Our first flat tyre!

Soon after leaving Gerringong this morning, we noticed in the Tesla’s screen that the rear passenger side tyre had a lower pressure than the others. We have a pump, but it was packed under the boot floor, under all our luggage.

I pulled into the first service station we passed, asked the attendant where the pump was. They pointed to a box in the store room and said they’re waiting for it to be installed. A few kilometers down the road, we found a connected pump at a second service station. But the round gauge (pictured) wasn’t accurate, showing about 20psi more than correct. Just like a Goldilocks story, the third station was “just right”. We pumped up, using the digital settings, drove on, watching the Tesla screen for any reduction.

During the next 100km, the tyres warmed up and increased pressure. Initially it seemed that the previously low pressure tyre might be fine, but then we saw it very slowly drop. I’m guessing it was taking about six hours to lose 10psi. We just kept driving, keeping an eye on the pressure displayed on screen – it’s such a handy feature.

We’ve driven over 120,000km in EVs, with no previous flat tyres. We have had a cracked windscreen, which is statistically more likely.

I checked the tyre, as best I could, for any protrusions, such as an embedded screw, but found nothing.

We made it all the way to Mallacoota, without needing to pump up the tyre again. We will need to pump it up before we leave in the morning. Tonight, after unpacking the car into our accommodation, I will move our pump out from under the boot floor into the boot side pocket, so it’s easy to use and plug into the 12V socket. But that’s tomorrow’s job.

I’ll post updates on this tyre story, including contacting Tesla, and the eventual remedy. Follow us at Tesla Tripping.