There a real desire to do something to protect my paint from the salt and dirt on the roads during icy conditions. My Tesla doesn't come with mudflaps (like many gas cars these days). But with the winter roads coming, I feel like this is a must!
To prove my point, Tesla has offered free mudflaps for all provinces in Canada -- except BC (they really need to come to BC and realize, the only place to exempt is the Lower Mainland).
I bought some mudflaps from a Group Buy on one of my Tesla Vancouver Facebook groups. Installing them has been -- well, an "adventure". Apparently, I'm not quite as strong as I thought I was to be the handywoman I thought I was. But after some desperate pleas for help in the group (they put up with a lot from me!) and three separate attempts, I finally got them on.
Yeah, I'm so pathetic. LOL.
But it turns out that I did managed to figure it out. The clip remover -- a godsend! Other than having to pry open the middle clip first with a crappy flathead, pulling it out after that was effortless!
Tools needed:
- Clip Remover
- Flathead Screwdriver
- Phillips head Driver
- Drill with 3/32" bit
I'm feeling quite accomplished having done this myself. It's a first for me!
*****
The last few weeks have been challenging. Three tragic passings of friends this year, two of them within the last couple months. I couldn't figure out why I am always sleepy even with a full night's worth of sleep. In my 50+ years, I've experienced feeling exhausted, fatigued, sleep-deprived -- but I never feel sleepy during the day as a result. I went to the doctor after 4 weeks of this nonsense. Got all my blood work tested - including my iron and thyroid, and everything's normal -- even my cholesterol.
So it feels like the only reasonable explanation is psychological. This seemed to have started when I got the news of my third friend who was being moved to hospice from palliative care. It's been a difficult month.
This past week, I've been home in recovery from eyelid surgery. My sight a little blurry - particularly if the ointment gets into my eye. Another week and I'll have the stitches removed. But the blessing in disguise is that I got to stay home all week, and basically gave my body anything it yearned for -- which in most cases was sleep. I have been sleeping around 12-14 hours a day this week. That's right -- sleeping more than I have been awake! And slowly I feel like my body is coming back to its rested normal.
During this week, it's been challenging parking my Tesla outside in the freezing cold winter. Battery drains over twice as much as it usually does. Without sentry mode on, that's about 5-6 kms a night rather than the usual 2 kms.
I'm also noticing that more kms are used up driving around in the winter. Even trying to recondition the battery 30 minutes to even one hour ahead of time, it's using more energy to move around. This means having to charge the car a little more often than I had been used to. And without going to work where I normally charge, I've had to take some charging trips this week.
My free supercharging bonus ended back in October, and now that I see I am paying about $12-$15 to charge up my car to 90%. So I wanted to avoid superchargers when I can. This means Level 2 public chargers. And let me tell you -- it's a nightmare here in BC. The supply is far below the demand after this summer's record-breaking EV sales.
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| https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/bc-electric-battery-vehicles-statistics?fbclid=IwAR1haD4a7hngrr4jbWEbr12E8C-8r3Xs23ykm702073Sux1VvsWQFclH8Fs |
Richmond Ikea: apparently some regular non-shoppers are parking there all day and going to work. Only four chargers means they are never going to be available.
Oakridge: Incredibly busy. Often a waiting line in the parking stalls across from them. The turnover is not fast, but it happens if you are willing to wait. I've visited both in the evening and in the day time, and the early evening seems to be the only time it's available.
Marine Gateway Plaza (Cambie and Marine Drive): Paid parking, and the free charging is about 50% slower than a normal Level 2 charger. It was painful that I was paying for parking and barely getting a charge.
North Vancouver Public Library: It's $1/hour for parking, and $0.82 total for charging. My guess is that it is possible that it's $2/hour to charge, but becomes free after 6pm -- which is great for me because that's when I am typically here!
Pacific Centre Supercharger: Urban superchargers, so they are slightly slower (but way faster than other public chargers. I sat there for 40 mins getting my car charged from about 120 kms to 430 kms (about 30% to 90%) and I ended up paying just over $12 for the charge, and another $8 to leave the parking lot. NEVER AGAIN!
Surrey Supercharger: I was lucky that it wasn't that busy. With only 12 chargers there, there's often a waiting line. However, superchargers turn over reasonably fast and idling fees means owners won't go past their charging time. I saw that there were additional chargers being installed. Good on Guildford and Tesla! We will really need it!
Richmond Supercharger: Not up and running yet, but very, very close. These are the regular superchargers (not urban). Finally a destination for an emergency charge during my off time from work that won't eat up 2 hours of my time! I mean, I LOVE driving my Tesla. But now that I'm paying for the charge, I'm also paying to get there and back.
I'll be glad to go back to work, just so I can charge without hassle. That daily walk to move my car after 4 hours is lookin' real good right about now!
Another break is coming up at Christmas. As much as I would love to drive down to California, I've decided not to buy winter tires this year to save on money. So spending money to drive down and vacation in California is not a good idea. Maybe next year!
*****
Yesterday's (and probably today also) Odometre Reading: 34,421 kms
I'll start posting the graph now that I have some decent data to show! :)
(You can tell where my road trip took place!)
-->My Referral Code: somi22310
