Model 3 Efficiency

[Beery]

I asked this in another part of the forums but I was advised to ask here for more specific answers.

Hi, I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years, 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)

 

[RoadMap]

Hi took delivery of my M3 LR last week, I’ve done one long run to pick up my daughter from uni in Plymouth, I’m in Andover Hampshire. Car told me that I got a range of 287 miles. Couple of caveats, it was my first long run and I was still getting use to the car so I may have been right foot heavy every time I pulled away from a stop, just to feel that acceleration and it was raining on the return journey.

hope this helps a little. You won’t regret it, it’s a really cool car.

 

[exlatccatsa]

I asked this in another part of the forums but I was advised to ask here for more specific answers.

Hi, I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years, 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)

Where about in Scotland?
I'm in the North East, just outside Aberdeen. With my LR, I can make it to Tebay 285 miles on a 15C day with no rain. I had 4% left.
This time of year I'd plan for Abington 185 miles at 2C, the usual south westerly head wind, and rain. I might make it to Gretna 232 miles with a following wind and 5C.
I use ABRP to plan the journey adjustting the parameters, Temp, Rain,Wind etc. save it to the Tesla and then the green trip line on the Tesla to make sure I can get there and adjust speed if it gets too tight.
Efficiency? About 230-240 in the summer at the moment with winter tyres and short journeys and lots of preheating about 300-330.
Really it depends on what car you have and how you drive.. I'm no boy racer, but its nice to put the foot down occasionally..
This is of course a March 2020 car
I hope this helps?

 

[Medved_77]

I'm in Fife, had an SR+ since March. Although your efficiency will vary with the LR the stats displayed below should give you an idea of the variations you can expect due to the temperature.

Additional caveat though - we use the car for primarily short around town journeys, you'd expect improvements if doing longer trips.

 

[Jason71]

Where about in Scotland?
I'm in the North East, just outside Aberdeen. With my LR, I can make it to Tebay 285 miles on a 15C day with no rain. I had 4% left.
This time of year I'd plan for Abington 185 miles at 2C, the usual south westerly head wind, and rain. I might make it to Gretna 232 miles with a following wind and 5C.
I use ABRP to plan the journey adjustting the parameters, Temp, Rain,Wind etc. save it to the Tesla and then the green trip line on the Tesla to make sure I can get there and adjust speed if it gets too tight.
Efficiency? About 230-240 in the summer at the moment with winter tyres and short journeys and lots of preheating about 300-330.
Really it depends on what car you have and how you drive.. I'm no boy racer, but its nice to put the foot down occasionally..
This is of course a March 2020 car
I hope this helps?

I have an LR and I agree the above is a good summary though 230 needs pretty ideal conditions and sub motorway speeds in my experience.

 

[Beery]

Where about in Scotland?
I'm in the North East, just outside Aberdeen. With my LR, I can make it to Tebay 285 miles on a 15C day with no rain. I had 4% left.
This time of year I'd plan for Abington 185 miles at 2C, the usual south westerly head wind, and rain. I might make it to Gretna 232 miles with a following wind and 5C.
I use ABRP to plan the journey adjustting the parameters, Temp, Rain,Wind etc. save it to the Tesla and then the green trip line on the Tesla to make sure I can get there and adjust speed if it gets too tight.
Efficiency? About 230-240 in the summer at the moment with winter tyres and short journeys and lots of preheating about 300-330.
Really it depends on what car you have and how you drive.. I'm no boy racer, but its nice to put the foot down occasionally..
This is of course a March 2020 car
I hope this helps?

That’s been a great help, I’ll definitely be a bit more heavy footed when I first get the car I think .
I currently stay in the central belt to answer your question.

I'm in Fife, had an SR+ since March. Although your efficiency will vary with the LR the stats displayed below should give you an idea of the variations you can expect due to the temperature.

Additional caveat though - we use the car for primarily short around town journeys, you'd expect improvements if doing longer trips.

View attachment 618959

View attachment 618960

Wow! What app is this you use because it looks very helpful

 

[MrBadger]

More important than efficiency is imho, how much % of the battery can you use. No point quoting figures, as in 2-3 years time, things will have moved on although take at least 1/3rd off of all quoted WLTP ranges you read vs real world all year round use.

If you have easy access to reliable rapid charging, then you are going to get more % use out of your battery than if you are going to have to build in margins for slow, distant, unreliable charging facilities. Most people would probably say stick between 20-90% SoC, so straight away, you are 30% down. It may be worse if you need to build in a bigger buffer.

It then comes down to personal circumstances or an individual trip whether you need to stretch that out, or do regular top ups. You don't treat an EV like an ICE vehicle where you might brim it every few weeks. You charge for the next trip and plan any stops accordingly. A well planned trip in a Tesla will allow you to drive long distances with as much inconvenience as having to take a comfort break in an ICE vehicle.

 

[Medved_77]

Wow! What app is this you use because it looks very helpful

It's called Teslamate, it's really good.

adriankumpf/teslamate

 

[spooksman]

I'm in Fife, had an SR+ since March. Although your efficiency will vary with the LR the stats displayed below should give you an idea of the variations you can expect due to the temperature.

Additional caveat though - we use the car for primarily short around town journeys, you'd expect improvements if doing longer trips.

View attachment 618959

View attachment 618960

Wow - look at the efficiency at 0 degrees - what's happening there, is it lots of small trips maybe?

Mine looks like this...

 

[Medved_77]

Wow - look at the efficiency at 0 degrees - what's happening there, is it lots of small trips maybe?

Mine looks like this...
View attachment 619069

Yes, lots of short trips, in fact since the cold weather came we've not been allowed to leave our county, so all journeys at lower temperatures have been hyper local.

 

[Jeeves]

Hi, I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years, my question to you is that I stay in Scotland and I want to know what kind of range/efficiency I'll be getting.

It’s good that you are taking the trouble to learn about this well in advance of buying. As other respondents indicate, it helps if you know what most days look like in terms of journeys for you and the proximity of chargers to common routes.

ABRP will help you understand how it will work for you. You can play with scenarios to see what journeys will look like and where you will need to stop. You can factor in starting charge, weather, load and battery degradation I think.

If you frequently travel daily distances exceeding 100 miles, you need to know what you are letting yourself in for – especially in winter. Long trips or lots of cumulative miles in a day will require planning that you are likely unaccustomed to, especially if the car will be left to get cold between legs, whilst at work say.

The whole proposition is a non starter if you can’t have a home charger IMO. Charging overnight whilst away from home needs thought if you do that often too.

Luckily, the cars suit most of my journey profiles, but I can’t deny that it is awkward around the edges. Staying away overnight in rural areas is the most troublesome for me. I must plan time for a charging session that I wouldn’t need with an ICE car. 30–60 minutes doesn’t sound like much until you are under time pressure on a busy day and have to go out of your way for a charger.

The cars are a lot of fun if their characteristics suit you. The Tesla supercharger network is of massive significance. The car wouldn’t be viable without it for me.

 

[MrBadger]

Coming up to 15 months worth of journeys. I chose 13 miles, as our current most regular journey is just under 14 miles - around 1/2 hour of mostly decent A roads. As suggested above, short drives really do not do the car any efficiency favours, but that doesn't matter if you are journeying from a point with a charge point - it would be an issue if you were a travelling salesperson though.
Cold weather performance is equally down to how much you use the heater and fan as it is warming the battery. Newer heat pump cars should be better, but fan speed also significantly affects power draw. We don't use auto and normally keep fan at 1-2 with a/c on and temp 18-20C so our cold weather performance is probably on the better side.

 

[Adopado]

I asked this in another part of the forums but I was advised to ask here for more specific answers.

Hi, I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years, 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)

As you will see from other posts EV users tend to think more in terms of actual trips and usage rather than overall range. Nobody drives their car from 100% to 0% so general statements about total range end up being not particularly helpful. It's great that you are thinking about it now.

Whether the car will be suitable for you (it almost certainly will be!) depends on your personal usage pattern. The ease of transition to electric driving will be massively benefitted if you have the option charging the car at home. This means that you start your day with as much range as you are likely to need rather than just running the battery down day by day until you get into a panic! The only significant annoyances come if you frequently need to do 300 and 400 mile days of driving in areas where there are no reliable rapid chargers. Check out the locations of Tesla Superchargers as they are your trump card over every other EV brand. They are fast, reliable and cheap. Other options vary.

Lots of good advice is available on this forum ... as you have already received!

 

[simonh]

I'm planning on buying a model 3 LR in the next 2-3 years, my question to you is that I stay in Scotland and I want to know what kind of range/efficiency I'll be getting.

I think a lot could happen in 2-3 years in the EV world. Many of us on here are already out-dated and don't have the new heat-pump version which should be more efficient in colder weather. There's also the new Tesla cells that should be in production by then. And, the supercharger (and general charging network) should see big changes in that time span given the governments commitment to end new fossil cars by 2030.

 

[Beery]

Coming up to 15 months worth of journeys. I chose 13 miles, as our current most regular journey is just under 14 miles - around 1/2 hour of mostly decent A roads. As suggested above, short drives really do not do the car any efficiency favours, but that doesn't matter if you are journeying from a point with a charge point - it would be an issue if you were a travelling salesperson though.
Cold weather performance is equally down to how much you use the heater and fan as it is warming the battery. Newer heat pump cars should be better, but fan speed also significantly affects power draw. We don't use auto and normally keep fan at 1-2 with a/c on and temp 18-20C so our cold weather performance is probably on the better side.
View attachment 619147

As you will see from other posts EV users tend to think more in terms of actual trips and usage rather than overall range. Nobody drives their car from 100% to 0% so general statements about total range end up being not particularly helpful. It's great that you are thinking about it now.

Whether the car will be suitable for you (it almost certainly will be!) depends on your personal usage pattern. The ease of transition to electric driving will be massively benefitted if you have the option charging the car at home. This means that you start your day with as much range as you are likely to need rather than just running the battery down day by day until you get into a panic! The only significant annoyances come if you frequently need to do 300 and 400 mile days of driving in areas where there are no reliable rapid chargers. Check out the locations of Tesla Superchargers as they are your trump card over every other EV brand. They are fast, reliable and cheap. Other options vary.

Lots of good advice is available on this forum ... as you have already received!

As of right now I do journeys of no more than 30 miles per day and at weekends it all really depends, I could be doing 100 miles or none. However as I’m in Scotland we have chargeplace which is a network of chargers ranging from 7kw to 50kw chargers that have no cost around my area. I believe when the time comes to get the car I won’t be able to fit a charger straight away so these chargers in my area would act as a home charger I believe. The membership is £20 a year.

 

[Beery]

I think a lot could happen in 2-3 years in the EV world. Many of us on here are already out-dated and don't have the new heat-pump version which should be more efficient in colder weather. There's also the new Tesla cells that should be in production by then. And, the supercharger (and general charging network) should see big changes in that time span given the governments commitment to end new fossil cars by 2030.

Yeah I’m hoping by then there will be a reduction in cost of the car aswell as improved efficiency in the cold as giga Berlin will be up and running by then. Here’s hoping anyway!

 

[Medved_77]

As of right now I do journeys of no more than 30 miles per day and at weekends it all really depends, as I’m in Scotland we have chargepoint and there is quite a few places ranging from 7kw to 50kw chargers that have no cost around my area. I believe when the time comes to get the car I won’t be able to fit a charger straight away so these chargers in my area would act as a home charger I believe.

A few local councils have implemented or are about to implement charges so they may not be free where you are for much longer.

 

[Beery]

A few local councils have implemented or are about to implement charges so they may not be free where you are for much longer.

Do you know which councils are starting to implement this?

 

[Medved_77]

Do you know which councils are starting to implement this?

Fife, £1.60 to connect then 15p per kWh
Aberdeenshire, ~24p per kWH

I've asked CPC for a full list but they haven't returned my email.

 

[Beery]

Fife, £1.60 to connect then 15p per kWh
Aberdeenshire, ~24p per kWH

I've asked CPC for a full list but they haven't returned my email.

If you do get an email back if you could let me know either here or via pm that would be much appreciated. If it turns out my council is beginning to charge then I may try and get a home charger installed quicker than I was planning.