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little concerned with cold weather

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I have decided that my next car with be an EV, don't know the brand yet but am somewhat leaning to a tesla 3. It does depend on if I need a new car due to mine becoming not fit for the road.

We just had a cold snap -40 with out the windchill. Because I have to park outside I am concerned with the battery and its charging.

I do have access to 120v plugin at work that I can plug the car in for 9 hours. Plus plugged in at home so the battery will mostly be full all the time. I do drive 200~ miles 1-2 times a month. Even in this cold weather. There is no access to any charging stations till I reach my destination.

with this in mind is this a good fit? things might change by the time I do get a EV and hopefully a heated garage.
 
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That 200mile journey will be near the reasonable(safe) limit for the LR battery at -40, maybe not on day one, but after a year or two when the battery loses some percentage of its rated capacity. Right now, my 9k mile AWD >says< it can go 273mi on its 90% charge, but in reality, its more like 200 even at 20f. Even with the longish 33mile commute(each way), it loses a solid 100 miles of rated range per day.

Not saying it can't be done, but it would always be at the back of my mind. You really don't want to be stuck 10 miles short of your destination because its -50 the day you want to go... that's frozen-death territory your tiptoeing through.

At 120V outside at work(or inside in an unheated garage at work), you'll get essentially 0 charge per day, I'm not sure if it'll actually charge negatively.... I hope not. 100% of the 120V input will go toward trying to heat the battery so it can get charged. You might get a bit of a charge if you plug in right away when you arrive, but the battery will most likely cool off even when its being charged, at those cool temperatures. I even see that effect on a 5kw charger at work, although it never stops charging, it slows down notably as the battery cools.
 
Just to add to Sophias_dad's post.

When embarking on a long trip in cold weather you either need to preheat aggressively on a 240volt connection or fast DC charger or the first 15-20 will be very high energy use.

The point about not getting any charge on 120volts in severe cold is a very good one.
Here near Green Bay Wi I have dealt with subzero Fahrenheit but not -40 which is the same on both scales. My P85 has a stated range of 265miles I have no problems making the Eau Claire supercharger which is 179 miles in single digits temps Farhrenheit on 55mph roads.
That is between a supercharger and home though supercharger is fast and home I have a HCWC and all the time I need. Wouldn't do it if it was a public L2 on one end.
 
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200 miles should be okay, but you will have to make a few decisions first:
- Are you okay with driving with climate at a low setting? Turning it on an off occationaly if you end up waiting for a while due to accidents etc? Using seat-heaters instead?
- Can you pay extra for better winter-tyres like the Nokian R3 or Continental CVC7 which has the best rolling resistance of the winter-tires? Also using a bit higher pressure in the tires is highly recommended, but reduces the comfort a bit.

I have driven some long trips in my Model S 60 which is a less efficient car and in -15-20C with climate on the lowest setting, preheating battery\cabin, (using range mode which is not an option on Model 3), low rolling resistance-tires, extra tirepressure, going at 40mph average gives me a consumption close to 200WH\km or 320Wh\mile. On a few occations whne I planned charing badly I had to put a scarf over my mouth and switch climate off about 2\3 off the time to avoid fogging on the windows, the consumption would end at about 180Wh\km or 300Wh\mile.

For drivers who want normal heat comfort all year round I would rather get a hybrid in those climates (easy to start in cold, cabins heats faster etc). I have driven a Prius in -25-30C and it worked like a charm, used 0.5l\10km, started with no problem, heated quickly.
 
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I have decided that my next car with be an EV, don't know the brand yet but am somewhat leaning to a tesla 3. It does depend on if I need a new car due to mine becoming not fit for the road.

We just had a cold snap -40 with out the windchill. Because I have to park outside I am concerned with the battery and its charging.

I do have access to 120v plugin at work that I can plug the car in for 9 hours. Plus plugged in at home so the battery will mostly be full all the time. I do drive 200~ miles 1-2 times a month. Even in this cold weather. There is no access to any charging stations till I reach my destination.

with this in mind is this a good fit? things might change by the time I do get a EV and hopefully a heated garage.

I think it's doable but it will require some planning and sacrifices on your part. It's also possible that the safety margin you have when the car is new will fade after a few years when the battery degrades and you will have more stress when making the trip.

Remember, all it takes is one unforeseen problem like a road closure, detour or hour long delay and you will be on the bubble with range in those temperatures. If the road is closed in a gas burner you can top the tank up with a gerry can and run the engine all night, not to mention that any assistance vehicles will always have spare gasoline.... they don't carry spare electrons.

I honestly think a hybrid is a much better fit in your situation, at least until battery capacities are further increased and Tesla gets a better strategy around cold weather use such as use of a heat pump from the coolant loop for auxiliary cabin heating, etc.

As others said though, if you charge the car to 100%, pre-heat the battery and cabin before leaving, drive at a slightly slower speed than normal using the aero wheels, slightly lower cabin temp than you are used to, the trip should be doable, at least when the car is new.
 
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Just saw this thread as I have been asking the same questions and I also live in Saskatchewan.
This has me thinking that the Model 3 may not be the safest choice for winter travel. That and I need 240V for sure.
At -40 everything changes and usually not for the better.
 
Plus plugged in at home so the battery will mostly be full all the time. I do drive 200~ miles 1-2 times a month. Even in this cold weather. There is no access to any charging stations till I reach my destination.

I'm in San Diego...so zero experience with extreme cold...but just note that the range hit is extremely noticeable in San Diego even when it is 40-50 degrees.

Anyway, I agree with most others here and don't recommend the Tesla for these winter conditions and this use scenario, if you're not willing to make changes to the baseline assumptions. You basically will have to add 240V to make this even have a chance of working.

You don't want to leave your battery at 100% - so you'll be making special adjustments to your charge level for those 1-2 trips a month. For those occasional long trips you'd be able to charge to 100%, but you'd absolutely need a good home wall charging solution (I would go for a Wall Connector, 48A 240V setup for your scenario - since you're outside, will need to preheat to maximize range, etc., and the more wattage available the better). And you have to make sure your electrical service panel can support this. That high wattage charging solution is basically a must for you. This is because for preheating, you can EASILY use 5kW from the charger just on cabin & battery heat (it peaks at over 7kW, maybe as high as 10kW). You want to be pulling ALL of that energy from the wall, and none from the battery, prior to the trip. And if you want to continue to charge the car while preheating, you'll need that full 11kW.

In addition, after the 200 mile drive to your destination (I assume it is not 200 miles round trip?), you either need an hour stop at a Supercharger, or you need to wait ~7 hours at a 48A 240V connector (not a standard charging station), to fully recharge. A more typical public charger will take more like 10-15 hours to fully recharge from ~0%.

Personally, even after adding the 240V solution, I would treat these long trips in the extreme cold in a Tesla (or really in any vehicle) as life-threatening events, so please be sure to bring your extreme cold weather gear, 0 degree or even warmer down sleeping bag, and emergency food and water (and maybe even a *good* canister camping stove to melt ice/water...though that may be too cold to count on it?).

More typically (every day use) you're going to be charging your battery to ~80%. And it's not great to routinely run a battery down below 10%. So then you're looking at 70% "typically usable" of your battery, or 215 miles of range "typical" - which will be a little over 100 miles of real range in extremely cold winter with normal climate use.

If you did go for it, I'd recommend the RWD LR version...but they don't make it anymore. You need maximum range. And the RWD works mostly fine in the cold snow from what I understand.

For the AWD, you take a hit on efficiency due to the drivetrain, and it's not that uncommon for people to be below 200 miles of range on a 100% to 0% discharge, in adverse conditions (which have to be assumed for this discussion, even if sometimes you will do better!), if they use climate control.
 
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How many times a year would you have to do your 200 miles by temp that old ?
If it is not a lot, you could rent a gas car for those toucby trips.
As for the range. The web site a better route planner is pretty accurate. It will give a good idea of what you can or cannot do.
 
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If possible rent a Model 3 (Turo?) before you buy one and take the trip.

Cold weather does a number on range. That said, I recently took a ~177 mile trip is colder weather after having access to only 120v at my starting point and could only get to 250 miles of range. I babied the car; drove the speed limit (65) for the first 60 miles and kept the cabin temperature to 68 degrees. I had 30 miles of range left but that was after bumping up to my typical 14 above the speed limit to 69/79 MPH for the final ~117 miles.

I’m suggesting that with a 100% charge your 200 mile trip may be possible. However, I agree with the above; it will be easier with a hybrid or an ICE rental during the long trips.

On second thought, -40 is pretty serious and potentially dangerous. Needing to go 200 miles under those conditions with a 310 miles EV is not going to work. It is too risky even if you hyper-mile. Check PlugShare for stops before you destination.
 
Quite a few owners in Riderland now it seems, you could ask for others' experiences in this thread: Future Model 3 owners in Saskatchewan?

Without knowing where your 200-mile drive takes you, it's hard to offer help but Plugshare will show you what your options are in the event you can't quite make the 200 miles in the winter. My experience (in an S), is that I lose about 30% of my range in the winter, with the deep cold. A headwind will make that worse. Starting with 310-mile range, you should be able to hit 217 miles pretty reliably and can stretch it by slowing down or turning heat etc. down in the car.

There are enough owners in SK now that should be able to give you some good, honest feedback about their winter experiences so far.
 
I’m in Alaska. Haven’t seen -40 yet in my model 3 but have seen a bunch of ~0F (-18C). I did a 150 miles round trip Thursday. Going 60-70 mph temps 5-10F (-15 to -12C). Heat set to 67F auto, 4 people in the car and got ~340 Wh/mi. That would put me at ~250 mile range. Also From what I’ve seen at those temps you may only get 1-2 miles per hour charged connected to a 110 outlet, Or even none just no loss. I have access to 110 outlets at work and plan on plugging in when it gets very cold but haven’t yet because the non plugged spots are covered.
 
got ~340 Wh/mi. That would put me at ~250 mile range

That's fairly optimistic range estimating.... If we assume a brand new 80kwh battery, charged till the electrons are bursting out of the seams, 340wh/mi is 235 miles, assuming you coast into the charging station with 0.01 miles left. Would OP survive the trip on a new 100% charged battery at 5f.... most likely. But -40f is a very long distance from 5f, and I imagine it'll kill you much faster too, if anything goes wrong at all. I'm sure you could say the same about an ICE vehicle, but there's a predictably nonzero chance that the M3 will leave him stranded 10 or more miles short of the destination.
 
Without a 240v charging option don't do it. Even with 240 volt charging, and no way to charge for 200 miles in extreme cold weather that's probably really pushing it. 3's are not the best cold weather cars. Freezing door handles and frame-less windows in addition to charging I would probably look for something else. Or get use another vehicle for those 200 mile trips.
 
Without a 240v charging option don't do it. Even with 240 volt charging, and no way to charge for 200 miles in extreme cold weather that's probably really pushing it. 3's are not the best cold weather cars. Freezing door handles and frame-less windows in addition to charging I would probably look for something else. Or get use another vehicle for those 200 mile trips.

I realize this is what I will be doing. Taking one of the trucks or one of the cars for the longer cold weather trips. It's just not worth the hassle and then there is the safety of my family in the extreme cold.
Oh well.
 
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