Costco Nitrogen

Fix that psi warning on your Tesla

Since there’s no need for regular maintenance of your Tesla, for those of you like me who use to rely on that oil change appointment to fill the air in your tires comes an opportunity to learn a new skill.

After driving your Tesla for a bit, a warning window will pop up because the psi on your tires eventually will not be balanced. No, the tires won’t pop or burst all of a sudden but there will be heavier wear on your tires if the psi are not rebalanced. In the old days, each gas station must provide air and water stations free of charge to anyone. It seems that is no longer the case and you need to bring quarters with you to use the stations.

I happened to catch Tire Inflation stations at my local Costco during my last Costco run. I guess Costco figures to put these stations instead of having one of their guys standing there all day giving courtesy shots of air. And the great thing about the Costco stations is they offer you nitrogen!

The benefit of nitrogen in your tires is that the tire pressure stays stable for a longer period because nitrogen escapes slower than air. Stable tire pressure equals better tire life.

Now for Tesla, there are different recommendations on what the psi should be. Feel free to go online and read all about it, pick a number you like, pull up to these stations at Costco and punch the number in. Remove the valve cap on your tires and attach the locking hose. Wait for the beep (takes a few seconds) and you are done! Repeat for all the tires. This is so much easier than having to measure manually the psi of each tire if you take it to a gas station.

As of this writing, there’s no charge and no need to scan your Costco card, so make use of it while you can!