Does rated range decrease in cold weather?

[yanling]

I am seeing lots of threads talking about the actual range “loss” during winter. Wondering whether Tesla’s rated range (the one showing on dashboard) decreases when the weather is cold? Anyone noticing this?

I have the rated range drop from 327 -> 326 -> 325 -> 324 miles since Sep. But it is a new car. So not sure it’s caused by weather or natural battery degradation.

Thanks!

 

[beast53568]

Cold weather kills the range of electric cars especially if you use the climate because that alone uses tons on electric

 

[yanling]

Cold weather kills the range of electric cars especially if you use the climate because that alone uses tons on electric

Yeah I know. I am referring to the rated range. Thanks for your reply though.

 

[Big Earl]

The answer is no. Rated range does not change with temperature.

 

[mswlogo]

The answer is no. Rated range does not change with temperature.

correct. Unless there is a snow flake on the battery which temporarily defers access to that range (current charge) until the battery warms up.

To OP that might just be normal calibration variation. You might have seen the same thing if you bought in spring. That’s to little to worry about.

 

[Tam]

...I have the rated range drop from 327 -> 326 -> 325 -> 324 miles...

The number on your battery gauge whether it's rated miles or percentage does shrink down in cold temperature.

It could shrink down drastically after a nice long drive and you park your car in subfreezing temperature on the parking lot with the battery gauge saying 50 miles.

After the holiday shopping, you come back to your car to drive to a supercharger 30 miles away but now the battery gauge might say 30 miles left (20 miles shrinkage just for parking in the cold). That's because you warm battery during the drive is now cooled down during the parking.

And while you are driving to your supercharger 30 miles away, your battery gauge might say you have only 20 miles left because the battery heater just kicks in to warm it up in extremely cold weather.

To compare your battery capacity, the conditions should be the same, not one in hot summer against one in subfreezing winter.

 

[yanling]

I am seeing lots of threads talking about the actual range “loss” during winter. Wondering whether Tesla’s rated range (the one showing on dashboard) decreases when the weather is cold? Anyone noticing this?

I have the rated range drop from 327 -> 326 -> 325 -> 324 miles since Sep. But it is a new car. So not sure it’s caused by weather or natural battery degradation.

Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies. Sorry I was not clear in the very first post. I was asking about the rated range after a full charge.

I am actually charging my Model x to 90% each time, after which the rated range has dropped from 295 -> 294 -> 293 -> 292 miles. The rated range after full charge in my first thread is calculated in a pro-rated way.

 

[yanling]

correct. Unless there is a snow flake on the battery which temporarily defers access to that range (current charge) until the battery warms up.

To OP that might just be normal calibration variation. You might have seen the same thing if you bought in spring. That’s to little to worry about.

Yeah I also hope it is just calibration variation. Thanks!

 

[VikH]

Yeah I also hope it is just calibration variation. Thanks!

It could be that or Tesla messes with the variables every once in a while. Best to just switch to percentage.

 

[AdamMacDon]

Not in my experience, you're better off using percentage unless your weather and driving conditions are near perfect. The rated range is generally a joke, at least where I live. In the winter I often see 4-5 "kilometers" disappear for every real world kilometer of driving.

 

[aesculus]

@Tam is correct. You have to compare the values during a static temperature period. For example if I charge to 90% the night before and get in the car in the AM when it is cooler I can see 86-88% remaining. If I wait for a period of time where the battery gets warmed up by the ambient air temp my battery once again states 89-90% (a small bit is lost to vampire drain).

As was also pointed out: If you elect to drive the car during these cold periods you not only have the loss of available energy while cold as above which is recoverable, but you could also loose non recoverable energy from the battery heater (S/X but not M3) as well as your climate control and loss of regen.

 

[Monkey]

Tesla does mess with the calculations from time to time and the car also adjusts slightly over time to accommodate driving/ usage and charging habits. Most people experience a bit of a fall-off to their rated range over the course of the first several months. Then it tends to level off. Ours adjusts down a little bit over the winter and then rebounds back a bit in the warmer months.

 

[tyson]

Rated range in terms of miles expected to be able to be driven from the battery will change over time (degradation) and with weather (temperature) as the BMS calculates the remaining energy in the pack.

It's important to note that it is the nominal or expected energy in the pack that is changing. This could be due to degradation, weather or just how Tesla is calculating it, and NOT due to any change in how rated range is calculated. This is a fixed calculation that is a part of the EPA paperwork to determine the EPA rated range of the vehicle. This is 390 Whr/Mile on the 100D Model X. So over time you will see less rated range due to battery degradation mostly but also could change if Tesla limits the amount of power able to be used from the pack. What NEVER changes is the rate of consumption used to calculate rated range. Some people think it "adapts" to driving habits but it doesn't, this is the "expected" range that you can display from the energy screen and is not related in any way to rated consumption.