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AN electric car expert has revealed the top five things he wishes he had known before buying a Tesla Model 3.

The EV expert has owned a Tesla Model 3 for eighteen months and claims he has learnt a lot about these battery-driven cars.

The number of Teslas on the road in the UK has jumped by 336% in the past year, rising from 27,000 to 90,900
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The number of Teslas on the road in the UK has jumped by 336% in the past year, rising from 27,000 to 90,900Credit: Tesla

The automotive expert posted a video on YouTube discussing the drawbacks and advantages of his Tesla Model 3.

He started the video by saying: "Heater and winter are bad, I've always been used to running a combustion car, and you have the air conditioning on. It wreaks havoc with the mpg.

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"But with an EV, you have to bear in mind that it's actually the heater that drains your battery and ruins your efficiency, not the air conditioning.

"The air conditioning actually has a minimal effect on your range."

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The expert revealed that insuring your Model Tesla 3 can be difficult.

He added: "When I went to insure my Model 3, only a handful of companies would actually offer me insurance, and most of those were really expensive.

"Now, a new one and a big one for electric car owners is the range is not the range, so the advertised range is actually if you took your model 3 from 100% to zero.

"I recommend keeping your battery between 20 and 80% - and definitely never run it down towards zero because that can cause long-term damage.

"If you're leasing the Model 3 probably won't be as worried about this, but if you're buying it, then you should really consider it. So that means that if you're trying to keep your Model 3 between 20% and 80% range, you will only use 60% of the capacity.

"Currently, the Tesla Model 3 is advertised at 278 miles which gives you an actual range of 166 miles.

"So If you were buying the Tesla Model 3 standard range plus to do, say, a 200-mile commute round trip, in theory, you've got 78 miles to spare, but in reality, you're just short to keep it in that sweet spot.

The expert claims that cold weather could impact your Tesla range.

He continued: "Winter will reduce that 166 miles even more, so you might struggle a little bit without damaging your battery or causing long-term damage.

"The good news is that for most Model 3 owners - the average in the UK in 2019 was 8.4 miles, but if you are super close to that advertised range on a daily basis, you might want to think about the longer range models.

Fortunately, drivers would not have to worry about charging their Teslas when making a long trip, according to the electric car expert.

He continued: "The good news for the longer journeys is... look at this new Tesla supercharger map they have produced - there are superchargers popping up all across the country."

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This comes after a Tesla owner revealed five reasons why you shouldn't buy one of the US electric cars.

Plus, a driver who swapped their BMW for a Tesla said he regretted it and claimed that some of the techs are really slow and the customer service sucks.

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