Tesla Model ≡ Thread

[Josh (PA)]

Originally Posted by rumatt

It's only 30 miles to work, then another 30 to the city. But I sometimes go back and forth from the city to work an extra time getting it up to 180 miles. Plus hard accelerations and traffic.

But that's rare

Is it possible to program the car to charge only between midnight and 7am? I know you can start it at a given time. Can you stop it?

Do you have charging options at work, or in the city where you park? How close are you to a super charger? It seems like the 24amp solution is more than adequate for your use case. (and if not, you could always run the new cable later).

[JST]

The one thing to keep in mind is that your energy usage in the winter is going to be substantially higher, and of course it will be higher per mile in traffic, too.

110 feet of 100 amp feeder sounds pricey, though. I only had to run 45-60 feet and it was stupid expensive. I think you can probably get away with 24 amp, especially if you have even a 110V outlet to plug into at work.

EDIT:

Apparently the hive mind over at TMC has determined that the Hyundai Genesis donut spare fits and has the right size tire. Most seem to be using the 18" donut, but I found one on ebay that's 19" and bought that (I think 135/70 19, going from memory). Hope it actually fits!

https://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/thre...-works.117251/

[rumatt]

Yeah I have a charger at work, and a supercharger on the way to the city.

I'll see what the prices are, but will likely do the cheaper option.

[rumatt]

Update:

The 30 amp option is $1300. The 60 amp is $2500.

Yuck. Getting more estimates

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by rumatt

Is it possible to program the car to charge only between midnight and 7am? I know you can start it at a given time. Can you stop it?

Unfortunately, not in the car. Its a feature people have been asking about for years...

But there is a way to more or less make this work…
a) Set the start time to 12am (when your low rates kick in)
b) If you are worried that you won't unplug by 7am and it may need a higher charge, set the battery % slider to a level to where you know you won't exceed by 7am. Unfortunately, this is a setting that sticks until you change it -- so you may need to update it occasionally. Fortunately, this can be changed in the app as well as in the car.


As for charging, I think you can get away with the lower amperage. Crap, I'm charging using the NEMA 5-20 adapter (120V 20A) -- which should get 6-7 miles per hour of charge on the 3. But I also don't have a Time of Use plan, so no penalty for charging at any time. But I'm able to replace my usage most days, with occasional catch up on weekends (especially in winter when I'd use 10-15 miles more per day than I could charge overnight -- typically 12-13 hours plugged in) -- so worst case on the coldest winter days was something like this:
Mon: Start at 170 miles (90%). Plug in at ~100 (summer is ~115…)
Tues: Start at 160 miles, Plug in at 90
Wed: Start at 150 miles, Plug in at 80
Thurs: Start at 140 miles, Plug in at 70
Fri: Start at 130 miles, Plug in at 60
Weekend -- charge as needed to get back to 90%

Does your TOU plan have low rates on weekends? If so, you can catch up charging on weekends...

[rumatt]

Originally Posted by ZBB

Does your TOU plan have low rates on weekends? If so, you can catch up charging on weekends...

Damn, yes it does! And even better, I checked and off-peak now starts at 9pm. This is new since I moved in a few years ago. That means I have 10 hours every night. This is more than enough.

Totally unreleated, but a note on the Tesla dealership experience. It has been unlike any other car buying experience I've every had. They are unbelievably friendly, helpful, and non-pushy.

They seem to genuinely enjoy talking about the cars and answering questions. I asked if they had a blue one I could look at and the guy got excited and drove me 4 miles away to their backup lot and showed me 100+ tesla model 3's waiting to be delivered, and talked about the pros and cons of each color. He then took me inside the warehouse to show me the guy waxing the cars and getting them ready for delivery.

One visit I asked if they could make change for a dollar bill because I needed a quarter for the parking meter out front. I had 3 different employees try to give me quarters.. and I couldn't get them to take the dollar.

And this is despite being insanely overworked trying to deliver all the cars as they ramp up. He said they're generally working 12 hour days delivering cars.

It makes it a lot easier to write a big check... even though I know almost none of it goes to them.

[ZBB]

Cool -- having 10 hours for TOU should work for most of your charging. If you have to charge on-peak occasionally, it won't be the end of the world.


As for your store experience, that is the advantage of the manufacturer-direct model and having salaried staff. The sales staff are on a bonus plan, but they are there to answer questions. Since they don't have dealers, Tesla can control the experience more...

[rumatt]

I hadn't seen this R&T article on track mode.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/new-car...ce-track-test/

I don't understand why people want to take this car to the track, but whatever.

[ZBB]

Originally Posted by ZBB

So... I heard back from the “inside delivery advisor” today (ie the guy in Vegas).

Car is now supposed to arrive in OH on Wednesday. He’s checking to see how far that is from the local store/service center/delivery center before he schedules the delivery. I’m taking Friday afternoon off, so I offered up any time Friday afternoon if that works.

He was also supposed to finalize paperwork today with no trade in. But nothing back yet

So... haven’t heard anything since Monday. No paperwork, no delivery scheduled. I’ve sent another email to follow up yet again.

[rumatt]

Oy! Does calling work better?