Tesla Model 3 - Finally.

Ted said:
Have you seen how bad some drivers are? :)
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You mean like on my 15 minute drive home I encountered multiple vehicles without their headlights on (it was plenty dark) and one driver that properly signaled to the right to exit the highway but then proceeded to leave it on while turning left. I have no hope for this world. People can't even do simple tasks anymore without being distracted.
 
FastEddieB said:
I guess I had some advantage - our Clarity has 4 levels of regen, which the driver has to select. But even the highest is not very high - reminiscent of downshifting a manual transmission car a gear. And I’ve been driving that for over 3 years.

But I seriously can’t see it as something all that hard to adjust to.
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It’s really easy to adjust to. Just drove my Y yesterday. Tried just yanking my foot off the accelerator. It just smoothly slowed to a stop. I was not in chill mode.
 
Jeff767 said:
Tried just yanking my foot off the accelerator. It just smoothly slowed to a stop. I was not in chill mode.
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I think Tesla ended up with the regen in the Goldilocks Zone - not too little, not too much, but just right.

Like I said, perhaps in another thread, I tried CHILL mode and all it seemed to do was make the accelerator feel “soft”. I could not discern any difference in regen.
 
FastEddieB said:
Like I said, perhaps in another thread, I tried CHILL mode and all it seemed to do was make the accelerator feel “soft”. I could not discern any difference in regen.
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There are a number of settings that affect the driving behavior.

Going from memory, I think there are 3 steering settings, 2 acceleration settings, and 2 regen settings.

I have steering on the middle setting, acceleration on the higher setting (though don't really use it), and regen on the highest setting.

The sport steering setting was too heavy for me and the comfort was too soft.
 
I mentioned that I didn’t recall seeing regen settings. This explains why…

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https://insideevs.com/news/451393/tesla-removes-regenerative-braking-adjustment/
 
FastEddieB said:
I mentioned that I didn’t recall seeing regen settings. This explains why…
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Oh! I didn't know it had changed. Here's the current settings menu.

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Last night I drove to the other side of town to have dinner with a friend. Total distance there and back was 55 miles. According to my Teslafi.com stats, that drive cost me $1.66 in electricity. If I'm doing the math right, to make the same drive in an ICE car for $1.66, at our current local gasoline prices, would require a car to get 114 mpg.

But, it was an even better deal than that. My friend picked up the tab for dinner! LOL
 
Drive for free forever! All you have to do is buy a car that costs more than all the gas you could ever use. ;)
 
Salty said:
Drive for free forever! All you have to do is buy a car that costs more than all the gas you could ever use. ;)
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well, the cost of fuel is getting higher...
 
Salty said:
Drive for free forever! All you have to do is buy a car that costs more than all the gas you could ever use. ;)
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Anyone I know that has these things didn't really buy one to save money or the world. They are just flat out fun cars to drive, especially the 3. Now, I only have about 1,000mi on mine so I'm still new, but it can get me through my 220mi round trip to work while sitting in the parking lot for a week in sub-freezing temperatures without the need to stop at a supercharger, though there are 7 opportunities on the round trip.

To say it hauls ass is an understatement. At any given moment, you're about 2 seconds from whatever other speed you need to be at. The one pedal driving is simple and smooth. I have gone days without touching the brake pedal while driving. The low CG of the car makes it handle like a gokart, especially for its weight.

IF it fits your mission (and constant 500mi days or towing sh*t isn't it), it'll be tough to find a better vehicle.
 
BTW it has been hysterical seeing a bunch of people who own and/or fly light aircraft complaining about "shortcomings" as if they don't deal with those issues with the planes they fly. :)
 
Do you have to trade in your sense of humor or ability to poke fun at the car when you buy a Tesla? I might have to cancel my order.
 
Salty said:
Do you have to trade in your sense of humor or ability to poke fun at the car when you buy a Tesla? I might have to cancel my order.
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Got thin skin and fly? Get a Cirrus!
Got thin skin and drive? Get a Tesla!

:D
 
Salty said:
Drive for free forever! All you have to do is buy a car that costs more than all the gas you could ever use. ;)
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It will be interesting to see what the lower price Tesla will be when they put that out in a few years. Getting the price down depends on the 4680 battery cell production to ramp up first, though.

What surprised me was the cost of the car compared to what it replaced. My Model 3 replaced a 2000 BMW 323i that we bought in Nov of 1999. That car, then, was a bit over $34,000. When I put that into the inflation calculator, its cost came out slightly higher than what I paid for the Tesla.
 
First Tesla Service Center experience didn’t go well today. Be nice if you could actually speak to a human being vs having to use the App. Anyway, I showed up for a 0900 appointment for an $600 annual service (fluids, Wipers, filters, brakes, etc). I thought, no way this will be more than 3 hours. Nope, takes all day and they didn’t have a loaner. Already had plans later so I had to cancel. I thought, really most of the stuff I can do on my own anyway.

Another thing, they’re not allowed to print out the maintenance history on the vehicle if I’m not the original owner. Fortunately he told me about a few things about it’s history. Computer Media Control Unit, 12V batt and drive unit (good thing) all replaced not long ago. Just the drive unit and MCU are about $12K right there. Original battery though.
 
3 weeks in, no service necessary so far.

But frequenting the TeslaMotorClub forum, service is clearly failing many owners.

A good friend bought a new Y to replace a 3. It was delivered without the 2 requisite front USB-C outlets. Perhaps understandable given supply chain issues with the need to get cars out to meet demand. What’s not understandable is the song and dance he’s been getting from Tesla Service to get the situation fixed. Still not handled and he’s NOT a happy camper.

Something Tesla needs to focus on. More than a few Tesla owners have sworn to look elsewhere for their next EV, mainly do to service complaints. With more and more competition, they can’t afford NOT to deal with this promptly.
 
Velocity173 said:
First Tesla Service Center experience didn’t go well today. Be nice if you could actually speak to a human being vs having to use the App. Anyway, I showed up for a 0900 appointment for an $600 annual service (fluids, Wipers, filters, brakes, etc). I thought, no way this will be more than 3 hours. Nope, takes all day and they didn’t have a loaner. Already had plans later so I had to cancel. I thought, really most of the stuff I can do on my own anyway.

Another thing, they’re not allowed to print out the maintenance history on the vehicle if I’m not the original owner. Fortunately he told me about a few things about it’s history. Computer Media Control Unit, 12V batt and drive unit (good thing) all replaced not long ago. Just the drive unit and MCU are about $12K right there. Original battery though.
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Is that really an "annual" service, like in "due every year", even the first year? My Tesla owning friends never mentioned that to me. Perhaps that's like some people I know that never mention their "mentally challenged" child.
 
$600 annual service? Really? I thought one of the big draws of electric cars was reduced service. Meh.
 
This makes no sense. Off the Tesla FAQ:

Does my car require an annual maintenance service?
Your Tesla does not require annual maintenance or regular fluid changes. Check your Owner’s Manual for latest maintenance recommendations for your Tesla.
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Service Intervals
Your vehicle should generally be serviced on an as-needed basis. However, Tesla recommends the following maintenance items and intervals, as applicable to your vehicle, to ensure continued reliability and efficiency of your Model 3.

  • Brake fluid health check every 2 years (replace if necessary).
  • A/C desiccant bag replacement every 6 years.
  • Cabin air filter replacement every 2 years.
  • Clean and lubricate brake calipers every year or 12,500 miles (20,000 km) if in an area where roads are salted during winter
  • Rotate tires every 6,250 miles (10,000 km) or if tread depth difference is 2/32 in (1.5 mm) or greater, whichever comes first
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JOhnH said:
Is that really an "annual" service, like in "due every year", even the first year? My Tesla owning friends never mentioned that to me. Perhaps that's like some people I know that never mention their "mentally challenged" child.
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There is no required annual maintenance anymore on Teslas. Since I had no idea what maintenance was done on my car the last 9 years, I scheduled it for “annual maintenance” on the service request. An invoice was done up for items based on the old annual service contract.

https://www.greencarreports.com/new...nnual-service-keeps-some-periodic-maintenance
 
About service … is it a problem to live 3+ hours from a Tesla Service Center?
 
NoHeat said:
About service … is it a problem to live 3+ hours from a Tesla Service Center?
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Well they have roamers that can come to you. It’s expensive though. Good luck in getting anyone local to work on it. Tesla doesn’t sell parts to anyone outside of Tesla service centers.
 
I drove by the Rivian factory the other day and looked like the finish lot was healthy. Anyone driven one?
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
I drove by the Rivian factory the other day and looked like the finish lot was healthy. Anyone driven one?
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Not driven one, but had placed an order with a $1,000, fully refundable deposit.

Got an email from Rivian that the base prices and option prices had been increased. A lot.

https://electrek.co/2022/03/01/rivia...ectric-pickup/

Our new bottom line would be $93,500 (!), up substantially and crossing the line to ridiculous. Plus, we now have an EV in the family. As such, we just canceled our order and should be getting our $1,000 deposit back shortly. I wonder if Rivian is going to see a huge number of cancellations following this price increase. Twitter would suggest this initial price increase dissuaded at least a few folks like me.

For $100, we’ll keep our CyberTruck order in place for now. But realistically, a nice EV car backed up with a beater truck - like our 2006 Honda Ridgeline - probably makes a lot more sense for our use case.
 
I've never been a pickup truck guy so don't know a lot about them. I've seen a few videos about the Rivian and it looks like it will be a really nice truck.

Rivian is at a critical point in its short history which will decide if they succeed or fail. It is not easy to start a new car brand. I hope they do well.
 
Hardly scientific, but the current results in a poll on a Rivian Owners Forum…

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Seems like Rivian must have expected this. Hence, was it a ploy to intentionally decrease the amount of pre-orders?
 
It’s not surprising. Lithium prices skyrocketed over the last 2 years.
 
NoHeat said:
About service … is it a problem to live 3+ hours from a Tesla Service Center?
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When we bought, Nashville was the closest dealer, which was about 3 hrs away. We had one recall, and they came to us. Since that time, Tesla opened a dealer in Knoxville, and we've had it serviced there once.

So although it's not ideal, service has been so rare that the occasional trip was not a problem for us.
 
FastEddieB said:
I just saw that. Decisions, decisions.

Will probably still keep our cancellation and take our $1,000 deposit back. Things may look very different a couple years from now anyway.
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I suspect they will need to make up for the missing revenue (or at least the forecast revenue for investors) by making everything in the truck a subscription.
 
I took my wife's Lexus in for service yesterday... And I finally did it. I got out of the car, and the engine didn't stop, and I had to get back in and turn it off. :rofl:

Talked with a guy there and he said that Lexus might have something electric "in 2024 or 2025" because "lithium is so hard to get". Or, maybe it's because your company put all their marbles in the hydrogen fuel cell basket and staunchly refused to pay attention to where the market was going or the realities of fuel cell vehicles.

Larry in TN said:
I used to think that Musk was insane. He kept saying that he was going to do all these impossible things. I thought the early Tesla adopters were nuts, too. Couldn't see how it would ever work. Now Tesla is outselling other brands and Musk is routinely reusing rocket boosters ten times, or more. I think they're up to 106 or 107 successful landings of orbital-class boosters. And they have an underground transportation system operating at the Las Vegas Convention Center. I can't bet against him anymore.
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He definitely sounds insane when he talks about what he's going to do, and you feel like he's promising something utterly beyond belief. And then he does it.

A lot of people have lost a LOT of money betting against him. I definitely wouldn't do it...

FastEddieB said:
But frequenting the TeslaMotorClub forum, service is clearly failing many owners.
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It's one of their biggest problems right now. The fleet is growing at an insane rate, and they can't build service centers and hire people to staff them fast enough.

The other problem they have is their terrible delivery-date predictions on their web site. They change wildly in both directions and make it impossible to plan sufficiently for when your car will be delivered. It was aggravating. It's not how the customer experience should start.

JOhnH said:
Is that really an "annual" service, like in "due every year", even the first year? My Tesla owning friends never mentioned that to me. Perhaps that's like some people I know that never mention their "mentally challenged" child.
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Bill said:
$600 annual service? Really? I thought one of the big draws of electric cars was reduced service. Meh.
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When the S first came out, they had this "annual" service, but it was completely optional. Some owners did it every other year, other's didn't bother at all, with no ill effects.

I think it was another relic of the ICE mindset, kind of like how the original S has the black plastic "nose cone" to make it kinda look like it has a grille. They didn't want to upset the apple cart too much all at once, so there were a few things that they kept around. This has now changed, as posted elsewhere in the thread.
 
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