Another Battery Range Concern

[Alan Wells]

I have a new Model Y. Just picked it up on 2/8/2024. I have some concerns about range and since this is my first Tesla I figured I'd ask the community.

I had the car plugged into my wall charger overnight. I keep it charged to 80%. I unplugged it this morning. I drove 7 miles to my office and noticed I was already down to 77%.
Does that sound right to you all? 3% of my battery for 7 miles?

I did get on the highway. I drove around 70mph there. I probably sped up above 70 to get around slower traffic. I have the car in Chill mode so I don't accelerate fast.
I had the air on but it was cool this morning so I don't think it ran much.

Looking at the drive in the Tessie app I see the following info:
I drove 7 miles in 10 minutes.
Min speed 48mph
Max speed 79mph
Range Efficiency 78%
Energy Used 2.36kWh
Average Used 335Wh/mi

I have a planned trip from Dallas to Panama City Beach, FL next month so I want to make sure there isn't anything odd in my numbers before I leave for that.
I am assuming because my speed went up pretty high for a bit that it ate up more battery.

Thoughts?

 

[Bouba]

EVs are very much like ice vehicles, very short journeys use a lot more energy. As you do longer and longer journeys you will start to see it’s true consumption…

 

[Harriscott]

I think that route is a little thin on supercharging, so recommend using ABRP (and be sure to adjust the speed offset) to help plan.

 

[Big Earl]

Sounds pretty typical to me. The most energy is used at startup - mostly for cabin conditioning.

 

[petercc9]

Sounds pretty typical to me. The most energy is used at startup - mostly for cabin conditioning.

Yes, the times I noticed the battery drop fast is when the vents are on...especially the defogger. That will drain the battery extremely quickly.

I live in a very hilly area too so I can drain things fast.

 

[Pianewman]

I think that route is a little thin on supercharging, so recommend using ABRP (and be sure to adjust the speed offset) to help plan.

Not at all. I've driven 3 r/t DFW to Tampa, FL, and the Superchargers are perfectly spaced...as long as you follow ABRP or, even easier, letting Tesla navigate the entire route. IIRC, the actual location of the SCs is sometimes iffy, as the last few miles prior to the SC can be a little confusing.

OP: Yes, your efficiency drop at start-up is normal. In fact, the initial 80% that it shows might be off a percent or two, as that number is always a very close approximation.

 

[Pacernow]

Alan,
If you have your Y plugged into your charger. You might go into the Tesla app to Schedule and turn on Precondition for the time that you into leave. Usually the pre conditioning is completed 15 minutes before your departure time.

 

[Sweed269]

It stops at 80% and usually settles to 79% before you leave.

 

[Alan Wells]

Great! Thanks for the info. I think it is OK then. I do have preconditioning set so that my departure is always around 7:15 each morning.
I have looked over the ABRP quite a lot in the last week or so. Looks to be pretty good. There seem to be more chargers along the way now so I think that will be fine. I'll make sure to set the speed offset properly. I know the ABRP app is set to assume 65mph by default or something like that. I also know many of the highways have a 75 mph speed limit going there. I have driven it in an ICE many times. This will be my first trip in a Tesla and I am nervous but looking forward to the adventure.

 

[Pianewman]

For DFW -Panama City, keep it simple. Use the Tesla built-in navigation.

 

[gsmith123]

As others have shared, that sounds normal. Short trips are both worse for efficiency and, by virtue of being short, more prone large swings in consumption (battery estimate errors, heavy acceleration, heavy braking, etc).

If you're really interested in studying the efficiency of the vehicle more accurately try an hour loop roundtrip from home and take a look at the results in Tessie (side note: I really love Tessie if easy review of efficiency, temperature, speed, energy usage on specific legs of a trip, etc)

 

[charlesoris]

I have a new Model Y. Just picked it up on 2/8/2024. I have some concerns about range and since this is my first Tesla I figured I'd ask the community.

I had the car plugged into my wall charger overnight. I keep it charged to 80%. I unplugged it this morning. I drove 7 miles to my office and noticed I was already down to 77%.
Does that sound right to you all? 3% of my battery for 7 miles?

I did get on the highway. I drove around 70mph there. I probably sped up above 70 to get around slower traffic. I have the car in Chill mode so I don't accelerate fast.
I had the air on but it was cool this morning so I don't think it ran much.

Looking at the drive in the Tessie app I see the following info:
I drove 7 miles in 10 minutes.
Min speed 48mph
Max speed 79mph
Range Efficiency 78%
Energy Used 2.36kWh
Average Used 335Wh/mi

I have a planned trip from Dallas to Panama City Beach, FL next month so I want to make sure there isn't anything odd in my numbers before I leave for that.
I am assuming because my speed went up pretty high for a bit that it ate up more battery.

Thoughts?

Speed and HVAC use are just some of the variables used to determine efficiency,
Do you have MYLR or MYP? What kind of tires do you have? What size tires you have on your vehicle? What was the tire pressure? What was the outside temperature?
There are several variables that impact efficiency, and therefore battery consumption.

P.S. The more mileage you put on the car, the lesser range anxiety you will have.

 

[phxazcraig]

Seems about right. For the first few months, to get used to only charging to 80% and not have range anxiety, I just mentally added an imaginary 20% to the reading to see where things would be if I had started 'full'. So 71% is 91% if you had started with a full charge. Makes you feel the range a bit better.

After a couple of long road trips where I was playing with speed to try to arrive with only 10% (or less) left, I quit worrying about it.

I live in Phoenix, and it gets hot here. I already have it in a garage at night, and I start charging at 11pm. Helps keeping the battery cooler when charging. In the summer here I may just leave it at 50% at night, and charge up a bit in the morning if I need to go any distance. Heat while charging or holding full is the enemy of batteries,

 

[Bouba]

Range anxiety is a real thing...some people have in ice cars...they are always brimming the tank up. Others are happy to drive on fumes. So that sort of gives you your starting point. But like most things calmness comes with experience....your personality type may never allow you to arrive home on 2%...and that is no bad thing even though it’s perfectly acceptable to many people

 

[ggs gas]

precondition your departure by setting a finish charge time in your schedule on your app. the car will get the cabin to your desired (or last set) temperature and in doing so also condition the battery to the proper temp for departure. If your commute is 7 miles, you’re spending the first 3 of that getting the battery to optimal operating temperature. For comparison when i precondition, my highway efficieny is right around 260-270 wh/mi from the start, pretty much from the first on-ramp. Without it, I’m like you well above 300-400 until the battery is optimized. I drive a lot of miles so I’ve been pretty detailed on all of this.

 

[Rocky_H]

precondition your departure by setting a finish charge time in your schedule on your app. the car will get the cabin to your desired (or last set) temperature and in doing so also condition the battery to the proper temp for departure. If your commute is 7 miles, you’re spending the first 3 of that getting the battery to optimal operating temperature.

Or by preconditioning, you're using the first 10 miles of the 7 mile commute getting it to temperature before leaving the garage. *shrug* You're spending energy that way too.

 

[Unclepaul]

It is not unusual for new owners to "do the math" and worry that their vehicle will not have hoped for range. Problem is that these short calculations will not transfer to a real world long distance trip.

One great thing about the Tesla navigation, is that it updates itself in real time. As you travel it may change Supercharger stops or routes to adjust to weather, temps, elevation etc. It will recommend you stop at certain chargers, and how long to charge before setting off. You will set a reserve percentage, so you can decide to be conservative or agressive as to stopping. It will even tell you to slow down a bit, if it computes that it is needed to arrive at your next stop with the comfort zone you chose.

As most things in life, it is not perfect, but most owners settle into a comfortable relationship with their Tesla.

 

[gsmith123]

You will set a reserve percentage, so you can decide to be conservative or agressive

Not sure what you’re talking about here - you can’t set a target arrival percentage

 

[Rocky_H]

Not sure what you’re talking about here - you can’t set a target arrival percentage

That's referring to a mental decision the driver makes--not something that is entered on the Tesla screen.

 

[Alan Wells]

Just posting some new numbers from a drive this weekend.

From Lewisville, TX to Arlington TX 46.1 miles
Average Speed 65
Max Speed 81 (there is an HOV dedicated lane I use on this route that has a 75mph limit.)
Battery from 79% to 59%
Interior Temp Average 69F
Outside Temp Average 44F

Left the car parked at a friend's all day while we went out in their Tesla.
Return Trip Arlington to Lewisville 42.7 miles. (Odd it was fewer miles but I took the exact same route back)
Average Speed 66
Max Speed 83
Battery from 56% to 41% (I guess Iost 3% from Sentry Mode)
Interior Temp Average 69F
Outside Temp Average 67F