2X range reduction vs. miles traveled

[mattym]

Curios if any other MS60 owners run into an issue where range reduces at a rate of nearly 2x actual miles traveled. For example, my commute into work is 2.3 miles, but I'll lose 5-6 miles in range. Temperature outside is in the 40's, and I dont have the car heater on. My wh/mi average often averages around 350-360 and I can't figure out why its so high considering I'm not driving the car like a madman, nor have the climate turned on (nor the pre-conditioning setting).
Any ideas?

 

[Saghost]

That's not what the forum calls vampire drain.

Vampire drain is the miles that just vanish while the car is parked. (Sucked into the dc dc converter to feed the computers, mostly.)

What you're referring to is just poor efficiency on short trips in cold weather, and yes, it's normal. It takes a lot of energy to warm up the pack and the cabin.

If you take a longer trip, after fifteen or twenty minutes you'll see the yellow regen limiting disappear from the instrument panel energy display - and with a warm cabin and pack, your efficiency will get a bunch better.

 

[mattym]

ah, thanks for the information Saghost

 

[mblakele]

Preconditioning is supposed to fix this, by warming up the battery before you start driving. But most here report that it isn't very good at predicting when you'll leave, resulting in high drain without any driving (aka vampire drain). I leave it off.

Range mode is supposed to reduce the energy used for battery management in cold weather, so I'd think it'd help your efficiency numbers in cold weather. But I'm not sure that's a good tradeoff, because I don't know exactly what the tradeoff is. Could it hurt battery health over the long term?

You could get a longer commute. That should bring down the average Wh/mi.

I'd just switch the display from miles to percent, and forget about it. When my car was new I tried to reconcile actual miles with rated miles, until I realized that it's an exercise in futility. With the display in percent, I'm able to worry less and enjoy more.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

At 40ºF, your car is heating the battery and that is what is taking a lot of power. Pre-condition your car before you leave, you'll be glad you did.

 

[mattym]

thanks for the tip Ampedrealtor

 

[AWDtsla]

Preconditioning is supposed to fix this, by warming up the battery before you start driving. But most here report that it isn't very good at predicting when you'll leave, resulting in high drain without any driving (aka vampire drain). I leave it off.

Preconditioning won't fix this. Recommending this for someone with a 2.3 mile commute is just increasing their electric bill. Precondition for comfort, or when trying to squeeze every last mile out of the battery in a single trip.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Preconditioning won't fix this. Recommending this for someone with a 2.3 mile commute is just increasing their electric bill. Precondition for comfort, or when trying to squeeze every last mile out of the battery in a single trip.

If the battery is properly heated prior to departure, you should see lower consumption while on the road because the initial hit was taken from the grid and not the vehicle's battery. The energy consumption is the same, it just offloads the biggest overhead (initial heating) from the battery.

 

[AWDtsla]

If the battery is properly heated prior to departure, you should see lower consumption while on the road because the initial hit was taken from the grid and not the vehicle's battery. The energy consumption is the same, it just offloads the biggest overhead (initial heating) from the battery.

If you only travel 2.3 miles at a time, what does it matter? You're just spending more for electricity because of the thermal losses while preconditioning, plus additional pack heating that just wouldn't have happened because you didn't drive long enough.

 

[Saghost]

If the battery is properly heated prior to departure, you should see lower consumption while on the road because the initial hit was taken from the grid and not the vehicle's battery. The energy consumption is the same, it just offloads the biggest overhead (initial heating) from the battery.

It's highly unlikely that the pack will be fully warmed by such a short charging session followed by a precondition.

Although Tesla released an update that causes the car to heat the pack during preconditioning, it seems to only do it when really cold.

 

[AWDtsla]

It's highly unlikely that the pack will be fully warmed by such a short charging session followed by a precondition.

Although Tesla released an update that causes the car to heat the pack during preconditioning, it seems to only do it when really cold.

It does not allow you to fully warm, true. But you can still easily waste 2.5kWh preconditioning the car, then drive 2.3 miles and show a slightly lower consumption, and then get hit with the truth on your electric bill.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

If you only travel 2.3 miles at a time, what does it matter? You're just spending more for electricity because of the thermal losses while preconditioning, plus additional pack heating that just wouldn't have happened because you didn't drive long enough.

That wasn't the OP's question. The OP's question was specifically about his 2.3 mile commute taking 5-6 miles of range. The way to alleviate that is to precondition and warm the battery before you leave. Then, your 2.3 mile commute should not incur such a high penalty. I think you are answering a question that wasn't asked.

When I drive 2-3 miles, I don't lose 5-6 miles of range under normal circumstances. In OP's case, it's almost certainly due to the battery being heated.

 

[AWDtsla]

That wasn't the OP's question. The OP's question was specifically about his 2.3 mile commute taking 5-6 miles of range. The way to alleviate that is to precondition and warm the battery before you leave. Then, your 2.3 mile commute should not incur such a high penalty. I think you are answering a question that wasn't asked.

When I drive 2-3 miles, I don't lose 5-6 miles of range under normal circumstances. In OP's case, it's almost certainly due to the battery being heated.

Nope. I'm answering exactly this question. 2.5kWh from my example is ~8 miles of range. So lose 8 miles of energy while plugged in to save 2-3 miles of energy while driving? That makes absolutely no sense. If you get a warm fuzzy feeling from seeing the trip meter report a low number, sure, but you're both hiding the inefficiency AND making it worse.

 

[Rocky_H]

I have a 2 mile drive to work, and it's Idaho, where we'll have the temps in the teens and close to 0. Driving from home isn't as bad, because the car is in the garage, which always stays above freezing, but leaving from work, after the car has cold soaked all day in single digit degrees, yeah, I use up 4 or 5 rated miles for that 2 mile drive. Take a look at your instantaneous energy use in the energy app on the touch screen. Instead of the just below 300 Whrs/mi, which is for the rated miles level, you'll see it raging at 800-1,000 Whrs/mi because of that battery and cabin heating, which explains the double rated miles usage.

 

[Lanber]

Put the car in RANGE MODE ON. Then it will not heat the battery and your consumption will go down a lot.

Why heat the battery for such a short trip and it maybe gets 2-3C warmer while burning off 6kw, when it will just be as stone cold going back home 8h later?

 

[AWDtsla]

Put the car in RANGE MODE ON. Then it will not heat the battery and your consumption will go down a lot.

Why heat the battery for such a short trip and it maybe gets 2-3C warmer while burning off 6kw, when it will just be as stone cold going back home 8h later?

No, I recommend against it, because it breaks the thermostat. Now you have to deal with being cold with frozen feet. I never turn range mode on anymore, for a trip of any size. I can afford the ridiculous use of electricity.

 

[Rocky_H]

I think that is one of those that has been on a lot of Tesla owners' minds at least once. Can I have those two functions separate, so I don't have to unnecessarily heat up my battery for a 4 mile trip, but can actually be warm myself?