Drove My Model 3 LR 150 Miles in a Blizzard: It Did GREAT

Thought I would share my thoughts on how well my Model 3 did driving in last weeks Nor'Easter. Ive always loved driving in the snowiest conditions and was waiting for the right time to try my new EV out. It's great to know, that if you HAVE to do it, that the vehicle can handle it.

Pros:
1 - When combined with Michelin X-Ice Snow Winter tires, I truly felt unstoppable. The amount of grip these tires have is unbelievable when combined with the Tesla AWD system. Cornering, you could feel a bit of the weight and it would sometimes understeer a little bit if you were going excessively fast, but other than that this is the best handling vehicle I've ever driven in the snow. Packed down snow on the highway felt as if it wasnt ever there. 0-60 times up a snowy onramp were still in the 10 second range. Crazy

2. I love being able to preheat cabin and being able to just floor it, if needed, when its still "cold." No more worrying about cold/thick oil temperatures.

3. Regen Braking seemed very strong and consistent, even when the snow got very slick. Only a small handful of times did it "stutter" when the conditions were really bad. This is more related to tires than the vehicle I feel. However, when the tires DID lose grip, the software knew to pull back the intensity of the regen to not create a unnecessary skid.

4. No supercharging issues in a blizzard to report

5. No heat pump issues, Inside was so warm, we had to take out winter coats off.

Cons:
1. Watts/Mile in these conditions, 15f and 50mph blowing snow, were excessively high. The highest I have ever seen. I believe I was averaging over 500-550+ at times. Total range on my LR would be around 150 miles. Not necessarily the fault of the car, but more reality with living with an EV. I would still say the vast majority of people still commute less than 150 miles per day, AND would be home anyway in these conditions.

2. The wipers... they just aren't great. When combined with my cheap windshield washer fluid, my wipers COMPLETELY froze to the lower cowl on the windshield. I believe there are a few reasons to this.
a. The wipers sit below the cowl and the windshield defroster does not blow warm air on that part of the windshield.
b. slushy frozen wiper fluid easily piled up and created a bad situation.

 

[pnwadventures]

Ah, now that's proper snow! Get that a few times per year around here. I'm annoyed just looking at your video with the amount of people staying in the left lane... I guess it's got slightly less snow but still...

In Washington State, the passing lane is on the right, even in fair weather.

 

[tm1v2]

I feel self conscious reposting this vid every time this topic comes up, but just to underscore your experience with the AWD on snows, here is mine rallying through blizzard conditions on Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 snow tires:

@pnwadventures That looks awesome. I miss driving in snow like that (with a suitable car and tires of course). I will go snowstorm seeking in my M3P someday!

 

[Intervention]

Ah, now that's proper snow! Get that a few times per year around here. I'm annoyed just looking at your video with the amount of people staying in the left lane... I guess it's got slightly less snow but still...

For sure some left lane hogs. They are just "scared" I understand and don't blame them

 

[Intervention]

For those interested in the Ariens, shot another video in today's storm

Was between that, and a "range" video in snow driving, but I didn't have time to shoot both, and the driveway HAD to be cleared

 

[rjpjnk]

Funny, I have had no problem at all in a few inches of snow with the oem continental tires on my Y so far. Turning on off road assist seems to help a lot.

 

[dblast]

Good to hear you were able to get around in the snow easily when you needed to. It sounds like the Teslas are not very ideal for snow weathers, even with awd due to detrimental battery conditions of 150 mile range in the colder temperatures?

Range of LR awd (358mi )cut to 150 miles sounds terrible unless car is used to drive a short distances to and from work.
For areas with more winter cold weather like Alaska, would it be better to opt for performance model since range is shot anyway, or probably not buy a tesla for that area unless it can be stored inside warmly?

 

[GtiMart]

What would you consider an ideal car then? ICE cars are also very much affected by winter conditions. Their range also suffers quite a bit, although not by as much. All choices have pros and cons. There are cons to ICE vehicles too but most people don't think about them because they're "the norm".
As long as you have enough range when plugging at home, it doesn't matter that 350miles becomes 160miles. As long as there are chargers along the way that charge fast enough, it's not dramatic either on a road trip.
I will take the instant torque and instant heat in the winter of my EV any time compared to an ICE that stutters when starting, doesn't give me heat for 10 minutes. I don't have to pamper my engine during those 10 minutes. I don't feel bad heating the car 10 minutes before I leave as I'm not polluting. There are complete threads that discuss these things so I'll stop there.

 

[dblast]

I was just wondering how ideal these cars were for areas with more intense cold weathers, canada or Alaska is cold in US more often then not.

150 miles seems like a little range, 250-400 would be nice/ideal, not for every day, but makes life much easier. Battery usage is 2x as much during those cold times, is added $. More charges on the EV battery will reduce it's lifetime as well, to have 3+ months of using 2x energy is very extra. It's just unfortunate that the battery is not ideal for winter temperatures, as 50% range is drastic, and to sit within that range for months seems constricted for awd.

In addition to cold weather depleting 5%+ energy when it just sits without a charger, or parking outside/ 'camping' during winter in a cozy tesla, would also drain the range. For trips, may cause recharging anxiety/low range.

 

[dblast]

I would just opt for the performance tesla if I'm getting 100-150 mile ranges anyway right lol

calling it long range awd and giving 160 miles for the winter is.. Really? They keep people connected to chargers/always needing electricity, and say its oil independence is a stretch

 

[GtiMart]

I don't know what you are talking about on the 5% additional energy spent sitting. There are a lot of myths flying around, and I believe this is one of them. When the battery cools there is energy temporarily not available. That energy comes back when the battery warms again. The car's SOC temporarily shows up to 7% less in the worst cases. As said that energy is not lost.

The unfortunate thing is living in a cold climate, that's all. ICE vehicles have problems in those conditions, and EVs have a different set of problems / constraints, that's all.

 

[dblast]

It just seems like the selling point of LR AWD is the Long Range, and in the cold weather, it becomes LittleRange AWD, so it's better to opt for performance model to get the extra boost, as the Long Range selling point is better for Florida/warmer weathers. Right? Buy EV for efficiency, but keep the car warm, dont let it sit outside for a couple hours in the cold, etc. Shouldn't be too bad

 

[GtiMart]

The performance gets a little bit less range so I don't get your point.

For the rest, you seem to be convinced that EVs are ridiculous in the cold. Thousands of people in Canada and Nordic countries disagree with you, but I will leave it at that.

 

[dblast]

Are they disagreeing with me because of the money to buy a performance, or because they are really getting good range from the LR AWD? I'm just trying to buy a nice car that does what it's suppose to, performance or range, lol

 

[tm1v2]

Are they disagreeing with me because of the money to buy a performance, or because they are really getting good range from the LR AWD?

@dblast There's a lot of other threads covering LR vs P range, but basically it all comes down to the wheels and tires. Put the same wheels+tires on each and they'll have the same efficiency/range.

Changing wheels and tires is easy, and you'll do it anyways for winter if you live someplace that cold, so don't let that sway your purchase decision between LR and P.

Buy a car that works for you. If you want all the same benefits and drawbacks of an ICE car then buy one! Nothing in life is all-conquering and perfect. You make things fit and work for you, or if they're really too much hassle, then you go a different route.

Since you mentioned Alaska...last I checked, Tesla does not have any service centers in the entire state. There are some Tesla owners in AK but given lack of local service center, I'd definitely suggest looking very closely into the service situation and talking with some existing AK Tesla owners before jumping into a Tesla purchase there. And of course ask Tesla themselves what the situation is right now and what their future plans are.

Your profile says PNW though so maybe you're not actually in Alaska? Or do you go back and forth?

 

[dblast]

No I have nothing to do in Alaska lol. I just mentioned it since it seems cold year round in the US and I believe tesla has a testing factory over there.

From PNW, we are surrounded by mountains and a stone's throw from Canada. If one were to go to the mountains (ski/snowboard) Crystals/Stevens/Snoqualmie pass is 70-100miles one way or 140-300 miles round trip. There's lots of areas to go hiking as well on the Eastern side state, mt rainier, but the tesla charging stations seem rather space in the mountains.. Would be difficult to make these trips with one charge. Not to mention that tesla supercharges are 60 miles apart in the mountains sometimes. (Spokane/Cle Elum ) and sometimes there's only 1 charger or it doesn't even work. I'm not saying it's not doable, but could cause battery charging anxiety/staying near chargers.

For people that may need to drive 30-50miles each way to work, 150 miles in winter range is ok if work has an EV charger, but driving <2 hours for work day and using 65% battery down to 35%, to go home and charge 6+ hours seems ok. Maybe that's not the case though

150 mile range, have to drive 60 miles in the mountains to get electricity is probably worst real case potential situation though. I'm concerned about the LR so looking at the performance for the overclocked/underlocked performance. Tesla is very pay to play models but meh

 

[Petermcg]

Tesla is the top selling car in Norway, of all types - electric and ICE. So Norwegians apparently think it does okay in the cold, a hallmark of Norway.

 

[dblast]

Norway full of ballers apparently

 

[pnwadventures]

tl;dr. The AWD is awesome in the snow.

 

[rjpjnk]

Off-road mode on the Y is amazing in snow!

 

[wiesert]

*The year is 2025* Tesla has begun mass production of the Model 3 Winter Package (M3WP)
The battery pack is insulated using the same materials as Space X rockets. The range in 0°F weather is 300 miles without garage storage.

Side note, I wonder if there are any real-world tests of this in extreme cold (below 0°F), which is common in the upper Midwest/Canada: Tesla Efficiency Accessories