Unexpectedly purchasing an M3 for delivery on Tuesday

[OCR1]

We had no plans to buy a Tesla until last Wednesday, when a driver on the freeway fell asleep and crashed into my husband’s Prius at 30mph. The car was totaled. I sent him down to the local store at Fashion Island (Newport Beach) and told him to test drive an M3 and see what he thinks. He loved it, and they had an M3 LR RWD ready for immediate delivery, so we went ahead and purchased it. It’s black/black, EAP, no other options.

So we’re heading to the service center in Costa Mesa on Tuesday to pick it up. I have arranged for an electrician to install the Wall connector on Thursday. I haven’t purchased the wall connector yet but it’s in stock at the Costa Mesa service center. If anyone has any thoughts on whether we should go with the connector or just install the 240V outlet I’m open to any feedback on the subject.

The overall sales experience was very positive, and I was pleased they had some in stock for immediate delivery, although they seemed confident we could place an order online and still have a December delivery. This is our first EV so any suggestions on what we should be aware of as we get ready to take delivery would be greatly appreciated.

One thing I had to research was the CA EV $2,500 rebate. The income restrictions were a bit confusing to me because based on this year’s income we would qualify, but based on last year’s income we would not. I called the CARB and they told me that if I waited until I filed my 2018 tax returns and then submitted the rebate request, I could qualify using 2018 tax returns. That was a big relief as I could not find any documentation on the web site to support whether we could do this. They said we have 18 months from the date of purchase to file the rebate request actually.

Anyways, looking forward to taking delivery next week and learning a lot from the forum members here. Thanks!

 

[Aieukl378]

Congrats...you're going to love it! Don't think it really matters regarding the charger as any level 2 type outlet will fully charger your car overnight.

 

[Akikiki]

Congratulations. Its going to be a wonderful experience. Aside from just the fun of driving an EV, meh, Tesla, its one of the safest cars being made anywhere in the world. Here's an excellent source of information that I recommend you bookmark and go back to until you have digested all of it.
Owner’s Manual Companion | TeslaTap

 

[suwaneedad]

I'm not aware of a reason to have the Tesla wall connector vs a regular version from Siemens/GE/etc.
Welcome. And I'm happy that no one was injured during the totaling of your Prius!

 

[jkcheng122]

Just a NEMA 14-50 outlet is fine. You can weigh the cost differences of parts plus labor to decide. The Wall Connector charged a bit faster.

 

[ArizonaP85]

Welcome to Tesla!
Wall connector (HPWC) is a little simpler to use on a daily basis and you can leave your mobile connector packaged up in the frunk as insurance for the very rare time you might need it away from home.
Also, if you go with a 240V outlet, you should read up on this site about the more expensive models better rated for EV use -- the cheapest kind at big box hardware stores can loosen over time and potentially be a fire hazard. Make sure that your electrician doesn't cheap out on the receptacle!
If your budget allows, I'd recommend an HPWC because they are so darn convenient.

 

[Raechris]

Glad to hear your husband is ok. The M3 is the safest car on the road God forbid something like that happens again. You will love the Tesla and BEV experience and happy for you. I like the HPWC for aesthetics also don’t want charge cord hanging out of the outlet every day but I wouldn’t install it for the higher amperage. I have been surprised I can live with a 3.3kwh charger from my old volt for my MS75D just fine. If you need a code for six months of free Superchargering PM me.

 

[Msjulie]

Wow scary but glad no one was hurt... I think you'll love the 3

We have a juicebox (4 years old now and works perfect) - uses standard NEMA 14-50 outlet. They've gotten much fancier over the years - point is, once the outlet is in place you can use Tesla supplied charger while you check around for best deal.

Not sure what utilities are your area but if PG&E, they offer a rebate simply for charging a car at home. Also check if time of use rates now apply for you Plug In Electric Vehicles (EV) overview Probably other utility companies may as well

Random question for other posters here - can someone do a walk-in like OP and use a referral before they drive off? 6mos free supercharging would be cool. Walk in and getting an LR is great, I've got some friends need convincing...

Enjoy the new 3!

 

[OCR1]

Thanks for all the replies. The salesperson told us that six months of free charging was included in the purchase. We did not provide a referral code although we would have if asked because we have many friends with Teslas. I’ll have to look into that further.

I’m planning on buying the wall connector, but was wondering what happens if we end up buying a non-Tesla EV down the road. Will we need to install a second 240V outlet or is there an adapter you can buy for charging non-Tesla vehicles?

Also curious as to any opinions on the black versus silver connector.

 

[Msjulie]

I'm guessing New Tesla to J1772 adapter allows other electric cars to charge at Tesla’s Destination Chargers

But I can't speak to how it works.. since our first EV was a lease, we ended up getting a charger that had J1772 as the car also had that, and it's pretty universal. Tesla of course has an adapter from J1772 to it's own and you should be getting one with your charger. ChargePoint or other destinations w/o Tesla chargers often will have the J1772 so good to go for those

 

[OCR1]

I went ahead and changed out electric plan to a time of use plan. These are the rates that will not apply to us:

Winter weekday rates are:

.16 8am-2pm
.25 2pm-8pm
.16 8pm-10pm
.13 10pm-8am

Winter weekend rates are:

.16 8am-10pm
.13 10pm-8am

Summer weekday rates are:

.17 8am-2pm
.36 2pm-8pm
.17 8pm-10pm
.12 10pm-8am

Summer weekend rates are:

.17 8am-10pm
.12 10pm-8am

So it's clear that I will be charging the Tesla after 10pm pretty much all the time. Now we'll have to pay more attention to when we run the air conditioning between 2-8pm in the summers. That will get quite expensive!

 

[blackeducator]

Thanks for all the replies. The salesperson told us that six months of free charging was included in the purchase. We did not provide a referral code although we would have if asked because we have many friends with Teslas. I’ll have to look into that further.

I’m planning on buying the wall connector, but was wondering what happens if we end up buying a non-Tesla EV down the road. Will we need to install a second 240V outlet or is there an adapter you can buy for charging non-Tesla vehicles?

Also curious as to any opinions on the black versus silver connector.

I went with the Tesla wall charger because (1) I know it's reliable and fast- but not as fast as a super charger, (2) Whatever improvements/upgrades Tesla will do to wall chargers, I will most likely get some sort of discount pricing if I choose to upgrade. (3) And yes, if I have another nonTesla EV, I can use an adapter to charge it, (4) I had to upgrade my home's electrical system and just lumped the $500 into the overall cost of the upgrade (which amounted to about 15-20% of the total cost).

Plus, South Florida major electrical work requires inspection. Hence, the need to put out for a professional job!

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

So we’re heading to the service center in Costa Mesa on Tuesday to pick it up. I have arranged for an electrician to install the Wall connector on Thursday. I haven’t purchased the wall connector yet but it’s in stock at the Costa Mesa service center. If anyone has any thoughts on whether we should go with the connector or just install the 240V outlet I’m open to any feedback on the subject.

Wall connector will charge your LR at a maximum of 48A.
If you have an outlet and use the mobile connector you will be able to charge at a maximum of 32A.

If 32A is adequate, you could have an outlet installed and purchase a _2nd_ mobile connector so that you can keep one in your car and have a spare in case the first one fails.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

I'm not aware of a reason to have the Tesla wall connector vs a regular version from Siemens/GE/etc.
Welcome. And I'm happy that no one was injured during the totaling of your Prius!

Using a Tesla connector, you won't need to use a J1772 adapter to charge.

 

[RDoc]

We've always just had a 50A 240V outlet installed and leave our car's charging cable connected to it except for the very rare times when we're going on trips where Supercharging and/or J1772 overnight chargers aren't available. That's not very often at all, and is becoming even less of an issue as more destination chargers become available.

Personally, I don't see the point to an extra charging cable. We don't have one and have never missed it.

 

[SKYF4LL]

We had no plans to buy a Tesla until last Wednesday, when a driver on the freeway fell asleep and crashed into my husband’s Prius at 30mph. The car was totaled. I sent him down to the local store at Fashion Island (Newport Beach) and told him to test drive an M3 and see what he thinks. He loved it, and they had an M3 LR RWD ready for immediate delivery, so we went ahead and purchased it. It’s black/black, EAP, no other options.

So we’re heading to the service center in Costa Mesa on Tuesday to pick it up. I have arranged for an electrician to install the Wall connector on Thursday. I haven’t purchased the wall connector yet but it’s in stock at the Costa Mesa service center. If anyone has any thoughts on whether we should go with the connector or just install the 240V outlet I’m open to any feedback on the subject.

The overall sales experience was very positive, and I was pleased they had some in stock for immediate delivery, although they seemed confident we could place an order online and still have a December delivery. This is our first EV so any suggestions on what we should be aware of as we get ready to take delivery would be greatly appreciated.

One thing I had to research was the CA EV $2,500 rebate. The income restrictions were a bit confusing to me because based on this year’s income we would qualify, but based on last year’s income we would not. I called the CARB and they told me that if I waited until I filed my 2018 tax returns and then submitted the rebate request, I could qualify using 2018 tax returns. That was a big relief as I could not find any documentation on the web site to support whether we could do this. They said we have 18 months from the date of purchase to file the rebate request actually.

Anyways, looking forward to taking delivery next week and learning a lot from the forum members here. Thanks!

Our M3 delivery is scheduled for today. We are excited also. Congratulations and I hope your husband is doing well.

Our wall connector arrives on Monday and we are getting installed on Thursday. Our super charger station is 5 minutes away so we will be ok for a few days.

 

[notAnExpert]

I'm not aware of a reason to have the Tesla wall connector vs a regular version from Siemens/GE/etc.

For $500, Tesla WC can output 80amps. I don’t believe any other EVSE can do that. Granted M3 maxes out at 48amps. But most J1772 EVSEs top out at 30/32 amps.

The smarter EVSEs with WiFi (such as ChargePoint Home or emotorwerks juicebox Pro) do offer useful features that Tesla WC doesn’t. Some of those EVSE features are unnecessary for a Tesla because the car offers those features.

Tesla WC pros: Cheaper, higher charging current/speed, simple and reliable. Supported by Tesla SC.
ChargePoint/juicebox pros: WiFi, more features, can charge any plug-in car.

We have a Tesla WC, a ChargePoint Home, and an Emotorwerks JuiceBox at home as we have three plug-in cars that are not all Tesla and we like the convenience of having the EVSE within a couple of feet of each car’s charge port. They are all good products.

 

[notAnExpert]

I’m planning on buying the wall connector, but was wondering what happens if we end up buying a non-Tesla EV down the road. Will we need to install a second 240V outlet or is there an adapter you can buy for charging non-Tesla vehicles?

Also curious as to any opinions on the black versus silver connector.

I’ve never used it, but there is a Tesla to J1772 adapter.
https://shop.quickchargepower.com/JDapter-Stub-Tesla-Charge-Station-Adaptor-JDPTRSTB.

Reg. Silver vs Glossy black Tesla WC, I have the glossy black. It is beautiful, super shiny like a mirror. But I have it installed outdoors and I find it to be a major dust and finger print magnet. I think silver is available in 8ft and 24ft cord lengths, but black is available only in 24 feet. Otherwise the only difference between the two colors seems to be the snap on plastic faceplate.

Btw, checkout the “battery and charging” subforum. It has a lot of useful discussions that should answer most of your questions.

 

[Emmexx1]

Honestly, I went with the industrial grade 14-50 outlet, connected my mobile connector to it and leave it there. I get 30 miles of range per hour of charge and that more than accounts for any travel I do. The HPWC would get about 44 for me, but the cost didn't make sense considering my situation.

If you want, you can buy the mobile connector for 300 versus the 500 for a wall connector and have the best of both worlds. Leave the one plugged in, keep the other in the car. Also, if down the road you opt for another EV manufacturer, the 14-50 outlet might serve you better in the long run.

Long story short, four months in and my mobile connector in the 14-50 outlet has never let me down.

 

[OCR1]

I picked up the black wall connector with 24 foot cord today. It looks like I’ll get a $250 rebate from the utility company so that makes the price a bit less than picking up a second mobile connector. The electrician charges the same price to just install a 240V outlet or the WC.

I have a cashier’s check coming Monday for the majority of the payment but will still owe about $8K. If I select the make a payment option on their website and have it pay out of my checking account will it be received in time by Tesla for a Tuesday delivery or do I need to get a cashier’s check?