Tesla has a good reason for not incorporating a vehicle mainstay in its models, and drivers, for the most part, don't seem to mind. The traditional spare tire.
Tesla has recently surpassed BMW as the most valuable manufacturer in the world, owing to the production of some of the most renowned electric vehicles on the market. Many more vehicles are in the pipeline for the American electric vehicle manufacturer. One thing that all Tesla vehicles have in common is that they all contain a plethora of innovative, advanced, and even ground-breaking technologies, such as Sentry Mode.
Teslas, on the other hand, lack some features found in ordinary vehicles. The spare tire is one of those features. That's correct, Teslas lack a feature that has been commonplace in automobiles for decades. Tesla chose not to include a spare tire for a variety of reasons, including practicality, weight, lack of use, free roadside assistance, and inefficient labor.
In any event, the carmaker has a good reason for not including a vehicle staple in any of its vehicles, and drivers don't seem to dislike, nor do they seem to require one if they get a flat tire. Tesla's decision has proven to be so practical and successful that other automakers are now following suit.
Anyway, spare tires aren't used nearly as frequently as they once were. Many automakers have chosen to follow Tesla's approach for the same reason. Approximately 85 percent of the time, when a vehicle's life cycle is over, the spare tire and related tools accompany the car to the junkyard without ever being used. It didn't make sense to Tesla to supply a spare tire for only 15% of its drivers.
This was an unworthy investment, according to Tesla. Instead of a spare tire, most current automobiles have something called TPMS, which alerts drivers when tire pressure is low, allowing them enough time to drive to a tire repair shop and reducing the chance of flat tires. Many drivers, however, are dissatisfied with driver-assist programs like TPMS.
Image Credit: TeslaOwnersClub
Tesla, on the other hand, has noise-reducing, sound-dampening foam permanently bonded to the inside of the tread surface of their vehicles. Smaller tire shops lack the required skills and resources to properly patch or fix Tesla tires, which helps reduce cavity resonance and road noise. Keep in mind that extra tires can account for up to 20% of the raw material and labor costs for tires, making the process highly costly.
On top of that, spare tires take up space that could be used for more cabin or engine space. After all, part of the Tesla Model 3's appeal is its efficient use of cargo space. Finally, the sheer weight of the spare tire will weigh the car down, and without one, a vehicle will gain a tiny performance advantage as well as improved range.
How to reset the TPMS Tire Pressure Sensors
This is for the Model 3 2018-2021.
To guarantee that the tire pressure alerts are correct, pay attention to your vehicle's tire pressure and reset the TPMS sensors. The TPMS on the Tesla Model 3 can be reset in two ways. Here's how to accomplish it, depending on your vehicle's firmware update:
Automatically Reset
For the newer vehicle model, once you have changed the tires the TPMS sensors can reset automatically after driving over 15 mph (25 km/h) for more than 10 minutes. So you just need to make sure all tire pressure is in accordance with the recommended pressure on the Tire and Loading Information label.
Manually Reset
It should take about 3 minutes to do this manually.
The TPMS can be reset using the touchscreen display on older car models. Make sure you're using the recommended tire pressure on the Tire and Loading Information label. On the driver's door panel, there is a label.
Turn the key in the ignition and depress the brake pedal. On the touchscreen, select SERVICE and then RESET TPMS or RESET SENSORS from the CONTROL menu. Under the Tire Pressure Monitor menu, you'll see this option.
Make sure you have the right tire size before selecting RESET TPMS. The improper wheel size might lead to erroneous tire pressure warnings.
For more than 10 minutes, drive faster than 15 mph (25 km/h).
Always refer to the owner's manual for detailed and updated instructions.
