Driving high speed on the Autobahn...not possible

[Seashepherd]

Sooo,
After hours and hours of unsuccessfully trying to find a single post or thread about driving high speeds on the Autobahn ( or wherever else you one can do it), I decided to take a P100D on the Autobahn.
The results were devastating. Driving higher speeds with the Tesla is a sad affair. First, it barely makes it to 250 km/h, in fact it doesn’t. Then, after approx 15 minutes, it throttles you down to 220, then 200, and so on. Power consumption is astronomical, too, obviously. You’re not going anywhere at higher speeds.

Now, I understand that the market of owners who drive their Teslas at speeds of 200+ is small, but never less, this demographic has a right to know that it’s basically impossible to do so in a Tesla.
So if you’re thinking of buying a Tesla to use it to drive fast on routes like Nuernberg - Munich, forget about it. It ain’t happening. I just wish Tesla would have been more upfront about it...

 

[TaoJones]

Hrm? A friend told me he can drive even a lowly Model S85 and S90 at 125 mph (200 km/h) for fairly long distances in flat empty states. Now, granted, that's at the low end of yer parameters.

My friend likes to live and to preserve domestic harmony, so has no opinion or experience with 155 mph (250 km/h), although that would certainly be the domain of a P car and not an S if memory serves.

Will be intriguing once the P3(DL) arrives both here and in Europe to see if the restrictions you've noted still hold.

 

[int32_t]

I seem to have heard a number of times that Teslas don't do so great after a few laps around the track (so going fast on the Autobahn would be a similar case). Five minutes of searching turned up this: Power limiting while track lapping

So I'd say your result (while disappointing, sure) isn't altogether unexpected. I think the limit is in how well the powertrain can get rid of heat. Once it gets toasty, it's got to cut back the power.

 

[bjornb]

Bjorn Nyland did some tests earlier:

 

[Eclectic]

I've had my P85D at those speeds in Montana and while the energy use is extremely high, I never had a problem with maintaining the speeds. The problem for me is that at the speeds indicated you cover a lot of ground, fast. I ran out of usable road before I ran out power or the ability to stay at those speeds.

 

[Tam]

...wish Tesla would have been more upfront about it...

Model S is a family sedan car and it's never been intended as a race car. As a matter of fact, the warranty is voided if it is used for racing. I don't see how much more upfront than that!

It just happens that the torque is so great that people love to do drag racing but I have never seen a Tesla can win in a long race.

If it did, you would hear that by now.

Note that gasoline cars can drive much faster than Tesla capped speed at 155 MPH.

I don't see how you can't figure that out!

 

[GatorGuy]

My P100D has no problem hitting 125mph. Haven't gone past that due to road limitations. Obviously acceleration suffers severely compared to the low end. The car uses much more energy and thus creates more heat under heavy acceleration than maintaining speed, even high speeds.

 

[ReturnZero]

Sooo,
After hours and hours of unsuccessfully trying to find a single post or thread about driving high speeds on the Autobahn ( or wherever else you one can do it), I decided to take a P100D on the Autobahn.
The results were devastating. Driving higher speeds with the Tesla is a sad affair. First, it barely makes it to 250 km/h, in fact it doesn’t. Then, after approx 15 minutes, it throttles you down to 220, then 200, and so on. Power consumption is astronomical, too, obviously. You’re not going anywhere at higher speeds.

Now, I understand that the market of owners who drive their Teslas at speeds of 200+ is small, but never less, this demographic has a right to know that it’s basically impossible to do so in a Tesla.
So if you’re thinking of buying a Tesla to use it to drive fast on routes like Nuernberg - Munich, forget about it. It ain’t happening. I just wish Tesla would have been more upfront about it...

I found Stefan Weckbach!

 

[brkaus]

Sooo,
After hours and hours of unsuccessfully trying to find a single post or thread about driving high speeds on the Autobahn ( or wherever else you one can do it), I decided to take a P100D on the Autobahn.
The results were devastating. Driving higher speeds with the Tesla is a sad affair. First, it barely makes it to 250 km/h, in fact it doesn’t. Then, after approx 15 minutes, it throttles you down to 220, then 200, and so on. Power consumption is astronomical, too, obviously. You’re not going anywhere at higher speeds.

Now, I understand that the market of owners who drive their Teslas at speeds of 200+ is small, but never less, this demographic has a right to know that it’s basically impossible to do so in a Tesla.
So if you’re thinking of buying a Tesla to use it to drive fast on routes like Nuernberg - Munich, forget about it. It ain’t happening. I just wish Tesla would have been more upfront about it...

So your not from the United States? Or did you do hours of research and then fly over and rent a car?

 

[Doug_G]

Model 3 reportedly has better endurance on the track than S/X. This is likely due to the permanent magnet motor. The rotor on the S/X would be fairly difficult to cool efficiently; whereas the rotor on the 3 doesn't have any circulating currents since it has permanent magnets and not coils. This would probably apply to the Autobahn as well.

That said, the faster you go the more power draw, so the range at high speeds will be limited by the battery capacity. (This also goes for gas tanks, for that matter.)

 

[VT_EE]

Model 3 reportedly has better endurance on the track than S/X. This is likely due to the permanent magnet motor. The rotor on the S/X would be fairly difficult to cool efficiently; whereas the rotor on the 3 doesn't have any circulating currents since it has permanent magnets and not coils. This would probably apply to the Autobahn as well.

That said, the faster you go the more power draw, so the range at high speeds will be limited by the battery capacity. (This also goes for gas tanks, for that matter.)

The rotor on the 3 is apparently just a block of metal that resembles a long cog, no magnets or current. The motor is reported to be a 6-pole switched reluctance design with small permanent magnets in the stator to help with tongue ripple.

 

[Doug_G]

The rotor on the 3 is apparently just a block of metal that resembles a long cog, no magnets or current. The motor is reported to be a 6-pole switched reluctance design with small permanent magnets in the stator to help with tongue ripple.

Interesting. Okay then, same deal... no major heating in the rotor. All the major power dissipation is in the stator, which is much easier to cool.

 

[SmartElectric]

makes it to 250 km/h, in fact it doesn’t. Then, after approx 15 minutes, it throttles you down to 220, then 200, and so on. .... it’s basically impossible to do

At 250 km/h you cover 60 km in just 15 minutes.
At 200 you cover 50 km in the same time.
Covering 110 km in half an hour seems pretty reasonable.

The likelihood you can do that during daylight hours is zero percent. The other cars and trucks on the road preclude that sort of sustained speed, you'd constantly be on the brakes and back on the accelerator non-stop.

Of course, we all know how seriously vital and important it can be to drive long distances at 200 or more at 3 AM...when the road is almost quiet enough to sustain high speeds.

It's a few more years till your roaster arrives, until then, Tesla makes a nice sedan that cruises effortlessly at 140 km/h.

 

[barjohn]

The problem is that at those speeds at night you are outdriving your headlights so by the time you see it (whatever it is) it is too late!

 

[RayW]

Dieser Thread wäre sinnvoller, wenn er von jemandem gestartet wurde, der tatsächlich auf der Autobahn fuhr

 

[daktari]

In Germany, high speed commuting between cities is the norm. No speed limits on tje Autobahn.This is relevant for them.
In France, UK and other parts of Europe, highways are travelled at 150 km/h, around 90 mph, though speeding.
This is why the diesel V6 and V8 are so popular there.

What I wonder is If the P100D has worse high speed endurance than a 100D?

 

[saniflash]

German speaking. I spend weeks on the Autobahn every year with my P100D.

First, it barely makes it to 250 km/h, in fact it doesn’t.

False for me. It seems that your P100D has issues, because mine makes it to 250 km/h pretty easily (I'm always in Ludicrous mode).

Power consumption is astronomical, too, obviously.

Same as with gasoline cars (I've driven a Porsche 911 before I switched). There are two reasons for that:
1) Tesla does not have a gearbox, which means a higher power consumption to maintain high speed, which means it needs to draw more energy from battery.
2) Starting from ~60 kph, energy consumption is roughly cubically related to speed, because of aerodynamic resistance (E~mv³)

Then, after approx 15 minutes, it throttles you down to 220, then 200, and so on. You’re not going anywhere at higher speeds.

True for me, but ONLY if I decelerate (because some slower car appears in front of me), and then I need to quickly accelerate again multiple times. That such rapid shifts have a significant influence on the battery is understandable for me.

Now, I understand that the market of owners who drive their Teslas at speeds of 200+ is small, but never less, this demographic has a right to know that it’s basically impossible to do so in a Tesla.

It is not "basically impossible", since I enjoy driving 250 kph on the Autobahn frequently (in fact, on most Autobahns you even cannot maintain that speed for very long because there's always some traffic). That this car would not perform as well as ICE at holding a constantly high speed was evident for me before my purchase as per the laws of physics & battery chemistry described above.

Regards,

Max

 

[WarpedOne]

1) Tesla does not have a gearbox, which means a higher power consumption to maintain high speed, which means it needs to draw more energy from battery.

Not true i.e. totally false.

How much power is needed for maintaining high speed has nothing to do with a gearbox and everything with exact speed.
Gearbox can only 'spread' available engine/motor power over narrower or wider speed range. A single speed gearbox means a single 'power spread', nothing to choose.

 

[Superendo]

To the OP. Let Tesla check it out.
My ms75d can sustain 200+ km/h for more then 45 minutes. But if I have to re-accelarete to 225km/h is does that less vigorous after 45 minutes of high speed driving. I did this test with a temperature of 2 degrees celcius. The battery gets hot and that is the reason of less power.


Cooling of the drivetrain is not the weakest link imo.

After plugging in a SuC the cooling went in overdrive.


My 2C

Rene.

 

[SSedan]

Who is paying so many incapable of basic research enough to buy one of these cars? Trust fund baby?