Wow! This is a lot of automobile for $21,000 and appears to be indistinguishable from a new Model Y AWD with Performance boost (4.2 sec., 0-60 acceleration.) Even though it’s a 2020 model with 71,000 miles on the odometer, Tesla had it polished up like new – it even had the “new car smell” (I know, you can accomplish that with a $5 can of fragrance.)
Spent about half an hour checking vehicle before signing papers Monday. No issues found expect, “Where’s that bag I’m supposed to get with the charging cable and connector?”
Tesla Advisor says, “What bag? Teslas haven’t come with a charging cable in years?”
I said, “I don’t know. Every used Tesla delivery checklist I saw on youtube says to make sure you have the bag with the charging cable and connector adapter so that you can use a non-Tesla charger.”
https://shop.tesla.com/product/mobile-connector
https://shop.tesla.com/product/sae-j1772-charging-adapter?sku=1067348-00-C
So I say to him, “Is that an extra cost option? Maybe I need to buy one? How much are they? Surely you weren’t going to let me leave the dealership with the vehicle without some kind of cable I can use to charge it from a 110V socket when I get home?”
Tesla Advisor, “We don’t sell anything like that here”.
So he emerges from the back room with the $50 adapter, 'Is this what you’re talking about?"
I said, “No. What I saw on youtube was a square black bag with the TESLA logo and a 15-20 foot long cable.”
So then he pulls something out of the wall socket from behind the desk, “Is this what you’re talking about? It’s the Tesla Mobile Connector.”
I said, “Well, it appears that would work for me since it at least has the 110V plug.”
So then my Tesla Advisor goes to the back room again and emerges with the black Tesla bag I saw on youtube and puts the cable and connector in it.
I ask, “How much is all that?”
Tesla Advisor, 'We don’t sell these here. I’m just going to give it to you."
I say, 'That’s great. But why wasn’t this in the car to begin with?"
I’m still missing the Mobil Connector plug for a 220V socket, which is included with the $275 Mobile Connector on Tesla’s web site. Maybe I can find one on eBay.
Car only had a 61% charge on the battery. I told the Tesla Advisor that I’d like to charge it to at least 80% and check that the battery charging was working. He said that they didn’t have a Supercharger at this location, but that Tesla gives you a free Supercharge session within the first 100 miles. He programmed in a charger about 90 miles South of Renton in Chehalis, WA and said I could top off the battery there.
Next he tried to pair my smartphone with the automobile so that I could use the smartphone as my key. This attempt failed. He said sometimes it takes up to 48 hours for Tesla’s computer to be updated with the new owners information. I’d have to use the credit card sized key in the interim by swiping it on a sensor on the pillar on the driver’s side door.
Driving South back home, I noticed a message on the screen saying “battery being preheated for Supercharger session”. Tesla Supercharger was in a large mall, but I didn’t see it at first. So I decided to go to Taco Bell for something to eat and the car was off for about 20 minutes or so.
When I found the Supercharger at a location about 500 feet from Taco Bell, I got a warning to proceed directly to the Supercharger when pre-treatment is under way. My 20 minute stop at Taco Bell meant that a 4 minute charge was now going to take 20 minutes.
The 80 miles from Chehalis to my home used 37% of a full charge to 80% of battery capacity. That would put the 80% range at 216 miles and 100% at 259 miles. When new in 2020, vehicle was advertised with a 315 mile 100% charge range. You’d expect some erosion of battery capacity in a 4 or 5 year old car, but most the 4 or 5 year old cars i saw on line had certified battery capacities in the 90% to 93% range. Maybe it was the way I was driving?
Vehicle has now been charging in my garage for 21 hours on a 110V socket and has added 83 miles of range to the battery. Since it’s not uncommon for me to go a week or two without taking the car out of the garage, I could likely survive on 110V home charging alone. Supercharger’s posted price was 38 cents/kWH (though I got the charge for free). I pay 11 cents/kWH at home.
Downsides I noticed so far is that the build quality and the vehicle’s interior is far short of what I had in the Toyotas and Nissans I’ve driven for the past 40 years. Also, the automation and touch screen controls are definitely a safety hazard.
It was raining off an on on the drive home, and I was using the voice commands to operate the wipers. When a sudden cloudburst completely obstructed the view through the windshield, it took 2 or 3 seconds for the computer to turn the wipers on. It would have been much faster if I just flicked the stalk on the steering column on any of my previous cars.
Overall, I judge it a great deal for my $21,000 purchase price, but there’s no way I’d pay $50,000 for a new one. Find someone else to pay the first few years of depreciation.
intercst
