If you read my blog regularly, you know I love Catnip, my Tesla Model Y Long Range 7 seater. It saves me money on gas, it’s nicer to the planet, and I charge for free at most RV parks. It also fits our entire family and all of our dogs for adventures away from the RV. Recently I found something else it does well: the Model Y mobile office has been the answer I’ve been desperately seeking.
Besides running this blog, I’m also the woman behind On the Go RV Tech, which means I spend a LOT of time on my devices. For the last year, I’ve been using our bed and a lap desk, which is not optimal for someone with my particular combination of health issues. (Don’t worry fellow Tesla owners. I’ve been assured my body is “within spec”.) For much of the summer/fall of 2021, my answer was our Clam Pavillion or our awnings, but recently we’ve been in spots too tight for the Clam and/or too windy for the awnings. Add in that 6 of the 7 meds I’m on collectively cause sun sensitivity of all 3 main types, and this becomes a real challenge. The teens are schooling in the RV, and the pets are frankly distracting and overstimulating at times. I recently found the answer, and it’s literally been parked on my site since November of last year: my Tesla Model Y is now my office.
Inspiration Strikes
Hear me out before you click away. We are remodeling our RV and the plan was to put a desk in the living room slide for me to use for our businesses. We probably still will because we need a home for networking stuff and backup hard drives and the kids need a table for school projects on occasion, but it won’t be my desk. It will be more a family desk. As I was shopping for a desk chair that was both compatible with my body and not too heavy, I kept wishing there was an office chair as comfortable as the seats in my Tesla Model Y. Then at about 2-3 in the morning in the middle of the flare I realized that my Tesla could be my office. It has a nice sound system, a way to charge phones and laptops, climate control, and a very nice bluetooth system for calls. It’s insulated from outside noise, and I could use the windshield shade for a bit of privacy. Best of all, the doors LOCK.
Equipping a Tesla Office
The Desk
I couldn’t find anyone who had written about this, but my internet at the time was far from ideal so I was unable to dig too deep. I became determined to find something that worked. I had a few demands, as always:
- It needed to be lightweight as even though it’s not riding in the rig weight does affect range.
- It needed to be compact and easy to stow away for travel days. I didn’t want to be loading/unloading it. Ideally it would live in the car.
- It needed to feel stable. I wasn’t willing to risk my electronics.
Of course, I looked online for what others did and didn’t find a whole lot that interested me. Dean even offered to build me something custom. I ended up searching on Amazon, and I found a desk that I thought might work. It’s called the FITEV Desk. I received it quickly and despite it having virtually no reviews it is a solid product. I haven’t figured out why it has a Topfit logo on it, but it’s a relatively inexpensive item from Amazon so that’s how it is sometimes.
It’s super light and it folds in half, which had me doubting how strong and stable it would be. It comes in at just under 6 pounds. I could describe how it sits in the Tesla, but I think this is truly a situation where a picture is worth 1000 words. I decided to enjoy the view today while working on this post instead of using the windshield shade. Thank goodness for UV filtering on the auto glass!
One of the great things about this setup is that there is plenty of legroom. I don’t have to have my legs bent at 90 degrees all day, so there’s no stiffness. I have a ton of options to change angles and pressure points, which is great from an ergonomic perspective. Did I mention the doors lock? Unfortunately my teenagers discovered the peacefulness of the Clam and started schooling there and even doing homework there often, which killed the entire purpose of my pop up office. I gave them the RV! I’m half kidding, half not. I love them and love hanging out with them, but I love it too much and it’s a distraction for me.
Wireless Charging Compatible Phone Case
The wireless charger does work for my iPhone 12 Pro Max without any modifications. I use Apple’s Clear MagSafe case and have never had an issue charging, but I know the Tesla wireless chargers can be super fickle and that’s why I mentioned it. My husband tried other cases, even thinner ones, but those cases would not allow the phone to charge. I also have a Samsung ZFold 3 as my business phone and found a case that charges well and holds the S pen as well. It’s the Spigen Thin Fit P, and the price isn’t bad, either, considering everything for this phone is priced at a premium. I have to slide the phone all the way to the center divider to get it to charge, but it does so reliably and quickly.
Real-Life Work in a Model Y Mobile Office
I’m using my Tesla as an office either at the RV park we’re staying at or at a supercharger, so power and climate isn’t a problem. Plugging into a standard outlet will keep the charge level stable even when it’s 95 outside and I have climate set to 72. If you’re wondering about the ethics of charging in an RV park, I have a post explaining this here.
I do occasionally get strange looks from other campers, but when we chat about it the digital nomads understand immediately. I’ve had people sit in my car and try the office. It’s definitely a conversation starter for sure.
Downsides
It is not always ideal from a privacy perspective. I have occasionally had small children knock on my window and ask if I am stuck in my car! It took some trial and error, but I did finally find some privacy shades that stay in place and are not difficult to install or remove. They are the TESCAMP 8-Piece Privacy Shade Set for Model Y.
The main downside to using my Model Y as a mobile is that I never have a stable office because we drive it around. I need to set up and take down my office daily because leaving my electronics in the car is an invitation to steal. Secondarily, it just seems to accumulate STUFF and it drives me nuts. I always have little doodads for the cameras or extra charging cables or the inverter if I’m working truly remote and have stolen the Starlink for the day.
A more recent challenge is that we’ve also been using the Tesla as the RV service vehicle in many cases because diesel has just gotten stupid expensive. We could increase our mileage surcharge and/or shrink our service radius, but we have chosen instead to take the Tesla whenever possible to avoid increasing costs for our customers. It’s hard for me to do office work in a car that’s not on site half the time.
Conclusions
A few months after I started writing this, I have to admit that I have only been using the Model Y as a mobile office when supercharging or when I need to avoid interruptions. Part of this is due to the park we spent a few months at being so chatty that I had fewer interruptions working from my bed in the RV. I loved it there; it just wasn’t conducive to me working from the Tesla. The other factor is that RV parks struggle mightily in the summer down south to provide proper electricity to all of the sites so running my car as an office just seemed rude somehow. It’s definitely a fantastic option for milder seasons in less sociable campgrounds and I’m glad I’m set up for it. Now that it’s November I’m back to using it as an office when its on site.