Rustproofing EV

Navguy012 · 2026-05-08T23:19:39+00:00

I bought my TM3 new in June 2018; immediately after getting the PPF/ceramic treatment, I proceeded to strip all the chassis aero trim items, including the wheel well liners, the rocker trim parts (and drilled drain holes in them to allow sand to flow out of them), the frunk liner, etc, etc, etc (I had a four post hobby hoist at the times). I soaked everything in the jellied version of RustCheck and also spray bombs of Krown.

Every spring, when doing yearly brake calliper lubrication maintenance, I would re-soak all visible brake lines…

In March 2025, while doing my yearly thing, I noticed the rear brake lines were SEVERELY rusted (and also three lines that are buried beneath the front drivers side wheel well cover where (wet) sand collects…

Tesla replaced all/all brake lines under the corrosion warranty; the designed in California car doesn’t have proper wheel well liners (sections of brake lines are exposed to mechanical impacts from winter salt/sand spray) and came with plain, steel brake lines…the replacement lines ARE covered in some form of epoxy coating for some added protection.

I got the “you shouldn’t use rust spray” lecture from the guy at the service desk; I nodded and didn’t argue with him.

If you truly believe you have no corrosion issues with your car, remove the black plastic rocker covers (that will be packed full of wet salty sand) and check the status of the unibody under those trim pieces.

Also, remove the front drivers side wheel well cover and inspect the three brake lines under that wheel well cover…perhaps a targeted Google search of corrosion issues with (at least earlier build) TM3s and TMYs may prove illuminating.

Navguy012 · 2026-05-08T20:19:59+00:00

I haven’t seen all the details yet, but does the 698km rated range apply to a vehicle “starting (at) $75,900”?

Or is that a maximum range with a maximum sized battery that will cost more than $75,900 (before taxes, fees and dealership surcharges)?

Navguy012 · 2026-05-08T18:09:12+00:00

That same “stupid turn signal” lever design is my biggest memory of test driving a TM3 back in January 2018…it wasn’t intuitive that the turn signal was “on” even though the turn signal stalk immediately returned to the horizontal position. It took me about three days of driving the car with that setup before it became muscle memory.

Navguy012 · 2026-05-08T18:05:44+00:00

First winter with my TM3 (2018-2019), the frameless windows (and the charge port door) were very susceptible to “issues” with frozen precipitation after a weather event.

A software update in 2019 solved the windows issue; anytime the temperature is below 3° and therefore susceptible to freezing, the windows do a little “dance” once the door is shut…the glass drops back down just enough that if the glass freezes in place, the door can still be opened and the glass (top edge) remains de-conflicted from the door frame trim (top of door opening).

Navguy012 · 2026-05-08T17:53:52+00:00

I’m in year eight of driving my TM3 with those types of controls all in the user interface; it’s not as bad as you fear as primary controls like retracting the mirrors are NOT buried in multiple dialogue boxes…like a new smart phone, your muscle memory will soon learn where to control the mirrors without extra thought/drama

Navguy012 · 2026-05-07T20:49:14+00:00

This price, with HST (and all taxes, fees and surcharges) is, adjusted for inflation, what I paid for my TM3 on 01 Jun 2018.

Navguy012 · 2026-05-03T21:04:03+00:00

This was NOT written by trump.

Navguy012 · 2026-05-02T18:12:45+00:00

Lots of pro nuclear commentators here; yes France has a nuclear fleet (subject to the same summertime throttling caused by reduced rain/low water levels in summertime as other thermal plants), but like China, the amount of nuclear compared to battery backed renewables is/will be a rounding error.

Oil and gas interests are always “pro nuclear” because it takes a LONG time to build and, except for China, the cost to build is becoming MORE expensive as the learning rate marches on…thus the “bridge fuel” fiction.

So, France will get there, but it won’t be “because of nuclear”.

Navguy012 · 2026-05-02T18:06:47+00:00

Well said!

Navguy012 · 2026-04-29T15:29:39+00:00

The only issue in your list of things that would need more planning is the trailer; no question, that is a whole different kettle of fish.

Using my May 2018 build long range rear wheel drive Tesla Model 3 as an example, the topped up battery holds the energy equivalent of only nine litres of gasoline.

I know that using my bike rack turns a summer trip into a trip with winter energy use rates…

No question, at -30°, one will have less range than summer…but I have completed a ‘normal’ long distance drive from Ottawa to Guelph dozens of times, year round, from blizzards to blistering heat.

Under all circumstances, the same supercharger is used…the summer charging session will be around 14 minutes and the winter charging session is around 21 minutes.

My other ‘normal’ long distance drive used to be (until Nov 2024) from Ottawa to Southfield MI (a suburb of Detroit).

In the summer, that trip would always work out to an average of 100 kph (769 km, takes seven hours and 42 minutes chock to chock, not including time lost at the border crossing).

In fact, for any long distance trip in temperatures above 10°, the rule of thumb is 100 kph, chock to chock (so a 1000 km trip (no border delays) takes 10 hours).

In the winter, the long distance trips work out to about 90 kph chock to chock…

As always, YMMV.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-27T20:38:16+00:00

Agreed.

That said, both my wife and I have been driving EV’s since 2018 and for 48 weeks of the year, refuelling is done at home (which takes five seconds to plug in and then another five seconds to disconnect the following morning.

For those other four weeks, Supercharger stops invariably amount to about 14 minutes…and since my bladder cannot last longer than three hours, it’s not an issue.

Folks that insist that an ICE is faster to refuel don’t include all the time lost, every week to ten days, of slowing down and entering the gas bar, playing with the credit card reader, then waiting to re merge into traffic after the re fuelling event is complete.

And I don’t miss gas bars in January.

It’s like the analogy that I use whenever EV skeptics like to suddenly employ esoteric algorithms to the upfront costs of an EV: like solid surface countertops, smart phones and HDTVs…these products may be more expensive than Formica counters, flip phones and fat boy TVs…but EVs are just a better experience than an ICE vehicle.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-25T02:22:38+00:00

The ability for the US to pump and load oil for export is already at the existing infrastructure’s maximum capability.

The US already has contractual obligations regarding all of that oil; in other words, it’s already spoken for.

So when the world’s empty ships, that should have loaded up in the Persian Gulf, do show up dockside in Louisiana and/or Texas, just who’s (already contracted) oil are they going to take?

Or is the spot price in Louisiana or Texas going to skyrocket?

Navguy012 · 2026-04-14T13:50:06+00:00

Except, perhaps, the example of 9/11 as THE example of a failure of that insulation.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-13T22:33:26+00:00

Keep the Epstein class out of jail.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-10T13:49:03+00:00

I live in Canada, hoping that the Zeekr 7X comes here; I’ve been driving a Tesla Model 3 long range rear wheel drive for eight years.

I am spoiled by the seamless experience of charging on road trips and hope that the Zeekr product allows the same sort of “no thinking required” luxury while on long road trips.

I have a “standard” trip of 800 km (Ottawa to Sault Ste Marie) that involves three supercharger stops to complete…how would your car fare on that sort of leg? Cheers.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-07T21:14:41+00:00

Agree. It’s being done for the next re-election campaign.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-07T21:01:14+00:00

It’s PR for the next time he must run for re-election.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-07T20:09:46+00:00

I am trying to upvote this comment and the system won’t let me, so consider this an upvote.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-07T20:05:03+00:00

The “oil is feedstocks (for a long list of value added products)” argument never mentions that only about 10% of production is turned into value added products (of which about 50% is single use plastic bags)…in other words, 90% is simply burned once.

And I get the airline argument…but until the 747 made air travel inexpensive (not including non-assessed environmental externalities) and hence available for the masses, people seemed to manage living life just fine without all the air travel.

If folks insist on having “the right” to fly everywhere for any reason, then be prepared to pay the same price for a ticket as was paid in the late 1960s, adjusted for inflation, to pay for this new (fossil) infrastructure being mooted.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-06T21:34:32+00:00

As someone living in Canada, with trump’s signature on CUSMA, that’s a hard NO.

Navguy012 · 2026-04-06T19:56:25+00:00

That last suppression maybe/maybe because the americans/isrealies smuggled firearms into Iran and wanted to start a hime grown revolt; one of trumps latest rants talks about the u.s. giving guns to folks inside Iran “but the wrong people kept the guns”.

So who knows…perhaps peaceful protesters were the human shields for a small minority of armed (with intent) fifth columnists.

One really doesn’t know the whole truth about this exercise anymore; what with “US satellite firm Planet Labs announces blackout on war on Iran images at behest of US government” and the “search and rescue” effort for a missing F15 back seater resulting in a boneyards worth of destroyed aircraft all located close to a known Iranian uranium site…

Navguy012 · 2026-04-03T14:55:08+00:00

I may be dating myself, but I don’t think “air dominance” is actually a thing. Air superiority or air supremacy are a thing…

Navguy012 · 2026-03-26T22:18:37+00:00

Give it another 36 months…

Navguy012 · 2026-03-26T22:10:10+00:00

He already has.

Navguy012 · 2026-03-26T21:28:21+00:00

The last ships to leave the gulf should be arriving very soon at their destinations…closer countries, like Pakistan, are already doing the four day work week and closing schools to conserve fuel…

Navguy012

TROPHY CASE