Is Ideal Range obtainable?

[benji4]

Was it raining? I saw this morning that I was in the high 300's where I'd normally be in the mid 200's. It was sleeting and I think I could sense extra drag.

I've generally been able to run in the 225-250 Wh/mi range with nice weather that we've been having lately, but yesterday and today the weather was cool with rain. I've been using the wipers and about half the time have needed to run the air conditioner so the windows don't fog up. Anyway, now I'm stuck between 325-350 pretty much consistently and range is obviously suffering. Do other people experience similar increase in power consumption when it rains? It would be tough to plan a long trip if rain can do that much to the range! Another thing that is strange is that my ideal range indication has ticked up another mile to 193...

 

[Nik]

Do other people experience similar increase in power consumption when it rains?

I notice a significant increase in fuel consumption in my ICE when it's wet. I've always assumed that most of the extra energy was being used in pushing the water off the road (similar to the braking effect if you drive into a puddle). The additional effort of pushing the car through denser air (ie with lots of water droplets in) may be a factor, as might be the energy required to evaporate and heat any water that was sucked into the engine.

 

[suxxer]

The newer 2.5 models don't have the reflectors anymore - they are now "built in in" not glued on anymore.

 

[Eberhard]

wet road increase my consumption up to 20%. snowy roads even more.

 

[Tdave]

I've been able to get 233 miles range. I was on pace to get that on a trip that used a little over half the battery. So that's a calculation based on a 131 mile trip. Here's the trip data:

131.4 miles driven
2:26 hours elapsed
29.85 kWh used
227 wh/mi
110 ideal miles remaining
121 est miles remaining

I was driving mostly on the highway, staying mostly 60-65 mph, drafting one second behind semi trucks about half the time. The beginning and the end of the trip involved driving on slower suburb and city streets. Top was off, no A/C or heat needed.

 

[ljbad4life]

I've been able to get 233 miles range. I was on pace to get that on a trip that used a little over half the battery. So that's a calculation based on a 131 mile trip. Here's the trip data:

131.4 miles driven
2:26 hours elapsed
29.85 kWh used
227 wh/mi
110 ideal miles remaining
121 est miles remaining

I was driving mostly on the highway, staying mostly 60-65 mph, drafting one second behind semi trucks about half the time. The beginning and the end of the trip involved driving on slower suburb and city streets. Top was off, no A/C or heat needed.

That's really good! You achieved almost the quoted "244 mile range" averaging ~58 mph (my math could be a little funky or 52mph?)! What was the temp? Do you think having the top on would have increased the range?

 

[TEG]

...It was driving mostly on the highway, staying mostly 60-65 mph, drafting one second behind semi trucks about half the time...

Doesn't drafting make it 'cheating' a bit?

 

[AndrewBissell]

@Benji. I see similar differences between cool, rain and warm, dry conditions.

 

[benji4]

@Benji. I see similar differences between cool, rain and warm, dry conditions.

It seems like rain, and probably the real reason being wet pavement, is causing range to drop by 20% or more based on what people are saying here and from my own experiences as well. I guess the scary thing would be planning a 220 mile leg on a trip and have it start pouring rain 50 miles after leaving! ICE vehicles would see their milage drop in non-ideal conditions as well, but since they lose so much due their inherent inefficieny to start out with, the difference is much less noticable. Anyway, we have the answer to the question: yes, it's not hard to get ideal range in a Roadster as long as:

1) You keep the speed under < 60mph
2) Accelerate slowly
3) Stay off the friction brakes
4) Dry pavement
5) Warm weather

I've been very pleased to say the most of the time I'm able to get ideal range now, but I have to concentrate to do it since it's so easy to get into spirted driving mode with the Roadster. Often times I'll set out and do 10 or 20 miles at ideal range and feel pretty pleased, but then I get tired of getting blown off the line by the Prius next to me and I get a bit more "spirted". You see it right away on your energy usage of course!

 

[Nik]

Doesn't drafting make it 'cheating' a bit?

Probably, but I bet that no-one does official fuel economy / energy usage test with the top down, so we'll let him off.

 

[suxxer]

Here are the pics of my 2.5 reflectors. Maybe the'll exchange the old (round) 2.5 reflector too.

 

[dpeilow]

Benji4, bear in mind for your test that speed matters quite a lot. See Roadster Efficiency and Range | Blog | Tesla Motors

If you drive slowly but at a constant speed you will maximize the range. In theory, from the graph, you could drive over 650 km on a charge, but you'd have to drive the car verrrry slowly for nearly 24 hours!

Is it just me here, or can one not access the Excel file on Tesla's site (perhaps such the site redesign)? I just get a link to a .php file instead.

 

[Kevin Sharpe]

Is it just me here, or can one not access the Excel file on Tesla's site (perhaps such the site redesign)?

It works for me with Safari/Mac... have emailed you a copy

 

[Nvbob]

Change the file extension (.php) to .xls after you download and then open it in Excel.

bob

 

[MelTyree]

I have a Roadster 1.5 #443. I live in a rural area so my minimum typical drive is 56 miles. Other common trips are 120 miles or 156 miles in a day all over state highways and interstat at 55 to 70 mph (90 to 120 km/h). In winter I got about 5 to 10% below the idea range, but now that temperatures are between 50 to 70 F (10 to 21 C) I get match the ideal range +/- 1%. I once tried driving 60 miles at 35 to 40 MPH and I exceeded the ideal range by 10% in winter.
Hope this helps,
Mel