Charge times and driving distances incorrect - Tesla refuses to look at it.

[CyVolt]

Since the day I bought the X, it has never charged accurately or quickly. When the computer/app says it will be charged in 40 minutes, it will take 70-90 minutes. I understand (from Tesla) that the low end of the battery range and the upper end is slowed. I understand that another Tesla on the supercharger next to me will slow down the charge. I'm talking about a 60 degree day charge from 50 miles to 200 when no other chargers are taken. It will say it's going to take 40 minutes. 40 minutes later it says another 15 minutes. It took an hour. This is typical. A full charge for me takes 90 minutes at a supercharger.

I took the car on a 120 mile trip and had 180 miles of charge. Within 10 minutes of starting the trip the X told me to keep the speed under 70 or I wouldn't make it. (The speed limit is 75 here.) So I went slower than all other traffic and "luckily" I also hit a construction zone that slowed me even more. My 60 miles of buffer ended up being 20 miles. My wife and I have had the X on the interstate before with long trips where we were driving 50 MPH on the interstate (illegal) just to limp into a charging station with 4 miles to spare. Again, this is after we started that leg of the journey with a 60 mile buffer which immediately and inexplicably disappeared.

Tesla support tells me to schedule a service appoint. The Tesla Service Shop cancels my service appoint telling me the care is working as designed. Again, I don't understand how a 50% overrun on a charge estimate and a 30% reduction in range is "working as designed." It's unclear whether Tesla is incompetent in this case, or liars. But I'm sick of it.

 

[Tam]

...designed...

I think time to complete for a charge is only and estimate and it is not accurate.

That's how it is designed and that is not a malfunction.

The specs are very carefully produced under exact laboratory conditions from a perfect temperature to brand new, never used battery.

Most likely, there's nothing wrong with your car because that's how it's designed and it's doubtful anyone can duplicate the laboratory conditions.

 

[CyVolt]

They told me "the charging will always slow as it goes". I asked them why they (Tesla) knew that but the computer didn't. No answer to that of course. Although right after they told me the Tesla computer was dumb when it came to charging times, they told me how the driving distance calculation magically knew about wind conditions and elevation to predict that I wouldn't make it to my next destination. (Again, lying.)

 

[Tam]

They told me "the charging will always slow as it goes". I asked them why they (Tesla) knew that but the computer didn't. No answer to that of course. Although right after they told me the Tesla computer was dumb when it came to charging times, they told me how the driving distance calculation magically knew about wind conditions and elevation to predict that I wouldn't make it to my next destination. (Again, lying.)

In my experience, the lower the state of charge, the better the predicter such as from 30% to 80%.

Once it reaches 80% it might have to revise its prediction.

Again, once it reaches 90%, 95%... it will revise its prediction.

Also, from 99% to 100%, I would encounter numerous predictions that it's gona be finished soon but it might take much longer such as half hour or even an hour just for that 1%!

Thus, the trick is to supercharge to 80%.

If you do want to watch the clock, charge beyond 80%.

That's the pattern that I recognized when I first bought a Tesla in 2012.

That's how it's designed and I just take advantage of knowing its behavior to plan my charge.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi CyVolt,

What year, model, MCU, and battery do you have???
It could help to understand what is happening...
New car? Pre-Owned?

Shawn

 

[Rocky_H]

I took the car on a 120 mile trip and had 180 miles of charge. Within 10 minutes of starting the trip the X told me to keep the speed under 70 or I wouldn't make it. (The speed limit is 75 here.) So I went slower than all other traffic and "luckily" I also hit a construction zone that slowed me even more. My 60 miles of buffer ended up being 20 miles.

Well this part is no mystery. "Rated miles" are called "rated" for a reason. They are based on the EPA conditions for their testing to produce the efficiency ratings. And those conditions are not 75+ mph on the highway. They are more like 65-ish. I would wager a guess that since you quoted only the speed limit, but not your own actual driving speed, that you were not driving under the speed limit, correct? Driving closer to 80 mph is going to be running through your buffer faster than the computer's initial estimate, and it is going to have to adjust and revise the estimations, hence your buffer getting reduced.

So that part is physics.

 

[Silicon Desert]

Aside from Rocky's great info, I also wonder about use of air conditioning or heating, elevation changes and other environmental conditions that is going to affect the range.

 

[ewoodrick]

Since the day I bought the X, it has never charged accurately or quickly. When the computer/app says it will be charged in 40 minutes, it will take 70-90 minutes. I understand (from Tesla) that the low end of the battery range and the upper end is slowed. I understand that another Tesla on the supercharger next to me will slow down the charge. I'm talking about a 60 degree day charge from 50 miles to 200 when no other chargers are taken. It will say it's going to take 40 minutes. 40 minutes later it says another 15 minutes. It took an hour. This is typical. A full charge for me takes 90 minutes at a supercharger.

I took the car on a 120 mile trip and had 180 miles of charge. Within 10 minutes of starting the trip the X told me to keep the speed under 70 or I wouldn't make it. (The speed limit is 75 here.) So I went slower than all other traffic and "luckily" I also hit a construction zone that slowed me even more. My 60 miles of buffer ended up being 20 miles. My wife and I have had the X on the interstate before with long trips where we were driving 50 MPH on the interstate (illegal) just to limp into a charging station with 4 miles to spare. Again, this is after we started that leg of the journey with a 60 mile buffer which immediately and inexplicably disappeared.

Tesla support tells me to schedule a service appoint. The Tesla Service Shop cancels my service appoint telling me the care is working as designed. Again, I don't understand how a 50% overrun on a charge estimate and a 30% reduction in range is "working as designed." It's unclear whether Tesla is incompetent in this case, or liars. But I'm sick of it.

You really shouldn't full charge, especially at a Supercharger. The last 10% is highly variable as there some balancing and other stuff going on. Charge rate up to 90% should be pretty accurate.
What's the temps outside? It's cooler and as it gets cooler, you can expect 30% degradation in range. Also, if you are doing 75 mph on Atlanta highways, you will never reach the EPA estimates. (by the way 50 mph on the Interstate is NOT illegal, I believe that it is 45 mph)

It sounds as if you may always be charging at Superchargers, that's the worse EV experience that you can have. I charge at home and have no idea, not even care how long charging takes, it's always done many hours before I need it.
Never stop to just charge on a road trip, combine it with a meal stop or at least a break. I'll be heading from ATL to Orlando after Thanksgiving and don't really expect to spend but about 15 minutes charging. I will be stopping for longer than that, but that's to fill the tummy.

 

[DCGOO]

Since the day I bought the X, it has never charged accurately or quickly. When the computer/app says it will be charged in 40 minutes, it will take 70-90 minutes. I understand (from Tesla) that the low end of the battery range and the upper end is slowed. I understand that another Tesla on the supercharger next to me will slow down the charge. I'm talking about a 60 degree day charge from 50 miles to 200 when no other chargers are taken. It will say it's going to take 40 minutes. 40 minutes later it says another 15 minutes. It took an hour. This is typical. A full charge for me takes 90 minutes at a supercharger.

I took the car on a 120 mile trip and had 180 miles of charge. Within 10 minutes of starting the trip the X told me to keep the speed under 70 or I wouldn't make it. (The speed limit is 75 here.) So I went slower than all other traffic and "luckily" I also hit a construction zone that slowed me even more. My 60 miles of buffer ended up being 20 miles. My wife and I have had the X on the interstate before with long trips where we were driving 50 MPH on the interstate (illegal) just to limp into a charging station with 4 miles to spare. Again, this is after we started that leg of the journey with a 60 mile buffer which immediately and inexplicably disappeared.

Tesla support tells me to schedule a service appoint. The Tesla Service Shop cancels my service appoint telling me the care is working as designed. Again, I don't understand how a 50% overrun on a charge estimate and a 30% reduction in range is "working as designed." It's unclear whether Tesla is incompetent in this case, or liars. But I'm sick of it.

Are you charging at the only 150 KW Supercharger in metro Atlanta (the one in the parking garage downtown)? All the others are Urban Superchargers, only capable of 72 KW. Your charge behavior seems about right for an urban SC. The other thing you are doing incorrectly is assuming the fuel gauge provides accurate information. It does not. For accurate range prediction, use the energy graph instead, it bases its estimate upon your current driving behavior in the last 5, 15 or 30 miles. All the tank number is good for is how full the tank is, frankly "miles" is a nearly useless metric. Set your car to display "Energy" instead. You should never expect to go 120 miles with only 180 miles of fuel in the tank this time of year, especially in Atlanta where folks only drive fast or faster!

I do not understand why, in a city of 5 million, there is only a single 10-slot 150 KW SC in a parking garage downtown. We have 5 times that capacity in my city, 1/5 the size of Atlanta. At least parking is free for Supercharging Teslas.