Am I Supposed To Be Getting Better Range Than This?

[therealjimbob]

Disclaimer: I’m sorry if this is a total newb question, I am very new to driving a Tesla and I have no idea what constitutes normal.

So I bought a used Tesla model 3 SR+ with 44K miles on It 2 days ago. I have driven it a couple times so far and I have had to hit a supercharger 2 times.

I am including a picture of the current wh/mi with this post. I am in Maryland where the weather is not so bad right now, it’s around 55 Fahrenheit today and the last 2 days it has

 

[therealjimbob]

I’m sorry I have no idea why it didn’t save my whole post. Here is the entire post:


Disclaimer: I’m sorry if this is a total newb question, I am very new to driving a Tesla and I have no idea what constitutes normal.

So I bought a used Tesla model 3 SR+ with 44K miles on It 2 days ago. I have driven it a couple times so far and I have had to hit a supercharger 2 times.

I am including a picture of the current wh/mi with this post. I am in Maryland where the weather is not so bad right now, it’s around 55 Fahrenheit today and the last 2 days it has not been very cold (around 62).

I am not a crazy fast driver and my average speed has been pretty much the speed limit. I have probably driven 50/50 as far as Highway/city miles go.

I also checked the map because I am planning a trip and I wanted to drive to Philadelphia and it told me I would have to recharge after 60 miles or so with 70% battery life left. Again is this normal? I would think I would at least get 100 miles before having to charge if I have 70% battery life. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Tdriver]

Trip A looks normal. 260 watts is about average so you would be getting 4 miles per KW. You did not say how many miles you indicate on a full charge. You should check that. 400+ watts/per mile means you are really pushing it. Go to the energy graph and set the scale to 5 miles. Then watch the number on the right side of the graph, it will indicate how many miles you can go with the energy remaining in your pack. To increase that number, slow down......to decrease the number, speed up. The graph is very handy if you think you might not make the next supercharger.

 

[therealjimbob]

The

Trip A looks normal. 260 watts is about average so you would be getting 4 miles per KW. You did not say how many miles you indicate on a full charge. You should check that. 400+ watts/per mile means you are really pushing it. Go to the energy graph and set the scale to 5 miles. Then watch the number on the right side of the graph, it will indicate how many miles you can go with the energy remaining in your pack. To increase that number, slow down......to decrease the number, speed up. The graph is very handy if you think you might not make the next supercharger.

first and foremost thanks for answering my question. I will check out the energy graph when I drive it tomorrow.

Crazy thing is, the 400+ I was not driving it crazy or pushing it, I was just driving back to my house from the supercharger. The only thing I did was inflate the tires to the recommended range which was 42psi. It’s baffling me as to why it’s giving me 400+ numbers on my last trip but maybe the graph will help me figure it out. Thanks. I will report back tomorrow night.

 

[father_of_6]

The EPA rated range for your car can be had at like 50mph, no fast starts, no climate controls.

Sitting in the car with the heat or A/C on will skew the numbers. Spirited driving will sacrifice range too.

Drive with the energy graph open on 30 miles and average, then compare the solid line (EPA range) with your dashed one. Try to get yours to match or lower by driving conservatively. Then you'll start to get a sense of how you have to drive to get the EPA rated range.

Once you're bored of doing that, close the graph and just drive like the wind. Who cares about range... that's what home charging is for. And *definitely* get home charging... it's a game changer.

Congrats on the new car!

 

[father_of_6]

My guess is that you sat at the SuperCharger with heat or A/C on for like half an hour... and that energy usage is being counted against your drive. Quirky things like that do exist, and at first you'll want to investigate them all, but eventually you'll just appreciate the drive.

 

[Regaj]

The 400+ Wh/mi over the last 4-5 miles is much, much too small a sample distance to draw any conclusions from. If you had a way to observe actual power output on a moment-by-moment basis, you'd see an astonishing variety, bouncing all over the place. You'd suddenly see that 1% grade on that road a mile before your house you always thought was perfectly flat. You'd see that that quiet, steady throttle foot you always thought you had really has a touch of palsy. And taking off from a stop, no matter how gentle, consumes a staggering amount of energy.

Since you're new to Tesla and can't see all that directly, do what @Tdriver suggested... pull up the Energy app in the car, put it on "Consumption," set it to "5 Miles"... and watch the energy spike up and down at the most minuscule provocation.

Wh/mi is a terrific longer term measure. Over short spans it doesn't tell you a lot.

 

[KenC]

As regaj notes, 5 miles is too short to be meaningful.

As for your trip from Maryland to Philly, it's not at all clear why the car says to charge. We don't have enough info to know. It is odd, as the car usually tries to minimize stops, so it would likely charge at low SOCs.

I would put your trip info into abetterrouteplanner.com. The Tesla's trip planning, while improved, is still not as accurate as 3rd-party planners.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

I also checked the map because I am planning a trip and I wanted to drive to Philadelphia and it told me I would have to recharge after 60 miles or so with 70% battery life left. Again is this normal? I would think I would at least get 100 miles before having to charge if I have 70% battery life. Am I doing something wrong?

You’d have to show us the planner output.

Everything looks normal though in general. 400Wh/mi is perfectly normal, though of course on average you’ll do much better. As others have said.
Sitting stationary in drive, heat, AC, hills, wind, counting only acceleration to speed while not accounting for regen to zero on a short hop, etc. Lotsa reasons.

 

[garth_angst]

What is the lifetime Wh/mi? I have driven 16,000 miles in 3+ years (working from home keeps it low) and mine is 225 Wh/mi. Also, that it wanted you to charge so quickly is just finding a place to charge to get you to destination at about 10%, which I never like. I always charge to 80% at stops even if wants to me add only 10-15%. I like to arrive at least 25% to give me enough range to find a SC on the way back.

 

[therealjimbob]

My guess is that you sat at the SuperCharger with heat or A/C on for like half an hour... and that energy usage is being counted against your drive. Quirky things like that do exist, and at first you'll want to investigate them all, but eventually you'll just appreciate the drive.

Wow, do I feel stupid LOL. I did sit at the supercharger with the air on, watching a movie. So that’s more than likely what caused it. I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Thanks for that tip. Now I know that it will count against me when I’m sitting still, I will make sure I take that into account.

 

[therealjimbob]

As regaj notes, 5 miles is too short to be meaningful.

As for your trip from Maryland to Philly, it's not at all clear why the car says to charge. We don't have enough info to know. It is odd, as the car usually tries to minimize stops, so it would likely charge at low SOCs.

I would put your trip info into abetterrouteplanner.com. The Tesla's trip planning, while improved, is still not as accurate as 3rd-party planners.

I’m gonna try this out. Thank you

 

[therealjimbob]

What is the lifetime Wh/mi? I have driven 16,000 miles in 3+ years (working from home keeps it low) and mine is 225 Wh/mi. Also, that it wanted you to charge so quickly is just finding a place to charge to get you to destination at about 10%, which I never like. I always charge to 80% at stops even if wants to me add only 10-15%. I like to arrive at least 25% to give me enough range to find a SC on the way back.

Trip A and B are pretty much my lifetime stats. I only owned the car for 3 days now

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Wow, do I feel stupid LOL. I did sit at the supercharger with the air on, watching a movie. So that’s more than likely what caused it.

Now I know that it will count against me when I’m sitting still, I will make sure I take that into account.

It absolutely does not count against you in the Wh/mi. When you are parked it does not count on the trip meter or consumption. You’ll see your energy (“miles”) disappear (not at a Supercharger though of course) but no impact on Wh/mi as long as you remain in park.

Obviously it does cost a bit in terms of energy use.

What happens in Park stays in Park.

But 400Wh/mi over four miles is super easy to achieve. Just have to do any number of insignificant things that have a huge impact on energy use.

 

[therealjimbob]

The EPA rated range for your car can be had at like 50mph, no fast starts, no climate controls.

Sitting in the car with the heat or A/C on will skew the numbers. Spirited driving will sacrifice range too.

Drive with the energy graph open on 30 miles and average, then compare the solid line (EPA range) with your dashed one. Try to get yours to match or lower by driving conservatively. Then you'll start to get a sense of how you have to drive to get the EPA rated range.

Once you're bored of doing that, close the graph and just drive like the wind. Who cares about range... that's what home charging is for. And *definitely* get home charging... it's a game changer.

Congrats on the new car!

I am definitely gonna do this and thank you so much for the advice and the congrats. I am completely in love with this car. My wife hates the white seats but she’s starting to come around

 

[therealjimbob]

I just wanted to post and let everyone on here so far know that I really appreciate the help and thank you all. This community is very welcoming and I am most definitely gonna stick around.

I will try out the ideas above including the one from that @Tdriver and @father_of_6 recommended. Thank you all for the help, I will give you all updates on how it goes over the next day or two.

 

[mswlogo]

Always measure a round trip. One way trips are meaningless.

Your story doesn’t match your display.
But your display isn’t giving much detail.

Should be very low 200’s for SR+ if driving efficiently in good weather.

 

[therealjimbob]

Always measure a round trip. One way trips are meaningless.

Your story doesn’t match your display.
But your display isn’t giving much detail.

Should be very low 200’s for SR+ if driving efficiently in good weather.

Maybe I got a little mixed up but the display is from today. I bought the car 3 days ago used. After buying it I drove it approximately 5 times. Two of them trips included me going to a super charger. The first time I went, the car was driven from 70% to around 50%. The second time I took it to a supercharger the car was driven from 80% to 36%.

I think the best thing I can do now if take the advice of others and pull up the energy graph. I am coming from a hybrid which gives me 0 experience driving an electric vehicle, I could be doing this all wrong. So I guess I’ll try that tomorrow and check in afterward.

 

[mswlogo]

Maybe I got a little mixed up but the display is from today. I bought the car 3 days ago used. After buying it I drove it approximately 5 times. Two of them trips included me going to a super charger. The first time I went, the car was driven from 70% to around 50%. The second time I took it to a supercharger the car was driven from 80% to 36%.

I think the best thing I can do now if take the advice of others and pull up the energy graph. I am coming from a hybrid which gives me 0 experience driving an electric vehicle, I could be doing this all wrong. So I guess I’ll try that tomorrow and check in afterward.

Going to the supercharger (using Nav) will precondition the battery which uses more power.

Note Sentry mode will use power when parked.

Try reserving Trip B as lifetime wh/m. You can rename the trip. It’s handy to have that number. To know car is behaving and driver is behaving.

You are probably still learning what efficient driving is.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Thank you all for the help, I will give you all updates on how it goes over the next day or two.

For the record, a ~300-foot ascent over those four miles would add ~120Wh/mi to your results. Probably not what happened but as @mswlogo says just do the same trip in reverse. Going down 300 feet in the same distance would reduce your consumption by 120Wh/mi (a little less; not perfectly efficient recovery, unless you do not use regen) assuming you do not use the brakes.

AC and heat can have enormous transient effects too. As @mswlogo says, preconditioning for supercharging can have an even larger effect. If you hear the loud whining from the motors, expect terrible efficiency. It uses several thousand watts.

Note Sentry mode will use power when parked.

However, it will not count towards the metered use. So does not explain the 400Wh/mi. It will just reduce the displayed range/% (a lot).