Car battery: 340 miles. I drove 280. Came home with 5 miles left?

[Travelhead]

I own a new 2019 P100D Raven that charges to 340 miles. I planned a 280 mile trip and returned with just 5 miles of charge left (1%)?!

1) When I left my house, I noticed I was charged only to 330 miles even though I maxed out battery charging capacity and turned of Sentry mode? (So I lost 10 miles of range before even leaving home).

2) I drove in 80 degree weather, partly in the rain, mostly on autopilot, at about 80 mph, but usually 70-75 with occasional stop and go traffic and 80% of the trip on the interstate highway.

3) Upon the return leg, my Tesla said I need to not drive above 70mph to make it home with enough charge. But after following that advice, it then told me I must drop down to 65mph. This was extremely frustrating as I had to be the slowest car in the right lane.

What went wrong here? Is 340 miles of range really mean 285 miles of range with real world driving conditions??

 

[Misterbee]

Yes. This is normal. And lots of new owners make this discovery. It’s just the physics of aerodynamics at work. Speed increases result in great drag increases.

It’s the high speeds that will kill the range. No way will it go 340 miles at 80 mph. Turn on your energy display, and drive down the highway at different speeds. You will see that high speed driving causes energy use to skyrocket.

 

[cwerdna]

^^^
Yep on the above. OP was driving WAY too fast.

Model S Efficiency and Range
Roadster Efficiency and Range | Blog | Tesla Motors

OP may also want to read about the below about EPA test cycles.

How Vehicles Are Tested. You can see the test cycles at Detailed Test Information. The highest average speed of ANY of the test cycles is only 48.4 mph. That page also points to https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/EPA test procedure for EVs-PHEVs-11-14-2017.pdf.

One can also read this that was written WAY before Model S: The Truth About EPA City / Highway MPG Estimates - Feature - Auto Reviews - Car and Driver. There are 4 pages.

Rain also increases energy consumption due to energy being wasted by tires throwing water up into the air.

Forget "miles" on your dash. Each "mile" will propel your car much further than a mile if driven slowly (e.g. 20 mph) and a less than a mile if driven say 80 mph or up a steep hill.

 

[Tam]

...What went wrong here? Is 340 miles of range really mean 285 miles of range with real world driving conditions??

Hypermilers can go much further but most drivers can't replicate laboratory conditions to get the EPA specs.

 

[WarpedOne]

real world driving conditions??

There is no such thing as a "real world driving conditions".
Mind the singular.

There are only milliard of real world conditions.
Mind the plural.
And they all have different energy usage.

Refer to the chart:

 

[SoyMikeJones]

OP, curious what wheels you have? Slipstreams or the Twin Turbines? I know when ordering my performance, the Turbines lowered the range from 348 to 328, which pushed me to finding a set of Arachnids over Turbines (37 lb total difference) since they apparently are lighter than the stock 19" Slipstreams (I think closer to 7ish lbs). Obviously this doesn't mean it'll get better range given wider tires = higher rolling resistance, but I wanted 21's and wanted to maximize the range I could get.

 

[cwerdna]

Yep on what WarpedOne said.

Someone can drive almost all city driving (say below 45 mph) with few stops. Someone else could drive almost all city driving w/lots of stop and go but having to blast the heater. Someone else drives almost all highway, 55 mph max. Someone else drives 85+ mph all the time, blasting the heater. All of these would be that person's "real world" yet would all results in wildly different amount of range autonomy on a single charge.

OP can also look at A Tesla Model S 85D owner traveled over 550 miles on a single charge - Electrek.

Casey Spencer, a Tesla Model S owner, set a new record for the longest distance traveled on a single charge in a Model S by driving 550.3 miles in 26 hours... Spencer used his Model S 85D.
...
The EPA-rated range of a 85D is 270 miles...

To get so much range out of the car, Spencer drove at ~22 mph. The practice is called “hypermiling” and the goal is to get the most out of a vehicle’s energy potential.

 

[D.E.]

I own a new 2019 P100D Raven that charges to 340 miles. I planned a 280 mile trip and returned with just 5 miles of charge left (1%)?!

1) When I left my house, I noticed I was charged only to 330 miles even though I maxed out battery charging capacity and turned of Sentry mode? (So I lost 10 miles of range before even leaving home).

2) I drove in 80 degree weather, partly in the rain, mostly on autopilot, at about 80 mph, but usually 70-75 with occasional stop and go traffic and 80% of the trip on the interstate highway.

3) Upon the return leg, my Tesla said I need to not drive above 70mph to make it home with enough charge. But after following that advice, it then told me I must drop down to 65mph. This was extremely frustrating as I had to be the slowest car in the right lane.

What went wrong here? Is 340 miles of range really mean 285 miles of range with real world driving conditions??

Most of the energy spent at highway speeds is spent pushing air out of the way. Air resistance goes up as the square of the speed. So the air resistance is significantly higher at 80MPH than at 60MPH.

I drive 65-70 and have no trouble with the estimated range, my residual estimated mileage generally goes up as I drive.

The 340 miles is an estimate of the range you can drive. It isn’t a guarantee of range regardless of how you drive. If you choose to drive in a manner that consumes more power per mile driven, your range will decrease. How do you consume more power? Primarily it will be determined by air resistance.

It isn’t just electric cars, any car will consume more fuel at 80 than at 60. The difference is that non electric cars don’t generally display an accurate range remaining with the fuel remaining. For a while, there was a national 55 MPH speed limit. That was imposed in order to increase every car’s fuel efficiency. It didn’t work, people didn’t like driving 55 so the laws changed.

There are other ways you can consume more power. Driving into the wind, driving up hill, jackrabbit starts, anything that increases rolling resistance (different or under-inflated tires), less aerodynamic wheels, running resistance cabin heat, etc. Someone mentioned rain, that could be a factor as well.

You should see your rated range or more at 65-70 MPH. You can certainly drive at 80 MPH but you should recognize the car won’t go as far on the charge. It is no fault of the car, it’s just physics. You can argue and you can register your frustration but the physics doesn’t change. Whether other cars drive faster in the right lane is irrelevant. You can justify your faster speed by claiming “real world driving conditions” but it doesn’t matter, physics doesn’t care. You might argue that Tesla should calculate the claimed range at 80 MPH. Since 80 exceeds the posted speed limits nearly everywhere, that’s not going to happen either.

 

[jerry33]

What went wrong here? Is 340 miles of range really mean 285 miles of range with real world driving conditions??

Nothing went wrong, you drove 80 mph. Don't expect EPA numbers (just like any car electric or gas) when you drive that fast. Rated range is EPA numbers. You used your electricity pushing air.

 

[mtndrew1]

This is just like a gas car. Drive 80 MPH and you’re not going to get the EPA gas mileage. Drive slower and you’ll get better than the sticker.

What was your Wh/mi for the trip? That’s the equivalent of MPG.

 

[D.E.]

I own a new 2019 P100D Raven that charges to 340 miles. I planned a 280 mile trip and returned with just 5 miles of charge left (1%)?!

1) When I left my house, I noticed I was charged only to 330 miles even though I maxed out battery charging capacity and turned of Sentry mode? (So I lost 10 miles of range before even leaving home).

2) I drove in 80 degree weather, partly in the rain, mostly on autopilot, at about 80 mph, but usually 70-75 with occasional stop and go traffic and 80% of the trip on the interstate highway.

3) Upon the return leg, my Tesla said I need to not drive above 70mph to make it home with enough charge. But after following that advice, it then told me I must drop down to 65mph. This was extremely frustrating as I had to be the slowest car in the right lane.

What went wrong here? Is 340 miles of range really mean 285 miles of range with real world driving conditions??

In addition to to my reply above, you might also want to know that the batteries will lose range more quickly if routinely maximally charged and run down to just a few percent. The batteries will last longest if run between 80% and 20%. Occasional full charge shouldn’t make a difference although it is not good to keep the battery charged to 100%. You’ll see some loss of range over the years as the batteries are used but you can decrease the loss by recognizing and avoiding things that are known to accelerate the degradation.

 

[rrodby]

Get behind a semi (hopefully going fast enough to tolerate) and watch your energy consumption go way down. I did this once to extend my battery as I thought I might be cutting it close. wind resistance goes way down and may even be pulled a bit along bc of it.

 

[St☰v☰]

340 is an EPA range and no where near real world miles. For instance, mine is a daily driver, I drive about 70 miles round trip each day. I leave very early in the morning and then leave work equally as early so I don't hit a lot of stop-n-go traffic. Rarely is my driving spirited, though occasionally I need to "goose" it to get onto the freeway or pass another vehicle, but normally I drive the HOV lane(s) and use my AP or TACC for most of each trip. Now, that said, I also on a daily basis, record starting range, actual miles driven to and then from work, avg kwm, again both ways and then the total average daily kWm and total daily miles driven and I've been doing this daily since I bought the car. Based on actuals, I consume 1.35 kwm for every 1 mile actually driven. I've never gotten a one-for-one ration, ever, and I'm not sure it's possible, though I'm sure some will say "oh I get it all the time". You seem to be getting better than I am at 1.2, I wish was was getting that range. So be happy, you drive a Tesla and don't have to buy gas!

 

[jerry33]

340 is an EPA range and no where near real world miles. For instance, mine is a daily driver, I drive about 70 miles round trip each day. I leave very early in the morning and then leave work equally as early so I don't hit a lot of stop-n-go traffic. Rarely is my driving spirited, though occasionally I need to "goose" it to get onto the freeway or pass another vehicle, but normally I drive the HOV lane(s) and use my AP or TACC for most of each trip. Now, that said, I also on a daily basis, record starting range, actual miles driven to and then from work, avg kwm, again both ways and then the total average daily kWm and total daily miles driven and I've been doing this daily since I bought the car. Based on actuals, I consume 1.35 kwm for every 1 mile actually driven. I've never gotten a one-for-one ration, ever, and I'm not sure it's possible, though I'm sure some will say "oh I get it all the time". You seem to be getting better than I am at 1.2, I wish was was getting that range. So be happy, you drive a Tesla and don't have to buy gas!

On the other hand.

 

[St☰v☰]

On the other hand.
View attachment 481208

Not bad, isn't 209 kWm's the one-for-one value?

 

[jerry33]

Not bad, isn't 209 kWm's the one-for-one value?

309 not 209

 

[St☰v☰]

309 not 209

I don't think 309 is correct, but let me do some diggin...

 

[rsg123]

Not bad, isn't 209 kWm's the one-for-one value?

Are you trying to say Wh/mi?

 

[jerry33]

I don't think 309 is correct, but let me do some diggin...

It's not 209--I thought that was a typo.

 

[hawaiilife]

Yea 309 doesn't seem correct lol.