Car and Drivers 6-month review of a 2019 Model 3

[NuttyM3]

I'm sure there are several things that stick out in this article but I noticed two right away. One... why are they charging to 100% at Tesla Superchargers at every stop. From all that I've read that's not an efficient way to charge on long trips. Two... they list the battery capacity spec at 80.5 kWh. I thought I read somewhere on this forum that it was listed in the upper 70's. I've never seen any reviews before that had it listed at 80 or higher.
How Reliable Is the 2019 Tesla Model 3?

 

[holmgang]

I'm sure there are several things that stick out in this article but I noticed two right away. One... why are they charging to 100% at Tesla Superchargers at every stop. From all that I've read that's not an efficient way to charge on long trips. Two... they list the battery capacity spec at 80.5 kWh. I thought I read somewhere on this forum that it was listed in the upper 70's. I've never seen any reviews before that had it listed at 80 or higher.
How Reliable Is the 2019 Tesla Model 3?

1. why shouldnt they? the supercharger is touted (and is in fact) one of the biggest advantages of tesla

2. some back calculation... as both the capacity and the power rating are semi-obscured by tesla

 

[Punjabi510]

As a car magazine they are supposed to test the car to it's limits. This is a good case study for us to understand what happens when the car is managed this way.

As for the battery capacity, I have seen anywhere from 75-80kWh listed in many different places. I don't think Tesla actually released the real battery size, so it's all speculation. I could be wrong though.

 

[neptunesfinest]

Where did they state that they charge to 100% every stop? I see they specifically mentioned that charging to 100% is not efficient from a time perspective. I think they’re more just bemoaning the fact that you can’t just reliably run the battery down to ~10% due to lack of available locations. On top of that, it only makes sense to charge to ~70-80% due to taper.
So you might find yourself near a supercharger with 40% charge and no opportunity to charge for the next 200 miles. You have to charge but obviously that’s not efficient.
That’s at least what I read into the 100% comment.

 

[NuttyM3]

1. why shouldnt they? the supercharger is touted (and is in fact) one of the biggest advantages of tesla

I'm not saying they (or anyone else) should not charge to 100% but just to expect it'll take a little longer when topping off the battery (i.e. going from 80-100% slows down significantly). On the few trips that I have taken I'll drive down to around 20-25% and then charge back up to around 75 to 80% depending on my planned stops for the trip.

 

[NuttyM3]

As a car magazine they are supposed to test the car to it's limits. This is a good case study for us to understand what happens when the car is managed this way.

I get it that they are a car magazine and are going to do the review how they see fit but they way I read it makes it sound like they were surprised that when charging to 100% doesn't make your travels very efficient time wise. I'm not an expert like most, but that kind of thinking has been around for EV's for a while now. It's great to have the best range you can get but just note that for long trips it's going to take longer, in most cases, if you are charging all the way to 100% for a majority of the stops.

 

[NuttyM3]

Where did they state that they charge to 100% every stop? I see they specifically mentioned that charging to 100% is not efficient from a time perspective.

You're correct... the article did not state 'every stop'. I interpreted that after reading that particular paragraph and using my best guess cause of their slight about time efficiency.