I am taking my LR M3 on a winter road trip. I am concerned about a stretch between superchargers of 280km. It is projected to be -20 when we leave, and -20 when we come home. Is this doable? A better route planner says I will arrive with 20% charge I am not sure I trust that figure with it being much colder. Unfortunately my CCS adapter is not going to arrive in time. Any thoughts/opinions? what wh/km or mile do you get on highway speeds on a freezing cold day?
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How accurate is a better route planner?
- Thread starter OreoLR3
- Start date
If you leave at 100% you *should* be OK. If you have a big headwind though it will be very dicey. On some winter trips last year (M3P 2021 w/Heat Pump running on 18" snow tires) I was averaging around 250-270 Wh/km at 105 km/h at around -20°C. It can easily be over 300 Wh/km with a strong headwind.
Slower speeds will of course help, but you don't want to be doing 90 and get hit from behind either.
Slower speeds will of course help, but you don't want to be doing 90 and get hit from behind either.
You should sign up for the free 2wk trial, that'll give you better results as it also factors in wind. Off hand, if you use minimal heat, ie use the seat heater and maybe 64f on low fan speed, I'd estimate 80% efficiency.
Here's my Stats data, showing how I've done over the years, with the Fahrenheit scale. So, -20C is going to be all the way to the left on my scale, so about 80% efficient. So, 170 miles would be about 210 miles used at 80%. Should be do-able, but make sure you've got the Energy trip screen up to see how you're tracking. Then, adjust as you go, ie speed up, slow down, lower heat. Also, don't forget to pre-condition.
Thanks Ken, I did recently sign up for the premium version however I have not seen any change in settings where I can select fan speed and outside temperature. I thought the premium version was supposed to allow me to use the forecast to plan future trips.
I'm going to ask something that maybe needs to be asked. What are these two cities, to check is it really a full gap with no Superchargers in between? Or maybe there's a deviation route that's a little longer but much less stress that hits more Superchargers. We do see kind of frequently new owners wanting to just go from here to there on some large distance segment and then getting upset that they don't get to skip over Superchargers in the middle that they were planning to skip. That also may help to see on Plugshare if there are some decent fallback opportunities along the way for maybe a top-up on a lunch stop in the middle of that 280 km.
Yeah, I know; I caught that. But I saw it with a friend here in Idaho where they are also scarce and was planning to skip Superchargers and had this shocking realization that it might not happen. We haven't heard yet where this 280 km is. I've also heard someone say there "wasn't" a Supercharger in a certain city because it was 6 miles away. I don't want to assume without information.
Hi Rocky, so it would be from the rocky view supercharger to the Fernie BC supercharger. There is a level 2 charger along the way, not sure if that will help much unless I plan to stop for 3+ hours.
There's three CCS1 stations along that route. Can you borrow a CCS1 adapter? Amazon Canada is giving a 3 day estimated delivery time for a CCS1 to Tesla adapter.
From Plugshare:
Petrocanada DCFC station.
aldersyde
AB-7, Aldersyde, AB T0L 0A0, Canada
Flo Charging Station
10505 20 Ave, Blairmore, AB T0K 0E0, Canada
BC Hydro Charging Station
100 Centennial St, Sparwood, BC V0B 2G0, Canada
This is the reason I ordered a CCS adapter, but a couple days too late unfortunately.
The OP is probably in their first year in an EV and maybe they don't live on these forums like some of do, so bear with me in repeating some common wisdom: Speed kills range. I would expect that speed in dense, cold air is even more of a killer (like pushing through molasses) but I don't have the math to back that up.
On any leg that seems like it might be close to the maximum range, start slow and keep an eye on the trip meter. If it looks like you're gong to make it to the next charger with spare energy left, then you can make up some lost time.
Speed really is the #1 variable that you can control.
On any leg that seems like it might be close to the maximum range, start slow and keep an eye on the trip meter. If it looks like you're gong to make it to the next charger with spare energy left, then you can make up some lost time.
Speed really is the #1 variable that you can control.
Appreciate the reply. 3rd year with an EV but first time doing a highway road trip at -20.
Depending on how far out of the way, the L2 charger might be the thing. You don't need to charge for 3 hours, just plug in for 30 minutes should get you enough range to bridge any shortage.
I have a couple destinations I hit which are right on the edge of range with only an L2 nearby and just plug in, grab a bite for lunch, then on my way with ~20-30 more miles.
@OreoLR3 -
Your trip sounds doable for a M3 LR with adequate energy in reserve. I would charge to 100% and pre-heat the car while plugged in before leaving. Take it slow at first, with cruise set at the speed limit. The L2 charge point is a good to have as an emergency plan B. Monitor your energy use as you reach the L2 station, and your estimated SOC at your next supercharger stop. If SOC is estimated below 20%, I would stop and charge for 30-60 minutes, or whatever it takes to get you SOC at arrival up to 20%. I like to keep 20% energy as a reserve, especially driving in bitter cold in remote locations, but maybe a larger reserve, like 30%, would be more prudent in such harsh conditions. If you have plenty of reserve as you reach the L2 charging location, you may want to increase your speed 5-10 kph, and continue to monitor your estimated SOC at arrival.
ABRP is a good guide as to what to expect. In my experience ABRP usually is close, but sometimes actual energy usage has been significantly higher or lower.
Good Luck,
GSP
Your trip sounds doable for a M3 LR with adequate energy in reserve. I would charge to 100% and pre-heat the car while plugged in before leaving. Take it slow at first, with cruise set at the speed limit. The L2 charge point is a good to have as an emergency plan B. Monitor your energy use as you reach the L2 station, and your estimated SOC at your next supercharger stop. If SOC is estimated below 20%, I would stop and charge for 30-60 minutes, or whatever it takes to get you SOC at arrival up to 20%. I like to keep 20% energy as a reserve, especially driving in bitter cold in remote locations, but maybe a larger reserve, like 30%, would be more prudent in such harsh conditions. If you have plenty of reserve as you reach the L2 charging location, you may want to increase your speed 5-10 kph, and continue to monitor your estimated SOC at arrival.
ABRP is a good guide as to what to expect. In my experience ABRP usually is close, but sometimes actual energy usage has been significantly higher or lower.
Good Luck,
GSP
Looks like they may have changed it in an update. Perhaps, the temp is automatically taken from Live Weather update. You can also text their twitter acct. They've never had a fan setting, but you can pre-set the interior departure temp, which I guess is if you pre-condition.
Ah, yes, that fills in the details a bit more. Level2 ones are painfully slow for traveling, so I don't like to rely on those unless really necessary. I see on www.supercharge.info that there is a building permit for a Supercharger to come in south Calgary, which is along this route that will help a little in the future, but unknown when that will get done.
But seeing where this route is, I see what I would do personally. I will be willing to take a longer route just to stick with shorter jumps between known reliable and fast Supercharging. That's less stress and also lets you not have to charge up to really high states of charge where charging slows down a lot. I see that you can take a shorter jump from Fernie Supercharger to Fort Macleod Supercharger. And then it's only about 212 km between For Macleod to Rocky View, which shouldn't be much trouble.
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