Blog Model 3: Is The Long Range Battery Worth It?

At $9,000 US, one of the pricier options for Model 3 is range. The Standard Range (SR) vehicle comes with 220 miles of EPA-rated range and a Long Range (LR) car has 310 miles. Is the long-range upgrade worth $9,000 for 90 more miles? Today, we’ll explore this question.

You need to understand your personal driving needs. If you’ll never use the additional 90 miles, you might as well save the money. If, however, you’ll use it or it would give you peace of mind and you can afford it, you should get the LR.

Faster Charging

In addition to the extra range, the LR will also charge faster when connected to Tesla’s High Power Wall Connector. The SR charges at a rate of 7.6 kW (about 30 miles per hour), whereas the LR charges at 9.6 kW (about 37 miles per hour). The slightly faster home charging is a nice add-on, but far from justifies the cost. The point of the LR is the additional range, let’s move to that aspect.

Battery Cost

I thought you said we were going to talk about range next; this is cost. Yes, I did. But the question we are asking is about value for money. So, let’s look at the cost value of what you’re getting.

The price of lithium-ion batteries has declined from an average of around $400 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in 2012 (when the Model S was launched) to under $150 today. For comparison, GM says when buying batteries for the Chevy Bolt, they pay LG Chem about $145 per kWh. This is, of course, just for the battery cells, it does not include the packaging, cooling, installation… The final retail price for any finished goods would be far above the cost of the raw components, but this gives you a starting reference.

Although Tesla has not released specific pack sizes for the two vehicles, there have been leaks that have let us know the that the SR has about 50 kWh of capacity and the LR has 75 to 80 kWh. So let’s assume that the extra $9,000 buys you 30 kWh more capacity. That is a retail price of $300 per kWh. From this perspective, Tesla is not giving us a bargain, but there are other ways to look at this too.

It’s All About The Range

If you just look at the price of the car and the range, you can make a simple table of price per mile. Our table will have the Model 3 LR and SR as well as a few other EVs for comparison. Note, these are base prices (not including incentives). If you want to buy leather seats, or dual motors, that’s up to you, but including it here would complicate the table.

* The 2018 Leaf data is not final/official at the time of writing, this may need an update when final pricing and EPA results are published.

Looking at the range this way, the LR is the best per mile bargain in the bunch. Only the Model 3 SR and Chevy Bolt are even in the same category for dollars per mile category.

Summary

The car you’ll like best is the one that meets your needs and your budget. Make sure you understand your driving habits. Open Google Maps and plot out your regular drives. For your longer drives, open the Tesla Supercharger map and see if there are any Superchargers along the routes for your longer drives.

Sidebar: Margins & Upgrade Options

Tesla has to make money on each car they sell. These funds go towards building out the production capacity, charging infrastructure, and more. The no frills SR car should be as affordable as possible to allow as many customers into the 200-mile plus EV market as they can. One way to do this is to keep the profit margin on the base model of the car low and then offer compelling upgrades (with higher margins). This allows the company to have a blended margin that is above that of the base model while keeping the door open to more price-sensitive customers. Tesla is far from the only automaker to use this scheme and it is a win for both the company and customers.

TMC Member Patrick0101 is a solar and electric vehicle advocate who blogs at Cards With Cords. 

 

[Shygar]

One factor for me to get the LR is that my understanding is it's not ideal to keep the car charged at 100%. So if I'm keeping the car charged at 70% or 80%, then my daily use will be lower. And since my commute is either 18 miles or 60 miles one way depending on where I go that day, I don't want to regularly be charging to 90-100% if it's not ideal for the long term use of the battery.

 

[dgpcolorado]

If someone is using the 3 as a second car for local driving only I can see going with the SR. For those of us with just one car, or those who do plan to take the 3 on road trips — more than half my miles are road trips — the LR is a better buy if one can afford it.

In my view, the advantages of the LR include:

• Much faster Supercharging (I have an S60 so I know all about slow Supercharging; it matters a lot).
• Significantly reduced battery cycling leading to reduced battery degradation (my S60 is down ~12%).
• A somewhat better battery warranty (likely because of reduced battery cycling).
• A better resale value, unless you plan to keep the car until the wheels fall off. (Bear in mind that the tech is advancing rapidly, will you keep the car for ten plus years? Really?)
• A longer range, including higher speeds on longer road trip legs. This is, perhaps, more important for those of us who live in a four seasons climate.

I don't consider the half second 0-60 mph speed increase important. Even the SR will feel really quick unless you already drive a Tesla, IME. That half second is almost irrelevant.

 

[cpa]

Here are some reasons why I believe that the longer-range battery makes sense if one can afford it:

Skipping one or more Superchargers on road trips. If traveling with those who get impatient in the car, a 450-500 mile journey/leg could easily result in one session at a Supercharger during the midday stop for lunch. (This assumes of course that there is no need for emergency bathroom breaks or the like.)

Being able to make round trips to friends or relatives who do not have level 2 charging at their homes, but an overnight trickle charge at 1.3kW would add enough range to make the return trip home without stopping en route either going or coming.

Favorite destinations away from civilization. For example there are resorts in the Eastern Sierra Nevada that are near Bishop, Lee Vining, and Bridgeport. A full charge at Gardnerville or Mammoth Lakes or Lone Pine would have enough storage to be able to arrive, drive up and down the mountain into town a couple of times, and have enough remaining to be able to reach a Supercharger on the drive home.

Last, for the foreseeable future there will be roads and highways that do not have Superchargers or reliable chargers en route. A 300-mile battery will allow driving on these roads with more ease and less anxiety.

 

[internalaudit]

I will be in the camp who will keep any car as long as it's economically possible.

Just a few days ago, I checked some of the latest driver assist technologies:
13 Essential Advanced Driver Assistance Systems

1. auto emergency braking - check for the 3
2. ACC /lane assist- check for the 3 (once it is offered ala cart I'll be getting it)
3. blind spot monitoring - check for the 3 but I still perform shoulder checks as it's a good form of exercise to preserve the range of motion

side collision and being rear-ended avoidance (auto steering) and maybe refinement in AEB/obstacle avoidance like potholes are the only few things that I think are eventually going to come out before self driving is going to be mainstream. The 3 has all three above and I don't know of any more nanny technology I may need when driving that will protect the occupants, other motorists and maybe the car (potholes, glass shards and other sharp objects). 250 mile range after 10 years is still plenty for my household's usage. I just need the buffer during winter time (150 mile commutes once a week) really or I would just go SR.

We'll cross the bridge in 2028/29 when we get there.

 

[Rogue one]

That is my concern is I would have to cut the heat to get home. Sitting in a car in -10 weather without heat isn't fun. Winter is my biggest concern going electric. I have heard the heater is pretty efficient and my commute isn't too long so should be ok but this is the one area I will be watching when the first model 3s go through winter. One luxury of being towards the bottom of the reservation list for me.

Same here winter range is my number one concern my wife would probably murder me if I told her to bundle up so we could kill the heat and make it home. Not literally of course but that would be the last long trip she would ever want to take in it. Also a cold car to her is below 80F and our winters often get colder than 0F so yeah. Long range for me summer time standard range no problem winter is a whole different story from what I have read that is.

 

[smorgasbord]

The table on Cost per EPA mile is useless because it includes costs of things other than the battery.
The LR version add 90 miles for $9000. That's $100/mile. At that ratio, the SR version at 220 miles means that $22,000 of the $35,000 price goes to battery. That leaves only $13,000 for the rest of the car! PEM, chassis, seats, motor, wheels, tires, trunk, infotainment, steering wheel, etc. That's crazy!

The battery for the Chevy Bolt is rumored to cost Chevy about $146/kWh (see this very informative article: GM lists the price of the Chevy Bolt EV’s battery pack at $15,734.29 – $262/kWh). Even with a pack cost of $200/kWh, that's still only about $66/mile. So Tesla at $100/mile is 50% higher, including markup. And wasn't Tesla supposed to have the lowest battery costs?

The LR version is a huge profit maker for Tesla, and will help the company make its gross profit numbers promised to Wall St. As a TSLA shareholder, I love it. As an upcoming Model 3 owner, not so much.

 

[T34ME]

The LR version is a huge profit maker for Tesla, and will help the company make its gross profit numbers promised to Wall St. As a TSLA shareholder, I love it. As an upcoming Model 3 owner, not so much.

Yeah, I see it from the same perspective as you, but the TSLA stock appreciation can pay for the LR version in many cases.

Whether the standard or LR battery works for you depends on typical trip distance, geographical macro-climate, tire/rim combination, and driving style. In my personal case, the standard battery is more than adequate but I doubt I represent the typical model 3 owner. It appears from most independent configurators that 60% will select the LR version and 40% will select the standard battery.

 

[pikachu]

Definitely sticking with the standard version. This will primarily be a commuter car for me averaging ~ 40 miles each way which should be more than enough with the standard battery even taking in to account degradation. We use our CUV for the occasional road trip and don’t expect that to change so charging on the go is a non issue. Of course that will change with the Model Y which I suspect we will be maxing out the battery on, along with our bank account.

 

[EchoDelta]

Hey, I think with the trove of information and experiences in the forum this 'roll up' post is a bit anemic. Other comments have added criteria and forces influencing the decisions. But I believe the value of the article is potentially high in helping many new EV owners, here is some feedback of factors to consider for the next version:

- If money is no object, get LR. Otherwise, SR is most likely ok unless you are in some certain conditions, value acceleration,
- Existence of home-charging, or charging at work, versus not may change the equation - How many hours to go from 10% to 80% in an L2 for each batt size.
- As other commenters say, thinking about the '80% to 20%' as the average (non road trip) cycle.
- Weather, life or travel in cold climate, usage patterns with cold soaks, etc.
- Tesla 'presence' in buyer's area - is it silicon valley or the appalachians? that will give a sense of if/when more urban SCs or more road SCs may be expected and whether to count on them.
- I personally believe we are going into uncharted territory wrt resale value, but some people like seeing consideration of depreciation and resale in these discussions

Again, thanks for the work writing this, and if Model 3 brings many people to EVs, if your post gets revisions every handful of weeks, it could be a significant guidepost saving people hours and hours of reading about stuff through the forums, and having possible misinterpretations of what they read online.

 

[Maximilien]

Totally worth it. We are talking about near S100D range(335mi) for half the price.

You may not drive today but there maybe times that you may need to move around. You won't be sorry at least.

 

[xav-]

If you own a primary residence and you can plug in your car then I think you don't need LR.

If you are like me and live in a rental with 110v, don't trust your landlord (I.e. I Won't spend a penny having L2 charging installed), don't know for sure where you will live long term (maybe I will live again in an apartment), then you may want to get LR so that you don't end up having to take your car to the supercharger every 3 days..

Again think about the possible future scenarios in your life.. it goes beyond saving 30 minutes at the very occasional road trip.

 

[PhysicsGuy85]

I don't think too many people are going to spring for replacement batteries on these cars until they are well below the 80% range.

It is also an enormous assumption that in 8 years battery costs will go from $150/kWh today to $40.

And... installation cost.

I get that it was tongue in cheek but anyone who thinks they will come out ahead by saving $9,000 on the LR battery now because they'll be able to get a better/cheaper battery in the not too distant future is fooling themselves.

I agree and disagree with you here. Considering that the curve on the $/kWH graphs I have seen has basically leveled out, you may be right. However, 8 years in technology is not necessarily the “not too distant” future. Especially not when we are about to see MASSIVE competition between major car companies kick off. If I had the time or energy, I would love to research the effects on cost of a technology that just kind of lumbered along for decades, and then suddenly BAM! Everybody is working on it to make it better.

 

[Patrick0101]

Let me be the one dissenting opinion

I don't take this as a dissenting opinion at all. We all have different driving needs and different budgets. I hope you love your Model 3 when it arrives.

 

[Patrick0101]

Half a second faster 0-60 would definitely be noticeable under any hard acceleration.

You (many of you) bring up points that I either didn't know, didn't think of, or didn't consider important. For me, either version of the Model 3 has fast enough acceleration, so I didn't consider it. However, this is the nice thing about sharing things in a community, you can get more perspectives. I could(should) rewrite this and include all the additional points brought up so far:
Faster acceleration, faster Supercharging, more degradation resistance, less range % impact for HVAC use, fewer SC stops during treks, potential resale impacts, charging considerations for renters or when borrowing a friend's 120V outlet... This would be much more complete.

 

[FlyingKiwi]

I don't think too many people are going to spring for replacement batteries on these cars until they are well below the 80% range.

It is also an enormous assumption that in 8 years battery costs will go from $150/kWh today to $40.

And... installation cost.

I get that it was tongue in cheek but anyone who thinks they will come out ahead by saving $9,000 on the LR battery now because they'll be able to get a better/cheaper battery in the not too distant future is fooling themselves.

I agree and disagree with you here. Considering that the curve on the $/kWH graphs I have seen has basically leveled out, you may be right. However, 8 years in technology is not necessarily the “not too distant” future. Especially not when we are about to see MASSIVE competition between major car companies kick off. If I had the time or energy, I would love to research the effects on cost of a technology that just kind of lumbered along for decades, and then suddenly BAM! Everybody is working on it to make it better.

I'm with physics guy on this one, there is about to be a massive demand for Li-ion batteries as all the mainstream car manufacturers start to take EVs seriously, and thats going to lead to a short term spike in prices. But that massive demand will spur research and exploration/exploitation efforts which will bring the supply up and the cost down in the longer term. The only way I see Li-Ion battery prices not dropping in the >6-8 year time frame is if Li-ion is outmoded and replaced with something better (Toyotas solid state technology?).

And where is the technology going to be, just look at the advances already with the charge rate in the newer packs, the model 3 LR (~80kWh pack) charging at 80kW at 80% SOC (1C rate at 80%). In 8 years is 2C charging to 70% going to be possible? Who knows, but whatever it is, it will be better than what the model 3 you buy next year can do.

$40/kWh might be optimistic, but i'd take a gamble on $100/kWh in 8 years. And the extra $9k invested at 6% net return for 8 years = $14k, more than enough to cover an 80kWh pack and installation if the pack price is $100/kWh or less, not even accounting for the recycling value of your old pack.

Of course, if you need the bigger battery now, then you don't have a choice, and if the $9k is not even a blip on your bank balance then why not, the time saved on road trips might be worth it to you.

 

[mspohr]

Right and the Bolt has a "hilltop" charge mode where it limits the charge to 90% if charging at the top of a hill/mountain so that you will have regen on the way down the next morning.

The BMW i3 has no regen when charged to 100% so, to me, that means it is at (or very close to) 100% when fully charged.

I prefer the Tesla method.

How does the car know if you're going to go down the hill or up the hill in the morning? Do you have to tell it?

 

[mspohr]

Stuck means you are not using much energy at all. And if you have a heavy coat on driving home and stuck in traffic you can turn the heater down. Idling fossil fuel cars use more energy, IMHO, than an EV when it is sitting.

I've spent hours stuck in traffic in snow and I can confirm that sitting in traffic in cold weather doesn't use much power... especially if, as is usual, you have a coat on. Seat warmers are also much more efficient than the cabin heater.

 

[Candleflame]

LR all the way.
In america you need the longer range for generally longer trips with aircon on (and faster supercharging). Middle Europe you need it for higher speeds. Northern Europe for running the heater.

 

[HG Wells]

I currently have 2013 leaf and a reservation from the morning of March 31. I would definitely go for the short range battery. Why?

The thrill that absolute thrill you get reaching a quick charger when you're almost out of charge is unbelievable. It's like jumping out of an airplane with a parachute packed by your significant other. I am serious! Rolling in with under 5 miles of range left is the best feeling in the world.

With a 2013 leaf with a range of about 80 miles I get to experience this several times a year. It's the only reason I might not get a model three. Even with a short range model three I probably will only experience it once or twice a decade.

I will miss that feeling, I really will.

 

[ElecFan]

I can imagine that thrill, but for me that would be vastly surpassed by the dreadful feeling of missing the charger by a couple of miles and then walking and walking and walking.