Thank you for reading the Tesla Owners Club of Maryland’s Frequently Asked Questions! The intent of this page is to be a resource for the Maryland Tesla community to augment documentation that comes with the Tesla products. Familiarity with the User’s Manual as well as the official Tesla ABC’s presentations are strongly suggested and assumed.
Everything written in this document is believed to be true at the time of this writing. If there is any feedback please post a comment below.
Every answer applies to all Tesla cars unless otherwise noted in the answer (or, if it’s about the PowerWall or Solar Roof products, which clearly applies to those products instead).
Exterior Accessories
Yes (as long as you don’t have a Model X, that is; Cybertruck roof racks exist but not necessarily on the “roof”). There are several options to choose from. The Tesla Roof Rack is probably the best in terms of appearance, wind noise, and range impact. Yakima offers a roof rack solution, but the wind noise at highway speeds is comparable to banshees singing at a campfire. There are also third party racks that look very similar to the Tesla Roof Rack and cost much less. Caveat emptor. There are no known instances of catastrophic failure or damage to the glass roof, but you do have to weigh that risk against the lower cost.
There are suction-cup mounted racks that people have said good things about, although they do have the disadvantage of putting pressure directly on the glass roof and the risk of really bad things happening if the suction fails while driving.
Note that putting something on the rack (bikes, skis, kayaks) will have a significant impact on wind noise and probably range loss.
If the license plate holder that came with your car (which uses adhesive, and can be obtained from the Service Center for $10 if needed) is not adequate for your needs, there are a plethora of aftermarket options to choose from. The following have been mentioned by other members the previous times this question has been asked, in no particular order. Note that Tesla Owners Club of Maryland does not offer any endorsement by mentioning these vendors. Other members have recommended them, your experiences may vary.
- SnapPlate (https://everyamp.com/product-category/snapplate/), note that some members have reported this one tends to break
- QuickBandit (from https://www.1975creations.com, although Teslarati is a reseller)
- Platypus (https://www.cravenspeed.com/front-license-plate-mount-for-2017-2020-tesla-model-3/), which uses the tow hook
- SlipStream (https://shop.thatgrin.com/license-plate-brackets.html)
Usually the QuickBandit is the most recommended.
Some might also ask if you really need to have a front license plate in Maryland. The answer is yes, you do, it’s the law. So it’s your choice to not follow the law and risk getting a ticket without one.
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