I've had a go at a First Draft. I probably intended that the thread Subject included "Model-3" so maybe need to create new thread to have a more appropriate Title
Anyways, if anyone has any suggestions, corrections, etc. I can incorporate them.
For anyone reading this, in future, suggest you start at the end of the thread and work back until you find the most recent version.
Model-3 UK Collection Day FAQ - Version 1
Before you set off for handover:
Check your My Tesla that Final Invoice / Paperwork is all in order. If anything needs correcting can then be done “when you are there”
Print / Read Check List for inspecting new vehicle e.g.
mykeln/teslaprep
There is also
Guidance for every leg of your Tesla journey – Tesla Checklists but that is a paid-for list, so unless anyone has paid for it and reckons it was worth the money over freebie lists I can indicate that.
Take with you:
Driver’s license
USB cable for your phone
USB Stick?
In order to use Sentry Mode you need a USB stick. There has been quite a lot written that USB sticks fail quickly, not sure of the cause as multiple overwrites seems improbable given that a large USB actually takes quite a long time to fill once, let alone re-fill multiple times, and even sticks that are advertised as tolerating extreme temperatures seem to have failed. The answer may be to buy quality or "extreme" USB Stick models (there are some recommendations to use a micro-SD card and a USB adaptor; this obviously works well if you want to have a second micro-SD card [instead of two, more bulky, USB Sticks] whilst the first is being downloaded / reviewed
The other problem is that it has to be formatted FAT32 (specifically NOT ex-FAT32 which Windows offers). Various workarounds for this – freebie download utilities – it is a bit more techie on a Mac
Ask about:
If you have a cherished number plate ask if they will make one up for you. Tesla have not been registering new Model-3 cars with personal plates, so far, but have been making them up on request (typically for free). That may change after initial rush has died down.
Before first drive:
Make your delivery inspection checks
Adjust seat, steering wheel and mirrors (handover person will do that with you)
Save the profile!
Profiles are displayed in the order they are created, so consider saving using the Primary Driver's name first. If that person is not you then just save the profile multiple times, with appropriate names for each one and in the right order. Those people can change and re-save their settings later.
If you further adjust your seat etc position later then you will be offered the choice to re-save your profile (or revert to original profile). Remember to save any alterations that you want to make permanent!
Set Autopilot (AP) Follow Distance to something that won't alarming ... maybe 5
Have you got enough range? If not you can charge at the Supercharger before you set off, or perhaps plan to charge at a Supercharger on your route (particularly if Supercharger at Service Centre is full). If you zoom out on the SatNav map the Dark-Red supercharger Pins are the ones in-range, and the Light-Red pins are out-of-range.
Clicking on a Supercharger Pin will display "Navigate" button to set that as your destination. (SatNav won't take you to a Supercharger if you would otherwise have enough range to reach your destination, so if you want to try out a Supercharger as a test you will need to Navigate to it.)
Setting off:
If you have never driven an automatic consider what your left foot will do. It is important to only use your right foot for both accelerator and brake, as you normally would. Some people find that initially it helps to have their left foot back, against the seat, rather than where the clutch pedal would be, to stop then inadvertently using left-foot for Brake, instead of right-foot.
Regen (Regeneration) may be alarming initially. If you would prefer to get out of congested town centre before having to deal with that set it to LOW.
Regen will give you the best range and economy if set to STANDARD, so you may want to start experiencing that early in your electric vehicle (EV) transition
Cruise Control (CC) and AutoPilot (AP) will not be available until the sensors have calibrated. That only takes a few miles (and a message is displayed on the screen until it is completed).
Cruise Control is turned on by pressing the drive selector stalk fully down once (and AutoPilot by doing that twice).
When you turn on either Cruise Control or Autopilot the speed will be set as the speed limit - so the first time you use (either Cruise Control or Auto Pilot) it may be best to already be travelling close to the speed limit, or be behind a vehicle. (Other cars I have driven have had a means of pressing the Stalk to activate Cruise Control at “current speed”. This does not exist, yet, in Model-3. A proposed solution is to engage Cruise Control keeping foot on accelerator, set actual desired Cruise speed (on screen) and only then release foot from accelerator.)
Engage Cruise Control and take your foot off the accelerator. Best is to rest your foot nearby so you can press accelerator (to override Cruise Control if you need to - that will not disengage CC and when you take your foot off accelerator speed will reduce back to the set speed). You can change the speed +/- on the screen
If you press the brake pedal CC will be disengaged.
Once you are familiar with Cruise Control then engaging AutoPilot (drive selector stalk down twice) will be uneventful. Choose a straight section of road, and there will appear to be no difference as the car will be staying in lane.
If you steer (to override AP) then AP will be disengaged. If you brake then both CC and AP will be disengaged
You need to keep slight rotational-pressure on the wheel for AP to detect you are "holding the wheel". This is quite hard to do using two hands; one option is to put your right hard at 4 O'Clock (or left hand at 8 O'Clock) so that the weight of you hand/arm provides that turning-torque.
Take your hand(s) off the wheel - keeping them nearby the wheel in case needed - and wait for the screen to show you the warning message and then flash so that you are aware of what that looks like. You may find that happens even when you are holding the wheel, if so then you need to apply more rotational-torque (if you still have trouble the sensors are probably fault).
With AP engaged try changing lane by just steering. Wait until you have plenty of space and no cars around. It takes quite a lot of effort to overcome AP, the first time you do it there may be a significant jerk. The amount of effort you need varies according to how confident AP is ... or if you are on a tight bend and AP looks like it will be too close to the curb, then taking over will need very little effort; on the straight more force is needed to overcome AP.
You will get the "Bing-Bong" sound to tell you AP has disengaged.
Beware that knowing whether AP is on, or not, can be an issue. You may think it is on, when it isn't. The (T) steering wheel icon is Grey when off, and Blue when on.
If you have Full Self-Driving (FSD):
With AP engaged and when the adjacent lane is clear (and no traffic coming, so you have time to experiment):
Signal to change lane. On the screen the blue-line marking the edge of the representation of the road will change to dotted, the car will cross into the other lane, and then dotted blue-line will become solid again. If you release the signal before you are half way across (i.e. change your mind) the car will go back to original lane, you may wish to try that. Depressing the turn-stalk fully will cause the car to complete the manoeuvre (and then you have to cancel the turn-signal).
If you want to change two lanes - from nearside to middle, and then middle to offside - you have to do it as two separate manoeuvres, first move to middle lane, cancel-turn signal, and then re-initiate the move with a new turn-signal
AP Fail points to be aware of
Brow of a hill/rise. AP may “hunt” from side to side to see where the road goes – even if it is dead straight.
Stationary object. Biggest risk is when the car in front pulls over, to avoid a parked/stationary vehicle, and AP will accelerate thinking the road is clear, so you will need to take over to avoid the obstacle.
Similarly AP may follow poor quality road markings leading it off the correct line and, potentially, into an obstacle. (This is such a rare event it may not happen at all during your ownership of the car, but it is very important to always remain vigilant, particularly after you have used AP for quite a time and you are lulled into a false sense of its abilities)
AP is also excellent for Bumper to Bumper / stop-start traffic. It can be engaged whilst stationary (you can also just engage Cruise Control if you prefer to steer whilst in traffic). On some occasions Cruise Control / AP may display a message [in stationary traffic] “Press accelerator to resume”, not sure of exact circumstances but I think if traffic has stopped on a hill.
Remember that your car is just following the one in front. When it gets to the front of the queue, and pulls out, so will you! so disengage before you get to that point!
You may wish to familiarise yourself with the Collision Warning.
On a clear road drive “at” a parked car, and pull out to pass it. You will receive a collision warning (before you have changed course to avoid impact), and it is helpful to experience this to know when it occurs, and the sounds/image that is displayed, so that if it happens for real you won’t need time to interpret what the car is trying to tell you!
Supercharger
Park at a stall that has dual cables – only the stalls with two cables have the CCS cable which Model-3 needs. (Many sites have had all stalls converted already, some only have a couple of stalls converted). Model-3 SatNav will not show you Supercharger sites where none of the stalls have been converted (there are only a handful of places in Europe which have not been upgraded)
Unless the site is relatively full park at a pair of stalls that are empty. Stalls are numbered as pairs – 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B etc The A & B stalls share power, so if one is occupied you, arriving second, will have reduced power. If both A & B are vacant then parking at either will give you full power, and anyone arriving in the paired-stall whilst you are charging will get reduced power – until you leave, or your charge rate tapers (as you battery SoC increases above 60%)
Open the charging port and plug in the CCS cable. Before walking away check (i.e. on the dashboard screen) that the power ramps up to 100kW or more - provided your State-of-Charge is below, say, 50%. Above 50% the kW drops, experience will tell you what rate to expect depending on SoC percentage. If the kW is lower than expected and you are NOT Paired, then move to another stall (if available). The stall you are on is probably faulty (that’s quite rare).
