Tesla Model 3 Parked in Our Garage

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jebatty

jebatty

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Jan 1, 2008
5,796
Northern MN
I'm nearly breathless. About two months ago my wife said she wanted to go fossil carbon free with her car, which would require selling her 2011 Avalon, something I thought she would never do, and then she said that she wanted a Tesla. We looked, found what we wanted, and we delayed delivery for two months to get passed MN winter roads. The delay is over. Picked up the Model 3 today and drove it home. My wife's first new car since her 1977 Toyota Celica.

First impression -- an amazing car! We got the long range, all-wheel drive model with premium features, including Enhanced Autopilot (EAP) which will be upgraded to full self-driving when available. What's left is learning all the features. Fortunately the basic -- shift into gear and drive -- are easy.

I got my Chevy Bolt in Feb 2018, which has performed flawlessly for nearly 17,000 miles already. Now it has a feisty Tesla Model 3 to make a pair of BEVs for our household. Every kWh of our solar system will be put to use for our home and fueling two cars.
 
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Grumble. Now I'm jealous. Sounds like an intriguing pair of ponies in the stable. Was this a lease?
 
A purchase, not a lease.

Second impression -- "feel" is very firm, solid, attached to the road, predictable, power, control, safe. The absolute, instantaneous acceleration, without a quiver of hesitation or noise, is awesome; responsive beyond any vehicle I ever have ever driven, and that's without any attempt to do anything more than normal driving. I wasn't sure that I would be comfortable with the large touch screen off to the right of the steering wheel, but I found it to be non-distracting -- except for what will be the learning curve to get familiar with the various displays, settings and options -- those we will learn mostly from practice while the car is parked. I barely touched the screen on the first drive.

We already are planning a Tesla trip to Colorado, just over 1000 miles from our home. Likely will use the 1000 miles of free SuperCharging that came from a referral code my son sent us.

None of this is in anyway a criticism of the Bolt, just a league or two beyond.
 
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I’ve driven a 2018 dual motor AWD model 3, and I have to admit, the 0 - 30 mph acceleration is just astounding. I was seriously impressed. Driving feel is beautiful, with all of that battery weight down low in the floor. The only thing I didn’t love was the seat/pedal relationship, but I’m sure I could adjust to that.

What’s noticeable is the pedal timing, which is just impossible to describe until you experience it yourself. Even the most powerful fuel injected ICE’s have a tens to hundreds millisecond delay between pedal and acceleration, but with the Tesla it is absolutely instantaneous. Almost unnerving, at first.

My cousin and I traded cars once last fall. His 2018 Tesla 3 for my 2016 SRT 392. I thought his car was a blast to drive, and he called mine “simply terrifying.” [emoji3] Very different personalities, his being the more controllable, but also having better 0 - 30 times. Mine had better 0 - 100 times and highway passing, but of course most of our driving is country roads under 60 mph, where they’re pretty well matched.
 
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jebatty said:
We already are planning a Tesla trip to Colorado, just over 1000 miles from our home. Likely will use the 1000 miles of free SuperCharging that came from a referral code my son sent us.

None of this is in anyway a criticism of the Bolt, just a league or two beyond.
Click to expand...
How will you be charging the 3 at home?
 
We have three home charging options. My heated shop has room to garage one car and has a Bosch Power Max wall charger, 240V-40A on a 60A circuit with a J1772 connector. I also have a NEMA 14-50 outlet on a separate 240V-40A circuit. Both can be used at the same time. In our house unheated garage I have a 240V-16A charger on a 20A circuit with a J1772 connector. I have the adapter for the Tesla to use the J1772 connector, and I also have the adapter to use the 14-50 outlet. I need a new breaker sized at 50A for this outlet. The Tesla charge needs the charge setting to be used as appropriate.

It is likely that the Tesla, at least to start with, will be kept in the house garage, and the Bolt will be kept in the shop, as it is now.
 
[Hearth.com] Tesla Model 3 Parked in Our Garage [Hearth.com] Tesla Model 3 Parked in Our Garage
 
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Ashful said:
... of course, there are going to be a few more incidents like this, as this tech goes more mainstream:

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/20/tesla-model-s-chinese-hack-remote-control-brakes

Not a huge area of concern, in this particular case, it required the car to be connected to their WiFi hotspot. But if public WiFi continues to grow...
Click to expand...
That was demonstrated in the US around 2014? and it is not limited to the Tesla. It actually is a serious concern. Some home wifi devices like thermostats, alarm systems, lighting also have this vulnerability.
https://www.wired.com/story/car-hack-shut-down-safety-features/
 
begreen said:
That was demonstrated in the US around 2014? and it is not limited to the Tesla. It actually is a serious concern. Some home wifi devices like thermostats, alarm systems, lighting also have this vulnerability.
https://www.wired.com/story/car-hack-shut-down-safety-features/
Click to expand...

I think that particular case was in 2016, but there have been others. Vehicles create a higher level of concern for me, than thermostats and lighting. Although I do remember one case of a house fire being started by hacker, I don’t remember the details now. Tesla’s response was great on this, I worry more about how GM, Dodge and Ford might handle similar situations, down the road.
 
Congratulations, I'm sure it's been a real treat! Some day we would like to have an EV we could charge from solar panels.
 
I know first-hand that the Tesla's launch so hard and fast that you have to warn passengers to put their heads against the headrests.
Its really interesting too that you access almost everything through the display, evening opening hoods/trunks, charge ports (at least on the Model S).

I've been in a Model X though where rain leaked in to the interior when the gull wing doors where opened. I guess that's a tough engineering challenge - force fields and such.
 
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But, but....can it make it to the Twin Cities when its -10°F out??? ;lol

I'm just wondering what your next EV will be.....I'm on my third. :cool:

Drive it in good health.
 
My wife (the Tesla is her car) has been experiencing the Tesla, now named Rosebud, and I have not had much of a chance to do the same. Will post some pics soon.
woodgeek said:
But, but....can it make it to the Twin Cities when its -10°F out??? ;lol
Click to expand...
I doubt -10F will be a problem, a little concerned about temps of -30F to -40F like we had this winter. That said, there are two SuperChargers on the route. The biggest concern is driving in that super cold weather and experiencing some other problem on the road, like an icy crash or getting stuck, and surviving in the cold.
 
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How is the 3's cabin heated? Resistance, heat pump, both?
 
begreen said:
How is the 3's cabin heated? Resistance, heat pump, both?
Click to expand...
I used to think that pre-heated latent heat of fusion salts would be good for cabin heating but someone (here I think) pointed out to me that the energy storage density of the motive battery was probably higher so why go to the trouble.
 
jebatty said:
That said, there are two SuperChargers on the route.
Click to expand...
SuperCharger?

http://www.stage3motorsports.com/as...le_w140ax_intercooled_supercharger_kit-4a.jpg

SuperCharger?

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe..._e.jpg/1200px-1968_AMX_blown_and_tubbed_e.jpg

Why do they use the name of an existing “thing” for a new technology? Maybe I should invent a new type dishwasher, and call it “Kleenex”? SuperChargers have been around since the 1930’s, but they have nothing to do with Tesla.
 
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begreen said:
How is the 3's cabin heated? Resistance, heat pump, both?
Click to expand...

Tesla is resistance heat. More than one reason for sure, but an important reason might be the inefficiency to failure of a heat pump to provide sufficient heat at low ambient temperatures, like 0F to -40F where I live. Might be able to scavenge heat from the battery/motor if this heat isn't already being used by the battery/motor system.
 
jebatty said:
Tesla is resistance heat. More than one reason for sure, but an important reason might be the inefficiency to failure of a heat pump to provide sufficient heat at low ambient temperatures, like 0F to -40F where I live. Might be able to scavenge heat from the battery/motor if this heat isn't already being used by the battery/motor system.
Click to expand...

I am pretty certain that the ohmic losses in the motor and battery are recovered and used to heat the cabin (or the battery) BEFORE they are dumped to a radiator.
 
jebatty said:
Tesla is resistance heat. More than one reason for sure, but an important reason might be the inefficiency to failure of a heat pump to provide sufficient heat at low ambient temperatures, like 0F to -40F where I live. Might be able to scavenge heat from the battery/motor if this heat isn't already being used by the battery/motor system.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure how effective resistance heat will be at those damning temps. That's when you want a woodstove in the car. :cool: I'd rather have an efficient heat pump for most heating with a simple resistance heat backup. That would be ideal for our climate.
 
where in colorado you coming to? we have a lot of charging stations :)
 
Colorado Springs is the destination. Do you have any favorites?

Tesla Navigate plots out the routes and identifies the available SuperChargers. PlugShare ID's lots of available chargers.
 
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