Tesla Model 3 Performance Police Car Westport, Connecticut
Summery:
Chosen for Safety and Performance (able to catch a speeder going 55 mph
from a standstill in fewer seconds than any other police car).
With 300+ miles range it can run for two shifts. Savings on
gasoline, brakes, tires, oil changes, and spark plugs. Because of
Police cars idling so much, Tesla immediately decreased the carbon
footprint. Sub trunk for radio and computer equipment, trunk for
weapon systems, locked, but frunk can be opened remotely so a citizen
can get medical and other equipment from there without access to what
is in the trunk. Find out what patrolling officers call
"tapering." License plate reading software and be integrated with
existing cameras in the Model 3 making an outside camera system
unnecessary.
When you
enter off Katella, turn left at the Wells Fargo Building, 16
Superchargers, available 24/7, up to 250kW. Did you notice at the
end of the line of chargers is a Hooters?
To the left is the main entrance. Center photo, Lily shows how Hooters got its name. Right, enlargeable menu.
Looking south at the chargers. There were only 3 Teslas with front plates and 2 cars were from out of state.
On the south end of the chargers, at the edge of the Wells Fargo
Bldg. is this nice reflecting pool with tables and chairs.
Above right, Around the corner of the bldg. is the entrance to the
Anaheim Angels Stadium, through an underpass under the Anaheim Amtrak
Station.
On August 6, 2020, there was one "Out of Order" charger and one north of it needing repair (Not good for a wet-rag approach.)
I did not charge to 100% so I could charge again along the way for the experience.
The screen shot above shows only 1 charger available, and it was probably the broken one.
However, cars rotated out quickly because of the 250kW charger speeds.
When you leave, turn right on Katella and enter Hwy 57, under the bridge and right to go north to Glandora, or south to merge onto I-5 in less than a mile.
I-5 runs through California from San Diego to Seattle, Washington.
Packing a Model 3 for an overnight trip with 3 adults.
We took my TravelScoot electric scooter (tell them Carl Morrison referred you) with us since I knew there
would be considerable walking about the Danish town of Solvang and the
adjoining Mission, and we packed for only one night out for the 3 of us.
Left, Frunk loaded with soft bags. Right, In the lower section under
the cover was my rolling camera/computer Tutu bag (21 x 15 x 12
inches), Folded scooter up against the back seats (which folds down if
necessary), and room for other bags in the open area.
We stopped at the Fish House in Santa Barbara for supper.
Very crowded the night before Labor Day. I dropped Sue and Matt and
drove quite far looking for a parking space. Since there was to be a
45-minute wait to be seated. I unloaded the Travel Scoot and zipped
over to the Fish House
When
you've parked your Tesla far from your destination (blue dot), use your
app and on the first page you will find its location (red
triangle). Tap the center icon of the three in the upper right to
see the satellite photo of its location. Photo on the right is my TravelScoot next to a Tesla Model X, which is larger than our Model 3.
On
the Tesla's computer map, I first set my destination where we would be
spending our first night. I then looked at the Supercharger
locations and their wattage and picked where we planned to stop to
charge. We would still have 46% charge at that time, so no range
anxiety at all, and we wouldn't have to charge very long. (As noted on
the bottom line, we could even do a round trip there and back home with
8% state of charge left.) This route has us taking Hwy. 60
through downtown Los Angeles, but I wanted to go farther up to Hwy. 210
and avoid downtown LA. The computer made the adjustment when we
passed Hwy. 60 going farther north. (Does anyone know how to
change a route the computer gives you, even though it might be
fastest?)
The "A Better Route Planner" gives you 2 or 3 choices and you
can select one. However, I had to tell it I was going to Pasadena
as an intermediate stop to get us on the right route.
Very little
traffic on this Sunday evening before Labor Day, so we made good
time. Entering Thousand Oaks, we missed the first Supercharger,
but caught the second one on the next exit!
Notice
the temperature on the top line, 112°! So we did the routine of
putting a cold, wet rag on the nozzle and it worked to keep it cool
enough to touch the handle and we charged quickly. Before you
unplug, notice the "Current Session" (cost) of this charge.
We added a little more for a charge of $5.32 for 83 miles of charge in
20 minutes. There were no businesses in sight, so we asked the
computer for the nearest Starbucks for restroom, coffee and tea for the
last leg to Buellton for the night.
We then reentered Hwy. 101 and finished our journey to Pea Soup
Andersen's Inn. Good thing we had made a reservation with a note
for late arrival because their "No Vacancy" light was on. We found the
Inn to be reasonable - $122. Included Continental breakfast, a small patio, two
queen beds, handicapped room, refurbished room with marble counter
tops, and handicapped parking right outside our door.
Labor Day, 2020
We arose and had Continental breakfast at the Pea Soup Andersen's
Inn. While Sue participated in a Zoom quilting podcast, Matt and
I went to the nearby Buellton Superchargers. Santa Ynez Valley Marriott 555 McMurray Rd Buellton, CA 93427,
10 Superchargers, available 24/7, up to 150kW.
This is the first place we received the notice that this was "a high
usage Superchargers station Charging set at 80%, adjust manually if
needed."
Actually
in the Marriott lot. Several parking choices, drive in, back in,
with two handicapped (one didn't work). Large building is a theater,
across that lot is MacDonalds.
One drive in station across the drive with one plugged in and a Model X next to it with a nice bike rack in the tow hitch spot.
Left, steps down to the theater. Right Map of area at Solvang/Buellton exit off 101. Click map to enlarge.
We got this notice both on the car's computer screen and on my iWatch and Tesla app.
Solvang, California. A danish designed town with Norwegian character, souvenirs and food.
View from
my TravelScoot. Good parking behind the windmill also entrance to the
Mission. Right, same building from which I shot the windmill.
.
Sue doing Sentry Duty and street flowers and windmill.
Several folks rented the multi-person vehicles, but I preferred my electric scooter.
Had aebleskivers for lunch - pancake balls with raspberry jam and powdered sugar.
Who said, on Sunday night TV, "We have a really big shoe tonight"?
This young man had a nice spot to play where the whole, roped-off block could hear him. A Jr. at UCLA.
Near the restrooms were these Charge point chargers, which take their
credit card. That my be a different brand in orange at the back.
Old Mission Santa Ines was the nineteenth of the 21 missions built in
California from 1769 to 1836 by Spanish Franciscan priests led by
Father Junipero Serra.
When I traveled by train rather than Tesla, I took screen shots of my watch to remember details. Still works.
While at the Camarillo Outlets, I noticed that Sentry had a red dot, I
checked the video and this lady had not touched our car. Notice that
sentry mode used 4 cameras. Click to enlarge the photo.
At
the Thousand Oaks Charger that we had missed on the way up, I noticed
that the computer shows how much you spent at the last Supercharger.
This Thousand Oaks charger was twice as fast as the one we used on the
way up. This one: 4000 East Thousand Oaks Boulevard Thousand
Oaks, 91362 24 Superchargers, available 24/7, up to 150kW
The computer shows the way to get back on Hwy. 101.
Back home, with the computer screen darkened for night viewing.
Fuel cost for the 343 mile round trip: Left home with full
battery. Thousand Oaks $5.32, Buellton $7.32, Thousand Oaks $7.60
= $20.24 or 5.9¢ per mile at Supercharger rates.
10 Reasons to Buy an Electric Car.
YouTuber, SpawnPoint, says, "10 benefits of owning and driving an EV in
the UK, including running costs, maintenance and some other interesting
advantages." His excellent presentation both verbally and
photographically is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Qyyfd3Dgd4
1. No Gears 2. Performance 3. Running Costs 4.
Charging at Home 5. Maintenance 6. Silence 7. Environment
8. Storage 9. Purchase Incentives 10.
Community. Watch his video for a thorough explanation of all 10.
Software Update 2020.36.11 on September 25, 2020.
My fifth OTA software update has arrived - 2020.36.11 ccacdb181f16
on September 25, 2020. I am beginning to realize that in addition
to the numbers, 2020.36.11, I need to look at the following letters, ccacdb181f16,
when searching the Internet for a complete description of what's new in
this update. Furthermore, I can just look at the car's screen
after the software update and be satisfied with the description there
(screen shot above). Perhaps the full set of numbers and letters
is specific to my model, not to the full self-driving models because
they are talking about the car recognizing stop lights and chiming when
the light turns green, but my on-screen description doesn't say
anything about that feature. For an additional $4,000 I could add
more driving features, but no thanks.
Model 3 60,000 mi. Operating Cost
I follow Kyle Conner, YouTuber for Out of Spec Motoring,
and he posted this video on the cost of his one-year ownership of a
Tesla 3. He drove it on a Cannonball Run and on race tracks
drifting, hard use. His lead in to the video said:
Kyle
goes through what 60,000 mi. of abuse does to a Model 3. From cross
country road trips, dogs in the car, and track use, we look at the car
and the data from his one year of ownership! Interested in seeing
servicing cost, battery degradation, supercharging use, and overall
data? Then this is your video!
A few of the many facts that impressed me were: Total
maintenance cost $100. Gasoline savings $8,500. He traded
it for a Model 3 Performance and got $35,000 for it from Tesla.
Tesla Model 3 with 100,000 miles shows extreme low cost and minimal battery degradation
It
is interesting to see what some high-mileage Model 3s are finding as
their maintenance costs for that many miles. The owner of a
100,000 mile Model 3 said,
“I
was astonished at the little cost of maintenance and service for the
car. The total cost of electricity was $2,985. Total maintenance and
service cost was $1,741.11; so the total cost of ownership was
$4732.11.” .
