla will come with portable charger which is as good as a Level 2 station (40amps) the wall unit can handle up to 100A which is super awesome. The slower the charge the longer the cycle, the slowest charge damages battery (see trickle charging effects), the lower the charge you arrive with the faster you'll charge (see tapering)
A 110w socket takes a few days to charge
A 40 Amps will take 7 hours
A walk unit can charge up in 3 hours.
A super charger will fill you up in 1 hour (if you were near dead empty)
9. Cold weather package: What is this exactly? Is it necessary for PA winters? I sometimes scrape ice off the INSIDE of my Wrangler windshield, so I'm used to the cold weather with a softop vehicle. (don't know)
10. Vehicle SIM Card: Would the M3 have a SIM card in it so it is always connected? Who pays for this data? Is it built into the price of the car (Yes and Tesla pays) you do have WiFi option which enables video streaming, and good for OTA updates
1. Charging: Should I plug in often, Lithium batteries love full cycles, however tesla uses thousands of small batteries which means it doesn't matter at what percentage you start a charge, what matters is that you charge to 90% everytime (avoid topping unless for trips, avoid charging in multiple small cycles VS one cycle)
Don't worry about hear Tesla has built in cooling system for battery.
2. Insurance: Good insurance companies for better rates? Things to be aware of?
Ask insurance to provide you better rates for a clean car, some insurance companies offer more money if you have autonomy (cruise aid, etc). My favorite is progressive.
3. Air suspension vs regular suspension: Tesla has foam filled wheels to absorb turbulence, you should also go with the smaller 18inch wheels to have more rubber to absorb shock. Air suspension are third party and not covered by warrenty or can void it.too. Use them if you are nice on highway
4. Sound system: I figure that since I will be driving a vehicle with virtually no noise, I will listen to the radio more often. Can guys with the premium upgrade chime in on if it is an impressive improvement over the regular sound options?
The full premium package adds a second amp, a subwoofer, a sit of speakers behind the rear seats, (tons more on premium package features beside sound)
The partial premium still sound great, just don't buy standards... All suck.
5. Service: Nearest Tesla station is over an hour away. I won't need to go probably more than once a year? Do you recommend prepaying for a service plan?
6. Warranty: comes with the car and don't worry, no you won't be coming yearly to tesla dealership (unless inspection maybe) all software issues are solved OTA, most hardware issues (almost never happen) like break pads etc can happen at your house.
7. Tesla App: The app is the crucial part of Tesla you might say without the app you don't really have the tesla experience. Here's a few of things you can do on app, Summon drive the car with your phone, popup trunk, frunk, or lock, flash lights, boop horn, turn on SENTRY MODE, AC control, Phone serves as key to your car, approach car opens, Remote Start car from anywhere in the world, Valet mode, Speed limit mode (If you give it to a teen lol), and much more.
8. Charging Cables: Tesla will come with portable charger which is as good as a Level 2 station (40amps) the wall unit can handle up to 100A which is super awesome. The slower the charge the longer the cycle, the slowest charge damages battery (see trickle charging effects), the lower the charge you arrive with the faster you'll charge (see tapering)
A 110w socket takes a few days to charge
A 40 Amps will take 7 hours
A walk unit can charge up in 3 hours.
A super charger will fill you up in 1 hour (if you were near dead empty)
9. Cold weather package: What is this exactly? Is it necessary for PA winters? I sometimes scrape ice off the INSIDE of my Wrangler windshield, so I'm used to the cold weather with a softop vehicle. (don't know)
10. Vehicle SIM Card: Would the M3 have a SIM card in it so it is always connected? Who pays for this data? Is it built into the price of the car (Yes and Tesla pays) you do have WiFi option which enables video streaming, and good for OTA updates
I'm a tech freak :3 ill try to answer ALL your questions. Or say I don't know if I don't.
1. Charging: Should I plug in often, Lithium batteries love full cycles, however tesla uses thousands of small batteries which means it doesn't matter at what percentage you start a charge, what matters is that you charge to 90% everytime (avoid topping unless for trips, avoid charging in multiple small cycles VS one cycle)
Don't worry about hear Tesla has built in cooling system for battery.
2. Insurance: Good insurance companies for better rates? Things to be aware of?
Ask insurance to provide you better rates for a clean car, some insurance companies offer more money if you have autonomy (cruise aid, etc). My favorite is progressive.
3. Air suspension vs regular suspension: Tesla has foam filled wheels to absorb turbulence, you should also go with the smaller 18inch wheels to have more rubber to absorb shock. Air suspension are third party and not covered by warrenty or can void it.too. Use them if you are nice on highway
4. Sound system: I figure that since I will be driving a vehicle with virtually no noise, I will listen to the radio more often. Can guys with the premium upgrade chime in on if it is an impressive improvement over the regular sound options?
The full premium package adds a second amp, a subwoofer, a sit of speakers behind the rear seats, (tons more on premium package features beside sound)
The partial premium still sound great, just don't buy standards... All suck.
5. Service: Nearest Tesla station is over an hour away. I won't need to go probably more than once a year? Do you recommend prepaying for a service plan?
6. Warranty: comes with the car and don't worry, no you won't be coming yearly to tesla dealership (unless inspection maybe) all software issues are solved OTA, most hardware issues (almost never happen) like break pads etc can happen at your house.
7. Tesla App: The app is the crucial part of Tesla you might say without the app you don't really have the tesla experience. Here's a few of things you can do on app, Summon drive the car with your phone, popup trunk, frunk, or lock, flash lights, boop horn, turn on SENTRY MODE, AC control, Phone serves as key to your car, approach car opens, Remote Start car from anywhere in the world, Valet mode, Speed limit mode (If you give it to a teen lol), and much more.
8. Charging Cables: Tesla will come with portable charger which is as good as a Level 2 station (40amps) the wall unit can handle up to 100A which is super awesome. The slower the charge the longer the cycle, the slowest charge damages battery (see trickle charging effects), the lower the charge you arrive with the faster you'll charge (see tapering)
A 110w socket takes a few days to charge
A 40 Amps will take 7 hours
A walk unit can charge up in 3 hours.
A super charger will fill you up in 1 hour (if you were near dead empty)
9. Cold weather package: What is this exactly? Is it necessary for PA winters? I sometimes scrape ice off the INSIDE of my Wrangler windshield, so I'm used to the cold weather with a softop vehicle. (don't know)
10. Vehicle SIM Card: Would the M3 have a SIM card in it so it is always connected? Who pays for this data? Is it built into the price of the car (Yes and Tesla pays) you do have WiFi option which enables video streaming, and good for OTA updates
Thank You. It has been 3 years since I asked these questions and I've owned my Model 3 for about half a year now. I have found that some of the answers you posted to my questions are not entirely accurate. Close, but not completely factual.
The Model 3 is the best vehicle I have ever driven and I have no regrets purchasing it.
