dI just wanted to make a thread to give some general advice to those who may be new to Tesla or EV. Hopefully this will help you determine which version of the Model 3 to buy and also set the right expectations.
Importantly I will focus this discussion on the use of the Model 3 on road trips, where range is an important consideration. Unless your daily commute is well over 100 miles or if you can't charge at home, range is only an issue on road trips.
Overall, here are the main points:
You can't really think about the 100% range since you will rarely ever charge to 100%. This is because it takes about the same amount of time to SC from 80-100% as it does from 0-80%. Unless you are willing and must wait for 40 additional minutes to get to 100%, it's just not worth it and will add so much time to your travel time. Moreover, you probably don't want to arrive at your destination with 0% either... most people probably want a 10% buffer. So assuming you charge to 80% at SCs, you really only have 70% range to work with. Or 80% range if you charge to 90%.
Also you ll likely lose 5-10 miles of range in the first year of ownership of the car due to regular battery degradation. Let's just say 5 miles, and say 80% of range on your road trip, we have 215*0.8 = 172 miles.
(2)
The above assumes you travel between 65-70 mph on pretty flat land... if you want to travel at 75mph, probably need to take 10% range off, and more if you want to go even faster.
(3)
Alright, cold weather REALLY reduces range, like super significantly. I live in the South so temp is rarely ever at or below freezing. In the spring-fall months, I average 260's to 270's power usage on my daily commute (20 miles each way). On the few days a year where it's close to freezing (30'sF or <5C), I see above 400 power usage because of the need to use heat... that's almost 50% more power usage per mile, with corresponding range decrease.
Of course commuting is different from road tripping since being in traffic in cold weather is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE for range, since you are not moving that many miles but using tons of power to heat the car. Regardless, when it's below 50F, your range starts to decrease and significantly so as it gets colder.
Basically in winter months, to feel somewhat comfortable, you need to have a LOT more rated range than where you are trying to go... and if you run into traffic, good luck... Of course you can just wear your winter jacket and shoes and just use the heated seats. Power usage will still be higher than in the summer but significantly better than having the heat on.
(4)
Rule of thumb is that rain decreases range by about 10%. It's probably a little better or worse depending on how heavy the rain is.
So if you have a 220 range Model 3, your reasonable max road trip range between SCs is actually around 172 miles, assuming you are going at 65-70mph, pretty smooth driving (not much stop and go), flat land, great weather, no rain, definitely not cold.
If it's 40F and raining... I would start to feel uncomfortable if the distance between SCs is more than 130 miles...
Importantly I will focus this discussion on the use of the Model 3 on road trips, where range is an important consideration. Unless your daily commute is well over 100 miles or if you can't charge at home, range is only an issue on road trips.
Overall, here are the main points:
- You don't really charge to 100% on a road trip, except when you leave home.
- Your travel speed, especially when above 70mph, significantly reduces range.
- Cold temperature significantly reduces range.
- Rain significantly reduces range.
You can't really think about the 100% range since you will rarely ever charge to 100%. This is because it takes about the same amount of time to SC from 80-100% as it does from 0-80%. Unless you are willing and must wait for 40 additional minutes to get to 100%, it's just not worth it and will add so much time to your travel time. Moreover, you probably don't want to arrive at your destination with 0% either... most people probably want a 10% buffer. So assuming you charge to 80% at SCs, you really only have 70% range to work with. Or 80% range if you charge to 90%.
Also you ll likely lose 5-10 miles of range in the first year of ownership of the car due to regular battery degradation. Let's just say 5 miles, and say 80% of range on your road trip, we have 215*0.8 = 172 miles.
(2)
The above assumes you travel between 65-70 mph on pretty flat land... if you want to travel at 75mph, probably need to take 10% range off, and more if you want to go even faster.
(3)
Alright, cold weather REALLY reduces range, like super significantly. I live in the South so temp is rarely ever at or below freezing. In the spring-fall months, I average 260's to 270's power usage on my daily commute (20 miles each way). On the few days a year where it's close to freezing (30'sF or <5C), I see above 400 power usage because of the need to use heat... that's almost 50% more power usage per mile, with corresponding range decrease.
Of course commuting is different from road tripping since being in traffic in cold weather is ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE for range, since you are not moving that many miles but using tons of power to heat the car. Regardless, when it's below 50F, your range starts to decrease and significantly so as it gets colder.
Basically in winter months, to feel somewhat comfortable, you need to have a LOT more rated range than where you are trying to go... and if you run into traffic, good luck... Of course you can just wear your winter jacket and shoes and just use the heated seats. Power usage will still be higher than in the summer but significantly better than having the heat on.
(4)
Rule of thumb is that rain decreases range by about 10%. It's probably a little better or worse depending on how heavy the rain is.
So if you have a 220 range Model 3, your reasonable max road trip range between SCs is actually around 172 miles, assuming you are going at 65-70mph, pretty smooth driving (not much stop and go), flat land, great weather, no rain, definitely not cold.
If it's 40F and raining... I would start to feel uncomfortable if the distance between SCs is more than 130 miles...