# Max hits 40,000 miles



## tencate (Jan 11, 2018)

Well, actually 41k now. There aren't many reports on Model 3s with lots of miles yet so thought I'd share some things. Hope some of you find this useful.

COST to charge up all those miles? $750. Yup, really. Give or take maybe $50. I know exactly what I've spent on Superchargers (and recently that's been free because of referrals ). The ChargePoint at work is also a known quantity, works out to about 8 cents a kWh. The local Nature Center has FREE Level 2 charging. The County has a couple of lots with FREE Level 2 charging too. Home rates here are 12 cents a kWh. Figuring out what I really spend charging at home (which is rare for me in the summer) is a bit of a guess so I've assumed parasitic losses similar to what's in Mikes Monthly Efficiency Reports to help make a rough estimate at what it's really costing me to charge at home. I added it all up (twice) and came up with around $750.

EFFICIENCY reported by the car? 221 Wh/mile total. I will note that for the last 5000 miles, I'm seeing 196 Wh/mile on the original 18 inch tires. More on tires below.

REPAIRS? (1) I have an early car. The original charge port went wonky, not knowing whether to close or open so it randomly opened and closed, repeatedly. I called Service (early Feb 2018) and they shut it down remotely. Service ranger then drove out and replaced the whole charge port door a week later with a new design. NM has no Service Centers by the way. It was the Mobile Ranger's first Model 3 house call in New Mexico  (2) I had the corner trim piece by the driver's mirror lose some of its fuzzy bits and come unglued. Ranger came and replaced the whole assembly. (3) I got a chip in the windshield the first week I had it. Safelite repaired it for free. Repair has held up nicely.

MAINTENANCE? I rotated tires every 10,000 km as recommended by Michelin. Yes, me, not a shop, with hockey pucks for the jacking points. Factory tires have 30,000 miles on them and still have life left. The winter Michelin X-ice tires have gone 10,000 miles. I used the factory tires for the first winter (2017-18) and decided to get snow tires for last winter. I do have chains too, but didn't have to use them in spite of some nasty snowstorms this year. I put in washer fluid once this past winter. Haven't yet changed wiper blades. Checked the brakes this Spring. No apparent brake pad wear, brake fluid shows no signs of corrosion (test strips), there is no appreciable water content in the brake fluid either (tester). I need to check the small 12V battery I think. Anything else? Haven't done the cabin filter(s). It's pretty dusty here, I might.

BATTERY DEGRADATION? Not really. I rarely charge completely up to "full" but had to just recently and I saw 316 miles on the display. Car came advertised with 310 and then there was the range upgrade, so maybe I have a little battery degradation. But not much. I sorta charge as needed. It's really pretty random, nothing regular, usually up to 80% when I do charge though if you care.

I'm deliriously happy with the car. If something happened to Max, I'd order another Model 3 to replace him. No, I'm still not jaded, and with autopilot, it's entertaining driving the car every time I get in. I do think I should get a sign made up that says *Caution: Student AI Driver *though* *

Any other questions I haven't answered?


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

tencate said:


> Haven't done the cabin filter(s). It's pretty dusty here, I might


After a recent road trip that included about 60 miles on dirt roads, I had mobile change my cabin air filters while he was here. $140. I've got 34,000 miles(and 10 months) on mine and I didn't think the filters looked very bad. I'll likely wait until 100k to change again. 
As for tires, all 34k are on original 18's(no winter tires here!). I did the first rotation, free by mobile at 7,500 miles. Since then, I've routinely monitored tread wear(with a gauge), but no rotations. remarkably even wear on the P3D. Probably not so even on the RWD. I think new tires at 36K. Is your windshield glass in good shape overall? Like you, I got a few early small chips. But I've got significant pitting/abrasion to the point that I'm gonna have to replace the windshield very soon. I've never had this issue at any mileage on any other car(45 years of driving). I'm convinced that my glass is substandard, and plan to discuss it with the SC if I ever get back there.
I'm running 252 wh/m so far in my P. I've found that 240 is not the required rate to achieve full range on the P, more like 225 on 18's(no aeros). Do you find that 221wh/m puts you significantly beyond rated range? Sounds like a poll might be in order?
My degradation seems to be greater than yours, but not alarming. I'm at 297/310. So down 4% at 34,000 miles. I routinely charge to 85% at home, stay plugged in, and about 40% of my miles are from supercharging on road trips(free, other than a single idle fee of $6.50, when I got carried away talking Tesla at a 4 stall charger).


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## tencate (Jan 11, 2018)

FRC said:


> But I've got significant pitting/abrasion to the point that I'm gonna have to replace the windshield very soon.


Have you tried a glass polish? We get a lot of sand and grit and water spots here too have lots of silica in our water which bonds to the glass. I use Duragloss 755 NuGlass. There are probably others too. Seems like the same stuff used to polish glass cooktops.


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## mrau (Nov 22, 2018)

For those that are so inclined, Tesla has a nice web page that shows you how to do some self maintenance. Changing cabin filter is one of them.

https://www.tesla.com/support/do-it-yourself-model-3#replace-air-filter


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## Madmolecule (Oct 8, 2018)

tencate said:


> I do think I should get a sign made up that says *Caution: Student AI Driver *though**


Or maybe *Caution: Beta Software being tested.* (we have to acknowledge that a feature is beta, but the surrounding drivers don't know that)


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## FRC (Aug 4, 2018)

tencate said:


> Duragloss 755 NuGlass.


I've ordered it. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll be shocked and elated if it helps!


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