The Experience of Buying and Using an Electric Car in China

Today, I’d like to record and share with you some of my limited experience of buying and using an electric car, in the hopes that it may be of some use to those who come after. Although I have nearly 10 years of experience driving gas-powered cars, buying and registering an electric car was a whole new experience for me. So, let’s get started with a blow-by-blow account of the process! (Note: If you already own an electric car, feel free to skip this).

When Should You Choose an Electric Car?

There are two main conditions to consider: when you have the ability to install a home charging station, or when you live in a city with many public charging stations. That being said, there is one exception: if you live in an extremely cold area, particularly one where the temperature is regularly below -30°C in the winter, it is not recommended to choose an electric car.

How Can You Tell if Your City Has Public Charging Stations?

You can use a variety of apps, such as Baidu Maps, Gaode Maps, or “Search Nearby” to find “Charging Stations” in your area. You might be surprised at just how many there are! In addition, there are many third-party apps and programs, such as “E Charging” from State Grid, “Star Net Charging” from Evergrande, “Xiaoju Charging” from Didi, as well as “TELC, “TENENGXING,” and others. Once you have used these apps and programs, you should have a better idea of which charging stations to use. But now let’s get back to applying for an electric meter, selecting a charging station, and more.

Applying for an Electric Meter and Relevant Parameters

If you purchase a charging station from Tesla’s official website, a Tesla installer will provide you with specific installation-related information and parameters. However, if you have purchased a third-party charging station for the first time, this may be a bit more difficult to understand. In the face of this choice, you may be unsure of which to choose, so I will introduce some of the main points.

200V or 380V?

If you can apply for 380V, do so, as the charging speed is faster. See figure 1 below for a comparison of charging speeds under different voltages and currents.

Under 380V and 32A, the charging speed is approximately 70+ km/h. (Note: Regardless of whether the current setting on the home charging station is set to 16A, 25A, or 32A, the car screen always displays 16A.) Under 380V and 25A, the charging speed is approximately 60+ km/h. If the current setting on your third-generation home charging station is not 32A, you can easily change it by logging in to the charging station via your smartphone.

(Tips: you will need two phones – one connected to the home charger and the other using the first phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot.) Under 220V and 32A, the charging speed is approximately 43 km/h. Once you have logged in to your home charger, you can adjust the current, decide whether to allow non-Tesla electric cars to charge (you can’t do this with second-generation charging stations), update the software, and more. See the following image for the corresponding interface:

Tesla Model 3 home charger applies for 21 kW power, and there are many different views online. According to the Tesla charging pile manual (Tesla Model 3 home charger), it indicates that the maximum output power is 21 kW under 32 A. It is said that the power supply company in Suzhou provides 24 kW of electricity uniformly, which is slightly larger but actually okay. However, the equipment is no longer supported, so it is recommended to apply for 21 kW according to the requirements of the manual, which is definitely not wrong.

For those who do not have a property parking space, can they still apply for a State Grid charging pile and electricity meter? The answer is yes. According to the State Grid’s requirements, there are two situations that permit the application: one is the property parking space, and the other is the leased parking space with a lease agreement of more than 12 months.

Where to Apply for a State Grid Electricity Meter Download App?

Visit the State Grid website, click on “I want to apply for electricity”, “Low-voltage residential new installation”, and then follow the prompts to fill in the information. You need to upload proof of the property parking space or a leasing parking space agreement.

Selection of Charging Piles

Some people choose Tesla’s original equipment, while others choose third-party products. Both choices are fine.

Here is a car owner’s idea: buying a third-party portable charging pile of 380 V, which is for home charging during usual times, and it can also be taken for traveling. Third-party products are generally cheaper than the original equipment, and you can save the cost of buying an additional portable charging pile. This is a choice for everyone.

In the previous stage, Tesla’s official website offered a discounted price of 6,000 yuan for the second-generation charging pile. If you do not plan to share your charging pile with others, then the price of this second-generation charging pile is still worth it.

About Tesla Color and Wheel Selection

Of course, the color depends on personal preference. I chose a black Model Y from Tesla, but black paint is not very good. It is easy to be scratched when washing the car. To avoid scratches, I put a car cover on the car, which is basically the same price as choosing other car paints.

I was also very indecisive about wheel selection, but eventually decided on 19 inches for two reasons. Firstly, I watched a video from a vlogger who tested it and found that using 19 inches increased the range by approximately 5%-10%. Although I do not know if his test is accurate, the manufacturer submitted 19 inches for the record, and a range of 594 km was also tested on this wheel size. In theory, the manufacturer would not use a wheel and tire set with a shorter range for testing, and some people might argue that it is the standard configuration. However, if 20 inches offer a longer range, Tesla should tell users when choosing that 20 inches gives 5% longer range. All in all, I chose to believe what the vlogger said.Before picking up the car, please take a look at the Model Y manual, which has 308 pages. Though some sections may not be necessary to understand at first, around 100 pages, particularly the parts about driving, such as how to use the touch screen to answer or adjust the volume of a phone call, play WeChat voice, activate turn signals, use wipers, EAP, and Autopilot, are significant. There is no need to doubt it; I have read the printed manual carefully and can remember most of the driving-related parts, as shown in Figure 4 below.

Ask an experienced driver among your friends to accompany you and make a checklist for car inspection. Many inspection lists are available online, and they are all easy to follow, so I will not repeat them here.

When it comes to choosing vehicle protection, for the car cover, it is recommended to use a black one. For other colored cars, choose the right car cover based on your personal preference. Figure 5 shows the effect of a car cover, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find the image of an unlicensed car, so I borrowed this photo from the circle of a friend who provides protective films.

As for window films, some people say they can block sunlight, but they only provide some heat insulation, and air conditioning is still needed to keep you cool during hot summer days. The film can effectively prevent skin burn caused by ultraviolet radiation, especially during sunny mornings (around 8 or 9 a.m.) in the summer in southern regions. Nowadays, window films are much cheaper than before, and it is still worth buying them.

We don’t recommend using films on the ceiling because the Model Y’s glass roof itself can block ultraviolet rays. Besides, if you have a film on the ceiling, it will make the interior too dark during cloudy days. If sunlight still bothers you, you can buy sunshades for the car interior.

As for floor mats, consider buying them depending on your preferences, preferences for colors or material, and usage scenarios.

Regarding the portable charger, whether or not to purchase it depends on personal preferences and individual travel needs.### Bits and Pieces of Car USB Drive

Do you need to replace the original USB drive?

Not necessary for now. You can replace it when it’s broken. It should last for about a year in theory.

People often say that the original USB drive is bad. What do SLC, MLC, and TLC mean?

SLC (Single-Level Cell) stores 1 bit of data in 1 memory cell, MLC (Multi-Level Cell) stores 2 bits, and TLC (Trinary-Level Cell) stores 3 bits. The more data stored in a single cell, the cheaper the price but the fewer times it can be read. TLC USB drives are the most common on the market, but they have a shorter lifespan when used frequently for car dash cams. If you think the data captured by your dashcam and Sentry Mode is important, it’s better to choose USB drives with MLC or SLC chips. SLC USB drives are the most expensive and their maximum capacity is currently only 64GB. For a higher capacity, you can choose MLC USB drives or USB flash drives designed as solid-state drives (which also use MLC chips).
Some people recommend buying a USB hub to achieve personalized or high-quality music effects. However, it’s not recommended in Model Y owner’s manual page 29, which states, “Do not use a USB hub to connect multiple devices. Doing so can cause connected devices to not charge or be recognized by the media player, Sentry Mode, or Dashcam”. To solve the problem of storing personalized or high-quality music, it’s suggested to partition the USB drive for dashcam and music storage. For example, 100GB for dashcam and the rest for music. If it’s just for personalized music, 1GB is enough. You can partition the USB drive easily on Windows or MAC, but make sure to choose the FAT32 or exFAT format according to the instruction manual.

Sentry Mode Internet and Entertainment for Your Car

The Sentry Mode is a great function in theory, but the videos often lag, and sometimes cannot be played. As the data on the USB drive increases, it will read slower, resulting in being unable to read or skipping over files.It is suggested that Tesla take it seriously and make improvements in future software versions. Browsing the internet and watching videos on Youku on the car screen has a slower experience with more use (version 4.18 currently). It is hoped that future software versions will improve and become more fluid and user-friendly.

The built-in QQ music and Himalaya are features that are better than nothing, but the user experience in terms of menus and playback sequence needs improvement. If Tesla opened up the system and allowed internet companies such as Tencent to develop, it would undoubtedly satisfy users.

Supercharging Agreement

In Shanghai (not sure about other cities), if you don’t have your own charging pile, you can choose to use Tesla supercharging. The agreement stipulates that you must fully charge 12 times in the first year. Signing the attachment agreement can speed up your license application process. In fact, 12 times can be used up very quickly. I have a referral code that gives you 1,500 km of free supercharging. I used it 6 times in the first month after getting my car. If you pass by a supercharging station and your battery isn’t full, just top it up a little if you have time. You don’t need to charge it fully before leaving.

Friends who haven’t placed an order yet, use my referral link to purchase a brand new Tesla and you will get 1,500 km of free supercharging: https://www.tesla.cn/referral/vicwayne61862.

I often get approached by girls knocking on my car window and asking various questions when I charge my car at the supercharging station, so single car owners should definitely go to the supercharging station more during the day. Guys can also take the initiative to knock on the windows of girls (important point here).

Phone Holder

When I first saw the video debut of “Tu Ba Guo” by Garage No. 42, I purchased it on the “Not Panic Optimal Selection” mini-program. It was quite convenient to use, but be careful not to hit the wooden decorative panel when taking your phone off. They also have many other styles and other car interior items. Interested friends can take a look. Here is a picture of what I bought.

Floor Mats

The Model Y comes with floor mats (of course, the original floor mats are just ordinary floor mats and nothing special). I didn’t know about it and bought a silk ring floor mat before picking up the car. I had to carry the floor mat to pick up the car on a rainy day…

Camping Mattress

I looked online for a long time but didn’t find a camping mattress that was particularly appealing. After careful consideration of the usage scenario, I realized that I would spend no more than a week camping each year, and it was usually just a way to give my child a fresh experience.Comparing inflatable and foldable foam mattresses, I could not find one that meets my storage preferences. Therefore, I went ahead and customized a 3D air fiber mattress with environmental certification from an exporter of mattresses. It can be folded into thirds for storage and comes with a custom-made bag for easy transportation, making it perfect for temporary use in a tent, as a window cushion, or even as a spare mattress in the house. Check out the image below for reference.

EAP

The EAP can be activated by pulling the lever on the right-hand side of the steering wheel down twice. Once the car display shows a blue steering wheel icon, you know that it has been turned on, it is that simple. However, I would like to remind all car enthusiasts that the EAP is an automatic driving assistant, emphasis on assistant!!! The driver is still responsible for the driving. Tesla’s manual repeatedly reminds users to be careful even when the EAP is on, if you blame Tesla for not informing you, have you read the manual?

We are driving a 2-ton performance monster that can go from 0-100km/h within five seconds. It is necessary to read the manual to avoid potential problems while operating the vehicle. Do not rely on hearsay from friends or the internet because they might not be reliable.

Aidi in one of his TV shows stated that since we are not a seafaring nation, we lack respect for the steering wheel, and that might be the best interpretation.

The safety warnings found everywhere in Tesla’s manual came in handy to me when I was using the EAP on the highway not long after I acquired the car. An alarm sound went off when a large truck suddenly came too close (about 60 cm) to my car. The EAP system automatically turned off. I looked at the big screen and saw that the steering wheel icon had turned gray, indicating that the EAP had been turned off. The truck had met the safety requirements for the distance between our vehicles but because its load was stacked too high, the EAP turned off. Fortunately, I reacted quickly by stepping on the acceleration pedal to avoid it. I want to reiterate that, whether or not you use the EAP while driving the vehicle, it is essential to stay alert and prioritize safety first.

Although the EAP is convenient and easy to use, I will not buy it at the moment.1. Compared with traditional cruise control of fuel vehicles, EAP is much more advanced. In EAP mode, you only need to lightly rest your hands on the steering wheel without stepping on the accelerator, and the system can automatically decelerate and even brake according to the distance from the preceding vehicle. However, you still need to pay attention at all times and cannot rely solely on the system to achieve fully autonomous driving.

2. Currently, whether it’s EAP or FSD, the Tesla account is tied to the vehicle instead of the individual. Given the current performance and price, it does not convince me to make a purchase.

Many people often compare Tesla with other electric vehicle brands, and some car manufacturers may believe that their products are on par with Tesla, but perhaps they do not know the areas where Tesla is leading. There are several main operating systems for computers worldwide, as shown in the figure below:

Classifying computer operating systems is a challenging task that requires the joint efforts of many countries. However, Tesla has developed an operating system based on the Linux kernel for electric vehicles, similar to the Google Android system. Aside from the considerable investment, it takes extraordinary confidence and execution ability to accomplish such a feat.

Of course, we are also proud of Huawei’s Hongmeng operating system, which is another example of outstanding enterprise innovation.

Tesla’s in-house development of products such as the operating system, FSD chip, and automated driving assistance algorithms are all highly challenging tasks. In combination with the accumulation of data over several years and the ever-expanding Supercharger network, Tesla has established a complete commercial ecosystem, which is tantamount to becoming the Apple of the automotive manufacturing industry.

Perhaps one day in the future, other car manufacturers can use Tesla’s solutions and technology without having to make their own vehicles. I think this is also one of the reasons why Tesla’s market value continues to soar.

Automated driving assistance represents an important direction for future technological advancement. However, a long way remains before achieving true autonomous driving. Both Tesla and Chinese electric vehicle companies are already on the track of the new era, and they are the bravest challengers of this age. We should all applaud their efforts rather than deny or discredit them.

The era of automated driving represented by electric vehicles is just beginning, and let us look forward to a better tomorrow for the electric vehicle industry. After writing so much, I have two purposes: to help others avoid unnecessary detours and to advertise my referral code. For friends who have not yet placed an order, please use my referral link to purchase a new Tesla car, and you will receive 1,500 kilometers of free Supercharger charging credit.

You can also scan my QR code to use my referral code to place your order.“`markdown

The above experience is just my personal opinion, may not be correct, and may not match the official propaganda of Tesla’s official website, State Grid’s official website and other official websites. Please refer to the official propaganda for accuracy. I do not assume any legal responsibility for those who listen and believe without permission. Without permission, do not use it for other purposes.
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This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.