So I have now driven 1000 kilometres in my two weeks of ownership so far of my Model 3 Highland. Not only is this my first Tesla, it’s also my first EV having owned a range of different high powered cars in the past, mainly BMW’s and rwd Japanese coupes. While this thread brings it down to basics, I had wished I could have found a thread like this early on to help out people like myself. Here’s my take on the experience so far:
Ordering process:
Very straightforward. Ordered it online on October 20th 2023 paying a €250 deposit. I was given a unique reference number (RN). I chose to pay extra for blue exterior, but kept to black interior (not a fan of light coloured interiors as they get marked easily). I was initially given an estimated delivery date (EDD) of “January-February 2024”, and this suited me as I had planned to buy it in early 2024 anyway. I downloaded the app and from then just continued on reading, watching videos online, learning what I could.
Charging from home plan:
I got a smart Zappi tethered charger installed mid November 2023, well ahead of the game but it made sense as the Irish grant for EV chargers covers you for €600. This then decreased down to €300 from 1st January 2024. My current plan at the time was a 41c p/kwh which is pretty expensive, but my thoughts was to get a better plan nearer the time. I am currently on 35c p/kwh but should have that down to 26c p/kwh next week.
What happened next?
A lot of waiting, that’s what! I joined the Irish Tesla Owners Facebook page and while a lot of information there, to be honest I found it had quite a few people with smart, unhelpful answers and negativity towards new members. So joining this forum has been the opposite, and a breath of fresh air compared to it and very well natured members with helpful posts.
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) / Estimated Delivery Date (EDD):
I was full of excitement when my being assigned my VIN on December 29th 2023, and then this naturally led to the Tesla anxiety. I had multiple EDD changes between the beginning of January up until my eventual delivery date. In fact so much so that in the end it was a daily EDD change so I took it with a pinch of salt and just got on with it. Only a minor convenience, but having to sell my car privately made it hard to predict when to advertise it as I still needed a daily for work.
Payment:
I waited quite a while to pay off my car just in case there was any changes in my own circumstances. Around mid-January 2024 I added Tesla account details as a payee to my online banking. I was able to transfer a maximum of €20k per day, so 3 instalments worked for this to pay it off in full. It had the money transferred within 12 hours each time and they came off my balance the following day on my account. I was paying it straight up sale with no finance required.
Delivery date confirmed…….
I finally got my confirmed date for collection, which was emailed to me on Friday evening, 9th February telling me that I was to collect at 3pm on Thursday 17th February. No choice in day, time etc. I was basically told this was my collection date and time and that was it. While a bit annoying as I had to take a day holiday from work (my collection point was Dublin, and I live in Galway, 140 miles away). A shame there was no collection option for a Saturday. Still, the excitement was there that I was finally getting to collect my Tesla.
The time leading up to collection:
This is what I found to be one of the most frustrating times. Many people had been given their registration plate details nearly a week in advance, but not me. In Ireland, you cannot transfer insurance without having the registration plate details. In my case, constantly refreshing the app with excitement was only to become a source of frustration when it wasn’t updated. I eventually rang Tesla in Ireland telling them that this was far from ideal as the day before I was due to collect I still had no registration plate. I finally got my registration plate details at 9am on the day of collection. This caused un-necessary stress but you just gotta deal with it. For the record, it ended up having no additional change to my insurance.
Collection day:
So a bus, train and a taxi later costing me €65 in total I had landed to the very basic yard in Baldonnell, Dublin to collect my new Tesla. What an underwhelming experience! It was literally a yard with a small cabin. No frills, no excitement. But that suited me fine. Functional and straightforward is my preference. I was 30 minutes early, but was told a strict time schedule was in place so I could inspect my new car but not leave with it until after 3pm. I spent the next half hour going through it with as much detail as I could. Inspecting as much as I could, panel gaps, paint work, cosmetically throughout and also for any other defects I could find. Happily, I was not able to find any causes for concern in the condition of the car so I was happy to accept. Unlike a chap not far from me, he was having a heated exchange with Tesla staff as he had obviously found some defect.
All I had to do then was step into the cabin, show them I had the app, clicked through the collection day tasks and then was told I was good to go. No requirement for payment proof, no drivers licence, nothing. I paired the key to phone and off I went with a well charged battery you might think? No.
My main issue on collection was the battery charge, or lack of it….. It only had 13%. Ridiculous. Considering I had a 140 mile journey ahead of me, and the nearest Tesla superchargers were approx. 30 miles away, I had been warned by some people collecting that it was taking around 15% battery. This annoyed me as I couldn’t risk trying to make it that far with the unknown of my first drive. This anxiety was not what was needed for my first journey having been travelling since 9.30am that day. Luckily, I had planned for this, and had set up an Ionity account and downloaded the app. But I still had to drive 15 minutes out of the way to get to the nearest charging station just to give me a top up. I topped up to 30% to be sure and then took off towards home, via the Tesla Supercharger in Enfield. I stopped there and used up my free 150 kilometres charge to get me home with a spare 20% odd.
The car itself:
Wow. I gotta say I loved it from the first minute I drove it. In fact throughout my two weeks so far it has surpassed my expectations. I should have mentioned at the start that I borrowed my friends 2022 Model 3 for 24 hours last summer and I was sold on it. It’s quick, quicker than my previous daily driver BMW 630i with 258bhp. It’s so comfortable and the seats feel like they grip you better than the previous Model 3. It seems a firmer but not uncomfortable seat. The suspension is soft and very smooth. You don’t feel bumps at all and passengers have commented no how impressive the ride was.
The interior is lovely. Simple but effective. The screen is nice and big, steering wheel is so light and quite small. I’ve had passengers sitting in the rear seats and both have said it was very comfortable (one of those was 6’2”). The rear screen is great, but kind of redundant to me as I don’t have kids and nobody is really going to use it.
The controversial topics, indicators, gear shifter and wipers:
Indicators: I was used to the two button indicators within 5-10 minutes of collecting the car. Initially instinctively I reached for the non-existent indicator stalks but no time at all had passed and no issues. I’d even go as far to say that I really like them. I have not had any issues on roundabouts which are quite common where I live.
Shifting: The gear shifter on right hand side of screen is fine rather than a stalk, no problem when moving it forward or back. The only way I could see it being a bit of an issue is when doing a tight 3 point turn.
Wipers: Auto wipers, I turned off pretty much straight away. There’s a wiper button on the dash and it’s easy then with the left scroll wheel to select different wiper settings. So I don’t need to take my hands off the wheel.
What don’t I like?
The biggest annoyance is the speed limit double chime. Every journey you take it’ll do a double bing twice (4 bings in total) if you go above speed limit. You can mute this on the screen with a single tap, but you still got to do it every journey. Fine if you don’t speed, but on my work commute there is a new road where the limit is 100k p/h, and Tesla seems to think it’s a 50k p/h road. So I have to mute it every time.
Maps aren’t very smart are they? I planned a route last weekend to take it out for a proper spin through the windy Connemara roads while climbing a mountain in the middle. Now I know these roads like the back of my hand, but the route it was trying to send me was a bit crazy. It was trying to send me up tiny narrow roads and off the main regional route. I knew better so kept going my route. However, if I didn’t know the roads I would’ve trusted the maps and be brought on an un-necessary trip.
When you open up the boot (trunk), the edge of it could hit you on the head easily. I’m only 5’8” and I’ve nearly cracked my head on a couple of occasions. You do have to bend down when loading. Boot space is good though so no issue there.
My stats so far:
My work commute is approx. 15 miles and a mixture of regional driving (100k p/h roads) and city driving. On a pre conditioned battery this is taking me 5% battery. Non pre-conditioned it is taking up to 8% depending on the conditions. The coldest so far was down at 0c and that took me the full 8%.
I am averaging 152 Wh/Km so far, so relatively good. I need to drive a bit more to get a good take on this, as only 2 weeks isn’t a sufficient learning curve for me yet. As recommended, I am charging to 100% once a week and will continue to do so.
Overall, a very positive experience so far in my first Tesla ownership. If anybody has any questions, post up or send me a message as I’ll be happy to give my own experience on it. Thanks for reading, Col : )
Ordering process:
Very straightforward. Ordered it online on October 20th 2023 paying a €250 deposit. I was given a unique reference number (RN). I chose to pay extra for blue exterior, but kept to black interior (not a fan of light coloured interiors as they get marked easily). I was initially given an estimated delivery date (EDD) of “January-February 2024”, and this suited me as I had planned to buy it in early 2024 anyway. I downloaded the app and from then just continued on reading, watching videos online, learning what I could.
Charging from home plan:
I got a smart Zappi tethered charger installed mid November 2023, well ahead of the game but it made sense as the Irish grant for EV chargers covers you for €600. This then decreased down to €300 from 1st January 2024. My current plan at the time was a 41c p/kwh which is pretty expensive, but my thoughts was to get a better plan nearer the time. I am currently on 35c p/kwh but should have that down to 26c p/kwh next week.
What happened next?
A lot of waiting, that’s what! I joined the Irish Tesla Owners Facebook page and while a lot of information there, to be honest I found it had quite a few people with smart, unhelpful answers and negativity towards new members. So joining this forum has been the opposite, and a breath of fresh air compared to it and very well natured members with helpful posts.
Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) / Estimated Delivery Date (EDD):
I was full of excitement when my being assigned my VIN on December 29th 2023, and then this naturally led to the Tesla anxiety. I had multiple EDD changes between the beginning of January up until my eventual delivery date. In fact so much so that in the end it was a daily EDD change so I took it with a pinch of salt and just got on with it. Only a minor convenience, but having to sell my car privately made it hard to predict when to advertise it as I still needed a daily for work.
Payment:
I waited quite a while to pay off my car just in case there was any changes in my own circumstances. Around mid-January 2024 I added Tesla account details as a payee to my online banking. I was able to transfer a maximum of €20k per day, so 3 instalments worked for this to pay it off in full. It had the money transferred within 12 hours each time and they came off my balance the following day on my account. I was paying it straight up sale with no finance required.
Delivery date confirmed…….
I finally got my confirmed date for collection, which was emailed to me on Friday evening, 9th February telling me that I was to collect at 3pm on Thursday 17th February. No choice in day, time etc. I was basically told this was my collection date and time and that was it. While a bit annoying as I had to take a day holiday from work (my collection point was Dublin, and I live in Galway, 140 miles away). A shame there was no collection option for a Saturday. Still, the excitement was there that I was finally getting to collect my Tesla.
The time leading up to collection:
This is what I found to be one of the most frustrating times. Many people had been given their registration plate details nearly a week in advance, but not me. In Ireland, you cannot transfer insurance without having the registration plate details. In my case, constantly refreshing the app with excitement was only to become a source of frustration when it wasn’t updated. I eventually rang Tesla in Ireland telling them that this was far from ideal as the day before I was due to collect I still had no registration plate. I finally got my registration plate details at 9am on the day of collection. This caused un-necessary stress but you just gotta deal with it. For the record, it ended up having no additional change to my insurance.
Collection day:
So a bus, train and a taxi later costing me €65 in total I had landed to the very basic yard in Baldonnell, Dublin to collect my new Tesla. What an underwhelming experience! It was literally a yard with a small cabin. No frills, no excitement. But that suited me fine. Functional and straightforward is my preference. I was 30 minutes early, but was told a strict time schedule was in place so I could inspect my new car but not leave with it until after 3pm. I spent the next half hour going through it with as much detail as I could. Inspecting as much as I could, panel gaps, paint work, cosmetically throughout and also for any other defects I could find. Happily, I was not able to find any causes for concern in the condition of the car so I was happy to accept. Unlike a chap not far from me, he was having a heated exchange with Tesla staff as he had obviously found some defect.
All I had to do then was step into the cabin, show them I had the app, clicked through the collection day tasks and then was told I was good to go. No requirement for payment proof, no drivers licence, nothing. I paired the key to phone and off I went with a well charged battery you might think? No.
My main issue on collection was the battery charge, or lack of it….. It only had 13%. Ridiculous. Considering I had a 140 mile journey ahead of me, and the nearest Tesla superchargers were approx. 30 miles away, I had been warned by some people collecting that it was taking around 15% battery. This annoyed me as I couldn’t risk trying to make it that far with the unknown of my first drive. This anxiety was not what was needed for my first journey having been travelling since 9.30am that day. Luckily, I had planned for this, and had set up an Ionity account and downloaded the app. But I still had to drive 15 minutes out of the way to get to the nearest charging station just to give me a top up. I topped up to 30% to be sure and then took off towards home, via the Tesla Supercharger in Enfield. I stopped there and used up my free 150 kilometres charge to get me home with a spare 20% odd.
The car itself:
Wow. I gotta say I loved it from the first minute I drove it. In fact throughout my two weeks so far it has surpassed my expectations. I should have mentioned at the start that I borrowed my friends 2022 Model 3 for 24 hours last summer and I was sold on it. It’s quick, quicker than my previous daily driver BMW 630i with 258bhp. It’s so comfortable and the seats feel like they grip you better than the previous Model 3. It seems a firmer but not uncomfortable seat. The suspension is soft and very smooth. You don’t feel bumps at all and passengers have commented no how impressive the ride was.
The interior is lovely. Simple but effective. The screen is nice and big, steering wheel is so light and quite small. I’ve had passengers sitting in the rear seats and both have said it was very comfortable (one of those was 6’2”). The rear screen is great, but kind of redundant to me as I don’t have kids and nobody is really going to use it.
The controversial topics, indicators, gear shifter and wipers:
Indicators: I was used to the two button indicators within 5-10 minutes of collecting the car. Initially instinctively I reached for the non-existent indicator stalks but no time at all had passed and no issues. I’d even go as far to say that I really like them. I have not had any issues on roundabouts which are quite common where I live.
Shifting: The gear shifter on right hand side of screen is fine rather than a stalk, no problem when moving it forward or back. The only way I could see it being a bit of an issue is when doing a tight 3 point turn.
Wipers: Auto wipers, I turned off pretty much straight away. There’s a wiper button on the dash and it’s easy then with the left scroll wheel to select different wiper settings. So I don’t need to take my hands off the wheel.
What don’t I like?
The biggest annoyance is the speed limit double chime. Every journey you take it’ll do a double bing twice (4 bings in total) if you go above speed limit. You can mute this on the screen with a single tap, but you still got to do it every journey. Fine if you don’t speed, but on my work commute there is a new road where the limit is 100k p/h, and Tesla seems to think it’s a 50k p/h road. So I have to mute it every time.
Maps aren’t very smart are they? I planned a route last weekend to take it out for a proper spin through the windy Connemara roads while climbing a mountain in the middle. Now I know these roads like the back of my hand, but the route it was trying to send me was a bit crazy. It was trying to send me up tiny narrow roads and off the main regional route. I knew better so kept going my route. However, if I didn’t know the roads I would’ve trusted the maps and be brought on an un-necessary trip.
When you open up the boot (trunk), the edge of it could hit you on the head easily. I’m only 5’8” and I’ve nearly cracked my head on a couple of occasions. You do have to bend down when loading. Boot space is good though so no issue there.
My stats so far:
My work commute is approx. 15 miles and a mixture of regional driving (100k p/h roads) and city driving. On a pre conditioned battery this is taking me 5% battery. Non pre-conditioned it is taking up to 8% depending on the conditions. The coldest so far was down at 0c and that took me the full 8%.
I am averaging 152 Wh/Km so far, so relatively good. I need to drive a bit more to get a good take on this, as only 2 weeks isn’t a sufficient learning curve for me yet. As recommended, I am charging to 100% once a week and will continue to do so.
Overall, a very positive experience so far in my first Tesla ownership. If anybody has any questions, post up or send me a message as I’ll be happy to give my own experience on it. Thanks for reading, Col : )
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