Tesla Model 3 News and Discussion

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › Tesla Model 3 News and Discussion

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#288285 18-Jun-2021 11:36

We have been mulling over pulling the trigger on a new model 3 for a while now and the new clean car package certainly makes it even more appealing. Would be the Standard Range Plus

We would obviously be pretty keen to try one out first but the test drives only being in Auckland is a bit tricky (We are based in Wellington, Tawa more specifically). We have looked at hiring via Go Rentals for a day to give one a a good real world test but they are pretty expensive ~$500 for a day if you want to avoid the $5000 bond and excess which is bit off putting.

What have others outside of Auckland done for this?

Some of other questions that are floating around that hopefully people will be able to advise on:

What are the best insurance deals around at the moment?
Any thoughts on whether the Full Self Driving package is worthwhile, leaning towards no @ $11,400
- What features do you get under the standard auto pilot and which ones are unlocked via the add on? Finding it quite difficult to find anything definitive on this on their website.
Thoughts on whether NZ will ever get the tow hitch options? Would certainly be useful for the occasional time we need to move some big stuff / make a trip to the transfer station etc.
Home wall charger, what have been the experiences with install costs? We rewired the place a few years back with new switchboard etc which will is not far away from where we would be parking.
- Cant seem to find much info on compatibility of the Tesla wall chargers with other EVs - do they use the standard CCS2 plugs? We have a few friends and family with other EVs so would be good to be able to charge them when they visit for the weekend etc.

Cheers

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ... | 110

2585 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 390

Subscriber

#2730579 18-Jun-2021 11:47

Having just done this and awaiting more details on when my "in transit" car arrives; I had pretty much the same questions.

Join the Model 3 Owners club on Facebook; there are plenty of people who are willing to assist with looking at a car. I was looking at paying the $360/day hire cost for a GoRental Tesla but went with purchasing without having a test drive in the end.

Insurance; InsureMyTesla via Vero is the most comprehensive, covers everything including a replacement car for the first two years and all glass (including the roof); $1900 a year with $639 excess (in my case $2100 via monthly payments). AA is about the same but without the replacement car and AMP is about $1000 with a replacement car for the first year but glass repair costs the excess. I am currently leaning towards AMP.

Full Self Driving - no (to get the rebate, no and then yes after purchase). Just not worth it in New Zealand, aside from a few "gimmicks"

Home Charger - best advise is to wait and see if charging via the supplied standard 3 pin is suitable (it should be for my needs).

Might want to purchase a Type 2 cable for those "BYO" chargers that are around, otherwise ChargeNet has CCS (or CSS) chargers installed which are what the M3 require, and of course the Tesla Superchargers are compatible

Jase2985

13730 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 6202

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#2730581 18-Jun-2021 11:49

this from a few weeks ago

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=162&topicid=286063

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#2730613 18-Jun-2021 12:48

Yep have had a look through some of those previous threads which have some good answers to some of my questions.

Obraik

2167 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1347

#2730614 18-Jun-2021 12:49

hazza87:

We have been mulling over pulling the trigger on a new model 3 for a while now and the new clean car package certainly makes it even more appealing. Would be the Standard Range Plus

We would obviously be pretty keen to try one out first but the test drives only being in Auckland is a bit tricky (We are based in Wellington, Tawa more specifically). We have looked at hiring via Go Rentals for a day to give one a a good real world test but they are pretty expensive ~$500 for a day if you want to avoid the $5000 bond and excess which is bit off putting.

What have others outside of Auckland done for this?

Some of other questions that are floating around that hopefully people will be able to advise on:

What are the best insurance deals around at the moment?
Any thoughts on whether the Full Self Driving package is worthwhile, leaning towards no @ $11,400

What features do you get under the standard auto pilot and which ones are unlocked via the add on? Finding it quite difficult to find anything definitive on this on their website.
Thoughts on whether NZ will ever get the tow hitch options? Would certainly be useful for the occasional time we need to move some big stuff / make a trip to the transfer station etc.
Home wall charger, what have been the experiences with install costs? We rewired the place a few years back with new switchboard etc which will is not far away from where we would be parking.

Cant seem to find much info on compatibility of the Tesla wall chargers with other EVs - do they use the standard CCS2 plugs? We have a few friends and family with other EVs so would be good to be able to charge them when they visit for the weekend etc.
Cheers

Join up on the Tesla Model 3 Facebook group and one of the locals would be happy to give you a demo of their car. If you're looking to have one for the day then the rental option would be your best bet.

Generally insurance is done best by Tesla's "Insure My Tesla" package provided by Vero. You get full vehicle replacement in the first two years/40,000kms and excess free on all glass (including the roof).
FSD isn't really worth the cost and it's a little silly that some of the advanced Autopilot features are tied to it, such as changing lanes, auto park, dumb summon, etc. It's suppose to be coming out as a subscription in the next few months, however.
We won't see an official tow hitch for the Model 3, that will only be for the Model X and Y. Plenty of people have put an aftermarket hitch on though.
If it's not going to be too expensive from a wiring PoV, getting a 32A charging circuit isn't a bad idea. Tesla sells a wall charger, however if you think you might want a second EV that's not a Tesla at some point I would recommend going with a non-Tesla wall charger so you can charge any EV - Tesla's will only charge a Tesla. The Model 3 uses Type 2/CCS2, the same as any other new EV in NZ.

Looking to buy a Tesla? Use my referral link and we both get credits

SQLGeek

135 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 32

#2730631 18-Jun-2021 13:31

Best to order one now as it is only a $200 deposit. There is going to be huge demand and you may miss out on the rebate. Make sure you use a referral code when you order to get free 1500KM super charging as it cannot be added later. He’s mine: https://ts.la/craig21937

exador

101 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 63

#2730650 18-Jun-2021 14:05

I took a 3 for a test drive yesterday. They only had the Performance model available when I specifically requested a SR+ (sales woman says “just don’t put your foot down as far”) and was limited to a 20 min drive in Auckland traffic.
Did briefly get onto NW Motorway and scared myself s**tless with the acceleration. Fart mode also fun.
For older folks, the touch screen can be a little out of focus (wear bifocals when driving?) but voice commands seemed to work well.

Sales woman also said phone has been running off the hook since rebate announcement with September shipment already sold out.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

wellygary

8810 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5287

#2730671 18-Jun-2021 14:30

SQLGeek:

Best to order one now as it is only a $200 deposit. There is going to be huge demand and you may miss out on the rebate.

There is $300 million in the kitty until funding from the "Ute tax" arrives,

I seriously doubt there will be enough EV stock able to be physically delivered in the next 6 months to burn through a fraction of that...

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#2730695 18-Jun-2021 15:15

Yep i tend to agree $300m equates to almost 35,000 new EVs in the next 6 months which stock wise is never going to happen no matter how popular they become. But certainly there is some sense to getting an order in for the sake of $200 non refundable deposit so i will likely do this anyway.

RunningMan

9184 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4834

#2730699 18-Jun-2021 15:30

hazza87:

Home wall charger, what have been the experiences with install costs? We rewired the place a few years back with new switchboard etc which will is not far away from where we would be parking.

Cant seem to find much info on compatibility of the Tesla wall chargers with other EVs - do they use the standard CCS2 plugs? We have a few friends and family with other EVs so would be good to be able to charge them when they visit for the weekend etc.

Tesla uses a normal type 2 CCS, however the current generation of Tesla wall connectors will only charge a Tesla, despite having a type 2 plug. If you want friends to be able to charge non Tesla cars, then get a non Tesla EVSE.

hazza87

352 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 7

#2730701 18-Jun-2021 15:37

RunningMan:

hazza87:

Home wall charger, what have been the experiences with install costs? We rewired the place a few years back with new switchboard etc which will is not far away from where we would be parking.

Cant seem to find much info on compatibility of the Tesla wall chargers with other EVs - do they use the standard CCS2 plugs? We have a few friends and family with other EVs so would be good to be able to charge them when they visit for the weekend etc.

Tesla uses a normal type 2 CCS, however the current generation of Tesla wall connectors will only charge a Tesla, despite having a type 2 plug. If you want friends to be able to charge non Tesla cars, then get a non Tesla EVSE.

Thanks - very helpful

Any advise on recommended non Tesla chargers?

Scott3

4176 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 2990

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2730716 18-Jun-2021 16:01

RunningMan:

Tesla uses a normal type 2 CCS, however the current generation of Tesla wall connectors will only charge a Tesla, despite having a type 2 plug. If you want friends to be able to charge non Tesla cars, then get a non Tesla EVSE.

For a NZ new model 3, the above is true.

However the model S & X use a modified (non CCS) type 2 port. Can charge from type 2 tethered (and unteathered) AC chargers, but needs an adapter to do (non tesla supercharger ) DC fast charging.

Also used imports form japan get the north american propriety connector.

Regarding the Tesla wall charger, there used to be a legacy mode switch inside that would allow any brand of (type 2) EV to charge. Has this been removed on the later ones?

HP

Shop now for HP laptops and other devices (affiliate link).

mattwnz

20515 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4795

#2730729 18-Jun-2021 16:03

exador: I took a 3 for a test drive yesterday. They only had the Performance model available when I specifically requested a SR+ (sales woman says “just don’t put your foot down as far”) and was limited to a 20 min drive in Auckland traffic.
Did briefly get onto NW Motorway and scared myself s**tless with the acceleration. Fart mode also fun.
For older folks, the touch screen can be a little out of focus (wear bifocals when driving?) but voice commands seemed to work well.

Sales woman also said phone has been running off the hook since rebate announcement with September shipment already sold out.

Don't put your foot down as far. Are they kidding?

Apparently the performance one is noticeably faster, shown by the amount it pushes you back in your seat. Apparently you an also upgrade these cars performance using the app in the car by paying a fee. eg it is already built in but you have to pay to enable it. This is similar to the heated back car seats. In my town I see Tesla model 3's being driven around everywhere.

Critics IMO were right that the more well off are being subsidized to buy these. IMO they are a standout deal with the subsidy, as it is essentially a performance luxury car and a plain wrapper. Plus it more than pays for itself with the increase in equity many house buyers have had.eg The average increase in equity over the last year has been about 200k. The subsidy is a cherry on top, so it is almost like a free car for many thanks to Covid.

wellygary

8810 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5287

#2730733 18-Jun-2021 16:05

hazza87:

Yep i tend to agree $300m equates to almost 35,000 new EVs in the next 6 months which stock wise is never going to happen no matter how popular they become. But certainly there is some sense to getting an order in for the sake of $200 non refundable deposit so i will likely do this anyway.

Tesla is probably the only brand that will be able to have any major ramp in deliveries in the next few months,

All the legacy marques will have to indent orders to their head offices, and await an allocation, - also a number are hobbled by being a sub offices of Australia which puts them further away from any actual allocation....

mattwnz

20515 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 4795

#2730736 18-Jun-2021 16:12

wellygary:

hazza87:

Yep i tend to agree $300m equates to almost 35,000 new EVs in the next 6 months which stock wise is never going to happen no matter how popular they become. But certainly there is some sense to getting an order in for the sake of $200 non refundable deposit so i will likely do this anyway.

Tesla is probably the only brand that will be able to have any major ramp in deliveries in the next few months,

All the legacy marques will have to indent orders to their head offices, and await an allocation, - also a number are hobbled by being a sub offices of Australia which puts them further away from any actual allocation....

Haven't they recently changed their factory? I think they are made in China now, or they are using a new factory in China, and apparently the build quality has improved, and the panel gaps in places aren't as bad over the last few months.

wellygary

8810 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 5287

#2730738 18-Jun-2021 16:14

mattwnz:

Haven't they recently changed their factory? I think they are made in China now, or they are using a new factory in China, and apparently the build quality has improved, and the panel gaps in places aren't as bad over the last few months.

Yeah, NZ model 3 stock has been sourced from China for a couple of months now...

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ... | 110