HEatingAC battery depletion

[longshadows]

As a Tesla newby, and a depositor for a |||, been wondering how much of a toll the use of on board heating and air conditioning takes on the battery. The announced miles/charge of "215" on the ||| must be an average, or maybe without use of climate controls. I assume that unlike an ICE vehicle, heating is electric and will use battery power, as will the a/c.

 

[Petra]

As a Tesla newby, and a depositor for a |||, been wondering how much of a toll the use of on board heating and air conditioning takes on the battery. The announced miles/charge of "215" on the ||| must be an average, or maybe without use of climate controls. I assume that unlike an ICE vehicle, heating is electric and will use battery power, as will the a/c.

As I recall, the 215 miles is their minimum EPA rating target. Actual user experience will vary wildly based on driving habits (acceleration, speed, efficient use of regen, etc.), ambient temperature (low temps cause a reduction in battery performance until the pack can come up to temperature, the battery heater uses a fair amount of power, denser air causes reduced efficiency, etc.), and whether or not you're making aggressive use of climate control. There's plenty of documentation available online detailing the EPA's EV test procedures.

You are correct that climate control uses power. The heater primarily makes use of resistive heating elements and the AC utilizes an electric compressor--the AC uses vastly less power than the heater, though. If it's really cold out (say, below freezing), the car was kept outside overnight, and was not preconditioned on grid power before departing, then expect that 215 mile EPA rating to look more like 140(?) miles. Obviously, TMC members who live in places that actually get cold could give you better info. I mostly have experience on the mild cold (40-50's) and extreme heat (115°F) end of the spectrum.