Already reaped the benefit of the increased range to 325 miles

[insaneoctane]

Series of unfortunate events:

• Forgot to plug in the car last night (first time in almost a year of ownership!)
• Headwinds of 16 MPH+ on the way to work
• Weather finally was nice today ... Needed AC on the drive home

Combined with normal factors:

• I only charge to 79% SOC for battery longevity
• My round-trip commute is 111 miles

So I start my mornings with 245 miles of range (before enhancement)and 256 miles after the update. On paper, that's plenty to make it to work and back twice. But I think we all know that isn't how it works. So I return after driving to work and back (couple small detours for my wife's birthday) and now have 133 miles of range. Next morning, oops! Forgot to plug it in. No worries I will either make it or stop by one of the 3 nearby SCs to my commute. I get to work against a 16 MPH+ headwind with 72 miles remaining. Decide I shouldn't need SC since it's only 55-56 miles home. After work, realize that it's nice weather and hot in the car, so I will need AC.... Still should be fine with 16 theoretical extra miles of range. Made it home with 12 miles to spare. I think I would NOT have tried to make it home without an SC stop without this new range extention. Thanks Tesla!

PS-I realize that this scenario was ENTIRELY self inflicted. I purposely selected 79% SOC to be the lowest amount to let me forget to charge and still be ok. I have access to SCs without difficulty . I chose to push this a little to validate the new range, help normalize the battery and learn a little bit about how my Model 3 reacts to being so low.

 

[Glamisduner]

I think they just changed the display, I don't think the actual range increased without a battery pack swap. The RWD has always been underrated.

 

[TT97]

Sorry, bigger issue is what are you doing commuting 55 miles in SoCal?

Years ago, I was living in Newport Beach and got a job in the Miracle Mile area in L.A. I did that commute for 3 days before deciding to move and moved two weeks later.

But, as @Glamisduner pointed out, the additional range is just a display/calculation change and not physically additional range.

 

[Runt8]

The way Tesla is talking about it it sounds like it's actually additional range (combination of increased efficiency and possibly less reserved buffer). Has it been determined that it's just a display change?

 

[Zoomit]

But, as @Glamisduner pointed out, the additional range is just a display/calculation change and not physically additional range.

Wow, there's certainly a lot of confusion about this. Here's a post that is evidence to the contrary:
3 LR RWD - 325 mile Test

I'm still interested in seeing more corroborating evidence.

 

[zhu-]

Wow, there's certainly a lot of confusion about this. Here's a post that is evidence to the contrary:
3 LR RWD - 325 mile Test

I'm still interested in seeing more corroborating evidence.

Hmm that's quite interesting. I had also assumed it was just a calibration update like P3D performance during the first 3.5s to 3.3s update.

Though I'm curious why only the LR RWD got the update and none of the other LR cars since they all have the same battery pack?

 

[run-the-joules]

Hmm that's quite interesting. I had also assumed it was just a calibration update like P3D performance during the first 3.5s to 3.3s update.

Though I'm curious why only the LR RWD got the update and none of the other LR cars since they all have the same battery pack?

It's possible that at a low enough SOC (e.g., in the newly-opened reserve), the max power draw from both motors might exceed what it can safely supply.

It's also possible that since nobody actually gets the rated range on the dual motor, that they DID open it up and now people will just get teh range that was advertised in the first place.

 

[TT97]

Wow, there's certainly a lot of confusion about this. Here's a post that is evidence to the contrary:
3 LR RWD - 325 mile Test

I'm still interested in seeing more corroborating evidence.

Thanks for the link. The Reddit info is interesting.

My assumption was always if it was increasing the useable battery than the AWD would get the increase as well but apparently the AWD already had more useable from the beginning.

I currently have 2019.5.15 but don't have the uncorked range yet. Once I get the uncorking, I will need to take a look at the API data to compare.

 

[SageBrush]

The EPA CSI reported that ~ 87 kWh were pulled from the meter to charge the Model 3 LR battery to full from empty. The test charges by L2, and if only 73 kWh were usable that implies that the charging had 16% losses. Whereas if 77.5 kWh were available that implies 11% charging losses.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I think they just changed the display, I don't think the actual range increased without a battery pack swap. The RWD has always been underrated.

Yes, agree. I call it "sand bagging"..... hiding a little extra juice in case you need it