Today is the one-year anniversary of my Tesla Model 3, AWD Long Range. Here’s a snapshot of what my car looks like after one trip around the sun.
Some context… this is a refreshed (late 2021, early 2022) model, with the Lithium 12v battery and the AMD Ryzen processor. I ordered the car on January 18, it was built on February 14, and delivered on March 2. A year ago that wait time seemed tortuously long. But in retrospect it seems pretty quick.
The car had four miles on it.
Six weeks after delivery, I replaced the standard Aero wheel covers (18” wheels) with Tesla’s wheel cap kit – a purely cosmetic change, but one that imposes a modest hit on efficiency. And since I live out in the country, at the end of a ¼-mile long gravel driveway, I replaced the OEM carpeted floor mats with Tesla All-Weather mats. Other than those two changes, the car has remained stock.
I did add a Modern Spare tire kit, and its extra 50 lbs, around that time, as well. Those extra pounds have gone everywhere the car has gone.
The Scan My Tesla OBDII adapter was installed a month in, the day before these first set of stats were taken.
The first software update happened one week after delivery, at 685 miles. During the course of the year, an additional 30 updates were applied.
I live in the Mid-Atlantic. We see both hot and cold temps, but rarely experience the extremes that our friends farther north or in the deeper south see.
Unlike most Tesla’s, my car is not garaged. It lives outside a shed, 150’ from my house. I had to install a router extender to bump the WiFi signal from my living room.
Parking outdoors means my car is exposed to the vagaries of whatever local weather chooses to make an appearance. I try and manage charging so that the car is not plugged in during rain or snow, but otherwise it’s always connected while at home.
Charging is via a Tesla Wall Charger mounted outside the shed. I had a 40-amp, 240v circuit already in the shed, so I re-purposed one of the two circuits in the sub-panel for the TWC. The TWC ends up being 16 amps (20-amp circuit) at ~236v. Definitely on the low end for Level Two charging, but it has worked just fine.
The biggest disadvantage to parking outside are high temps during the summertime. The car gets direct sunlight for 6-8 hours every day. That raises both cabin and pack temps and, especially if the car has just been driven, those elevated pack temps will persist for many hours. Much as we all rue the loss of energy in our EV’s during cold weather, there’s no question that pack longevity is enhanced by cooler temps.
I usually charge to 62%. I’ve charged to 80% a number of times. And to 90% twice. I’ve never charged to 100%.
My depth-of-discharges typically have been fairly shallow. Generally on the order of 20-25%.
I try and avoid charging when pack temps are elevated, like after returning home in the summertime. I’ll use Scheduled Charging and wait until pack temps have diminished somewhat overnight.
I avoid charging when pack temps are cold. Certainly below 40F. And I prefer to see it above 50F. During cold weather I will always begin charging immediately upon returning home after a drive, when the pack is at its warmest.
When the pack is cold, after cold-soaking overnight during the winter, I always attempt to raise pack temps before driving by remote-triggering Climate 30-45 minutes before departure. I say “attempt” because whether or not Climate will actively heat the pack via stator waste heat depends upon the BMS Target Bat ActiveHeat trigger point and that trigger point has changed over time with different software releases.
When DC Fast Charging, I keep charge sessions as brief, and SOC increases as shallow, as practicable.
I’ve done a dozen-odd mini road trips of 200-300 miles each. There are few things I enjoy more than traveling by Tesla – the Supercharger network just rocks - and I look forward to longer trips.
As for maintenance, I’ve topped off the air in the tires a few times. I’ve replaced windshield wiper fluid a couple times. And I rotated the tires at 10,016 miles. This Model 3 is far and away the lowest maintenance vehicle I have ever owned.
Part of my rationale for paying such a steep premium for this car – twice the amount I previously paid for any vehicle – was the whispering promise of longevity. I’m the kind of guy who buys new, and then runs a vehicle until it’s done. I’ve owned two ICE vehicles that went over 300,000 miles; and two others that went over 200,000.
There are a great many semiconductors, a bunch of switches and servos, and a smattering of small motors in a Tesla. Plenty to go wrong. But there’s also no question that – software aside – these modern cars are far simpler vehicles than their ICE counterparts. They have the potential to last for a very long time and to go a very long ways. We shall see.
In the meantime, this Model 3 has been the best vehicle I have ever owned.
A few stats from… Stats. I didn’t install the app until four months after delivery, at which point the car had just under 7,000 miles. So no data before then.
The vehicle numbers themselves are kind of interesting. But I’d take fleet comparisons with a grain of salt.
Some context… this is a refreshed (late 2021, early 2022) model, with the Lithium 12v battery and the AMD Ryzen processor. I ordered the car on January 18, it was built on February 14, and delivered on March 2. A year ago that wait time seemed tortuously long. But in retrospect it seems pretty quick.
The car had four miles on it.
Six weeks after delivery, I replaced the standard Aero wheel covers (18” wheels) with Tesla’s wheel cap kit – a purely cosmetic change, but one that imposes a modest hit on efficiency. And since I live out in the country, at the end of a ¼-mile long gravel driveway, I replaced the OEM carpeted floor mats with Tesla All-Weather mats. Other than those two changes, the car has remained stock.
I did add a Modern Spare tire kit, and its extra 50 lbs, around that time, as well. Those extra pounds have gone everywhere the car has gone.
The Scan My Tesla OBDII adapter was installed a month in, the day before these first set of stats were taken.
The first software update happened one week after delivery, at 685 miles. During the course of the year, an additional 30 updates were applied.
2022 Tesla Model 3, Dual Motor AWD Long-Range | ||
| Date: | 3/31/2022* | 3/2/2023 |
| Mileage (miles): | 2,501 | 13,706 |
| Software: | 2022.8.2 | 2023.2.12 |
| Full Pack When New (kWh): | 82.1 | 82.1 |
| Full Rated Range (miles): | 357 | 351 |
| Nominal Full Pack (kWh): | 79.9 | 77.2 |
| CAC (Calculated Amp-Hour Capacity): | 232 | 224 |
| Charge Cycles: | 11.1 | 65.4 |
| AC/DC Ratio (kWh): | 3347 / 436 | |
| Regen % | 39.0 | |
| Lifetime Wh/mile: | 237 | |
*original stats taken when car was 29 days old. |
I live in the Mid-Atlantic. We see both hot and cold temps, but rarely experience the extremes that our friends farther north or in the deeper south see.
Unlike most Tesla’s, my car is not garaged. It lives outside a shed, 150’ from my house. I had to install a router extender to bump the WiFi signal from my living room.
Parking outdoors means my car is exposed to the vagaries of whatever local weather chooses to make an appearance. I try and manage charging so that the car is not plugged in during rain or snow, but otherwise it’s always connected while at home.
Charging is via a Tesla Wall Charger mounted outside the shed. I had a 40-amp, 240v circuit already in the shed, so I re-purposed one of the two circuits in the sub-panel for the TWC. The TWC ends up being 16 amps (20-amp circuit) at ~236v. Definitely on the low end for Level Two charging, but it has worked just fine.
The biggest disadvantage to parking outside are high temps during the summertime. The car gets direct sunlight for 6-8 hours every day. That raises both cabin and pack temps and, especially if the car has just been driven, those elevated pack temps will persist for many hours. Much as we all rue the loss of energy in our EV’s during cold weather, there’s no question that pack longevity is enhanced by cooler temps.
I usually charge to 62%. I’ve charged to 80% a number of times. And to 90% twice. I’ve never charged to 100%.
My depth-of-discharges typically have been fairly shallow. Generally on the order of 20-25%.
I try and avoid charging when pack temps are elevated, like after returning home in the summertime. I’ll use Scheduled Charging and wait until pack temps have diminished somewhat overnight.
I avoid charging when pack temps are cold. Certainly below 40F. And I prefer to see it above 50F. During cold weather I will always begin charging immediately upon returning home after a drive, when the pack is at its warmest.
When the pack is cold, after cold-soaking overnight during the winter, I always attempt to raise pack temps before driving by remote-triggering Climate 30-45 minutes before departure. I say “attempt” because whether or not Climate will actively heat the pack via stator waste heat depends upon the BMS Target Bat ActiveHeat trigger point and that trigger point has changed over time with different software releases.
When DC Fast Charging, I keep charge sessions as brief, and SOC increases as shallow, as practicable.
I’ve done a dozen-odd mini road trips of 200-300 miles each. There are few things I enjoy more than traveling by Tesla – the Supercharger network just rocks - and I look forward to longer trips.
As for maintenance, I’ve topped off the air in the tires a few times. I’ve replaced windshield wiper fluid a couple times. And I rotated the tires at 10,016 miles. This Model 3 is far and away the lowest maintenance vehicle I have ever owned.
Part of my rationale for paying such a steep premium for this car – twice the amount I previously paid for any vehicle – was the whispering promise of longevity. I’m the kind of guy who buys new, and then runs a vehicle until it’s done. I’ve owned two ICE vehicles that went over 300,000 miles; and two others that went over 200,000.
There are a great many semiconductors, a bunch of switches and servos, and a smattering of small motors in a Tesla. Plenty to go wrong. But there’s also no question that – software aside – these modern cars are far simpler vehicles than their ICE counterparts. They have the potential to last for a very long time and to go a very long ways. We shall see.
In the meantime, this Model 3 has been the best vehicle I have ever owned.
A few stats from… Stats. I didn’t install the app until four months after delivery, at which point the car had just under 7,000 miles. So no data before then.
The vehicle numbers themselves are kind of interesting. But I’d take fleet comparisons with a grain of salt.
