Model 3 Efficiency

[Beery]

Hi, I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years once I have saved a big enough deposit. My question to you is that I stay in Scotland and I want to know what kind of range/efficiency I'll be getting. On average we get temperatures of around 11°c annually, winter it is on average of 0°c and summer is around 16°c.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and to keep it simple I am talking about the current ranges on the model 3 LR (360 miles)

 

[kwest2]

Completely depends. The heat pump will help. I have one of the early LR 3s, and in Boston my usage is upwards of 350-400 wh/mi. In the summer I'm around 240 wh/mi. These are fairly short trips, but even 10mi+ have poor efficiency due to heater use.

In sum, Summer range is probably 280-340mi and Winter range is probably 180-250mi depending how long your trip is and how much heating you use. Add a few miles since the new cars seem to be rated higher.

 

[run-the-joules]

If you’re buying in 2-3 years, worry about this in around 18 months. Who knows how much might change by then.

 

[Beery]

Completely depends. The heat pump will help. I have one of the early LR 3s, and in Boston my usage is upwards of 350-400 wh/mi. In the summer I'm around 240 wh/mi. These are fairly short trips, but even 10mi+ have poor efficiency due to heater use.

In sum, Summer range is probably 280-340mi and Winter range is probably 180-250mi depending how long your trip is and how much heating you use. Add a few miles since the new cars seem to be rated higher.

Thanks, that’s given me a much better understanding of what to expect in the colder months of the year. Really appreciate it!

If you’re buying in 2-3 years, worry about this in around 18 months. Who knows how much might change by then.

Yeah I know that there probably will be a lot of changes from now until the time I’m ready to buy one but I just thought I would get this question off my mind as I’ve genuinely wondered how much the cold effects range and was hoping to get a reply from someone who lives in a colder climate like me.

 

[dmurphy]

Completely depends. The heat pump will help. I have one of the early LR 3s, and in Boston my usage is upwards of 350-400 wh/mi. In the summer I'm around 240 wh/mi. These are fairly short trips, but even 10mi+ have poor efficiency due to heater use.

In sum, Summer range is probably 280-340mi and Winter range is probably 180-250mi depending how long your trip is and how much heating you use. Add a few miles since the new cars seem to be rated higher.

I just want to echo this -- I'm a little south of you here in New Jersey, but it's about the same, range-wise on my Model 3 LR AWD. Really all depends on the conditions of the day.

Cold is one thing; cold against a headwind is another.

The net-net is that efficiency is much more obvious in an electric car vs. a gasoline car. Simply, that's because a gas car is so wasteful - only maybe 20-25% of the energy consumed is used for actual propulsion. It's much closer to 90% on an EV. So factors that affect gas cars are the same, but you don't notice them as much because the danged thing is so inefficient to start with!

Edit: Good explanation here: Where the Energy Goes: Gasoline Vehicles and here: Where the Energy Goes: Electric Cars

 

[jbcarioca]

It's probably good to give a bit more perspective. Two years from now you'd be getting a Chinese (Shanghai) or or German (Brandenburg) car. Both of those will have new technologies and new battery chemistry and design.
Both will have more range and less susceptibility to climate fluctuations as well as better climate control technologies. Skipping the details, if your plan is to get the car in more than two years time you'll have a better car than current production as well as possibly better pricing. Skipping Brexit issues, it seems highly probable that you daily experience will have at least 20% better range than will @kwest2 and I with our 2018 vintage Model 3's.
In addition the Supercharger coverage will be even better then that is now and charging suppers will also be much faster than they are now.

As a Tesla driver since 2013 and experience with multiple iterations of Model S, Model X and Model 3 the one constant is that all of them improve rapidly with time, and even the older ones improve with software and, sometimes, hardware upgrades. You'll find that the Tesla experience is like no other car in that they really do have continuous improvement.

 

[SageBrush]

I just thought I would get this question off my mind as I’ve genuinely wondered how much the cold effects range and was hoping to get a reply from someone who lives in a colder climate like me.

Heat pumps do very well in 11c

 

[Beery]

I just want to echo this -- I'm a little south of you here in New Jersey, but it's about the same, range-wise on my Model 3 LR AWD. Really all depends on the conditions of the day.

Cold is one thing; cold against a headwind is another.

The net-net is that efficiency is much more obvious in an electric car vs. a gasoline car. Simply, that's because a gas car is so wasteful - only maybe 20-25% of the energy consumed is used for actual propulsion. It's much closer to 90% on an EV. So factors that affect gas cars are the same, but you don't notice them as much because the danged thing is so inefficient to start with!

Edit: Good explanation here: Where the Energy Goes: Gasoline Vehicles and here: Where the Energy Goes: Electric Cars

It's probably good to give a bit more perspective. Two years from now you'd be getting a Chinese (Shanghai) or or German (Brandenburg) car. Both of those will have new technologies and new battery chemistry and design.
Both will have more range and less susceptibility to climate fluctuations as well as better climate control technologies. Skipping the details, if your plan is to get the car in more than two years time you'll have a better car than current production as well as possibly better pricing. Skipping Brexit issues, it seems highly probable that you daily experience will have at least 20% better range than will @kwest2 and I with our 2018 vintage Model 3's.
In addition the Supercharger coverage will be even better then that is now and charging suppers will also be much faster than they are now.

As a Tesla driver since 2013 and experience with multiple iterations of Model S, Model X and Model 3 the one constant is that all of them improve rapidly with time, and even the older ones improve with software and, sometimes, hardware upgrades. You'll find that the Tesla experience is like no other car in that they really do have continuous improvement.

Heat pumps do very well in 11c

Again, thank you everyone for the very informative replies, this has helped me get a better understand of what the car will be like to drive and has given me much more confidence about the range fluctuations.
I hope to share everyone’s joy of owning a Tesla soon.

 

[KenC]

Hi, I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years once I have saved a big enough deposit. My question to you is that I stay in Scotland and I want to know what kind of range/efficiency I'll be getting. On average we get temperatures of around 11°c annually, winter it is on average of 0°c and summer is around 16°c.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and to keep it simple I am talking about the current ranges on the model 3 LR (360 miles)

I'd post your query on the Scotland subforum, or is that in the UK subforum? Then you'll get some local answers.

 

[SageBrush]

Discussions about winter range are almost a waste of time because so many variables are in play. To name a few:

1. The peeps themselves. One person's mild climate is another person's nightmare. One person might put on a T-shirt and use light gloves and the heat warmer; the other person might pre-heat to 28C
2. Sun + Cold is a different animal than Clouds + Cold. Cold + Wet makes everybody miserable
3. Heat pumps improve the efficiency of cabin heating, but cabin heating use varies A LOT, even at similar ambient temps.

I think of Scotland as being damp, windy and overcast. In that kind of 11C environment an efficient heat pump is worth its weight in gold.

 

[Beery]

I'd post your query on the Scotland subforum, or is that in the UK subforum? Then you'll get some local answers.

I didn’t realise there was a sub forum for different areas, thanks!