Driving style...

[russman]

I'm new here, but have been lurking for quite some time. I had a question about driving style. I don't necessarily drive fast, but when on the freeway, I drive 70-90. Which I understand eats up power. How many of you changed your driving style because of having the electric car? I see lots of people talking about babying their speeds, I see lots of Tesla's in the slow lane driving the 60 mph. I don't foresee myself wanting to drive like that and just curious as to why so many people appear to have changed their driving styles to baby the battery/power when what makes this car so special is that it's such a spirited car.

How does that affect things like road trips to LA from San Jose, where the typical speeds are 85 - 95 even in my old Honda Accord?

Just curious on people's thoughts.

Thanks,

Russ

 

[gg_got_a_tesla]

Russ, posted some relevant thoughts here:

Lifetime Average Wh/mi - Page 63

Typical Supercharging rate? - Page 10

When I could predict the range needed to get to the next supercharging option despite driving fast (my wife had practically turned pale by the time we got home in Redwood Shores all the way from Hawthorne on Saturday, but she was happy to have made that entire trek in a bit over 8 hours), I gladly did it.

On a day-to-day basis though, for local driving, I've occasionally given in to the periodic urge to surge while balancing it out with good use of regen. Also ensuring that my charging needs (mostly met at work) do not put me into tiers 4 and 5 with PG&E at home.

 

[efusco]

I'm new here, but have been lurking for quite some time. I had a question about driving style. I don't necessarily drive fast, but when on the freeway, I drive 70-90. Which I understand eats up power. How many of you changed your driving style because of having the electric car? I see lots of people talking about babying their speeds, I see lots of Tesla's in the slow lane driving the 60 mph. I don't foresee myself wanting to drive like that and just curious as to why so many people appear to have changed their driving styles to baby the battery/power when what makes this car so special is that it's such a spirited car.

How does that affect things like road trips to LA from San Jose, where the typical speeds are 85 - 95 even in my old Honda Accord?

Just curious on people's thoughts.

Thanks,

Russ

I think it depends. If you're on a road trip and the range will be at or near the limits of your battery capacity, then you'd best consider taking it easy. If you're on a shorter trip well within your range and/or you know you can top up charge intermittently, then drive the damn thing!

 

[MikeC]

The only time I drive 60 in the slow lane is a road trip without Superchargers. Otherwise, it's 70-90.

 

[CanuckS#69]

I've been forced to drive like a granny once on a road trip by an ICEd charger, but apart from that, my driving habits are to use the fun and power available to me at a cost of a few pennies a day.

 

[metafor]

For me, a lot of it is OCD. I have my energy usage displayed on the dash and anytime I see a number I can affect.... I try to maximize it.

There's no reason to baby energy usage and a lot of times I don't. But it's just a fun game for me to play. It's not so much fun for others on the road...

One side benefit for those with 21" tires is that it really really reduces the wear and tear on those expensive tires. I'm at around 13.6k miles and my threads are barely worn.

 

[russman]

I just read this guys thread about how he reduced his cold weather anxiety by doing these things:
- freeze, drive slow, make his family suffer.... etc.. etc...

I'm not sure the tile of his thread is accurate. It's not how he reduced his range anxiety, it's how he suffered and worked around it.

http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/show...e-my-cold-weather-long-distance-range-anxiety

Agree with the comments, that it's different mentality for long trips vs short trips, which is good to know. Just makes me less inclined to take such a great car on long trips.

Well, planning to order tonight anyways, just like to see the different perspectives. I understand the "game" aspect and that's fine. It's more about the "I'm screwed if I don't do these things" that concerns me.

 

[ggr]

I seem to agree with most others on this subject. I drive faster than I used to, probably, unless I absolutely have to stretch range for some reason.

I think the reason you see slow Teslas in the slow lane is because you're going past them... there really aren't that many of them, but all the others are accelerating away from you!

 

[Btrflyl8e]

For me, a lot of it is OCD. I have my energy usage displayed on the dash and anytime I see a number I can affect.... I try to maximize it.

There's no reason to baby energy usage and a lot of times I don't. But it's just a fun game for me to play. It's not so much fun for others on the road...

One side benefit for those with 21" tires is that it really really reduces the wear and tear on those expensive tires. I'm at around 13.6k miles and my threads are barely worn.

+1
Before I got my car, I remember reading how people were barely driving over the speed limit and I once posted how I could never see myself doing that... but now I do just that most of the time. I am constantly trying to see if I can move my lifetime average wh/mi down, just because.

Partly it's due to the feeling of zen this car gives you, too!

 

[JohnQ]

…paging yobigd20

 

[C-NRG-GO]

Supercharger to Supercharger 135 miles. Range before liftoff: 250 miles. 80 mph on the uphills and 80-90 mph on the downhills The last 30 miles at 75 mph. 45 miles of range left. If you have to drive close to rated range on a trip, you're going 65 mph, if that. Have an extra 100+ miles to spare? Pass the guy in the BMW X5 and watch him eat your exhaust... well, you get the idea.

 

[ABVA]

I have been a Teslee for little over a month now. So here is my 2 cents worth:
Range gets impacted by:
1. Ambient Temperature (i.e. your wather);
2. Terrain over which you are driving (uphill, downhill, flat etc.); and
3. Driving habit (how one adapts to regenerative breaking)

To sum it, it makes one a calmer driver.

 

[roblab]

I have been a Teslee for little over a month now. So here is my 2 cents worth:
Range gets impacted by:
1. Ambient Temperature (i.e. your wather);
2. Terrain over which you are driving (uphill, downhill, flat etc.); and
3. Driving habit (how one adapts to regenerative breaking)

To sum it, it makes one a calmer driver.

Range is affected by weather mostly if you have a resistance heater. And the Tesla does. If you drive in cold, but the sun is out to keep your car warm and you don't turn on the heat, or the battery is already warm so the battery heater doesn't come on, well, not much loss.

With Regen, up hill takes about 10 miles per thousand up in elevation, but you get about 7 back on the way down. Some say less, some say more. But not much over all. If you are on a long trip and have to end up a few thousand feet above where you left off, you can figure you will lose a few miles to elevation. But when you go home, you get more back.

But you've got it right. Many of us here have a lot more EV driving than two weeks. I have driven about a hundred thousand miles in EVs, and the first thing I noticed was that I started watching the energy usage and having fun getting my watt hours per mile to come down. The best I ever did on a closed loop (so you couldn't count elevation gains) was 112 wh/mi. If that were on my Tesla, I could get 750 miles per charge! But it was on a RAV4EV. The fun of driving efficiently was more than the fun of speeding.

But if I know I have plenty of charge, and don't have to wait for recharge, then WATCH OUT! I'm in the fast lane.

 

[yobigd20]

…paging yobigd20

haha nice.

If anything, I drive MUCH worse than before. Knowing that I am not burning gasoline and chewing through my bank account, I burn electrons like hell and high lightning.

I've set CC on 100mph and gone 80 miles straight up the turnpike. As noted elsewhere my daily commute is ~210mi round trip. (I charge @ work and @home). My avg speed is easily >90mph. Going anything slower than 80 feels like a snail, especially since it doesn't make a sound. Finally I can enjoy my music and go at lock-me-up speeds. I don't baby this thing at all. Why should I? I just put XPEL Ultimate wrap on my front hood and floor it. I didn't buy a P85 to go 60mph in the slow lane. i have 33.5k miles on my car, and my range charge is still > 255 miles. I'm also still on my original 19" goodyears with about 40% life left in the treads and don't plan on replacing until around 60k miles. I also don't really bother to have the car serviced at all since there is nothing to service. $600 to change wiper blades? Forget it. I'll take it in at 49k miles before the warranty expires for anything that's been annoying me.

That about sums it up.

 

[Todd Burch]

I drive much more aggressively than before (harder acceleration, more sporty driving). I drive the same on the interstate as before, unless I'm on a road trip driving a stretch that has a long distance between chargers and I'm pushing it on my range.

 

[ecarfan]

Sometimes I drive the Model S more aggressively than my Porsche...just for the fun of it. I don't pay attention to Wh/mi unless I am concerned about having enough range for my trip.

 

[ecarfan]

Sometimes I drive the Model S more aggressively than my Porsche...just for the fun of it. I don't pay attention to Wh/mi unless I am concerned about having enough range for my trip.

 

[rlcordeiro]

I agree that it's probably a game we play to get those wH/Mi numbers down. But when needed I will use that torque to show off or change lanes on people who try to block a lane change. Driving above 75 for sustained periods is reserved for when I'm late. Some how my 911 drives happier at 80 though I did like to keep the tank average at 20 mpg.

 

[johnnyS]

Most Tesla model Ss are in the fast lane or carpool lane. Since they are quiet, speeding does not attract a lot of attention. The ride is so smooth, it does not seem as fast. Life is short, I enjoyed passing a Honda today on an uphill freeway ramp. I think your impression is wrong. Most of the time Tesla drivers are going faster than other cars--only when we need range we slow down. One of the best moments of the past year was absolutely smoking a Porsche Turbo 911 with 4 adults in the car. We all had a good laugh. Another fun moment was passing cars on a two lane highway. A frequent fun moment is passing thousands of cars since I get car pool lane access. Taking unsuspecting friends for a ride in my upscale golf cart that couldn't possibly beat something like a corvette is a total hoot! Electricity is cheap, lets have lots of fun.

 

[Doug_G]

Range is affected by weather mostly if you have a resistance heater. And the Tesla does. If you drive in cold, but the sun is out to keep your car warm and you don't turn on the heat, or the battery is already warm so the battery heater doesn't come on, well, not much loss.

No, range is significantly impacted in cold conditions even if you do not use the heater. When you first power up a cold-soaked car, it will consume 6 kW for the pack heater alone.

Once the pack is warmed up, though, there is still significant impact. As the temperature drops below freezing you get a 5-10% range impact just due to wind resistance in cold air, plus some rolling resistance increase for the tires. As the temperature drops towards extreme cold the range impact increases to 20% or more.

Now the cabin heating initially will take 6 kW with a cold car; however it drops quite dramatically to 1-2 kW after the car heats up. Despite the fact that this is a much larger car than the Roadster, the power consumption of the heater is much less than the Roadster. Tesla has stated previously that the car has a heat pump, and I believe they are using waste heat from the drive train as a reservoir for that.

In my experience, except on short trips, the cabin heater is NOT the dominant effect on range in cold conditions.