{"id":2164,"date":"2019-10-13T07:24:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-13T07:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mikesgear.com\/?p=2164"},"modified":"2022-07-27T06:12:18","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T06:12:18","slug":"accessorizing-the-tesla-model-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mikesgear.com\/?p=2164","title":{"rendered":"Accessorizing the Tesla Model 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you’ve come here from one of my other Powerwall pages, you might be surprised to know that the Powerwall was not the first Tesla I ordered – just the first that Tesla could deliver. My other Tesla order arrived a few weeks ago, three and a half years <\/em><\/strong>after it was ordered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sucking down those solar KWhs, baby!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There’s plenty of reviews about what this is, and why you’d want one<\/a>, so I’ll just cover some of the recent accessory gear that applies to Australia specifically. If you find this post useful, and would like to buy a car that feels like it’s from the future, please use my referral link https:\/\/ts.la\/michael16401<\/a><\/strong> and we’ll both get some free Supercharging power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exterior stuff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For accessories, most American Tesla owners use Amazon and 3rd-party sellers like Abstract Ocean\/EVAnnex, but these guys are pretty expensive for us here in Oz due to freight expenses – I found Aliexpress and eBay sell the same gear for considerably less, with free freight, so the only real challenge is finding them. I’ll cover the accessories first – bold links are to seller pages for these.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mudflaps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There’s none included by default, and if you want to avoid getting road crap on the door sills and bumpers, there are some fairly-inoffensive ones on eBay <\/strong><\/a>for under $20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Other than the slightly-rusty screw, these fitted perfectly, and it took about 5 mins to fit each one after removing the wheel. They come with screws and pushpins. The front two require you to drill a pilot hole for the screw into the plastic guard liner, the rear ones don’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wheel caps<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bare rims look pretty good under the Aero covers, but the bolts are basic uncoated steel and there’s a big hole in the centre of the rim. I added the centre cap and covers full set from here AliExpress<\/a><\/strong> for USD 35. The centre cap looks machined from alloy, but is actually plastic, and the black caps are just plastic and press-fit over the steel bolts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lift pads<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you are going to hoist the car, it has a set of 4 holes under the sills that are intended to be used as lift points, and a standard scissor jack can’t do the job unaided. Hence these lift pads – 4 for USD31 from eBay<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can put one of these in a standard hydraulic floor jack, or all 4 of them on top of the flat lift-pads that come on the hoists that most mechanics use, for when it comes time to rotate the tyres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roadside emergency stuff<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Model 3 has roadside assist from Tesla for the duration of the warranty, so there’s no spare, jack, etc included – they expect you to wait for the NRMA to arrive and solve a flat. I could probably repair a puncture myself in less than 15 mins, so the following are tucked into the boot sub-basement: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Wheel brace<\/strong> from eBay<\/a><\/strong> for USD 16 – has 4 different socket sizes, and expands out to make it easy to undo tight bolts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Puncture repair kit<\/strong> from eBay<\/a><\/strong> for USD 12 – these are durable enough for multiple uses and you can fix a tread puncture with the tools easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compressor <\/strong>from eBay<\/a><\/strong> for USD 32 – plugs into cigarette lighter socket under the centre armrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still working on a jack – a cheap scissor one with a flat top should suit, just waiting to come across one for free as these are common-as.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Door strike covers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The strike is just like one on any other car, a shiny steel piece, so it tends to stick out against the dark paint – a set of stick-on covers was USD 13 from AliExpress<\/a><\/strong> – a steel piece with fake carbon-fibre appearance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Boot and frunk struts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The factory struts are not intended to actually lift the boot and frunk up – these boot-strut replacements from eBay<\/a><\/strong> will do the job for USD 16. You just press the button in the phone app or on the centre screen, or press the unlock pad above the licence plate. To fit, just use pliers or flatblade screwdriver<\/strong><\/a> to pull the metal cover off the end of the cup, and the strut will pop off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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