Disappointing range on new Tesla 3

[DR61]

I can't find where to do this. it's not in the energy tabs on my display in the car and it's not in settings what screen do you find this in?

It is under "Display", right below "Time Format".

Another way to think about the number of 'miles' over the battery icon is as a measure of energy in the battery. You use the energy to both move the car (slower takes less energy and good weather takes less energy) and make the passengers comfortable (heating and cooling). So don't think of '310' as actual range in miles. You can use the Energy app to get a good estimate of actual range under your driving conditions. Also you can enter a destination in Nav system and get an estimate of battery capacity at arrival.

 

[mtndrew1]

Thank you. That was an informative and helpful answer. I appreciate it.

You’re welcome.

On the energy screen there are two pages that will help teach you how to achieve the EPA’s range number on the car.

If you have a GPS destination set, there is a page titled “TRIP” (seen above) with a graph that predicts what the car should consume with moderate driving and minimal HVAC use. If you are meeting the prediction the dot will follow the path on the graph as you drive. If you exceed or miss the prediction a second path will show the deviation and you can determine what element of your driving is causing the deviation.

I have found this tool very valuable for achieving the EPA rated range.

 

[Zythryn]

And thats probly the most useless reply I've ever seen on this forum. Opinionated snobbery and 0 information.

While it may have been useless, please realize that this question has been asked and answered thousands of times by some. Even though YOU haven't asked, many others have.

As noted by others, all cars loose efficiency in different environments. In the cold, air becomes denser. It doesn't matter if your car is moved using electric power, gas powered or pulled by a team of oxen, it just takes more energy.
This may not be apparent in gas cars as we are generally less aware of how efficient they are day to day.
In the summer, my Prius got 52mpg. In the winters it dropped to 42mpg.

Slippery, or snowy roads chew up energy.
As does cabin heating in electric cars. In gas cars you have a heater running all year, so it really doesn't take an efficiency hit, from that aspect, in the winter any more than it was already taking in the summer.

On average, over 8 Minnesota winters, I have averaged about a 30% efficiency hit in the winters. In the summers, I tend to see a 10% efficiency gain over the EPA standards.

Hope that helps?

 

[docdeb27]

I just posted a short trip report in the Canada forum describing my recent experience with range in the cold. Cold drive update - 250 km total round trip report

Essentially in the cold driving at relatively fast speeds (125 km/h or 77 mph) and split 90/10 highway/city driving, at -5C/23F, got around 67% range efficiency. This is with AWD with next to no effort to reduce power usage for this trip.

While it may have been useless, please realize that this question has been asked and answered thousands of times by some. Even though YOU haven't asked, many others have.

As noted by others, all cars loose efficiency in different environments. In the cold, air becomes denser. It doesn't matter if your car is moved using electric power, gas powered or pulled by a team of oxen, it just takes more energy.
This may not be apparent in gas cars as we are generally less aware of how efficient they are day to day.
In the summer, my Prius got 52mpg. In the winters it dropped to 42mpg.

Slippery, or snowy roads chew up energy.
As does cabin heating in electric cars. In gas cars you have a heater running all year, so it really doesn't take an efficiency hit, from that aspect, in the winter any more than it was already taking in the summer.

On average, over 8 Minnesota winters, I have averaged about a 30% efficiency hit in the winters. In the summers, I tend to see a 10% efficiency gain over the EPA standards.

Hope that helps?

 

[docdeb27]

30%??? I'm getting 60to 66%. you mean you're only getting a 100 miles of range per charge? that's horrid.
And while I appreciate that others may have asked this question , if Tesla wants to expand to truly General population purchasers who aren't sophisticated in some of these technological issues, People need to be more patient. I'm one of those people who does not necessarily understand electricity but when I flip the switch the light goes on. that's all I've ever wanted to know. I bought this car because it's beautiful, it drives amazingly ,I have solar on my roof and therefore my gas, so to speak is free .all that in addition to helping the environment. I am a huge Elon fan even though I have never pretended to understand many of the intricacies of ev. I also admit having the car for 2 months and I discover new things every day. Today, for the first time I discovered that a second tap on the defrost puts it in HIGH mode. Never saw that before.

 

[bd7349]

30%??? I'm getting 60to 66%. you mean you're only getting a 100 miles of range per charge? that's horrid.
And while I appreciate that others may have asked this question , if Tesla wants to expand to truly General population purchasers who aren't sophisticated in some of these technological issues, People need to be more patient. I'm one of those people who does not necessarily understand electricity but when I flip the switch the light goes on. that's all I've ever wanted to know. I bought this car because it's beautiful, it drives amazingly ,I have solar on my roof and therefore my gas, so to speak is free .all that in addition to helping the environment. I am a huge Elon fan even though I have never pretended to understand many of the intricacies of ev. I also admit having the car for 2 months and I discover new things every day. Today, for the first time I discovered that a second tap on the defrost puts it in HIGH mode. Never saw that before.

I think you misread what he wrote. They said they saw a 30% hit to their efficiency meaning they were getting about 70% of the rated range which is about right for winter.

Also, if you tap the defrost again it switches from high heat to high cool so you don't have to manually change the temp yourself.

 

[mtndrew1]

The second page on the energy screen is titled “CONSUMPTION” (see above) and will show a real-time rate of energy consumption.

There is a solid line titled “RATED” and that’s the EPA rating. There is a dashed line showing what you’ve actually averaged over the period specified on the most recent drive.

Average your consumption along the rated line and you’ll achieve exactly the EPA 310 miles of range.

There is a bubble tab at the end of the dashed average line showing what the car’s projected range will be if you keep driving with the same consumption as the dashed line.

In my photo here you can see that I’m consuming slightly more than the rated amount and therefore my predicted range is 186 miles as opposed to the rated range near the speedometer of 208 miles. If I want to drive another 208 miles on this charge I’ll need to bring that dashed line down to rated or below.

EDIT: If the consumption history dips below zero that means you’re generating net electricity back into the battery. The line will turn from orange to green when it’s below zero and you’ll typically see this when descending a long downhill grade.

 

[docdeb27]

 

[mtndrew1]

View attachment 366983

Great shot! Your energy consumption average dashed line (346 Wh/mi) is quite a bit higher than the solid rated line and your car is predicting that if you continue driving with this rate of consumption the battery will be exhausted in 195 miles.

Now you understand how to use the tools to get a more accurate range prediction and how to identify conditions that are causing your range to be lower than EPA.

Expect the inverse in warmer months.

 

[bd7349]

Great shot! Your energy consumption average dashed line (346 Wh/mi) is quite a bit higher than the solid rated line and your car is predicting that if you continue driving with this rate of consumption the battery will be exhausted in 195 miles.

Now you understand how to use the tools to get a more accurate range prediction and how to identify conditions that are causing your range to be lower than EPA.

Expect the inverse in warmer months.

Adding onto this, if you completely turn off the cabin heat and watch the "Instant Range", you can actually see just how big of a power hog the heater is. With it turned off you'll see your power use go way down. To get the rated range I believe your Wh/mi needs to be around ~245. In my AWD Model 3 with the heater off in winter I've seen power use drop as low as 270 Wh/mi, and that's without aero wheels.

 

[docdeb27]

Adding onto this, if you completely turn off the cabin heat and watch the "Instant Range", you can actually see just how big of a power hog the heater is. With it turned off you'll see your power use go way down. To get the rated range I believe your Wh/mi needs to be around ~245. In my AWD Model 3 with the heater off in winter I've seen power use drop as low as 270 Wh/mi, and that's without aero wheels.

I have it at 64 degrees, lol. I thought that was pretty good. I'll have to suck it up more or just not care about the consumption.

 

[mtndrew1]

I have it at 64 degrees, lol. I thought that was pretty good. I'll have to suck it up more or just not care about the consumption.

The seat heaters, incidentally, use almost no power whatsoever. Too little to measure anyhow.

For cold weather trips where I want to maximize range I start by remotely preconditioning the car while it’s connected to a charger, turn the seat warmer to high, then when I disconnect the charger and start driving I set the temp at 68 and fan speed at 1. This does a reasonable job of maintaining cabin warmth and keeps my backside nice and toasty.

If I don’t need extended range for a long trip though I just set it at 72 Auto and live in comfort. Life’s too short.

 

[mswlogo]

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.

You don't live in a real cold climate do you? You can't substitute heated seats for heat because the Windows will often fog up (depends on dew point and number of passengers how often / quickly this will happen).

I tend to leave recirculate On, A/C On and heat at 68F. It's comfortable and windows stay clear. It will use about 50 (give or take) wh/mi though (after things settle). I could run it lower but why be uncomfortable? I hate having a cold nose breathing cool air

There are days I could fiddle with heat to not run A/C but I don't want to have to mess with the heat every day. These settings generally work over a wide range and are comfortable and don't chew up to many watts. If left on Auto it will jump to 100 wh/mi.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

The seat heaters, incidentally, use almost no power whatsoever. Too little to measure anyhow.

For cold weather trips where I want to maximize range I start by remotely preconditioning the car while it’s connected to a charger, turn the seat warmer to high, then when I disconnect the charger and start driving I set the temp at 68 and fan speed at 1. This does a reasonable job of maintaining cabin warmth and keeps my backside nice and toasty.

If I don’t need extended range for a long trip though I just set it at 72 Auto and live in comfort. Life’s too short.

The seat heaters are measurable if you have the car plugged in, not charging, but drawing power from the UMC, and displaying draw from the UMC. 5 seat heaters draw about 2A extra at 240V, so they are probably 80-100W a piece. Very approximate.

As you say, very insignificant!

Steady state heating to 70 degrees with outside temp of 60 degrees, at night (no solar heat), takes about 1.5-2kW. For comparison. Again, approximate.

Would be nice if Tesla added instantaneous power consumption to the energy display. But I guess that would be mixing units and mass confusion would result, since units are hard.

 

[Dana1]

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?

What was energy consumption? There’s a graph available using icon on bottom left of tablet. If energy consumption is higher than ~230 you won’t get rated range. Speed (those quick bursts of 100 mph will use more energy than bursts of 40mph, average speed isn’t super helpful) is common culprit but, as mentioned elsewhere, there are others.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

I got pretty much sticker. 20 city 25-27 hwy subaru forester

With my old CR-V, I used to get better than EPA, sometimes over 30 mpg. In the same car, I usually only got 19 to 23 mpg in the winter, so I definitely saw less than EPA rating in my old ICE vehicle...and I tracked the gas mileage for nearly every tank over the 20 years that I owned the car.

In my Model S, I schedule my car to finish charging right around the time that I leave for work in the morning so the battery is sufficiently heated. Having the battery heated allows me to get maximum regen when going downhill and enables those 200 Wh/mile drives. I typically don't even use the cabin heater when commuting around 20 minutes to work but I do use the seat heaters.

 

[mtndrew1]

The seat heaters are measurable if you have the car plugged in, not charging, but drawing power from the UMC, and displaying draw from the UMC. 5 seat heaters draw about 2A extra at 240V, so they are probably 80-100W a piece. Very approximate.

As you say, very insignificant!

Steady state heating to 70 degrees with outside temp of 60 degrees, at night (no solar heat), takes about 1.5-2kW. For comparison. Again, approximate.

Would be nice if Tesla added instantaneous power consumption to the energy display. But I guess that would be mixing units and mass confusion would result, since units are hard.

Yeah, I was generalizing for simplicity’s sake. An hour drive with a 100W draw from the seat heaters would reduce total range by something like a third of a mile.

Certainly the seat warmers should be the last thing a driver avoids using when trying to preserve range in cold weather. Also they’re quite pleasant

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Yeah, I was generalizing for simplicity’s sake. An hour drive with a 100W draw from the seat heaters would reduce total range by something like a third of a mile.

Certainly the seat warmers should be the last thing a driver avoids using when trying to preserve range in cold weather. Also they’re quite pleasant

Yes they are very nice and they should be used whenever it is chilly! Much better than in the Spark.

 

[dhanson865]

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, occasional using the defroster. Is this to be expected ,and I should expect 190 miles per full charge not 310?

Check your tire pressure. Every 10 degrees F is worth about 1 PSI. The recommended pressure is for the coldest part of the day (generally just before sunrise) outside. If you are checking pressure when it's warmer or your car is in a garage you have to add air to compensate for the temperature difference.

Check the door jamb sticker and sidewall max on the actual tire. Your PSI should be between those two at the coldest part of the day (before sunrise) and can safely be above sidewall max if the tires are warm/hot from driving or from sitting in the sun.

It's quite common for someone to set the tire pressure in a warm service center and for you to drive out into the cold of the winter time and get low mileage because your tires are under inflated.

 

[docdeb27]

Check your tire pressure. Every 10 degrees F is worth about 1 PSI. The recommended pressure is for the coldest part of the day (generally just before sunrise) outside. If you are checking pressure when it's warmer or your car is in a garage you have to add air to compensate for the temperature difference.

Check the door jamb sticker and sidewall max on the actual tire. Your PSI should be between those two at the coldest part of the day (before sunrise) and can safely be above sidewall max if the tires are warm/hot from driving or from sitting in the sun.

It's quite common for someone to set the tire pressure in a warm service center and for you to drive out into the cold of the winter time and get low mileage because your tires are under inflated.

They are all at 43 psi which i think is correct for my winter tires.