List Of Tips For Extending Range?

[JohnEV]

Last night I had the unfortunate experience of pulling into my garage with "1" estimated mile of charge left after about 45 mile roundtrip. To say I had anxiety trying to make it home is an understatement.

Is there a list of tips anywhere on how to extend range?

i.e. should you reduce brightness to the lowest setting on the display? Kill the A/C? Coast on downhill stretches?

I'm a new S owner and am just wondering what I can do at times to get the most out of the battery when I'm not sure if I can reach my destination (or to extend the range a bit at times).

Do you try to drive so the speedometer/energy usage meter rarely gets up into the orange?

Thanks for any tips.

 

[qwk]

How about charging to 90% to start with?

 

[Raffy.Roma]

@JohnEV

The general rule is to charge your Model S whenever you can also if it is not immediately necessary. Always plug in.

 

[Chipper]

Well, it might be obvious but the number one thing I would do is slow down. The world record of 423 miles on a single charge was set by a father/son team driving at 25-30 MPH. That might be a bit radical but bringing it down to 55 MPH would obviously save considerable mileage rather than driving at 70 MPH.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Most important is not going fast but not using brakes to stop is also important. Screen brightness and AC make less difference. Ac uses more but very little compared to what power it takes to move ~5000 lbs

 

[dflye]

Definitely turn off the heat if in the winter, avoid the brake pedal, if driving on the highway - draft another vehicle like you were in a NASCAR race.

There is definitely some battery power in reserve past displayed range of "0", I've driven at least 5 miles past that mark... would be nice if it showed a negative range at that point to indicate just how long one has been running on "empty".

 

[Eeyago]

Isn't there a setting in the Controls that allows you to turn on such a function for people in this situation to "extend" the range... and it turns off non-vital components? I'm not in my S right now and can't remember what it's called.

 

[Zextraterrestrial]

Isn't there a setting in the Controls that allows you to turn on such a function for people in this situation to "extend" the range... and it turns off non-vital components? I'm not in my S right now and can't remember what it's called.

the 'range' setting lowers the climate control consumption a bit, maybe the peak it can draw? I just leave it in that mode always, not sure how much difference it makes

 

[AmpedRealtor]

Coast as much as possible, make sure that when you accelerate you do so as slowly as traffic conditions allow, use cruise control on the freeway, and drive as slow as possible. Using range mode will save on some of the A/C usage, but turning it off entirely will have even greater benefit.

 

[jerry33]

i.e. should you reduce brightness to the lowest setting on the display?

Won't make enough difference to matter.

Kill the A/C?

Might save ten miles on a full charge unless you have it cranked down fully. Cabin heating can take much more, but A/C is unlikely to make a big difference.

Coast on downhill stretches?

You want to slow down going up hill and speed up going downhill for best range.

Some additional tips:

1. Don't speed.

2. Keep some air in your tires.

3. Make sure the alignment is correct.

4. Use low rolling resistance tires (and 19").

5. Get the Aero wheels.

6. Accelerate and brake slowly.

7. Use seat heaters in preference to the cabin heater.

8. Pre-cool and pre-warm your car when it's plugged in. Getting to the desired temperature takes more energy than maintaining temperature.

9. Do a range charge before a long trip.

10. Plan your trip to take advantage of the terrain. (This works best on your regular commute. If you're lucky you can find efficient routes in both directions.)

11. Plan your trip so that you don't end up driving on the last three electrons.

Things that don't make enough difference when on to worry about:

1. Seat heaters.

2. Display.

3. Audio.

4. Lights.

All these things take a few hundred Watts at most. To move the car takes ten thousand Watts minimum. Moving the car takes so much more power than the accessories that the power the they use will be lost in the noise of normal traffic variations.

 

[JohnEV]

Won't make enough difference to matter.



Might save ten miles on a full charge unless you have it cranked down fully. Cabin heating can take much more, but A/C is unlikely to make a big difference.



You want to slow down going up hill and speed up going downhill for best range.

Some additional tips:

1. Don't speed.

2. Keep some air in your tires.

3. Make sure the alignment is correct.

4. Use low rolling resistance tires (and 19").

5. Get the Aero wheels.

6. Accelerate and brake slowly.

7. Use seat heaters in preference to the cabin heater.

8. Pre-cool and pre-warm your car when it's plugged in. Getting to the desired temperature takes more energy than maintaining temperature.

9. Do a range charge before a long trip.

10. Plan your trip to take advantage of the terrain. (This works best on your regular commute. If you're lucky you can find efficient routes in both directions.)

11. Plan your trip so that you don't end up driving on the last three electrons.

Things that don't make enough difference when on to worry about:

1. Seat heaters.

2. Display.

3. Audio.

4. Lights.

All these things take a few hundred Watts at most. To move the car takes ten thousand Watts minimum. Moving the car takes so much more power than the accessories that the power the they use will be lost in the noise of normal traffic variations.

AWESOME! Thanks for the great tips.

 

[Madartist]

The most important factor in extending the vehicle range is SPEED i.e. drive slower, no matter which car configuration you have (60 vs 85, S vs P, 19" vs 21", etc.). Doug_G wrote an excellent blog about "The Rules of Model S Tripping" which offers essentially the same advice that jerry33 gave above. It should be required reading for any new Model S owner.

 

[PokerBroker]

I'm curious what factors led to you starting your trip with only 46 miles? Did you forget to charge? Choose not to charge? Just get back from a very long trip? The best way to avoid these situations is to charge every night and have a full battery every morning.

 

[raymond]

Cabin heating can take much more, but A/C is unlikely to make a big difference.

Perhaps I haven't been paying attention, but what are the max draw (in Watt) from the A/C and heater? A 3kW heater could eat 30 miles from your range. The slower you're driving the higher the impact of having the A/C or cabin heater on.

 

[jerry33]

Perhaps I haven't been paying attention, but what are the max draw (in Watt) from the A/C and heater? A 3kW heater could eat 30 miles from your range. The slower you're driving the higher the impact of having the A/C or cabin heater on.

The point here is that the A/C is very seldom at max output or anywhere near it (at least in Texas where I live). The cabin heater appears to run far closer to max than the A/C according to the posts from last winter.

 

[ZBB]

Having just gone through a Phoenix summer, here's my take on the AC use. I noticed an impact on range in two situations:

- Cooling the cabin down after being parked. You'll notice a range hit for the first ~10 min while the cabin cools. Takes a bit longer if parked in the sun, but still noticeable if in covered parking (since the interior can still get over 105). But once the cabin is cool, you no longer hear the compressor at full speed and don't notice the range loss.

- If temps are over ~110, then you will notice the compressor running at higher speeds and a bit more range loss (~10% -- on really hot days I would use about 3 additional miles than normal on my 30 mile commute home).

But both of these can be mitigated by pre-cooling the car on shore power and by using the Range Mode setting. We used both in early July to do a 154 mile (round trip) day trip with no charging avail at the destination. We pre-cooled before leaving and had range mode on. The car sat in the sun at the destination for a couple hours mid-day, and temps ranged from 102 when we left to 112 on the way back. I had range charged and left with 208 miles, drove 5-0 over the posted limit, and returned with 49 - so only "lost" ~5 miles due to vampires, elevation gain/loss, and cooling (including about 30 min where we sat in the car parked with the AC on). Range mode also didn't really impact keeping us comfortable -- although it took a bit longer to cool the car down when we left for home.

My takeaway is that energy use for cooling has a pretty minimum impact on range if you pre-cool and use range mode. But it is very noticeable if you don't, especially if it's over 110.

 

[ChadS]

Here are some numbers I extracted from Tesla's range calculator - how many miles of rated range are consumed at various temperatures:

15 degrees F	+25%
32	+13%
50	+7%
70	100% of rated range (HVAC on, but barely in use)
100	+7%
120	+13%

It looks like 70 or so is the ideal temperature battery-wise, similar to us humans. You have to go up 30 degrees, to 100, to get a 7% hit on range; but you only have to go down 20 degrees to 50 to get the same hit. Up 50 degrees to 120 is a 13% AC hit; down 38 degrees to 32 is the same 13% hit. I think very few people drive in conditions over 120 degrees, but driving below freezing is pretty common. So while it obviously depends on ambient temperatures, cabin settings, and even precool/preheat and trip length, in general I would agree that it appears AC is a smaller hit than heating.

Note that these hits on range figures are to condition the cabin AND the batteries. In my experience (though I haven't measured extensively; and in fact I've only tried this in cold temperatures), if you turn the HVAC off in the cabin, you save about 2/3 of the energy hit, so presumably about 1/3 of the extra energy is being used for the batteries.

This and other factors that affect range are covered in THIS thread.

 

[HHHH]

I had a similar fear the day before yesterday, I went to LAX from Las Vegas to pick up my brother in law from the airport and bring him back to Vegas. I got back to Barstow at 10pm with 70 miles of range left, so I supercharged until 220 miles and left for the 153 mile trek back to Vegas. I was driving faster than usual and averaging between 90-100mph, I didn't notice how much range it was taking until I had 60 miles left on the trip and 60 miles left on the range. I panicked in my mind a little bit but didn't mention anything to the occupants in the car. I had one mile of range left when I took the exit and 8 miles left to travel. I coasted most of the way and hit 0 miles remaining when I was about 2 miles away from the home HPWC, it changed from 0 to "Charge Now" about a mile from home. I made it but man was I nervous.

 

[PokerBroker]

I have found that I (1) speed less and (2) enjoy my drive more when I am forced to plan ahead and map out my roadtrips in advance. Driving has actually gotten much less hectic for me.

 

[texex91]

I had a similar fear the day before yesterday, I went to LAX from Las Vegas to pick up my brother in law from the airport and bring him back to Vegas. I got back to Barstow at 10pm with 70 miles of range left, so I supercharged until 220 miles and left for the 153 mile trek back to Vegas. I was driving faster than usual and averaging between 90-100mph, I didn't notice how much range it was taking until I had 60 miles left on the trip and 60 miles left on the range. I panicked in my mind a little bit but didn't mention anything to the occupants in the car. I had one mile of range left when I took the exit and 8 miles left to travel. I coasted most of the way and hit 0 miles remaining when I was about 2 miles away from the home HPWC, it changed from 0 to "Charge Now" about a mile from home. I made it but man was I nervous.

They do have flights now from LV to LAX :wink:

Wow, that would have freaked me out a little.

So with 220 you only made it 153--ouch. Were you doing any regen on the trip back?

Does anyone know when you hit zero if there is any 'emergency' miles (kinda like on an ICE where once light comes on you have 20 miles or whatever)?

Glad you made it back, but lesson learned for me if I take a long trip--fill it up no matter what.