I recently lost one of the original aero hubcaps our Tesla Model 3 SR+ came with. It seems that driving into a large amount of standing water in the midst of a ginormous Florida thunderstorm tore it off. (Or it was stolen.) It was quite sad to lose a hubcap, and a couple of days later we even drove a half an hour or so back to the area where we thought we lost it to look around for it. Alas, no hubcap.
Front wheel is completely missing a hubcap. Back wheel has new hub & lug nut cover as a replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcap. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
Front wheel is completely missing a hubcap. Back wheel has new hub & lug nut cover as a replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcap. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
The silver lining in this story is that I’ve wanted to get those simple hub & lug nut covers Tesla offers ever since I bought the car, and I finally did. (Note that the current option is a bit different from the original option back in 2019 when I bought the car — seemingly better and easier to install.) I also bought a replacement aero hubcap for those times when drive a long (or even moderate) distance on the Interstate. The aero hubcap helps with … aerodynamics, and thus extends the range of the vehicle by about 5%.
Step 1: buy “Model 3 Aero Wheel Cap Kit” from Tesla. (Price: $60 at the moment)
Tesla hub & lug nut cover as a replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcap. Step 2: take new cover out of box and bring it to car. (Step 1.5 was taking the original cover off if it didn’t fall off by itself.) Photo by Marika Shahan | CleanTechnica.
Step 3: push the cap cover into place and then pop it on (may take a little punch to get it to snap). Photo by Marika Shahan | CleanTechnica.
Step 4: pull on the hubcap cover around the sides to make sure it’s on firmly. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
Tesla hub & lug nut cover as a replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcap. Done! Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
I knew it was fairly simple and easy to pop these little hub + lug nut covers onto Tesla, but I admittedly never looked beyond the surface, and not being the handiest dude in the world, I was slightly concerned I might run into trouble. As it turned out, though, installing these hub + lug nut covers was just about the easiest thing one could imagine.
Both wheels have new hub & lug nut covers as replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcaps that came with our new Model 3 in 2019. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
Both wheels have new hub & lug nut covers as replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcaps that came with our new Model 3 in 2019. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
After pulling off the aero (or other) rims, you simply put each of these covers into the middle of the rims and then give them a little pop in order to create a clear clicking sound that will assure you they are on firmly. That’s it. It takes all of about 3 seconds. It really couldn’t be easier or quicker to install them.
Once on, well, it’s up to you whether you like how they look or not. But I love the look!
Front wheel is completely missing a hubcap. Back wheel has new hub & lug nut cover as a replacement for a normal Tesla aero hubcap. Photo by Zach Shahan | CleanTechnica.
Oh, funny enough, another Tesla Model 3 (a Turo one) with the hub & lug nut covers was also at the Supercharger where I changed the aero hubcaps to these smaller hub & lug nut covers. I took a few pictures of it as well.
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