A couple of tips/observations from a recent round trip which included a 5 day rest at Dublin airport. Many may already know there but some new owners might get something from it..
Sentry Mode
I turned off sentry mode for the 5 days so as not to drain my battery. I turned it off on the main screen just before I got out of the car (as opposed to turning it off via the app). Checked the status of the car via the app 2 days later and sentry was on and charge had dropped by 20%. I turned off via the app and it stayed off after that.
Preconditioning battery
I drove 180kms starting with 100% battery and decided to pull in at Kill Ionity to charge before I got to the airport. I did not precondition the battery as I said that after 180kms of driving, the battery should be nice and warm etc.. Charging at Ionity (only car charging) and max charge speed was 56kW.
Coming home, I charged again at Kill (opposite side of carriageway) but this time I preconditioned the battery. Charge speed was +130kW. Learning here for me is to always precondition for the high-speed chargers - regardless of how far you have travelled already.
It would also be nice to have a button to tell the car to start preconditioning as currently (for me anyway), my M3 only preconditions when navigating to a Tesla charger and does not for Ionity...
Mike
Battery needs to be around 40degrees for optimal charging at SuC, you might get near that in high Summer after a long drive but never this time of the year regardless of length of drive. I had a 3hour drive last weekend with SuC as destination and car was preconditioning from the moment I set off.
Tesla want you in and out of a SuC as quickly as possible
Yeah I left North County Dublin for Cork a few weeks ago and the car started pre-conditioning before I even left the driveway!!!
then on the flip side, in France/Germany last summer when it was ~40 degree’s, the car didn’t pre-condition at all and I still got the full 170kW at every V3 SuC I used….
Do the break lights come on when using the regen?
Yes. But only in certain situations like completely lifting off when at speed (motorway etc), and when slowing down to a stop in traffic.
if you look at the little version of your car on the display screen, you actually see the brake lights illuminating on the little avatar of the car when they illuminate on the actual car itself.
8.9% of Tesla Model 3's fail the TÜV for "serious defects" (my translation, German term used is "erhebliche Mängel")
https://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/tuev-auswertung-maengel-elektroautos-tesla-bmw-renault-nissan-1.5761979
This figure compares poorly to other EVs and poorly to other cars generally it seems. The Leaf fails for serious defects 4.3% of the time, the Zoe 5.3% and the BMW i3 5.9% of the time, so the Model 3 is more than twice as likely to fail the TÜV for a serious defect than a Nissan Leaf. I don't know how many of each car is being presented for the TÜV but there must surely be enough of them both at this stage to draw a statistically significant conclusion I would have thought. Both cars are pretty common now in Germany.
The TÜV is the German NCT. I wonder are there equivalent figures available for Ireland anywhere?
The 1st Irish Model 3’s are due their first NCT in Q4 of this year so we might start to hear something by then…..
also, I’d say the Irish NCT is probably only about 10% of the TÜV (if even that)….
Hey Mike, do you tell the car to precondition for Ionity ? Through the GPS as a destination ?
Hi, no - I had to fool the system by putting in the Tesla Supercharger in Sandyford as the destination... Once it saw the Tesla supercharger as the destination then it automatically went to precondition mode..
Where would most of these Model 3's have been built? I wonder will the German built ones be better as they start to move through the system. None of the Teslas currently failing the TÜV were built in Germany as new vehicles do not have to be tested in Germany until they are 3 years old and from then on every two years. The German plant isn't old enough to have produced any of these failing vehicles. Of course, if the issues are design related then build quality won't help, but one could reasonably presume that parts that cause regular failures will be upgraded or redesigned. It's possible Tesla has already made some changes or will do so.
Every Model 3 in Ireland up until about Q3 2020 was made in Fremont, every Model 3/Y that’s arrived in Ireland since then was made in China.
I see reports that the Highland Model 3 is going to have a temperature sensor removed..
The one that is used for dash display.....
Am I correct in assuming there are separate temperature sensors for the interior and therefore shouldn't be implications for using heating.....
https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/1255/exclusive-tesla-s-model-3-project-highland-exposed-what-s-changing
I'd ignore everything in that article, it's all click bait, did you see the amount of ads that were on that webpage.
Tesla will do their thing and won't be advertising it as usual, when cars start getting delivered with changes then YT will let us know...
No German cars will make their way through our NCT system.
What are the reasons for failure in Germany? I’ve put 2 Model S’s though the NCT without a single issue so far.
The major failure was headlamp focus related if I remember it right. Also some Fremont cars had brake lines fitted without clipping them in place properly and stuff like that.
The text (pertaining to the Model 3) of the original article by the TÜV association reads:
Schlusslicht des Quartetts ist der Tesla Model 3, der zu den beliebtesten Elektrofahrzeugen in Deutschland gehört. 8,9 Prozent der geprüften Fahrzeuge fallen bei der ersten Hauptuntersuchung durch. Damit würden im Ranking dieser Altersklasse nur noch vier Autos hinter dem Tesla liegen, darunter der Dacia Logan, Dacia Dokker und VW Sharan. Neben der Beleuchtung mit Defekten am Abblendlicht und an den Nebelscheinwerfern haben auch die Bremsscheiben des Model 3 häufiger Mängel als der Durchschnitt aller untersuchten Fahrzeuge. Das gleiche gilt für die Achsaufhängung
Which translates to (my translation):
In bottom place of the 4 (EVs) is the Tesla Model 3, which is one of the most popular EVs in Germany. 8.9% of the tested vehicles fail their first main inspection. As a result of this only 4 cars are worse than the Tesla in this age category, including the Dacia Logan, Dacia Dokker and VW Sharan. Apart from lighting with defective dipped headlights and fog lights, the brake discs on the Model 3 have above average defect rates compared to all other vehicles (My comment: presumably also in this age category though it's not explicit here). The same goes for the suspension.
It doesn't mention specific suspension components however. The original press release can be found here and run through Google translate for the rest: https://www.tuev-verband.de/pressemitteilungen/e-autos-mit-durchwachsenen-ergebnissen-bei-der-hauptuntersuchung
Not surprised on the headlights. Most of my NCT failures over the years were headlight alignment and I can only imagine the TUV being even stricter.
I’ll keep an eye on the brake discs and suspension.
I suspect many owners take the “no service requirement” to the extremes and don’t even regularly check their cars!
I would imagine my Model 3 lights (March 2022) would fail if checked at TUV or possibly NCT. They are without a doubt the worst of any recent car I have had. Tesla say they will need the car for at least a day to refocus or whatever they have to do. Alignment doesn't work. Not doing a huge amount of night driving at the moment and with the longer days I am not too worried, but will need to have fixed before next winter.
The brake discs are a common fault on many EVs as regen braking does most of the heavy lifting and this can lead to caliper seizure and extremely rusty discs which then (apart from being quite dangerous in an emergency) leads to test failures. I heard that some EVs actively disengage the regen periodically to force the mechanical braking system to be used, thus helping to prevent these issues.
You can also enlarge the car temporarily to see the brake lights, using the pinch and zoom with 2 fingers.
I find with the weak regen in the colder weather that I am using real brakes a little more than other EVs, so hopefully they will stay clean.
Installed new wipers this week and has made a massive difference with the auto-wipers. Was driving me crazy last week on the motorways with the constant use of AP.
Now if they could only allow a setting to stop auto-headlight automatically engaging. Very frustrating on the intercity motorways in the evenings when passing cars and re-engaging AP.
I am frequently momentarily blinding oncoming trucks whose lights are hidden by the concrete crash barrier before I can disengage the high beams.
Just push the left stalk away from you to disengage auto high beam, you'll need to do this every time you go into CC or Auto Steer in the only thing
my car must be a glitch in the matrix because auto high beams never come on when I engage autopilot at night….
Looks like Tesla vision is getting distances back, although according to the OP on Reddit, it's not great.
https://www.reddit.com/r/teslamotors/comments/1207hqe/tesla_vision_parking_sensors_update/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
Model 3 price reduced to €43,558.
Just in case anyone is on the fence.
About the suspension failures....I asked a forum member (not a motoring forum) of another forum I'm on here in Germany. He said the following when I asked him if it was a Model 3 and what exactly went wrong with the suspension:
Yes, Model 3. The suspension would creak when turning the wheel, accelerating, decelerating, and when I would push the front end of the car down with my hands. Left and right wishbone assembly replaced. Front left and right control arm assembly replaced. Cost: €935.96
YMMV but one to look out for. When I hear control arms replaced I get flashbacks to the awful VW/Audi B5 platform that ate control arm and drop-link bushings and ball joints on both sides. I was warned by a VW mechanic to stay away from both the A4 and Passat but I ignored his advice and paid the price lol. Eventually the affected parts were redesigned and up-rated but the problem with the design was never truly solved and I believe the B6 platform went back to more conventional McPherson struts.
Actually the early Model 3’s have a recall for the front suspension part that creaks. I’ll try route it. It may not actually be a recall but a few Irish owners logged creaking and it was replaced FOC as there’s an updated part seemly.
Edit - front suspension upper control arms. Replacement under warranty for free.
I wonder if this is that?
He will kick himself if it was a recall as he paid nearly a grand for the work to be carried out!
Deffo being done for free here anyway. A few in the group had it. Seems to hit the SR+ more than the P from my looking into it.
I know my P is fine but recently had the ranger out replacing the humidity sensor and he checked it in the garden.
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