2022 M3 with LFP Battery/Range questions in Cold Weather

[Json717]

I have a M3 RWD on order EDD is Jan/2023. This will be my first Tesla and I live in Philadelphia so its a colder climate but not as cold as like Chicago or Boston, etc.

I understand there are many factors that affect battery range(driving habits, hilly roads, etc) but I wanted to just focus on the range degradation in colder weather with everything else being equal.

Questions for those of you that have the LFP battery living in colder climate.

1. Given LFP can be charged to 100%, do you see the same range when charging to 100% in winter vs. summer? For example in summer at 100% you get 272, do you also see 272 at 100% in winter or less?

2. What should be the "expected or real world" range degradation in winter, when driving on highway (80mph), with heat on full blast, lets say around 10-20 degree winter temperature? Is 50% degradation in range a good rule of thumb?

3. At what temperature do you start to see degradation in range with everything else being equal? For example if summer around 80-90 degree you don't see any degradation, but do you start to see it around 50-60 degree or colder?

4. Does it charge slower in winter? If so, how much slower would you estimate?

5. How much of impact does preconditioning help with range in winter?

Thanks in advance,

 

[Big Earl]

The car is still going to show you 272, but keep in mind that's rated range. You'll end up consuming up to 50% more energy per mile driven, so your actual real-world range can be cut in half. If the car is cold soaked, it will display less rated range, indicated by a blue section in the battery display. That will get restored as the battery pack heats up.

Short trips have a bigger impact on range than long trips, due to the need to heat the cabin up from cold on each trip (that energy comes from the battery pack, leaving you with less available energy for driving).

The impact on range scales pretty closely with a decrease in temperature. The impact will be even greater during extended periods of below-freezing weather due to the decrease in heat pump efficiency (lower coefficient of performance) and the need for more cabin heat. If you need to Supercharge, the car will have to heat up the battery beforehand, also negatively impacting range.

Charging speed is dependent on battery temperature, so yes, you should generally expect slower DC fast charging in the winter. Home 240-volt charging will be roughly the same, but below about 20F, 120-volt charging can become nearly useless due to the need for battery heating for charging.

Preconditioning is only beneficial to range when you're embarking on a long trip, as you can use grid power to heat up the cabin and battery pack. If you're preconditioning for a quick run to the store, you're just wasting energy getting everything up to temperature for a short trip. Preconditioning is only beneficial if you're plugged in. If you're unplugged, the only reason to precondition is for your own personal comfort, which only takes five to ten minutes.

 

[jjrandorin]

I have a M3 RWD on order EDD is Jan/2023. This will be my first Tesla and I live in Philadelphia so its a colder climate but not as cold as like Chicago or Boston, etc.

I understand there are many factors that affect battery range(driving habits, hilly roads, etc) but I wanted to just focus on the range degradation in colder weather with everything else being equal.

Questions for those of you that have the LFP battery living in colder climate.

1. Given LFP can be charged to 100%, do you see the same range when charging to 100% in winter vs. summer? For example in summer at 100% you get 272, do you also see 272 at 100% in winter or less?

2. What should be the "expected or real world" range degradation in winter, when driving on highway (80mph), with heat on full blast, lets say around 10-20 degree winter temperature? Is 50% degradation in range a good rule of thumb?

3. At what temperature do you start to see degradation in range with everything else being equal? For example if summer around 80-90 degree you don't see any degradation, but do you start to see it around 50-60 degree or colder?

4. Does it charge slower in winter? If so, how much slower would you estimate?

5. How much of impact does preconditioning help with range in winter?

Thanks in advance,

Here is the 36 page discussion thread specifically on the model 3 LFP battery. I dont keep up with that thread, but I would be surprised if something on this discussion isnt already in there:

Model 3 SR+ LFP Battery Range, Degradation, etc Discussion

Now that LFP batteries have been operating for a couple months in the US, I thought it would be useful to start a thread for people to post their experiences with degradation of LFP batteries. A major benefit of these batteries is supposed to be resistant to degradation, so let's test that claim...

teslamotorsclub.com

Perhaps take a look through that thread or search it and see if there is discussion on this topic in there.

 

[3sr+buyer]

2. What should be the "expected or real world" range degradation in winter, when driving on highway (80mph), with heat on full blast, lets say around 10-20 degree winter temperature? Is 50% degradation in range a good rule of thumb?

80mph highway driving will give you significantly less than the rated economy and range, summer or winter.

You can see a prediction of your range based on your actual recent consumption on the energy screen. This is distinct from the miles shown next to the battery icon, which shows rated range.

Winter driving tends to have these kinds of penalties:

• Using the cabin heat can be costly, though less so with newer heat pump cars than with older resistance heat cars. For comparison, heated seats' cost is minimal.
• If you are not careful about checking tire air pressure, it will be lower than in the summer, resulting in worse economy and range.
• If you use winter tires, they may have higher rolling resistance for worse economy and range.
• Driving through rain or snow will encounter higher resistance, leading to worse economy and range.

With a lot of variables, it is hard to give a generic estimate.

 

[DuncanM]

There are a number of youtube videos that document winter range tests in the M3 RWD with LFP batteries:

https://www.youtube.com/user/bjornnyland/videos

Here, he does a winter range test:

similar tests here:

https://www.youtube.com/c/KrisRifa/videos

 

[Buzzliteyear]

Preheat the car whilst it is plugged in, doesn't need to be charging. That way the car won't be using the battery power to warm up the battery and other parts like the cabin. The head start should help to reduce consumption during the colder weather.

 

[GtiMart]

That's not the right way to say it, although you are mostly right. The car always uses battery power to preheat but it will charge as needed if you are plugged. In some cases the car might spend more than what the charger can provide and thus the SOC might go down.