Living with a Tesla Model 3 in the UK
Since having collected my Tesla Model 3 Long Range from Birmingham in September, it’s been a real eye opener. From lack of charging points to the fantastic tech behind the Tesla.
Since receiving the car, the Tesla Model 3 has got better and I’m not just talking drives better, I’m talking the over the air upgrades that changes the dynamics and functionality of the car.
One Month In…
So one month in and I was still quite reluctant to take the Tesla Model 3 out for a drive, I was getting range anxiety even when it showed 100 miles left on the battery range. My commute to the office is a 7 mile trip, but it took 20 miles off the battery.
On top of this, I pre-warmed the car and had sentry mode on, even at my home location so this also ate into the battery and made me less likely to use it.
But with a little bit of coaching via TM3 drivers on Twitter, I adapted how I drove and charged the car. I treated it like I would a petrol car, fill the tank to 90% and then ran it down to 35–50 miles.
Also I received one of the major over the air updates in October and the range predicted was more realistic, I also changed how I operated things internally like the air con.
Two Months in…
November and it was starting to get cold, still no home charger so I relied on local chargers and chargers located at shopping centres like Intu Derby. I was still to hit 1,000 miles and the car wasn’t being used to its full capacity.
To make things clearer, we had the Tesla Model 3 as a second car, my wife has a Mercedes SUV which is our main vehicle for the kids and the accessories that come with having a family.
There was no need to use the Tesla Model 3 on a regular basis, but I did start to venture out a little more. A few trips to Burton from Derby to see clients helped me realise that the range showing was also similar to the fuel range on a car, the harder you drove it the quicker it went down.
I was the opposite, in fact the car has been in “Chill” mode from day one, so these longer runs gave me approx. 1.5 miles for every 1 mile shown.
Three/Four months in…
This is the month I really fell in love with the Tesla, having a nice long break over Christmas and New Year, this car was used on a daily basis. Not just over the festive period, but from the 1st December.
Utilising the local chargers, the car came into its own. Fill the car to 90%, it gives me 296 miles. My commute is approx. 20 miles per day, plus messing around in between.
Weekend jaunts to Intu Derby and across the Peak District helped put miles on the car and helped relieve the range anxiety, that I had in the early days.
We really utilised the Christmas break and whilst we’d normally use this time to go abroad, we had a staycation at home. Having day trips and the odd night away.
We also had the Tesla booked in at its service centre in Leeds, nothing major but the aero wheel trim on the off side front was missing a clip so kept coming loose.
It gave us the opportunity to have a run up, stay over night, some charging and a trip to Harrogate and back home.
This was nice and easy, 210 miles on the range and blasted up to Leeds. Tesla Service centre sorted out the issue within 20 minutes and then across to the local shopping centre to charge on a Tesla Destination charger.
Overnighted at the Leeds Marriott (No charging), then in the morning across to Harrogate to meet the in-laws for lunch at Gino’s.
Back down to Derby and still had miles left. SERIOUSLY IMPRESSED.
The day after we decided to go to the Butterfly House in Sheffield, this gave me the opportunity to use my supercharging miles at Woodall services.
The supercharging network in the UK is growing, but it seems slow to roll out in the North. We haven’t got many available in our local area with the closest being Stoke-on-Trent or Woodall, we have destination chargers but these are attached to leisure facilities or food places.
When in Leeds, supercharging wasn’t an option due to all stalls being full. When I say all stalls, the two that are available.
However, if Tesla pull their finger out and get a few more live, then the whole system is amazing.
I had 19 miles left in the battery when arriving at Woodall, I pulled up alongside another Model 3 and a Model S. Plugged the car in and the car kicked into life. In fact the car had already prepared itself for supercharging a few miles back from Woodall.
We went inside the services for a drink and by the time my Starbucks had been prepared and hit the table, checking the app the car was already half full! 50 minutes in total and the car was already back up to 295 miles and ready for home.
This wasn’t my only visit to superchargers over the period and will not be my last.
Ongoing…
The car is now used on a more regular basis, I use it for longer runs and I even went across to the Belfry in Lichfield for a recent meeting, they had destination chargers on site to give me a top up.
Morley Hayes for a Pie and Chips on the way home, no issues again. Dedicated Tesla charging bay with a destination charger.
Top Tips on owning or leasing a Tesla Model 3…
I cannot vouch for all of these tips, as I have had lots of help from the UK Tesla Model 3 community but here are a few that have helped me:
- Save on range anxiety by keeping the car in Chill mode, less likely to plant your foot on the floor and slower acceleration.
- Put the steering into Sport, not for the handling but it effectively uses less energy as it doesn’t have to assist the power steering as much.
- Use a REFERRAL CODE when ordering. It doesn’t matter if you buy, lease, contract hire, hire purchase, etc. I’ve written another article on buying a Tesla Model 3 which I will share below.
- Make sure your Tesla stays up to date. Connect to your home WiFi and make sure that you accept the updates. They vary but most recent ones have improved the internal system, display and even the range and performance.
- Don’t upgrade your car to FSD or Performance if you are leasing the car over a shorter period. You’re literally giving money to the lease firm and its not transferable to another future Tesla.
Tesla Referral Code.
Yes, I will get 1,000 supercharger miles when ordering a Tesla, but so will you. Then when you own your Tesla, get the referral code from the app and share share share.
If your are ordering a Tesla, then please do use mine if possible: