The Tesla Thread

I've somehow managed to do just over 500 miles in a week since receiving my LR. Still using a granny charger mainly because we are extending the house in March/April and it seems silly to get a charging point installed when it will need to be moved then. I only do about 30 miles a day normally so using the mains is fine, if not very neat. You really have to get in to the habit of plugging your car in every time you're home though, yesterday my other half was working late at the hospital and a couple of her trains home were cancelled. I did think I might have to go and get her at one point which would have been a 60 mile round trip and perhaps a bit tricky because but i'd left my car with 90 miles of range. With my ICE car, i drive it around from full to nearly empty, but with electric cars I think the key is to just top up as often as possible. Just a little mindset/habit change.

I've used a supercharger twice now, once on the way back from collecting (car was delivered with only 40% battery) and secondly on the way back from dropping off some christmas presents at my mum's, around 100 miles away. I probably had the range to get back home, but it was touch and go because I only charged up about 70% or so before I left that morning. I stopped at South Mimms services, unfortunately there are only 4 super charger stalls there and all were occupied when I arrived with one other car waiting to use them as well. So I had to wait about 15 minutes to use one, then I charged for about 20 mins. I don't know how you could own an EV for your 'only' car without access to the supercharger network, especially with the range of some electric cars. Also noticing that some fast chargers (ionity etc) charge £0.60/kwh! Really glad I chose the Tesla in that respect.
 
The thing with supercharging is that you don’t need to always charge fully.

i was once coming back home and I was cutting it fine on charge. I stopped and charge for 4-5 minutes and then made it home comfortably where I just plugged it into the mains.
 
jamoor said:
The thing with supercharging is that you don’t need to always charge fully.

i was once coming back home and I was cutting it fine on charge. I stopped and charge for 4-5 minutes and then made it home comfortably where I just plugged it into the mains.
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Bizarrely - I've only used a supercharger once in 15 months! Still got 1000 miles on my account to use up but hardly been anywhere/done anything for 9 months.

Now got 4 Rapid (50kw) free chargers within 5 miles of my house. Several 22kw ones as well. All still currently free.
 
daz said:
I've used a supercharger twice now, once on the way back from collecting (car was delivered with only 40% battery) and secondly on the way back from dropping off some christmas presents at my mum's, around 100 miles away. I probably had the range to get back home, but it was touch and go because I only charged up about 70% or so before I left that morning. I stopped at South Mimms services, unfortunately there are only 4 super charger stalls there and all were occupied when I arrived with one other car waiting to use them as well. So I had to wait about 15 minutes to use one, then I charged for about 20 mins. I don't know how you could own an EV for your 'only' car without access to the supercharger network, especially with the range of some electric cars. Also noticing that some fast chargers (ionity etc) charge £0.60/kwh! Really glad I chose the Tesla in that respect.
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Aren’t there closer to 12 Tesla stalls at South Mimms?

Ionity pricing is more of a deterrent for cars who haven’t contributed to the network. We’re starting to get models now with special deals - e.g. VW ID3 owners get a discount now.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
which ones are you finding free?
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Almost the entire of Scotlands Public charging is free....A few local authorities are starting to charge but everything in Ayrshire is free for public use. 50kw/22kw & 7kw chargers

Has to change eventually as things roll out more. However local car park to me, about 500 yards away, has 50kw rapid / 2 x 22kw / 6 x 7kw - all free.
 
Matthew.M said:
Aren’t there closer to 12 Tesla stalls at South Mimms?

Ionity pricing is more of a deterrent for cars who haven’t contributed to the network. We’re starting to get models now with special deals - e.g. VW ID3 owners get a discount now.
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Yeah sorry you're right. It was Bishops Stortford/Stansted where I stopped rather than South Mimms.
 
Not even close. Biggest you can do at home is 7.4kw unless you get 3 phase installed. If you had 3 phase you could do 22kw ac but very few cars will take it.

You are talking mega money for a DC rapid charger and the domestic electric grid would likely need to be upgraded to take it.

A new supercharger will do up to 250kw per stall and come in banks of 4 (1mw). The older ones will deliver about 175kw per pair with a single charger maxing out at 150kw which is why people avoid using a charger paired with another that is in use. They are labelled XA and XB so you can see which are paired.

Two cars on the same pair will share that 175kw and the car that was there first tends to be able to draw more. But as the charging cycle progresses the amount it can take is reduced, freeing up capacity for the other car.
 
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Impressed with my Model 3 so far. Two main things I don't like at the moment - 1) the automatic wipers don't work very well at judging the amount of water/rain coming down. Especially if it's more of a misty spray rather than big droplets of rain. I regularly have to adjust the speed. This wouldn't be a big problem if the speed was adjustable on the stalk, but as it's on the touch screen it is a bit annoying. 2) The indicator feel - i'd like the stalk to stick in place and then click back after cancelling. I really like the pre-heating and in general the car is really pleasant to drive. The looks i'm still not keen on, but when i'm sitting inside I don't have to deal with that.
 
daz said:
Impressed with my Model 3 so far. Two main things I don't like at the moment - 1) the automatic wipers don't work very well at judging the amount of water/rain coming down. Especially if it's more of a misty spray rather than big droplets of rain. I regularly have to adjust the speed. This wouldn't be a big problem if the speed was adjustable on the stalk, but as it's on the touch screen it is a bit annoying. 2) The indicator feel - i'd like the stalk to stick in place and then click back after cancelling. I really like the pre-heating and in general the car is really pleasant to drive. The looks i'm still not keen on, but when i'm sitting inside I don't have to deal with that.
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I just press the button on the end of the stalk if I feel I need an extra wipe, it also brings up the box on the screen, though I can't really say the wipers bother me the way they seem to do a lot of people reading the comments.

It took me a few days to get used to the indicator stalk knowing that you could cancel it by clicking in either direction.
 
daz said:
I've somehow managed to do just over 500 miles in a week since receiving my LR. Still using a granny charger mainly because we are extending the house in March/April and it seems silly to get a charging point installed when it will need to be moved then. I only do about 30 miles a day normally so using the mains is fine, if not very neat. You really have to get in to the habit of plugging your car in every time you're home though, yesterday my other half was working late at the hospital and a couple of her trains home were cancelled. I did think I might have to go and get her at one point which would have been a 60 mile round trip and perhaps a bit tricky because but i'd left my car with 90 miles of range. With my ICE car, i drive it around from full to nearly empty, but with electric cars I think the key is to just top up as often as possible. Just a little mindset/habit change.

I've used a supercharger twice now, once on the way back from collecting (car was delivered with only 40% battery) and secondly on the way back from dropping off some christmas presents at my mum's, around 100 miles away. I probably had the range to get back home, but it was touch and go because I only charged up about 70% or so before I left that morning. I stopped at South Mimms services, unfortunately there are only 4 super charger stalls there and all were occupied when I arrived with one other car waiting to use them as well. So I had to wait about 15 minutes to use one, then I charged for about 20 mins. I don't know how you could own an EV for your 'only' car without access to the supercharger network, especially with the range of some electric cars. Also noticing that some fast chargers (ionity etc) charge £0.60/kwh! Really glad I chose the Tesla in that respect.
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What a ridiculous comment, plenty of people have non Tesla's, hardly see hundreds of abandoned EV's at the side of the road.
 
NeilMick said:
What a ridiculous comment, plenty of people have non Tesla's, hardly see hundreds of abandoned EV's at the side of the road.
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Assuming you are meaning the part about having it as your only car? And no access to the Tesla Super Charger network

I manage just fine, but I guess if you've only had one experience then you judge the others by it. Much like, "Yuk, how can anyone use an Android device, IOS is so much better"
 
Jonnycoupe said:
which ones are you finding free?
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A new Aldi has been built near us with two free chargers. There's no user input or screens to them at all so I presume they'll be free forever rather than yet to be activated etc. Presume it's a policy thing so worth checking if you've any!

Fortunately ours is 5 mins away and at a retail park too so you can do more than just groceries.
 
Russinating said:
A new Aldi has been built near us with two free chargers. There's no user input or screens to them at all so I presume they'll be free forever rather than yet to be activated etc. Presume it's a policy thing so worth checking if you've any!

Fortunately ours is 5 mins away and at a retail park too so you can do more than just groceries.
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None of the pod-point, polar or Alfa AC chargers have screens. You have to log in on the app and they certainly can (and do) charge for access to chargers without screens. We have the Pod-Point twin stanchion charger (3-phase) and the only thing that says on it’s screen is “Hello”. You have to watch the disco-lights on the sides to figure out what’s going on with it. And we (well, the pod-point guy who fitted it) disabled the phone log-in normally required to ‘claim’ the charge.
 
Simon said:
Ah yes. Someone who owns a EV can’t have a slightly negative opinion on one.

quick release the hounds.
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Come on. The entire post was just an expression of pure ignorance. Granny charger/60 mile round trip range anxiety with 90 miles range indicated/100 mile range anxiety with a 350 mile range car? It is nonsense.

Clearly this is not someone who has a grip on reality. Keep it topped up to 70-90% and there is almost nowhere in the UK you can’t go in a M3 LR if you drive it at the speed limit. And if you do need to top-up then it’s 20-40 minutes which is hardly ludicrous. You need to plan your trips and you need to always be charging (ABC) but it’s hardly a chore once you get used to it.

By March our entire vehicle fleet will be 100% BEV. Even the vans. The new Maxus vans will out-range a Tesla M3 SR+ and charge plenty fast enough overnight. Having driven the new vans, not one of our fitters sees a downside to going EV. And because we can write off the entire cost of the vehicle in one year, they’re effectively free. And the government will even cover off 20% as a further incentive. I’ve had both Tesla and non-Tesla and while the Superchargers are VERY quick, they’re quite often full these days and compared to Polar or charging at home/office/workshop they’re quite pricey. It’s not the advantage it was. If you have a Model S or X with free supercharging then yes, it’s a massive benefit. But fir M3 owners, it’s almost too popular nowadays.
 
WJA96 said:
None of the pod-point, polar or Alfa AC chargers have screens. You have to log in on the app and they certainly can (and do) charge for access to chargers without screens. We have the Pod-Point twin stanchion charger (3-phase) and the only thing that says on it’s screen is “Hello”. You have to watch the disco-lights on the sides to figure out what’s going on with it. And we (well, the pod-point guy who fitted it) disabled the phone log-in normally required to ‘claim’ the charge.
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Yeah I'm aware of that, I should rephrase; they're just blank poles, not any I recognise and nothing to determine sockets etc.The only sign they've got up just says "Plug in. Pop in. Shop." or something.
 
I’ve just realised polar is cheaper than the Octopus home tariff I’m on currently. So this whole idea of terrace streets and no charging is probably not something you want to do as they tend to be houses with the prepaid type meters that are a fortune anyway.

No Polar local to me but that’s okay. Idea is charging is only when you are away.
 
WJA96 said:
Come on. The entire post was just an expression of pure ignorance. Granny charger/60 mile round trip range anxiety with 90 miles range indicated/100 mile range anxiety with a 350 mile range car? It is nonsense.

Clearly this is not someone who has a grip on reality. Keep it topped up to 70-90% and there is almost nowhere in the UK you can’t go in a M3 LR if you drive it at the speed limit. And if you do need to top-up then it’s 20-40 minutes which is hardly ludicrous. You need to plan your trips and you need to always be charging (ABC) but it’s hardly a chore once you get used to it.
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I've owned an EV for a week - thanks for the encouragement from (presumably) a fellow owner.

Perhaps you missed where I wrote this?

You really have to get in to the habit of plugging your car in every time you're home though, yesterday my other half was working late at the hospital and a couple of her trains home were cancelled. I did think I might have to go and get her at one point which would have been a 60 mile round trip and perhaps a bit tricky because but i'd left my car with 90 miles of range. With my ICE car, i drive it around from full to nearly empty, but with electric cars I think the key is to just top up as often as possible. Just a little mindset/habit change.
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And yes I'll have no problem admitting I did have a bit range anxiety when I anticipated potentially making a 60 mile trip with 90 miles of range in the pouring rain at 11PM at night. Who is to say what could have happened on that journey? :confused:

Perhaps with more experience and confidence that will dissipate but I'm just sharing my initial experience. With replies like yours, I and I'm sure many others be less inclined to ask for help and advice when it comes to EVs unfortunately. .
 
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