Minimizing Whr/mile

[ranss12]

This is a thread for those of us (a minority) who value efficiency and economy over performance and thrills. Nothing against performance seekers and thrill buyers - they contribute to the mission of fossil fuel usage reduction bigly. When I owned a 2005 Prius, there was a class of drivers known as hypermilers, who used every trick they could think of to increase their mpg - I've carried my Prius hypermiling over to my Teslas and I think I'm not alone. I'm not a religious hypermiler - I typically drive 2-5 mpg over the speed limit when on the highway, stay in the right lane except to pass, and generally go with the flow of traffic but I do pretty well with a 232 Wh/m average over 17,000+ miles.
This is accomplished by a couple simple things:
1: Stay in Chill mode
2: Keep tires inflated to 42 psi
3: Anticipating/timing stoplights so as to avoid braking
4: Use of standard aerocovers
5: Gentle driving
6: Maintaining a steady speed
7. Use HVAC only when needed
8. Keep unneeded junk out of the car
9: Use of basic autopilot as much as possible (it's smoother on the accelerator than I am)

So no doubt, I am one of the most boring Tesla drivers in the country.

The benefits are:
1: Less stress on my Y should help it last longer with fewer repairs
2: Longer tire life
3: Less electricity usage
4: passengers don't get motion sickness/wife doesn't scream at me
5: maybe fewer moving violation tickets and accidents which should lower insurance costs

all leading to lower TCO.

So what do you other hypermilers in Teslaville do that I am missing? Any mods to decrease Whr/m? How do you deal with hills? Any advice?

 

[xyeahtony]

Drive behind semis on the freeway, less drag. This actually has tangible benefits and has been demonstrated many times on youtube.

 

[bastrd_steve]

Drive behind semis on the freeway, less drag. This actually has tangible benefits and has been demonstrated many times on youtube.

Hello rock chips…

 

[mangrove79]

Yeah, I'm just about to say the same. I've had two windshields cracked by fingernail-sized stones shooting out of the semi tires at the speed of light. They're free to replace in FL if you carry full coverage, but still a hassle. So I avoid driving behind semi's and dump trucks at all costs.

But back to the OP, good summary. Can't really think of much else. I'm at 254 wh/mi after 13K miles, and my battery degradation is around 2% (319 out of 326 original). My highway to local ratio is about 2:1 so I think I'm doing pretty well. Being efficiency-conscious during my routine commute also gives me the peace of mind that whenever I feel adventurous and use the real acceleration, it's okay.

A thread like this will typically get a lot of perspectives from the other end, so let's wait and see.

 

[goitsme48]

This is accomplished by a couple simple things:
1: Stay in Chill mode

#1 point nullifies buying EV in the first place. I agree to some extent with the rest. To each their own.

 

[bluenycom]

I do pretty well with a 232 Wh/m average over 17,000+ miles.

That's one the the lowest I have seen to date. I am at 244 Wh/mil at 1 year anniversary.

 

[ranss12]

It also helps if you can avoid being in a rush to get somewhere all the time. Good for stress and blood pressure too.

 

[buddhafree]

It also helps if you can avoid being in a rush to get somewhere all the time. Good for stress and blood pressure too.View attachment 788867

Was it all 16,000 mi downhill with tail wind

 

[Johnny Vector]

Huh. I can't see my lifetime efficiency. I thought that used to be displayed along with the odometer reading, but since the UI rearrangement a couple months ago I only see the two trips, both of which I've reset at some point. Is there no longer a way to see lifetime if you use the trips? I can't see anything about it in the manual.

 

[Geech72]

Drive behind semis on the freeway, less drag. This actually has tangible benefits and has been demonstrated many times on youtube.

So if the goal is to reduce carbon emissions wouldn’t this actually be bad? Drafting behind a semi isn’t free; it causes the truck to use marginally more fuel. So, the cleaner EV is using less energy but the ICE is using more. Also taking advantage of another driver for your benefit is kind of a jerk move.

 

[Johnny Vector]

So if the goal is to reduce carbon emissions wouldn’t this actually be bad? Drafting behind a semi isn’t free; it causes the truck to use marginally more fuel. So, the cleaner EV is using less energy but the ICE is using more. Also taking advantage of another driver for your benefit is kind of a jerk move.

I'm not 100% certain it does reduce the truck's efficiency. If you're close enough, it might actually improve it. Probably at a reasonable distance though, it has little or no effect; probably you're just taking energy from the eddies that the truck is making anyway.

Again, not sure either way, but at any safe following distance it's hard to see how the following car can have much effect on the lead vehicle.

 

[ZenRockGarden]

I'm not 100% certain it does reduce the truck's efficiency. If you're close enough, it might actually improve it. Probably at a reasonable distance though, it has little or no effect; probably you're just taking energy from the eddies that the truck is making anyway.

Again, not sure either way, but at any safe following distance it's hard to see how the following car can have much effect on the lead vehicle.

Drafting certainly can work, but yes it has the most impact if you're rather uncomfortably snug to the rear of the semi, which most trucks don't like since they can barely see you at that point.

I find efficiency-optimizing fun and interesting. So far the big-3 are speed-costs-watts, one-foot-smoothness-wins, and avoid-needing-a-ton-of-heating-or-cooling.

I can easily hit low-200's around town. On the highway? Short of violating big rig's personal space, it's almost purely a trade off between pace and watt-hours.

 

[MattM24]

Huh. I can't see my lifetime efficiency. I thought that used to be displayed along with the odometer reading, but since the UI rearrangement a couple months ago I only see the two trips, both of which I've reset at some point. Is there no longer a way to see lifetime if you use the trips? I can't see anything about it in the manual.

There is no lifetime unless you rename one of your trips and start it when you get the car.

 

[WillwayGTO]

It’s a free country So do what you like. As a difference, I bought the car partly because it’s very quick, I drive 75+ on the highway. I love 1 pedal to move through twisty roads quickly. Nothing crazy. Been driving 45 years and never crashed a Car or the Harley. I only Look at the trips to see differences in wind or snow. I keep the temp where I’m comfortable. If it cost a few buck more a month that’s a cost I’m willing to bear. Keep on trucking, Ya all.

 

[zpaul]

Drive behind semis on the freeway, less drag. This actually has tangible benefits and has been demonstrated many times on youtube.

May be you can catch a nice piece of metal - I beam 4 feet long that will destroy your bumper.
Caused $1800 repair bill to Highlander. Can only imagine what it would be for Tesla.

 

[zpaul]

It also helps if you can avoid being in a rush to get somewhere all the time. Good for stress and blood pressure too.View attachment 788867

Wait a second.
Then what is the point of Acceleration Boost add on I bought?!?!

 

[bruce4000]

We’ll as Elon would say, the best trip is no trip. So combine trips going to the store & errands. Saves those electrons for driving on fun roads!

 

[Empiro]

Other then keeping speed down and drafting, you can try to:

not install mud flaps.

not install forward plates. In CA, you can get a vinyl plate that looks terrible, but is good for aero.

in colder weather, inflate your wheels a bit over recommendation. Just make sure to bring it down for hot weather.

Get ceramic coating and keep your car clean. I don't know how much this actually affects things, but at least mythbusters think it helps.

 

[Pianewman]

Drafting behind a truck? YIKES! Hitting a chunk of blown truck tire tread is like hitting a large boulder, or a cluster of hockey pucks.
Truckers HATE it when cars draft behind them, as they can't...see...you...at...all...

 

[mswlogo]

This is a thread for those of us (a minority) who value efficiency and economy over performance and thrills. Nothing against performance seekers and thrill buyers - they contribute to the mission of fossil fuel usage reduction bigly. When I owned a 2005 Prius, there was a class of drivers known as hypermilers, who used every trick they could think of to increase their mpg - I've carried my Prius hypermiling over to my Teslas and I think I'm not alone. I'm not a religious hypermiler - I typically drive 2-5 mpg over the speed limit when on the highway, stay in the right lane except to pass, and generally go with the flow of traffic but I do pretty well with a 232 Wh/m average over 17,000+ miles.
This is accomplished by a couple simple things:
1: Stay in Chill mode
2: Keep tires inflated to 42 psi
3: Anticipating/timing stoplights so as to avoid braking
4: Use of standard aerocovers
5: Gentle driving
6: Maintaining a steady speed
7. Use HVAC only when needed
8. Keep unneeded junk out of the car
9: Use of basic autopilot as much as possible (it's smoother on the accelerator than I am)

So no doubt, I am one of the most boring Tesla drivers in the country.

The benefits are:
1: Less stress on my Y should help it last longer with fewer repairs
2: Longer tire life
3: Less electricity usage
4: passengers don't get motion sickness/wife doesn't scream at me
5: maybe fewer moving violation tickets and accidents which should lower insurance costs

all leading to lower TCO.

So what do you other hypermilers in Teslaville do that I am missing? Any mods to decrease Whr/m? How do you deal with hills? Any advice?

I do everything on your list. But also.

Don’t precondition (unless needed for maximum range for long trip or something). You can of course if you want to. But it will cost fuel.

Also, it’s up for debate, I don’t let the car precondition for supercharging either.

People will argue Chill is not needed to drive efficiently. But it helps train you to drive gentler. Also minimizes vibration issue in Model S/X.

Also you might want to set Auto Low in Model S/X. And extended range on some Model S/X.

I’m typically 10mph over PSL (posted speed limit). I also set the alarm if I’m 15 mph over PSL. I really like that feature. If you want to drive even more efficient set the alarm lower. But don’t set it to close to your target or you will tune it out or turn it off. It works great at 15 mph over when my desired target is not more than 10 mph over.