Driving Your Tesla in the Snow

[Nick77]

I went out for a game of snooker earlier to charge the car up.

Got a message first getting in the car that the Regen was automatically reduced due to the conditions.

It was snowing by the time I came home but Regen was on as normal. Roads were fine though.

Edit - Thanks to the cold weather link above, I see that Regen is reduced if the battery is too cold to accept the energy back. Explains why after charging it was fine.

 

[MikeHolliday]

I went out for a game of snooker earlier to charge the car up.

Got a message first getting in the car that the Regen was automatically reduced due to the conditions.

It was snowing by the time I came home but Regen was on as normal. Roads were fine though.

Edit - Thanks to the cold weather link above, I see that Regen is reduced if the battery is too cold to accept the energy back. Explains why after charging it was fine.

Hey plug your car in 20 minutes before leaving in the cold and schedule a departure time. The Cabin will be preheated and the Seats and Battery will be warm!

 

[Llama.]

Borbet BLX, same spec as 18 inch originals

Just checked these out. Nice looking wheels!Four wheels for £969

I’ve always been fond of having a separate set of wheels and Tyres for winter. Easier to swap at home.

 

[Beillynoy]

I think this says it all.

I ordered a set of T-Sportline 20” wheels with the Michelin Cross Climates fitted. Range has taken a hammering (feels like at least a 10% hit, based on a couple of return trips between Fife and Aberdeen so not very scientifically assessed I’m afraid). But the tyres themselves feel great.
I genuinely have no idea why manufacturers would fit MPS4S as standard to cars sold in Scotland!!! As a minimum they should carry an obvious warning that they shouldn’t be used or stored at temps below zero…. It’s states on the Michelin website but how many buyers are sad enough to research that (apart from me, I mean )

 

[Nick77]

Hey plug your car in 20 minutes before leaving in the cold and schedule a departure time. The Cabin will be preheated and the Seats and Battery will be warm!

Public charging only unfortunately.

 

[Scottish mod3]

Things got pretty hairy for me today, was literally skating down hill with those oem tire then it struggled to get up another the hill being RWD.

.... if you live in the country side, where there are lots of hills.. I guess winter is a must... I don't, but am looking to fit the cross climate 2 all season just to be safe anyway...

while my fat tesla was struggling, a fiat 500 zoomed past the snowy road like it was nothing

 

[MikeHolliday]

I ordered a set of T-Sportline 20” wheels with the Michelin Cross Climates fitted. Range has taken a hammering (feels like at least a 10% hit, based on a couple of return trips between Fife and Aberdeen so not very scientifically assessed I’m afraid). But the tyres themselves feel great.
I genuinely have no idea why manufacturers would fit MPS4S as standard to cars sold in Scotland!!! As a minimum they should carry an obvious warning that they shouldn’t be used or stored at temps below zero…. It’s states on the Michelin website but how many buyers are sad enough to research that (apart from me, I mean )

CrossClimate+ or CrossClimate2???

 

[Teddy69]

I'm more north that most here, Moray, had to pop to work, local where I live sea level no snow, had to drive on 3" of fresh snow at destination, M3LR did fine, just have to be really gentle on the throttle.

I'd have been happier with snow tyres, but quite pleased with how it performed in the circumstances.

 

[Candleflame]

i think UK midlands are cold enough to justify winter tires.... clearly if it snows summer tires are completely inadequate.

 

[MrBadger]

I think this says it all.

Those All Season 4's look pretty impressive (review chap was impressed too) and may be the direction that I would go when looking to replace our Winters, which even 3 seasons into our current Winters will probably be another 5 years or more so maybe by then there may be an even better selection of all season tyres around. They certainly look like they would work nicely up our road which in the previous car has been a bit of a nemesis in snowy conditions.

I guess these are the car equivalent of snow angels! After an uneventful (except for opening doors) last night booster jab appointment run and this mornings 'college taxi' run, clearly some did have issues... Not sure what would have caused the horizontal tracks across the road. Definitely not our neighbours. I did try a brake test first off this morning and we did slide a bit in the still largely unmarked snow (but turned icy overnight) but it kept nice and straight, so I don't think the wiggles are us either, plus they are too fresh with the photo being several hours after.

First few drives in anger on our winters, and they felt little different to normal driving conditions, albeit a bit longer to stop if testing hard braking as ABS kicked in. So when it comes down to replacing the winters in the future, they need to be something that can cope with last nights flurry and much more.

 

[MrBadger]

while my fat tesla was struggling, a fiat 500 zoomed past the snowy road like it was nothing

I got a Fiat 500 which if you turn off stability control will get up hills in the snow that other vehicles fail on. If you keep stability control on the car will still bog down, but when you can control the slip with your right foot its far more capable. A couple of years back I was one of the few that managed it up the hill at the end of our road before they got around to gritting it. It seems to be the thing to do when it snows (along with clearing our road of snow and ice), stand at the end of our road and watch people take a run up the hill and see how far they get - even funnier when its a so called 4x4 on inappropriate tyres.

 

[DrJFoster]

I've had winter tyres for years, partly because of my job, and I've often found that the ride is much better with smaller rims (which was the choice in other cars) and on poor surfaces or muddy roads the grip has been much better, maybe because they typically have a deeper tread depth.

I would say in warmer weather it isn't a case that the winter tyres performing badly, it is more a case that summer tyres will be start to be better when its warm. I've run winter tyres in quite warm weather and felt perfectly happy with grip and ride. The snow chains also dig into tarmac much better when it's warm (joke!). If there is a downside they seem a little noisier and I've read they wear quicker in the warm.

I'm going to take a closer look at cross climates as they might be an interesting proposition going forward.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

@VanillaAir_UK @DrJFoster Which winter tyres are/were you using?

 

[pgkevet]

It's down to conditions, vehicle, how you drive and being prepared.
Fresh snow isn't the problem..it's melted and frozen stuff underneath and plonkers at the wheel without shovels. blankets, snacks and warm clothes.
My old 200sx has never let me down - it might well slide around in the stuff but it's a drifters dream anyway and can do it in the greasy wet.
I used to have an old SD1 that did quite well London to Brighton and back in a snowstorm courtesy of the 400Kg of cat litter bags I'd shoved in the boot. I passed dozens of abandoned cars that night.
The only car I ever abandoned was a GT86 with 'snow mode' - useless thing that I did manage to slide into a farm gateway rather than block the road and got lucky with a lift home from a passer-by with a more appropriate vehicle. The first year out here in Wales I collected my Tractor from a service one winter night and coming home down a steep hill covered in ice slid down the whole thing. Sheet ice = no grip whatever you drive.
I made the mistake one year of driving the firm's Fiesta into a club car park of virgin snow to find it was drifted 3 feet deep - but I did have a shovel and sorted myself with a sweaty hour of digging.
One year I got disorientated and took the wrong single track turning out here in the sticks on my way back from shopping. It was ploughed but so narrow that I was almost scraping door-handles both sides with the 4x4. Rather than reverse I thought I'd take that long route home to finally discover the snow-plough. The driver had spent an uncomfortable night after losing all viz and trying to snowplough someone's field. I gave him some snacks and fags and he kindly cut me a wedge I could turn round in 'cos neither of us was going to get over the hill that day.
Take care and take precautions.

 

[Nick77]

I shall definitely be looking at an all weather tire once mine need changing.

 

[MikeHolliday]

I just put some CrossClimate 2s on my Model 3. Living in Yorkshire it helps to deal with the chaos of other people heading out totally needlessly for a fun drive in the snow.

It's a £50,000 car, why on earth wouldn't you want it to be able to stop and steer in cold and wet conditions?

What amount of range hit did you get?

 

[CaptFish2003]

I swapped to the cross climate 2 a month ago and the avg consumption went up from 250w/mile to 295. However, this is completely meaningless as it also got colder. Will need to wait until next summer to have a more accurate comparison. Until that time I’ll enjoy the rest of mind that the car remains safely drivable throughout the winter. Not like the M2 on summer tyres last winter that required a weather forecast check to see if snow was even a low probability. It was undriveable even on slush with summer tyres.

 

[MrBadger]

@VanillaAir_UK @DrJFoster Which winter tyres are/were you using?

I'm using Tesla supplied Sottozero 3's. By todays standards, not the best but certainly not bad.

 

[Big Dunc]

I have just stumbled across this while searching for TPMS info. For what it is worth, living in the South of the UK, I fitted our winter tyres last weekend (in January). I didn't fit them in the autumn as it was just too mild. They will stay on until it gets mild again whether that is two weeks or two months (could be either in the UK). I have used winter tyres ever since spending a year working in Scandinavia over 20 years ago. As some one else said you are only wearing out one set of tyres at a time so it only costs the capital cost of buying a set of second hand wheels when you start and you get most of that back if you sell them separately when you sell the car.

 

[ThePirate]

Just remember, over here you're not supposed to drive on the pavement

Sorry, 99% off-topic. However, Dangerous Fish's signature is all about fruit.

"Model 3 P, MSM/Black with all the fruit.
Model 3 LR, MSM/Black with a little less fruit (but still very fruity).
Model Y LR, MSM/Black no fruit so far but there are plans afoot..."

Can someone translate that into US english for me? Is fruit interior accessories, exterior customization, FSD or ...??? I consider myself a very fruity boy (whether it's bananas, carambola, grapes or just apples, I love it). On the other hand, I'm still pre-delivery so I want to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Thanks, -TPC

MYLR whilte OOD 3/4/22, EDD (Estimated Delivery Date) is Dec. 2022
(approx. May 1) EDD: Jan-Apr 2023
6/6/22 - Mar-June 2023
7/29/22 - Jan 24 - Mar 21 2023
8/29/22 - Dec 2022!!!
9/14/22 - dec 14 2022 - Jan 16 2023
10/14/22 (approx)- Nov 14-Dec 16
10/24/22 - 10/26-11/28!!!
10/25/22 - hold.