2023 Model 3 Cold weather, car acts (almost) like it's on cruise control when its not

[acm17]

2023.44.30.8 updated 1/12/23
4/4/23 purchase 2023 model 3

It's been cold (20 degrees today) and icy in the NE US the last few days. Normally, when I pull up to a red light, i just take my foot off the accelerator. The car normally slows down fairly quickly, so I rarely need to hit the brakes. But Monday and Wednesday, I had to hit the brakes. The car isn't accelerating, but it's not slowing down as it normally does either. It's like it has a mind of its own.

When I went out Monday, the car didn't slow down like it normally does when I let my foot off of the accelerator. I got to my destination. 30 minutes later I left, and the car decelerated as normal.

Today I went out, got to my destination, and left from there 15 minutes later. Both on my way to the destination and from the destination, the car didn't slow down as quickly as usual when I took my foot off the accelerator. I kept having to use the brake when I wanted to slow down.

Before Monday, I had never seen this behavior. This car is wacko. On 12/21/23, I turned the car on at 630pm (way after sunset) and the screen didn't come on. I got to my destination and parked it for 30 minutes. When I left there, the screen finally turned on. Ugh. Last July, Tesla service had my car for a month because it would lose 20-50 miles per day sitting idle on the driveway. That was caused by a bad RCM board. And I shouldn't forget about the ever present message "Park Assist Is Degraded"...since late June.

 

[Rtmpaul]

From the owner's manual: "Regenerative braking may be limited if the battery is cold or is already fully charged". If that is the issue, try turning on Controls > Pedals & Streering > Apply Brakes when Regenerative Braking is Limited. Then watch for the grey bar to the left of the green on the power meter, which shows when the brakes are being applied for you. In my experience, this helps considerably.

 

[P3dStealth]

This is normal behavior in cold weather. Every Tesla does it. Scroll through the manual it's in there.

"Regenerative braking can be limited if the Battery is too cold. As you continue to drive, the Battery warms up and regenerative power increases"

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Understand various things you can do to ensure optimal performance in cold weather.

www.tesla.com

The park assist degraded notification seems to come up for the cars with no parking sensors. It's not a problem. It seems like it's a glitch or limitation of using only cameras.

The RCM replacement means you car was not going to sleep.

 

[acm17]

Thanks for the regenerative braking info, I didn't realize that. This week I didn't see the msg about diminished braking on the screen this week but I did see it a few weeks ago, but I get why it does that now. This is the first winter I've had this car.

Yeah, when I had my car in the for the never going to sleep problem, Tesla kept insisting I was using a 3rd party app that was keeping the car awake...but I wasn't.

The "Park Assist Is Degraded" message did not show up (it's almost daily now) until I did a firmware update at the end of June. I sure wish they hadn't taken the sensors out. I find it crazy that they did that, I read it was started in Oct 2022 to cut costs...but it's apparently ok if you crash as a result.

Thanks for the quick replies and the info, I appreciate it.

 

[P3dStealth]

Thanks for the regenerative braking info, I didn't realize that. This week I didn't see the msg about diminished braking on the screen this week but I did see it a few weeks ago, but I get why it does that now. This is the first winter I've had this car.

Yeah, when I had my car in the for the never going to sleep problem, Tesla kept insisting I was using a 3rd party app that was keeping the car awake...but I wasn't.

The "Park Assist Is Degraded" message did not show up (it's almost daily now) until I did a firmware update at the end of June. I sure wish they hadn't taken the sensors out. I find it crazy that they did that, I read it was started in Oct 2022 to cut costs...but it's apparently ok if you crash as a result.

Thanks for the quick replies and the info, I appreciate it.

You are right. They cut costs by taking out the parking sensors. It will never be as good as with them. They should have just raised the price of the car a little bit if they needed. The parking sensors are something that were well liked. The new highland now has rgb interior but they still left out the parking sensors?!? Doesn't make sense.

 

[BigNick]

From the owner's manual: "Regenerative braking may be limited if the battery is cold or is already fully charged". If that is the issue, try turning on Controls > Pedals & Streering > Apply Brakes when Regenerative Braking is Limited. Then watch for the grey bar to the left of the green on the power meter, which shows when the brakes are being applied for you. In my experience, this helps considerably.

At some point in the future, the behavior of batteries (and thus regen braking) in the cold will be as universal as "keep gasoline away from heat and open flames" and "don't smoke while filling your tank" but we're not quite there yet.