Has your car shut down before it hits zero?

[Rocky_H]

At which voltage Tesla stops?

They won't publish that, so no one knows exactly.

 

[mspohr]

They won't publish that, so no one knows exactly.

Probably not just voltage but may also take into account temperature and other stuff.
Anyway, it's not good to run down to zero (or even close).

 

[teslasguy]

Got down to minus 12 miles about 2 1/2 years ago. Made it ok to a supercharger. Very unnerving!

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Got down to minus 12 miles about 2 1/2 years ago. Made it ok to a supercharger. Very unnerving!

Curious if you saw any range recovery on the high end after you did this?

 

[scole04]

It happened to me. Car started shutting down with 2 miles left. Just as a back story I normally arrive at superchargers with 2-4 miles including cross country trips as I trust the gps and it always works. I was having fun and for about the last 50 miles was going between 90-100mph. Right as I was pulling into the supercharger with 2 miles left it happened. Tesla told me they had no clue what was happening. I was close enough to put the car in tow mode and push it to the Supercharger. Good now but I'll take it easy under 15 miles range from now on.

 

[FlatSix911]

Good information in your post ... I have been down to 3 miles of range left ... never again!

Many times to zero and sometimes beyond. Never did the car shut down, even when I went further. The key thing is how you drive and how you have been driving before. I have heard of only two cases where the car shut down before it said zero and in both cases they were pushing it. Going 70 uphill when there is only 4 miles left is asking for it. A battery do not work like a gas tank. An ICE has 100% power until the last drop of gasoline. A batter does not work that way, It gets weaker the lower the level of charge is. The voltage drops and trying to draw lots of power from it when near empty is causing massive voltage drops and is harmful to the battery. If you drive carefully for the last 30 miles and mostly avoid strong acceleration you can definitely make it to zero and often beyond.

Rated range is based on conservative driving. We all know better to expect that exact range when we drive normally. With that in mind and know that the battery gets weak towards the end, it is really silly to expect the battery to deliver rated range when you try to go fast on those last 5 miles pulling a lot of power from it.

The trip planner warns you to drive slowly to reach your destination one it predicts that the battery level will be under 7% at the end. That should give you a good clue that going down to zero is risky

 

[jstack6]

I was down to 23 miles left last week when it was 110F out and our 2012 S 85 went into low power and a warning SERVICE NOW came on. Later when I was just trying to turn off the road it shut down. Lucky after 5 min or so it came on and I could pull off.
It's an older 2012 that we just got and it hasn't had an annual service for over a year I think.
I'm taking it to Tesla Service Center in a few days and will see what they can tell us. Maybe the car keeps the data and they can look to see what it was. Seemed just like a Roaster PEM that over heats.

 

[kort677]

I've had my car down to below zero,it was down to where the charge now warning came on. the car shutting down with 2 miles is most unusual.

 

[Matias]

It happened to me. Car started shutting down with 2 miles left. Just as a back story I normally arrive at superchargers with 2-4 miles including cross country trips as I trust the gps and it always works. I was having fun and for about the last 50 miles was going between 90-100mph. Right as I was pulling into the supercharger with 2 miles left it happened. Tesla told me they had no clue what was happening. I was close enough to put the car in tow mode and push it to the Supercharger. Good now but I'll take it easy under 15 miles range from now on.

As you said yourself, it is good to use only small amount of power, when battery is low, because large power draw can drop battery voltage below shut down limit, even if there still would be some energy left.

 

[CraZ8]

I got down to 5 miles once. Coming back from a long trip and had to slow down to 55 ( the horrors!) to preserve range. I had about 10 miles to homeThen in the dark with fog missed my turn off the highway which added about 5 miles to my trip. Plus my house is on top of a hill( about 500 feet of elevation over one mile) which really had me sweating the last mile. I've had range anxiety more than a few times but try not to dip below 30 miles as I'm not sure how bad that is for the battery

 

[scole04]

As you said yourself, it is good to use only small amount of power, when battery is low, because large power draw can drop battery voltage below shut down limit, even if there still would be some energy left.

Completely agree. Tesla should limit the voltage you can pull under 3 miles or factor it in the range calculation. My mind wonders what this voltage threshold might be.

 

[roblab]

A year ago my neighbor bought a Tesla S85. He wanted to know how "low he could go". I told him I had been to zero, and I understood it had about 13 miles of charge after that, but that he might ought not try it as the firmware changes now and again.

Couple weeks later, he calls me, tells me he was at the bottom of our hill (1500') at zero with 17 miles to get home. He made it, but I don't know how. We had a long discussion about battery care and towing, and he hasn't done it since.

 

[Lanber]

What the car thinks is range = 0 can be misleading.
I find keeping a keen eye on power limiter helps to guess where you are on power left.

Car will stop aprox at 40 kw limiter if you are not carefull with applying power. With very carefull driving you can go to 20kw limit.

 

[Tripple_T]

Just got back from a 3000 mile road trip. It was common to see 6-12 miles of range on the battery before getting to a charger.

 

[hiroshiy]

I was at a supercharger at zero km. Did this just once, under 10km (6 miles) a couple of times. Never shut down yet, but I was careful not to spend a lot of kW when the battery is low.

 

[scaesare]

-1 on the road once.
6 miles left on the road another time.
0 at home for a test.

Never shut down.

 

[DrManhattan]

I'm pretty sure Tesla has a buffer of 15 miles or so beyond 0, and even beyond that - an extra "bricking" reserve. I have a RAV4 EV that I've driven several miles past 0 a handful of times, never shut down on me. Of course with a 100 mile range sometimes you need every mile.

 

[Max*]

I'm pretty sure Tesla has a buffer of 15 miles or so beyond 0

WK057 proved it does not.

Tesla's 85 kWh rating needs an asterisk (up to 81 kWh, with up to ~77 kWh usable)

About 1/2 way down the first post.

 

[DrManhattan]

WK057 proved it does not.

Tesla's 85 kWh rating needs an asterisk (up to 81 kWh, with up to ~77 kWh usable)

About 1/2 way down the first post.

Interesting - but he hasn't tested a 90 or 75 battery. He mentions there is no "bricking" reserve, but I didn't read anything about a possible reserve beyond 0. There are so many posts in that thread, I've never bothered to read it.

 

[dgpcolorado]

I've been down to 7 miles (3.5%) and 8 miles (4%). Usual pattern is that my range dropped faster than the projection so I had to slow down. As I get closer to the next Supercharger Station I speed back up to use the remaining buffer once I know I have it made. I'd be pretty uncomfortable under 5 RM though, since I was aware that a few have had their cars stop with several RM left.

I've found that the energy graph projections are a bit optimistic in the terrain I drive — and I always drive the speed limit or lower — so I try to charge to a bigger buffer than the car recommends now, just in case I hit headwinds or something. I try to not get to 7 RM again. I appreciate the experiences of others here.

I do wonder whether or not I am damaging the battery by taking it to 3.5%, even if very briefly. Does Tesla have any guidance on that?