My wife Karen and I have opposing viewpoints on winter driving. She likes to drive an expendable vehicle in case something bad happens. I like to drive a capable vehicle to minimize the odds that something bad will happen. Her choice: a 2004 AWD Sienna with all season tires. My choice: a P90D Model X equipped with a 20-inch rims and Pirelli Scorpion winter tires.
This past winter was the first time I was really prepared for driving several thousand miles on snow and ice, and I’m happy to report that the Model X does not disappoint. A highly optimized traction control means you can accelerate on slippery surfaces much faster than other vehicles with very little risk of a spinout. The vehicle’s heavy weight means unparelled gripping power when turning. And All Wheel Regen (AWR) means you can slow down faster than other cars that rely on mere brakes.
Very little has been said about AWR, but in my mind it’s a huge advantage. When braking, some 70% of the force is on the front wheels, so even with a good anti-lock brake system the ability to slow down on slippery surfaces is a compromise at best. Tesla’s AWR, on the other hand, uses the vehicle’s highly optimized traction control system to slow down, which means all four wheels are used to their full extent to achieve deceleration. The system works so well on the Model X that you have to be careful about the cars that are behind you. They can’t slow down nearly as fast as you can in slick conditions (I almost learned this the hard way; my daughter and I traded vehicles during a ski trip and I narrowly avoided rear-ending my own Model X).
My second favorite winter driving feature is the Model X’s heated steering wheel. Once you order the Winter Driving Package, you can never go back.
The advantage of driving a Model X in winter conditions really shines through on uncrowded highways and freeways. The vehicle is stable and comfortable at 50 mph, even on glare ice. If there’s any question about how slick the surface is, you can twitch the steering wheel and note the tail wag. The weight balance is so ideal that the vehicle just wants to go straight. In the unusual situation that the car varies more than about 30 degrees from its direction of travel, the stability control kicks in and it is pretty effective.
The combination of wind, slush, and freezing temperatures can take a heavy toll on driving range. It’s not unusual to see readings of 500 Wh/mile. The Trip Planner does a pretty good job of estimating required charge levels, but in adverse conditions you may want to double the number of miles you plan to drive in case temperatures drop lower or winds pick up. The Model X’s heater is quite efficient, and is further helped by good seals on the doors and windows. If you’re only running heat for the front passengers, the impact on range is less than 15% down to about 0 degrees F. As such, there’s almost no advantage to turning on Range Mode (it’s better to leave it off, which keep the car’s eyes lit for any fog that might come along). And unless it’s really cold, there’s not even that much of an advantage to turning off the heater. Most of the time when I needed to stretch my range, I’d just slow down, especially on long uphill mountain passes.
Sub-zero temperatures come with their own set of challenges. Around -10 F, the tire pressure drops about 10%, which is enough to start getting low pressure alerts. I carry a bicycle pump so I can top off my tires anywhere, but in temperatures like that it is hardly a pleasant experience taking off your gloves and doing 25 strokes per tire to gain 2 psi. So maybe run your normal tire pressure a bit high if you anticipate driving in really cold weather. Once during a sudden temperature plunge to -15 F while driving from Boise to Winnemucca, I lost all my range headroom (I didn’t have much to begin with) and had to charge from a 14-50 outlet at an RV park in Jordan Valley. It took 45 minutes to gain 10 miles of range because half the energy was needed to run the heater. And once when I was at the Jackson Wyoming Supercharger after an overnight low of -15 F, I had to muster all my strength to endure the three-minute wrestling match that was necessary to plug in. Fortunately it was early in the morning so there was no one else around to laugh. On the plus side, sub-zero temperatures turn the frunk into a mobile freezer. Bringing back some frozen bison from a West Yellowstone market required nothing more than a grocery bag!
Snow and slush can sometimes become a problem. It’s easy to get a thin layer of slush or snow covering the front or rear radar sensors, at which point Autopilot and/or the cruise control are no longer options. You can also get continuous beeping alerts at low speeds because the car thinks it’s about to hit an obstacle. Driving in heavy slush at high speeds is asking for trouble. One time I tore a wheel well liner, which the Tesla Service folks fixed for free. Another time it pushed the plastic trim on the front wheel wells out of position, causing two sensors to become misaligned, which made Autopilot hesitant to do lane changes. It was easy to snap the trim pieces back in place once I figured out what the problem was. Sometimes slush can get into the shocks and freeze overnight. You might notice a bad case of shuddering, as if a wheel is out of balance. It usually disappears within 10-15 miles of normal driving.
Snow and ice can also impair door function, especially wet snow that freezes overnight. Surprisingly, the Falcon Wing doors were no more problematic than the front doors in this respect. The rear liftgate, on the other hand, frequently rebelled from any significant snow weight or from ice on the roof. That might be a good thing in some situations. If there’s a lot of loose snow on the roof, you don’t really want to open the rear liftgate if any of the Falcon Wings are open, unless of course your center-row passengers are looking to make a small snowman in the car.
The Model X grips well in deep snow. Several times I returned home to a driveway covered more than a foot deep, and with the height set at maximum it was no problem driving up a slight incline, even with the nose scooping a few inches of snow out of the way. But caution is warranted when driving over snowplow ridges. Blasting through them is easy enough if you have a decent amount of momentum, but driving over them in the same direction as the ridge is asking for trouble. I high-centered myself twice that way, once at a Supercharging site that hadn’t been plowed right (incorrectly plowed Supercharger sites were only a problem about 10% of the time), and another time when I tried to get around a parked car in the middle of a plowed road. You can get out of a high-centering situation by digging all the snow out from under the car with a small shovel, but it’s not easy or fast.
Finally, I should also point out that while the Model X is an outstanding cold weather vehicle, winter driving involves a lot of wear and tear regardless of vehicle type. My paint finish is worn in places where sand and slush collect. I took a lot of hits from small rocks, and while the windshield held up just fine, I’ve got my share of paint chips. I once drove straight into a snow-covered curb at 20 mph because it looked like the entrance to a parking lot (the damage to the undercarriage was minimal, and Tesla Service fixed it for free).
Throughout my winter excursions, I rarely saw any other Teslas at the Superchargers, even at popular winter destinations. Perhaps this article will help put some winter driving fears to rest. On the other hand, if your main concern is wear and tear, all I can do is suggest an expendable vehicle: a three-year-old Chevy Volt, which should come pretty cheap. Just be sure to buy a set of chains to go with it!