I’m looking for comments. In San Diego I drove my almost new Tesla 3 (long range) at moderate speeds over to Encinitas and back a trip of 37 miles confirmed by the odometer. The range started at 202 and ended at at 150, indicating that I had driven 52 miles. Something is not right! Any ideas?
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Disappointing range on new Tesla 3
- Thread starter Jimbo56
- Start date
-
- Tags
- range degradation
Give it 6 months and you will get familiar with how it works and how the stated range works in estimating things. It will vary based on elevation, temperature, speed etc and most of us keep it on battery percentage anyway. It is just about as accurate as the same function on my Toyota Tundra in the winter. I don't freak out about that one, and so I try not to get hung up on the one on my Tesla.
Leopold Stotch
Member
OK so I drove my model 3 today in New York in 45ﾟ weather. My actual mileage was approximately 32 miles but I used 45 miles of the battery. I used the seat heater and kept the heat down to 66, occasionaly using the defroster. Is this to be expected ,and I should expect 190 miles per full charge not 310?
There is nothing wrong. You likely had the heat on, as its cold (for san diego) and rainy, I doubt you were driving 55-60 miles per hour, or, said another way, the exact same way as the EPA tests.
Everyone gets hung up on the range, because "battery", and we get stressed out about it. When was the last time you got EPA rated mileage on whatever car you drove before the Model 3?
If you are trying to maximize mileage, there are a number of tips in the manual and on this site to do so, like
1. Slow down, drive moderately, modulate your speed
2. turn climate control off and use heated seats instead
3. Which size tires do you have? 18s with aero's get the best mileage, the super sticky Micheline pilot sport 4s get the worst (but they are awesome tires).
There are a number of threads here on the topic, maybe 1 every 2-3 days or so. There is a lot to read, but I am virtually positive there is nothing "wrong" with your car... no more than there is anything wrong with an ICE car when it does not, for most people, get its rated MPG.
GHammer
Dark Star
Sigh...amazing how people buy electric cars without doing any research.
And thats probly the most useless reply I've ever seen on this forum. Opinionated snobbery and 0 information.
By the way I followed Tesla for years before purchasing this but I'm not a geek or a nerd and if this is going to be a mass market car then it should be somewhat near what it proportions to be.
mtndrew1
Active Member
Cold weather reduces range on electric cars, much like it reduces MPG on gasoline cars but somewhat more dramatically because there is no excess engine heat to warm the cabin.
What percentage of window sticker MPG did you get in your last car in cold weather?
bd7349
Member
He may have been a little rude, but he's not wrong. It's never a bad thing to do research on something that's relatively new (to most people).
bd7349
Member
The Model 3 is a very efficient car though, so anything that knocks down that efficiency by using more power from the battery (using the heat, driving fast, going uphill, driving in snow or rain as opposed to dry pavement) will result in you getting less range. A regular gas car is only like 50-60% efficient. The rest of that energy is lost to waste heat which in winter is used to warm the cabin, but electric cars obviously don't have this so they have to make their own heat. Making heat via resistive methods uses a lot of power. This is more noticeable on shorter drives as the heater uses a lot of power initially to quickly heat the cabin, but then uses much less just to maintain cabin temp. Using the seat heaters is significantly less power intensive than turning up the cabin temp when you're cold.
If you were using the heat on a relatively short drive in the rain while also driving at highway speeds, that's going to require more power than if you weren't using any heat on a decently warm, dry day. And if you went uphill at all during this drive, that's going to significantly increase power use as well (although you'll regain some of this back on your return drive).
Just keep driving it, you'll quickly learn how much range you can expect from different situations. Worst case is still 200+ miles though even when it's really cold. In summer you'll likely get better than the rated range.
Last edited:
It proports to be 310 mile range AS DEFINED ON THE EPA TEST CYCLE which is how all EVs are required to be advertised so it’s an equal comparison. If you’ve followed Tesla for years as you say, or did the slightest research about buying a Tesla or other EV, you would know this and know what causes less than EPA rated range— speed, cold weather, and using the heat.
mtndrew1
Active Member
Pretty much or you measured tank to tank? When you’re working with small numbers like that it’s very easy to miss a 20% change in economy if you aren’t measuring full tanks on a regular basis.
This is different in an electric car, particularly when you’re new to driving one, because range is always front and center.
bd7349
Member
Yeah it's a pretty significant amount, but so far even in really cold temps (single digits to low teens) with the heat on I've never had less than 200-220 miles of range while on roadtrips in the Northeast. I've done a few tests and nearly all of that extra power use is just heating. Turning the heat completely off and just using seat heaters results in me being able to get closer to 260 miles of range in the winter (I have the 19" rims, so that has a pretty big negative impact on range especially in winter). On a few 50 degree days here my power usage was almost dead on with the rated power usage needed to obtain the rated range, so I have no doubt that in the summer it'll be pretty easy to get the full 310 miles on a charge (or very close to it).
Similar threads
- Locked
