A close call with running out of battery power driving home

Here is a cautionary tale. Bottom line: Don't be dumb like us. Use the Supercharger network!

My wife decided to take a spontaneous trip, with our usual charge of 80% (indicated 268 mi range. The town was 110 miles away, so no big deal, right? Well, after interstate speeds and low temperatures, the return trip range was too low. Two options: (a) drive 45 minutes in the other direction to the Supercharger, then 2 hours home, or (b) get some juice from a hotel destination charger, have dinner, and drive 1.5 hours home.

She chose (b) - mistake 1. Charging took 3 hours and got her to 150 miles range. 40 miles buffer, no sweat. She plugged in the navigation, and it said go to the supercharger. Nah, we got enough to get home - mistake 2. Tesla said to keep it below 65 to make it home.

Long story short, the Tesla range kept going down faster than linear. I assume it was because of the cold (29° F). I was watching the range on my app from home, and it looked terrifying - it looked like she was not going to make it. She tried stopping at an Electrify America station just off the interstate, but it was CCS and CHAdeMO only. She kept it to 65 mph, then 60, then down to 55 as the range got closer to zero. Several miles from home, range finally indicated zero. I had driven our ICE car out of town several miles to follow her in case the car shut down.

She made it home, with the range on zero miles for several miles. Apparently there is some kind of reserve, but I don't want to ever ever find out how much that reserve is!

Lesson: Use the Supercharger network, even if it's out of the way. It might save time and keep you from losing years of your life to range anxiety.

 

[Fourdoor]

you can also minimize teh detailed turns list so the bottom of the list moves up and is available for a quick glance.

On newer software updates it doesn't exist at all. Really dumb "update" to the system. I now have to use the energy screen to check my arrival SOC.

Keith

 

[Fourdoor]

Perhaps if Tesla adopted more of a "guess-o-meter" approach to the starting range figure you see based on your prior driving habits and then adusted it in real-time using whatever metrics they use, it would be more beneficial vs. always starting out at the max theoretical range assuming perfect conditions. Of course then everyone would be screaming about battery degradation but I digress...

Lucky for me, my wife is totally paranoid about range and paralyzed by range anxiety so having the EPA estimated range displayed instead of an accurate range is a "feature" rather than a "bug" for me. If the estimated arriving at home (or our destination) SOC provides us with less than 50 miles she has issues. I just have to flip the display over from % to miles and show her we have plenty of miles left to get her to remain calm... even though in reality we may be arriving with 5 miles of range left, as long as I can show her 50 miles on the screen she is happy.... and I am happy that I can remain in the meat of the charging curve when we go on a road trip without having to hear her freaking out that we are low on range.

Keith

 

[Fourdoor]

Right, thanks. But when I arrived (w/tow truck) to a listed supercharger in Port St.Lucie, the superchargers were all covered in plastic, presumably since the (small) area was being repaved, dug out or under construction. How was one to know. I had even checked with Tesla (roadside assistance operator) on phone; they had no way of really knowing but yes m'aamed me.. Fortunately the tow driver knew of one (at a Wawa) 9 miles north in Ft. Pierce.

The computer in the car would have been updated with the information that this supercharger was out of service and routed you to a different one automatically.

Keith

 

[Fourdoor]

I use percentage on my battery level and I found my 18 AWD's consumption @75mph is ~2miles/1% in WI winter (~340 kw/mile) and ~3miles/1% (~270 kw/mile) in summer commuting between MKE and CHI. And yes I always charge to 90% in winter and 80% in summer. I don't dial my AC/Heater to much tho.

Good info for the Model 3, the info I gave is for the less efficient model Y and is based on "imperfect" weather conditions. The lower efficiency of the Y is partially offset by the resistive heat in the older 3's... oh, and I don't restrict my heating or cooling in the Y like I used to in the Bolt in winter road trips

Keith

 

[yessuz]

Bought it used. I looked in the charging cable bag, in the trunk, glove box, and the frunk to no avail. But I may have enough to get to the superchargers close to home.

Being plugged into a regular wall plug currently, looks like I’m only getting 1 mile per hour of charge even though the car says 4 miles per hour. When I plugged it in, the car had 118 miles left. If I’m plugged in for 12 hours then I should have 130 miles after my 12 hour shift is over (118+12).

This morning I had 40% left when I arrived to work. If 40% of 130 miles is 52 miles, I’ll have enough to get home. The superchargers are actually closer than my home so I’ll hit that up first. Also the temps should be around 50 degrees Fahrenheit. This morning was 18. Can anyone let me know if that sounds right? It would be much appreciated…

Do you have Sentry enabled?

 

[Gokada]

So how did you do getting home?

Had just enough juice to get to a level 2 charger in west Omaha. Charged for about 20 min then had just enough to get to the SC closer to home. Yesterday was even more stressful. It was much colder outside even though it was supposed to be as warm as the previous day. The car charged only 2% after 5.5 hours. So I had to scramble. Called Nebraska Public Power (they have a charging station but it’s slow) and spoke to someone who got me in touch with a local Tesla owner…Chris. Chris offered to let me charge at his home while I was working. Even picked me up from work to take me to my car afterward. Oh, and the fact that him and the CEO of the hospital I work at are friends helped I’m sure. Long story short, everything worked out. I’m more of a city guy but that’s what I love about smaller towns.

 

[Gokada]

Do you have Sentry enabled?

I don’t.

 

[stanleyruskow]

Here is a cautionary tale. Bottom line: Don't be dumb like us. Use the Supercharger network!

View attachment 766756

My wife decided to take a spontaneous trip, with our usual charge of 80% (indicated 268 mi range. The town was 110 miles away, so no big deal, right? Well, after interstate speeds and low temperatures, the return trip range was too low. Two options: (a) drive 45 minutes in the other direction to the Supercharger, then 2 hours home, or (b) get some juice from a hotel destination charger, have dinner, and drive 1.5 hours home.

She chose (b) - mistake 1. Charging took 3 hours and got her to 150 miles range. 40 miles buffer, no sweat. She plugged in the navigation, and it said go to the supercharger. Nah, we got enough to get home - mistake 2. Tesla said to keep it below 65 to make it home.

Long story short, the Tesla range kept going down faster than linear. I assume it was because of the cold (29° F). I was watching the range on my app from home, and it looked terrifying - it looked like she was not going to make it. She tried stopping at an Electrify America station just off the interstate, but it was CCS and CHAdeMO only. She kept it to 65 mph, then 60, then down to 55 as the range got closer to zero. Several miles from home, range finally indicated zero. I had driven our ICE car out of town several miles to follow her in case the car shut down.

She made it home, with the range on zero miles for several miles. Apparently there is some kind of reserve, but I don't want to ever ever find out how much that reserve is!

View attachment 766757

Lesson: Use the Supercharger network, even if it's out of the way. It might save time and keep you from losing years of your life to range anxiety.

 

[stanleyruskow]

Thank you for giving me better insight on recharging on trips.

 

[jarred125]

Interesting to see 40% range loss in winter. I'm in the Cincinnati Ohio area, and took delivery of my Model 3 in mid-December, so I've only ever known winter driving - though my winter isn't as extreme as someone in the northeast. So far I'm averaging ~270 kWh/mi lifetime...and I'm really curious what this will look like / what my range will look like as the weather warms. We are strongly considering taking the Model 3 on our family vacation this summer, but being new to EVs, range anxiety is definitely a thing, especially with the family in the car on a 600 mile trip. I've mapped it out on A Better Route Planner, and it has it broken down into three legs of about 200 miles each...but the second is through the Tennessee mountains and that one scares me. Thankfully, the trip isn't until July, so I'll get a good opportunity to see what my consumption looks like in warmer weather well before hand, but if I'm able to get 40% (or even 20-30%) better than I'm currently doing - I may be more confident.

Hey fellow Cincinnatian! We drove down close to Ft Meyers FL this past September and it was great. That was a roughly 2200 mile round trip and it wasn’t an issue at all. The range anxiety will go away with some time.

We’re going to be taking it out to Grand Tetons, then Idaho and back around to Colorado in June this year. Idaho has few superchargers but does have some DCFC that have Chademo … but hopefully the ccs adapter is for sale by then.

You’ll get used to it and love it. June will mark our 1 year with the model 3, it just continues to get better.

 

[Noneduck]

A rule of thumb I used in winter with our 2015 Tesla 90D is to charge to twice the mileage that I would actually need to get to the next charger. Destination 100 miles away, charge to 200 miles, etc. I had hoped that the increased efficiency of our new Model LR Y with its octovalve would make the displayed mileage more accurate in winter. Nope. I also hoped that the increased range of the Y would allow me to skip some superchargers that I previously stopped at. Nope. I just completed a road trip to Arizona and back, and the Y is not so different from the S (although it chrges much much faster!) So, I am going to stick to the same strategy of doubling up on my displayed range when I am road-tripping.

 

[Ciaopec]

Hi D - I had a nightmare experience with charging stations yesterday. I took a two-day road trip from Delray Beach, FL to Ocala, FL with overnight stays in Sebring , FL (hotel had a Tesla slow charger that worked just fine). The second hotel was in Lake Wales, Fl and had a ChargePoint charging station at a Kohl's next door which was not in working order. I researched another destination charger aprox. 70 miles away in Okeechobee, FL. Four gleaming new charging stations with the ChargePoint logo on top but installed by Florida Power and Light (FPL) with FPL huge logo on the front. My (only) Tesla adaptor for my new Tesla 3 did not fit. Another Tesla owner pulled up right away and had the same experience. I was down to 4% battery power. I had no other choice but to call roadside assistance and get a tow. AAA was useless; after waiting 3 hours I had to contact them again and they suggested that I hire my own tow so I paid $450 towing fee They said to file a claim and and they will reimburse me. Towing company arrived immediately and towed me to the nearest Tesla Supercharger in Port St. Lucie, FL. Lo and the newly installed Superchargers were still covered in plastic so not yet in use. Fortunately the tow driver was savvy adn found me one 9 miles north in Fort Pierce. Nightmare day. So, I'll only use Superchargers or Tesla destination chargers from now on. Thanks for listening. David Asch

I'm curious. If you leave Delray Beach with 90% and drive to Sebring you should arrive with about 34% SoC. If you spent the night with a destination charger you should have been able to depart with at least 60% and then a short drive to Celebration Supercharger (or any enroute near Orlando) would have given you whatever you needed. With all the other Superchargers enroute to Ocala I am trying to figure out how you planned this trip. Did you let the car decide? ABetterRoutePlanner? Just wing it? This should never have happened. I based my figures on a 2022 M3 with a 60kWh batter. A 2021 would have done better. Were you hoping for better rates from ChargePoint? It seems that whatever you may have saved was blown on wasted time and towing (granted I suppose you will get reimbursed but you won't get your time back).

 

[marcd695]

Dang

 

[danaleighton]

Here is a sort of update on this. Today my wife and I took the same drive but charged overnight to 99% and left with about 97% after some errands. Got to the town with 53% and this time navigation did not advise stopping at the charger to get home so we went for it. Arrived home with 8%, which was a little lower than the original projection on departure from the other town.

this time we used the Energy app to monitor the usage and when we saw the actual energy use higher then the projection, started drafting a semi (with TACC following distance 2-4) and running a few MPH slower. That brought the actual line back to the projection. Temp was 50s so not as cold as last time too.

it is really informative using the Energy app to see in real time the effects of slowing, drafting, etc. Also I think the percent remaining is a better display for trips than miles range because of the variables involved. Miles will be misleading.

 

[boulder.dude]

The computer in the car would have been updated with the information that this supercharger was out of service and routed you to a different one automatically.

Keith

Sounds like the tow truck driver was instructed by someone (or some navigation app) to go to the SC, so the Tesla in-car nav was not used.

I wonder if Tesla could push out-of-service notifications to Apple/Android apps in the future?

 

[airborne spoon]

you prob only killed like a smidge of juice by checking the car from the app, but it seems like it was unnecessary as the driver could just call or text you an update. Also yes the car sucks down power to warm the battery and it usually kicks on IVO 50f and below. The colder it is the more the heater will have to work. Like last month while i was driving home in California it was -15f outside and based on my charge limit when i left the house i normally make it to skip 2x SC locations and charge at the 3rd one. But since it was so cold i had to stop at the 2nd one for some juice.

Also its not that the car has "reserves" its that you have it on miles instead of percentage, if you'd flipped it to % it would likely said 2 or 3% remaining. when it gets to 1% that's when you need some juice. I've gotten there a few times and only died once literally 1/2 mile from the SC but i was testing it at the time so i actually planned on it dying. You don't have your phone on minutes remaining so why have your car on miles remaining? We've had percentage on the car since the beginning and it works great.

 

[mmoran]

I've always laughed at that statement. People say that as if doing that will cause you to not have regen all day, or for an hour or more. It's ridiculous. By the time you drive a few miles, it will have depleted some energy, and you will start having some regen available. So that thing people are warning about with 100% only applies for a few minutes.

I agree on the short interval, but I interpeted it as the extra 5% was negated by the savings lost from the regen from the brakes when the battery went from 100 to 95 not effecting the whole day.

 

[Plug Me In]

Over the years with my S, for cold weather trips I like to have a minimum 50% cushion for the distance I want to travel. It's been years since I've used the energy graphs as I've learned about the car's juice usage (juiceage?). If it's going to be close I keep a mental tally of the mileage cushion, say if I have 80 miles to go and range of 100 miles, then my cushion is 20. I expect the cushion to get smaller as I get closer. If the curve of cushion shrinkage gets too steep, then I start evasive action, like turning cabin heat down or off and slowing my speed.

It's good to see OP how much your wife was able to stretch the zero miles. I've gotten pretty comfortable driving routes I know well planning on arriving home with range in teens.

 

[davewill]

She should have looked for a J1772 or Tesla destination charger when her attempt to use DC failed. Yes, it would have taken more time, but better than running out of juice, even with you driving behind her. BTW, you were lucky to have drive time left at "0". Some folks have had the car stop right on the dot or even a little before.

Also, as others have said, always take precautions like slowing down BEFORE you think you need to. Better to start out slow, and then find you are OK to speed up, than finding yourself going 20MPH below the limit trying to limp into your destination. Of course I learned this the hard way, like everyone else, limping my 2011 LEAF home running on nothing. In those days, there were almost no charging stations to bail out to if you guessed wrong.

 

[PStewart]

Here is a cautionary tale. Bottom line: Don't be dumb like us. Use the Supercharger network!

View attachment 766756

My wife decided to take a spontaneous trip, with our usual charge of 80% (indicated 268 mi range. The town was 110 miles away, so no big deal, right? Well, after interstate speeds and low temperatures, the return trip range was too low. Two options: (a) drive 45 minutes in the other direction to the Supercharger, then 2 hours home, or (b) get some juice from a hotel destination charger, have dinner, and drive 1.5 hours home.

She chose (b) - mistake 1. Charging took 3 hours and got her to 150 miles range. 40 miles buffer, no sweat. She plugged in the navigation, and it said go to the supercharger. Nah, we got enough to get home - mistake 2. Tesla said to keep it below 65 to make it home.

Long story short, the Tesla range kept going down faster than linear. I assume it was because of the cold (29° F). I was watching the range on my app from home, and it looked terrifying - it looked like she was not going to make it. She tried stopping at an Electrify America station just off the interstate, but it was CCS and CHAdeMO only. She kept it to 65 mph, then 60, then down to 55 as the range got closer to zero. Several miles from home, range finally indicated zero. I had driven our ICE car out of town several miles to follow her in case the car shut down.

She made it home, with the range on zero miles for several miles. Apparently there is some kind of reserve, but I don't want to ever ever find out how much that reserve is!

View attachment 766757

Lesson: Use the Supercharger network, even if it's out of the way. It might save time and keep you from losing years of your life to range anxiety.

Key mistake here is having the battery display in miles. Switch it to percentage. And trust the navigation.