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LOL he's in that "I don't want to get my new cars seats dirty" phase so he hasn't removed the plastic seat covers yet, but he will. I think he ordered the Weathertec mat set, not sure if he also ordered seat covers. It's funny, but it annoys me at the same time that he hasn't removed the plastic
I understand the white interior is not a good match for Levis... It looks nice, so there's that. But not for a low life programmer like me!
Your overview is kinda what I expected, the turn in and control is better than your car since it uses a double a-arm with a multilink lower pair. Works much better but is subject to far more wear over time.
My issue with the 3 is when you push it it has low limits and not much feed back/extremely boring to drive and constant interventions. Plus it's way too cut down inside but that's key for keeping costs as low as possible. Less trim and controls outside of the screen mean you can kill off 1000s on parts per car and divert the money to areas like the suspension and keeping the car "cheap"
Any thoughts on the brakes? I found them overheated after 3 100+ to 30-40 ish stops on the M3P I drove. I wish they offered real brakes on these but similar to sticky tires that kills range and only the S has room for that.
It's expensive to have any of these though, solar for just one house in our family cost $78k in parts and based on quotes I got before deciding to do it myself were all around 180k and if you add a car that's 60-90k on top of that it would have taken 35 years to break even lol! That was never our goal with solar though but the math just never worked out in our case to to power demands. It's cheap enough to just pay the normal bills for gas and utilities, only reason we even entertained this was a generator was going to be 50k installed in the first place and would still be reliant on external factors.
If you are a driver that likes lots of feedback, want to feel everything on the road in the steering, than I agree 100 percent this car is not for that person. The Model 3 is purely a daily commuter/travel car, and 99 percent of people who buy and drive it like my brother in law or myself are totally fine with it. My brother in law did a ton of research before buying this car like he does with every car he buys, so his decision was one hundred percent informed, he knew exactly what he was getting. Go back 5 years, and he would have bought a car like the Camry Hybrid or one of the Lexus SUV hybrids, but he saw this car offers more value and will be cheaper to drive and own over the 10 years plus he plans to own it.
This car has very good limits, and again, 99 percent of people will be happy and never even come close to them. As far as brakes, I wouldn't take it on a track, but they are very good. They are at least as good as my IS350, which had really good brakes. Driving at 80 mph, I was able to bring the car to a stop very quickly with mostly the electric motor. When I hit the brakes I didn't have to guess, I knew exactly how much I needed to stop. If I needed better brakes, the aftermarket offers upgraded rotors and brakes that are pretty inexpensive, but I would say that One Pedal braking works great and these brakes and rotors are going to last at least 100K.
One of the reasons Tesla is so successful and is the most profitable car company is because of it's simplicity. If you watch Monroe Live teardown videos, Tesla has figured out how to optimize not only the car, but the build process. They have figured out removing waste, which cuts time and cost. There is nothing cheap about the Model 3, it's well put together with good materials. It's not Mercedes or Lexus quality, but it's not trying to be. One thing I will say, if other car companies don't optimize like Tesla has, they are going to fall behind. BMW looks like the only company that is really trying to rethink their build process, optimize and build everything in their own factories. IMHO, all the Japanese companies have already missed the boat.
If you compare the Model 3 with any vehicle in its class of price range, any high end hybrid like the Lexus, both the Model 3 and Y is cheaper to own over 10 years. Very low maint, low fueling costs. Your biggest expenditure is going to be tires
samples back and forth on ev charging vs gas filling up...
can we please, please, please stop with the same posts over and over and over about this. jeff, yes we know you have solar panels, good for you, and charging at home is free or near free or whatever, and convenient for you. your situation is more common in california than anywhere else.
Apologies for any offense anyone takes from my posts. This is not my intension.
My "at home charging" posts are in response to posts about charging stop inconveniences. My use case is absolutely different than most. Without solar, my charging costs would be far higher, but my inconvenience would still be low.
thanks for that... and understand the response but the endless back and forth to me comes across as:
"i don't own an ev and it would suck if i did"
"i own an ev with the perfect setup and it's amazing"
both not entirely relevant to most people.
You have to experience starting each day with a full tank; it is pretty great.
no doubt. i'll probably get there at some point. i'm getting a new standing seam metal roof put on my home which should make a solar install easier down the road. but i gotta pay for that roof first.
The #1 reason owners go from EV back to ICE is charging issues.
These cars are not for everyone. If I could not charge at home I would not own an EV. If I was long tripping a lot, an EV might not be a good choice.
Every EV owner I know also has an ICE car. I sure do. They both have their pluses and minuses.
There are extremes at each end. No doubt. All good.
A union electrician installed the dedicated line from the service panel to the garage (under the house) for me. $600 all in, including tip. 60' of #6 copper wire ain't cheap. $600 buys a lotta gas, even in CA. And my service panel was already upgraded! These cars are expensive.
This is the mobile connector that came with the car. 240V @32A gives 28 to 32 MPH charging. I understand the mobile connector no longer comes with the car. Lame; what does Elon expect us to do?
$600 all in, including tip. 60' of #6 copper wire ain't cheap. This is the mobile connector that came with the car. 240V @32A gives 28 to 32 MPH charging.
They no longer come with the car, you have to buy the connector as an option. They do give you an adapter to use 120v home plug, which is a useless way of charging
They no longer come with the car, you have to buy the connector as an option. They do give you an adapter to use 120v home plug, which is a useless way of charging
They don’t but I have one and have not used it once. In fact the only time I’ve seen it is the first day I bought the car. It also looks like the Tesla wall charger is cheaper., when you buy it with the car it looks like it is $400 vs the $550 I paid.
They don’t but I have one and have not used it once. In fact the only time I’ve seen it is the first day I bought the car. It also looks like the Tesla wall charger is cheaper., when you buy it with the car it looks like it is $400 vs the $550 I paid.
Yes, it's $400 if you add it as an option. My brother in law bought 2, he installed one in his garage and a universal for non Tesla owners like me on the outside of the garage. Talk about sharing!
what is the difference between that and just having a nema 240v outlet put in the garage?
As mentioned, the Level 2 charger has higher amperage than the charging cable (20 amp vs 40 amp) that comes with my car, so faster charging. Also you can access the charging station through an app, set charging schedules, and see charging history. But the most important thing is you don't have to keep pulling the charging cable from the trunk as the charging station has its own cable and cable management
As mentioned, the Level 2 charger has higher amperage than the charging cable (20 amp vs 40 amp) that comes with my car, so faster charging. Also you can access the charging station through an app, set charging schedules, and see charging history. But the most important thing is you don't have to keep pulling the charging cable from the trunk as the charging station has its own cable and cable management
I am not sure all this is accurate. My car can accept 32A max; the recepticle is a NEMA 14-50. I pull 32A with the mobile connector. The app is on your cell phone and communicates with your car, as the charger is in the car. It just needs the juice.
You are correct about mobile connector use; a NEMA 14-50 is not designed to be regularly plugged in and pulled out. Basically I do not have a mobile connector as it stayes connected to the recepticle and wound up on the wall. This is the only real advantage to the wall Charger for at home charging.
I am not sure all this is accurate. My car can accept 32A max; the recepticle is a NEMA 14-50. I pull 32A with the mobile connector. The app is on your cell phone and communicates with your car, as the charger is in the car. It just needs the juice.
You are correct about mobile connector use; a NEMA 14-50 is not designed to be regularly plugged in and pulled out. Basically I do not have a mobile connector as it stayes connected to the recepticle and wound up on the wall. This is the only real advantage to the wall Charger for at home charging.
The charging cable that came with my Polestar only has a 20 amp fuse, while I get 38 amps from the charging station, which supports up to 40 amp with a 50 amp breaker fuse. But you are correct, the 14-50 plug would work fine, the charging station gives you more convenience by having it's own cable and cable management and also gives you remote access to it. It also has alerting in case of any charging errors etc
11-26-22, 11:25 AM
i'll probably get there at some point. i'm getting a new standing seam metal roof put on my home which should make a solar install easier down the road. but i gotta pay for that roof first. 
