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HELP! I'm stuck in a snow storm

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Glad you ended up safe at home! That aftermath looks nasty, especially the last picture (wonder if that door gouge was fresh?) I LOL'ed at the Prius with its butt in the air.

You should definitely send those photos and some token of thanks to the owners of Babica for providing the Tesla charger that helped get you home. And a tip of the fedora to @ecarfan, who pointed the way.

Stay tuned to TMC for more heartwarming holiday classics!
 
What a way to start an ownership experience. Very well done, Electroman. I just picked up my own S60 on WED, but have had a MUCH more mellow few days--the weather in Seattle has been relatively nice--we even saw the actual sun and sky for a while today!

But you are right: it is an amazing care.
 
so glad you made it home ELECTROMAN! it took me 6 + hours to get from beaverton to portland in that snow. l'm currently driving a jeep wrangler which was a total nightmare l have to say. Heat wouldn't work so l sat there freezing my ass off in gridlock traffic.
Roll on Feb! can't wait for my MX90D with winter package to arrive... ( not that we ever need it in Oregon) but times such as these really do make the difference :)
 
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Brand new tires with deep tread, though. I was thinking about getting studdless snow tires for the minivan, but I would really prefer the Tesla to stay inside when it's slippery out.
I am pleased it all worked out. It was quite strange watching all sorts of people popping up with recommendations. The Tesla drivers of the world do seem to be very kind to each other.

I suppose you'll top off your 60 now whenever you can , especially with nasty weather. The other alternative is to live in warm areas, as I do. :confused:
 
Good advise.
Experiment done. I'm warm now, but I lost about 4 miles of range. That shows how extraordinarily efficient the motor is.

Just some after-the-fact info: The car will use much more energy in the first 15 minutes of heat as the heater starts up and brings the cabin to the desired temperature than it will in the next 15 minutes. So don't assume that you would continue losing 4 miles of range every 15 minutes.

Also, you should ensure you have range mode enabled, which descreases the energy usage of the heater but may still keep you warm enough.
 
Reading this, it makes me wonder what an AWD Tesla with winter tyres is like in the snow!

Well done Electroman and how great it must be to have an adventure like this with a positive outcome so soon after becoming a Tesla owner.
 
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I'm just glad to read a story with a happy ending! Thanks for sharing, and I'm definitely never leaving home without a multitude of cables and adapters after reading this! You never know what's going to happen.

That's awesome the car did so well in the snow - we get occasional "ocean effect" un-forecasted snows here, made for an interesting ride home in a RWD Mercedes sports car once, hope to never do it again, but at least I'll have a bit more confidence with my new Model S.
 
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I live in New England and am "enjoying" the start of my 4th winter with my Tesla. When it is particularly cold, the range goes WAY down. For long trips maybe 75% if you're lucky. On shorter trips it's more like 50%. There are two causes. First, when the car thinks it has to heat the battery pack (if you turn on the heat, or if the battery pack temperature goes below a threshold) the usage is killer (6-8Kw as trils0n tells us). Second, the regeneration doesn't work. So unfortunately, on an 8 mile commute to work my car routinely uses 8 miles of range in the morning after being in a warm garage all night, but going home uses 15-16 miles of range after sitting outside in the cold all day...
 
@Akikiki - I say this affectionately: "smartass!" :) I gave you a "funny" for that post, but also need a "wiseguy" button... :)

@ELECTROMAN - glad you're home safe. If you don't mind a question or two... I am shocked by the pictures you shared! Does everyone in Oregon drive on summer tires?

Just how much snow was there, anyway? From your messages and the talk of "carnage" -- and then the pictures! -- I was picturing a foot or two of snow. But it looks as if there was maybe 3" of snow! The roads almost uniformly didn't look steep. I'm just flabbergasted that so many people had so much difficulty. Maybe it's all just due to infrequent snow storms in Oregon, so no one has any familiarity with driving in the snow?

IMHO, if your winter experience routinely includes temperatures below about 45-50 degrees Fahrenheit, you probably will benefit from winter tires. Forget the snow and ice issues for a moment; the formulation of rubber in the winter tires works much better in colder temperatures than all-season or summer tires. Basically, the tire works better even on dry pavement. THEN, if you also add snow or ice, your winter tire does even better. Some people recommend the Nokiaan WR G3 as an "all season" tire that does well in the cold. I personally use Nokiaan Hakkapolitta R2s or R8s -- three Boston winters, careful driving, no worries.

For all the money that you spent on your car, there are only four, smallish places where the car actually meets the road. Those are the contact patches on the tires. Having now experienced summer tires, all seasons and winter tires (all on a P85) within about a week's span during a cold December, plus winter tires on snow and ice, I am converted to the importance of winter tires. To the point that I went out and bought a set for my Prius, too, and let me tell you, THOSE make a difference, too. No more Prius flailing its way up an embarrassingly gentle slope.

I just took delivery on a new S with summer tires a couple of days ago, and I'm driving around Maryland in 25-30 degree Fahrenheit weather on what feel like hockey pucks. Ludicrous mode on these tires at these temperatures? Fuhgeddaboudit! Gotta change over to those Hakkas ASAP!

Alan
 
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A few lessons from this for new owners:
1. Take your UMC with you when driving out of town, in case something unexpected happens.
2. Have a backup plan for where you might charge if needed. This means looking at Plugshare.com and/or the Tesla destination charging map before you go, so you have some idea of what you might do before a situation happens that might cause panic.
3. When all else fails, consider RV parks. Most have 14-50 outlets and most are not listed on Plugshare. RVparky.com (and app) is a good resource and there are others.
 
Why doesn't regen work? My leaf regens just fine (it is very cold in Chicago right now (I mean we have 12" of snow and its like a relatively balmly 10F today)). I also was able to drive around 73 miles while it was 4F yesterday and seat warmers on (heat off)). I expect somewhat similar performance from my 60D (lets say 180 miles of range) but that's assuming regen works like it does on the leaf (and actually regens)). I have an attached 2.5 car garage so the car is about 27F when its this cold and begins its journey.
 
wow, crazy amount of abandoned cars!
In 2013 I was stuck on I5 just south of Salem at midnight for 2 hours because all of the trucks decided to just stop in the friggin middle of the freeway to put on chains. They all just pushed right past the chaining area where there is actually space...the S does great keeping warm @28 F without using too much energy(wind wasn't too crazy)
So 4 hours from Springfield to Salem (70 miles) @ only 435 Whr /mi (probably closer to 500 in reality since the cars kind of under report usage a bit)