Safety Equipment That is a Must Have in a Tesla

[Tricia Higgins]

Hello all,

I bought my Tesla back in October 2023. I recently did a road trip and was caught close to going right down to 0% on my battery. Luckily, I was able to navigate to a supercharger before I lost all battery, but it sparked some questions:

What do you consider to be must haves for safety in your Tesla?

Also, do you have any recommendations on extension cords to have on hand as a safety backup?

Cheers,
Tricia

 

[davewill]

If you are regularly traveling in remote areas where any sort of EV charging is very hard to come by, then carrying a mobile connector with 14-50 and 5-15 adapters could be useful, but I don't in general recommend it to people as you can almost always find at least AC EV charging someplace. You can get a CCS adapter, so you can use CCS stations, but it's also only useful if you often travel far from Supercharging.

The main thing to remember if you are afraid of running out of battery before making a Supercharger station is to SLOW DOWN. Slowing down from 80 to 70, or 70 to 60 will stretch your range quite a bit.

If the low voltage battery goes dead, you can find yourself in a situation where you can't open the frunk to jump start the car. You can store an A23 9v battery behind the tow hook cover on the front bumper. Inside that cover are two wires that will unlatch the frunk lid when attached to 9-12v. A jumper pack (or even just jumper cables) in the frunk would then let you jump start your car.

Some people have gone out of their way to buy and carry a temporary spare tire and jack. Others like to carry a tire plug kit. Personally, I just depend on roadside assistance for tire problems.

Almost needless to say, a first aid kit and water should always be on your safety list. Add a blanket or two if you might get stranded in freezing weather.

 

[Eric33432]

Here are different things I carry, or used to carry, in the Frunk, with (comments)

First aid kit (never used it)

Battery operated tire inflator (often use it just to keep the tires topped off, and have used it several times when tires got nails in them so I could get to the tire store to have the tire properly fixed)

https://www.amazon.com/Inflator-Compressor-Rechargeable-Power-Avid/dp/B07CTGM2LD/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1X2BM5DY3LFDF&keywords=avid+tire+inflator&qid=1705511803&sprefix=avid+tire+in%2Caps%2C111&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Tire plug kit (never used it)

Amazon.com

Tire repair kit (have used it with previous car and with my Model X until I was informed that using a plug kit like this would void the warranty on the tire, but I leave it in the Frunk just in case, but would never use it except as a last resort. It is very difficult to insert the tire plugs into a tire that is still mounted on the car. These are considered temporary, but the repairs I made with these lasted a long time and I never had the tire "properly" repaired)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01E635PGA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Jack pucks (in case you are at a tire store that does not have them)

Amazon.com

Tesla Mobile Connector, with various NEMA adaptors (I have never used for an emergency, but use from time to time when visiting family and friends. I would not carry this, and the stuff below unless needed for this purpose)

NEMA 10-30 Extension Cord (for common dryer outlets. I used to carry one of these until I got the Lectron, below. I got the three wire cord as it is less expensive and not as heavy as a NEMA 14-30 cord.)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08LKKTJ5R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

120 volt 12 gauge Extension Cord (just in case. Have never used it)

Adapter cord to convert NEMA 14-30 dryer outlet into NEMA 10-30 outlet (Some houses have 10-30, some have 14-30 dryer outlets. Use this with the three wire extension cord above)

Amazon.com

Bag for these cords:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F1ZMLLK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Lectron Tesla Extention cord like this (I only carry this now. Expensive but makes it a log simpler)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B99CQVQ6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Note: I don't think the Tesla Mobile Connector and these cords are useful for emergencies, but it is nice to have them just in case. I would not bother with them except I now use the Mobile Connector and the Lectron Tesla extension cord about 4 times a year when visiting friends and family that live in the boondocks and charge from their dryer outlets every night just like at home because SuC is about 50 miles away.

Jumper battery (for others) (have used it several times on ICE cars)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0924V8SPC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[hmadsen]

I have a first aid kit, a mobile charger (11 KW - 3 phase) and adaptors to be able to use most every plug type in use in my European country.

That being said....Have never used any of them, but i just know if i dare to take them out of the frunk, just for a single trip, that's the trip where they are going to save me.

 

[gtae07]

but i just know if i dare to take them out of the frunk, just for a single trip, that's the trip where they are going to save me.

Ain't that the truth.

I'd add a spare tire to the list--had several cases where the spare meant 10-15 minutes of work to get back on the road, vs the hours I'd have been waiting for roadside help.

 

[hmadsen]

Ain't that the truth.

I'd add a spare tire to the list--had several cases where the spare meant 10-15 minutes of work to get back on the road, vs the hours I'd have been waiting for roadside help.

I would but there is really no good spot to put it other than directly inside the trunk.

If there was some magical "foldable" spare tyre i could stow in the trunk under the floor or somewhere else, where it would not take up my trunk space i would.

 

[WheresMyKeys]

For local commuting I have jack pucks, J1772 adapter in the car. I keep meaning to put in an air pump / plug kit and keep forgetting.

The only real "safety" accessory I've installed is the rear door emergency release extensions (ordered from ali express). We have small kids and wanted it to be as simple for us to use it if we're unfortunate enough to need it. Why the emergency release isn't built into the rear door panel in some way like it was in the front seats absolutely baffles me. But I digress.


I'm in Canada. I subscribed to CAA auto club / roadside with the longest included tow option.