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Sat 19 Dec 2020 08:47

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

Just short of 4 weeks ago a white Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus arrived on the back of a transporter at my house. It's a lease car, through work. I chose a full electric car for a few reasons; firstly the very low current BIK, secondly saving money on fuel, thirdly I fancied something different.

Tesla don't have the best reputation when it comes to build quality. There was one issue with mine on delivery - a slight misalignment of the bootlid when closed. It's barely noticeable and I haven't bothered reporting it yet. In the last week I have had a fairly major issue - the cabin heater would only blow out cold air. A call to Tesla diagnosed the issue remotely and also fixed it remotely. Apart from that, there's no squeaks and no rattles; everything works as it should.

In the 800 miles I've driven, I can report I'm over the moon with it. It's so effortless to drive. Some would say it takes the fun out of driving, what with so many driver 'assistance' features and one pedal driving, but the lazy man is me is pleased. The performance is staggering, even though it's the slowest Tesla available. Having 100% torque available straight away is awesome.

Of course, cost of fuel is only a small part of the cost of ownership, however I've spent buttons to travel 800 miles, probably about £6.00 so far - but that does include a couple of stops at a Tesla Supercharger, using some of my free 400kw allowance. At home, we are on the Octopus Go tariff, meaning 5p per kw between 0030hrs and 0430hrs. That is cheap, I mean very cheap. We've also moved to using the washing machine and dishwasher between these hours.

I love the toys. Using my phone as a key (I also have pin to drive set up) is great. I could spend hours in there on Netflix etc etc. I've already had a couple of software updates, and there's meant to be one coming before Christmas that is rumoured to turn on the heated steering wheel function.

I get it's a car that doesn't appeal to everyone. I certainly wouldn’t call it a driver's car, apart from in a point and shoot kind of way. Twisty roads is not its forte.

However, so far I'm very, very pleased with it. I can't see me returning to an ICE car anytime soon.

Edited by DieselBoy on 19/12/2020 at 08:48

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 09:44

My new Tesla Model 3 - madf

Thanks for the fairly comprehensive report. Sounds very nice.

Excuse the drooling sounds in the background. It's on "a car I want to buy s/h when it is cheap enough"- If I live long enough and am still senile :-)

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 10:13

My new Tesla Model 3 - catsdad

Err......NOT senile? Or am I too late ;-)?

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 12:11

My new Tesla Model 3 - craig-pd130

What type of charging point do you have at home, and what output does it give?

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 16:53

My new Tesla Model 3 - _

Do keep us updated, especially on any issues (in a nice way)

The MG5 estate ev had a revue on auto express and it seemed to be just about ok.

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 17:16

My new Tesla Model 3 - John F

How much is it costing to own? Presumably a good accountant would enable it to cost you nothing, although I believe something is added to your tax bill? But for an ordinary punter unable to set the cost against tax it would be interesting to know from a real life punter.

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 17:27

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

Charging is through an Ohme smart charger cable mated to a 32A outdoor socket, with separate protection. It was a much cheaper alternative to the dedicated chargers, even after counting the OLEV grant. I get 7kwh from it, so can get 28kw of power for £1.40, enough for (in theory) around 150 miles.

Cost of ownership? Im not going to lie, there was man maths involved. Having said that, there's 0% BIK until April, 1% 2021-22 and 2% 2022-23. Much, much lower than ICE cars. The lease cost includes insurance and maintenance; so I can argue it's not costing *that* much more than my previous Octavia VRS pcp. Compared to my temporary £500 Ford Focus though....!

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Sat 19 Dec 2020 22:34

My new Tesla Model 3 - Graham567

You'll have to change your nick to "TeslaBoy" now :-)

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Sun 20 Dec 2020 09:49

My new Tesla Model 3 - craig-pd130

Charging is through an Ohme smart charger cable mated to a 32A outdoor socket, with separate protection. It was a much cheaper alternative to the dedicated chargers, even after counting the OLEV grant. I get 7kwh from it, so can get 28kw of power for £1.40, enough for (in theory) around 150 miles.

That's an interesting way around it. What's the battery capacity on your model?

I looked at having a dedicated wallbox fitted for the 225xe I had, but it wasn't worth the cost when it would only have saved an hour to do a full charge compared to a domestic 13A socket.

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Sun 20 Dec 2020 14:44

My new Tesla Model 3 - Sofa Spud

I'll have to wait a year or two before Tesla Model 3's are available secondhand in my price range. But by then I might be hankering after a Model Y, which has yet to go on sale here!

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Sun 20 Dec 2020 15:30

My new Tesla Model 3 - badbusdriver

You'll have to change your nick to "TeslaBoy" now :-)

Surely it would have to be Electric Boy?

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Sun 20 Dec 2020 16:19

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

It's a 50kw battery. , meaning quite a difference in time between using a 13A socket and using a 32A socket. I just plug it in and schedule the charge to start at 0030. I was getting quotes of circa £800 for a dedicated charger; my solution cost £380 all in.

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Sun 20 Dec 2020 16:19

My new Tesla Model 3 - DavidGlos

How do your company work the lease cost?

Do you have what’s effectively an allowance each month and if the lease cost is more you have to chip in from your salary?

Where I am it feels like my employer is behind the times. My monthly allowance covers a petrol/diesel model, but anything electric is considerably more, so I need to chip in. Net result is either no monthly outlay for me but high BIK for a conventionally fuelled car, or low BIK for a BEV, but with me chipping in £££ each month.

What about you?

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Sun 20 Dec 2020 18:18

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

Salary sacrifice, so none of the above. The net cost to me was the same as leasing a diesel Passat due to the BIK.

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Thu 9 Feb 2023 16:00

My new Tesla Model 3 - DylanmMackayv

spam deleted

Edited by Xileno on 09/02/2023 at 17:55

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Thu 9 Feb 2023 17:23

My new Tesla Model 3 - Chris M

"Glad to hear that despite some early hiccups, the car's been a dream so far."

Well "so far" was over two years ago, so if DieselBoy is looking in, perhaps we can have an update please?

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Fri 10 Feb 2023 08:35

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

Morning.

21000 miles in, and I'm still pleased. However...

1. Manufacturing defect resulted in glass roof cracking when putting roofbars on. Sorted under warranty.

2. Both sills have been repainted due to poor quality paint at factory

3. One rear light cluster replaced under warranty due to water ingress.

4. Power boot strut failed. Replaced under warranty.

The service has been great, Tesla have mobile service guys who have fixed issues on my drive and the service centres are very helpful. Mine is the last of the US built cars, they're now made in China and are reported to be better built.

I'm starting to think of its replacement and even with the issues I've had with mine, another Mldel 3, or maybe Model Y, is very likely.

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Fri 10 Feb 2023 12:38

My new Tesla Model 3 - Theophilus

I guess if you've been pleased with the car you are happy to overlook the rather shoddy (and to my mind unacceptable) build quality with multiple issues starting from the day you took delivery just over 2 years ago.

I bought (no lease, and no company deal) a Honda CR-V Hybrid a few months before you acquired your Tesla ... and it hasn't developed any faults at all, and no problems with paint quality or electrics.

As they say - "you pays your money and you takes your choice" !

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Fri 10 Feb 2023 15:07

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

Absolutely.

I was well aware of the less than perfect build quality of Teslas before I took the leap and went into it with my eyes open. Every issue has been sorted quickly with minimal fuss. I still love the car, the performance, the economy, the technology and am glad I didn't plump for a run of the mill hybrid etc.

I guess it's different strokes for different folks and all that.

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Fri 10 Feb 2023 15:34

My new Tesla Model 3 - sammy1

A am pleased that your experience with the Tesla meets your needs. Any chance you can give us your thoughts on range and does the winter really effect the battery performance. I would also welcome your thoughts on the charger network. There are few life experiences of EVs on the forum

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Sat 11 Feb 2023 09:13

My new Tesla Model 3 - Wee Willie Winkie

The majority of the time, range is irrelevant to me. I charge at home and drive until I get to around 30% then charge again. To be honest, I don't even look at range much; I just make sure the battery is charged if I know I'll be travelling further afield. When I do, the car calculates if and where and when I need to charge.

Winter does increase energy usage - from about 230wh/mile to about 280wh/mile.

I don't use public charging day to day, only on long journeys, where I've found the supercharger network to be great. Queued once at Tebay, but it was lunchtime on a Saturday in August, so to be expected really given the success of Tesla sales vs increase in supercharger numbers. Other public chargers are a bit hit or miss to be honest in my experience. I wouldn't like to have to rely on them. Having said that, we're away at Easter with no access to a home charger, so I will be relying on public charging. I do have the safety net of superchargers not far from where we are staying.

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Sat 11 Feb 2023 10:15

My new Tesla Model 3 - Ethan Edwards

Yeah that instant torque is great isn't it. I've not needed public chargers in 18m of ownership. Since all my trips have been within the Mokka-e' range. I did my usual longest regular trip the other day in minus 3 and still got back with 21% left. Imo it's definitely the future for those who are able to charge at home. I'm on the EDF version of your tarriff window at 4.5p per kw. Tesla have opened up 15 supercharger locations to non Tesla cars. So that's nice.

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