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. 

 

[EVnut]

I'm not sure that we should be calling the LR numbers the "EPA range." I'll bet the SR number is EPA-derived, but from what I can tell, the LR number is a purposeful reduction of the EPA range for several compelling reasons. For my money, I'll bet the LR EPA range is about 340 miles. But Tesla only needed to make sure to comfortably break the 300 mile barrier. With a lower reported LR, they achieve:

Underpromise, over-delivery.
They set the flagship Model S apart from the "cheap" car.
If somebody comes out with a 320 mile car to beat the Model 3, the Model 3 can instantly best it.

There is no law against under-reporting EPA numbers. And I really do think that's what's happening here. So the math looks a bit better for the price difference from SR to LR. Time will tell what these numbers really are.

 

[2Cybers]

Any Lithium Ion battery's degrades and that degradation is measured in/by battery cycles. The larger your battery, the less cycles it takes to go any distance. In my view the last thing you want is the smallest battery offered. If there are three offered, the middle size might be a cost effective approach - but with two sizes, get the larger size.

 

[Sopwithflyer]

Excellent post & comments . . .
Thanks . . .

 

[voip-ninja]

Any Lithium Ion battery's degrades and that degradation is measured in/by battery cycles. The larger your battery, the less cycles it takes to go any distance. In my view the last thing you want is the smallest battery offered. If there are three offered, the middle size might be a cost effective approach - but with two sizes, get the larger size.

Battery cycles are not the only thing that degrades lithium batteries. They degrade over time, even if they have relatively low cycles. They also will potentially degrade faster in a warmer environment due to heat stress.

Generally though you are right. If you drive 10,000 miles a year and you get around 200 miles out of a charge then that's 50 cycles in a year. Compare that to the same amount of driving with a 300 mile battery and it's only 33 cycles.

If both batteries will start to seriously degrade after 500 cycles you will clearly get there faster on the smaller battery all other things being equal.

There must be other differences too, because Tesla is offering a shorter warranty on the SR battery than the LR battery if I recall correctly.

 

[Scott7]

The degradation is not going to be significant enough to justify a 26% price increase over the SR model. This isn't a guess--We already have years of data for older Model S cars with similar range as the SR that tells us what to expect. They are only seeing roughly 5% degradation in the worst case.

I think the best justification (at least for those where economics are a factor) is if you have a much longer than average daily commute. Say 70+ miles one way. Anything less will be just as easy for the SR.

I personally am not going to pay $9k for minor time savings the very few times a year I go on long distance road trips just as I'm not going to daily drive a pickup truck just because I might need a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood one or twice a year. For me the most significant factor is just how long am I going to end up waiting, after the Elon Time factor is added in, for the SR to become available?

 

[Ratanlal]

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...
[WPURI="https://teslamotorsclub.com/blog/2017/10/06/model-3-is-the-long-range-battery-worth-it/"]READ FULL ARTICLE[/WPURI]

I will be getting my Model 3 config notice shortly. I am confused about the battery size. I have a model S P85. So trips to Cegas and Frisch from LA require charging midway. This is fir my wife who only drives locally so the smaller battery should work. But the lines at charging stations concerns me. And with so many more cars it will only get worse. Last time I was on my way back from Vegas, I had to wait an hour in line to charge. When I got there I saw a much longer line behind me. In that case the 310 mile range will take me into Vegas with no charging required.

 

[voip-ninja]

The degradation is not going to be significant enough to justify a 26% price increase over the SR model. This isn't a guess--We already have years of data for older Model S cars with similar range as the SR that tells us what to expect. They are only seeing roughly 5% degradation in the worst case.

I think the best justification (at least for those where economics are a factor) is if you have a much longer than average daily commute. Say 70+ miles one way. Anything less will be just as easy for the SR.

I personally am not going to pay $9k for minor time savings the very few times a year I go on long distance road trips just as I'm not going to daily drive a pickup truck just because I might need a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood one or twice a year. For me the most significant factor is just how long am I going to end up waiting, after the Elon Time factor is added in, for the SR to become available?

Right, it's not worth it to you. Based on used prices the bigger battery version will also hold resale better.

I can see a lot of reasons to get the bigger battery. The only reason I can see to get the smaller battery is to save some money, which is fine, but if you don't keep the car long term that could actually bite you when you decide to flip the car.

 

[voip-ninja]

I will be getting my Model 3 config notice shortly. I am confused about the battery size. I have a model S P85. So trips to Cegas and Frisch from LA require charging midway. This is fir my wife who only drives locally so the smaller battery should work. But the lines at charging stations concerns me. And with so many more cars it will only get worse. Last time I was on my way back from Vegas, I had to wait an hour in line to charge. When I got there I saw a much longer line behind me. In that case the 310 mile range will take me into Vegas with no charging required.

How do you know you will be getting your config notice shortly? Did someone contact you about it or is it just speculation on your part?

 

[DarthPierce]

I think I'll do the SR and save that 9k to get the LR version of the Model Y which could eventually be the road trip car. The 3 will just be a commuting car.

We won't be road tripping in the 3 since with car seats, stroller, backpack, and luggage, we're already occasionally needing a rooftop cargo box on a Forester. Plus the wife wants to add a dog (full sized, who'd inevitably come too).

 

[ElectricKiwi]

Saving the $9K isn't the only reason to not get the LR. If you have the money, sure it's not a big factor in your decision, but saying it's the only reason someone would get the SR is discounting what people would actually use the car for. If money is no object, why not get a Model S? Why would people ever buy a M3 if they 'can afford it'? It's way more accurate to say 'saving 9K can be a large factor for some people in the decision to get the SR'. For me personally, the decision to get the SR is more why spend an extra $9K when what I'll use the car for on a daily basis can be easily handled by the SR battery.

 

[GonzaloAR]

Its gonna be the standard range for me. Model 3 will be the most expensive car I have ever purchased and dont really need the extra 90 miles. Like previous poster I plan on getting the premium package instead.

 

[voip-ninja]

Saving the $9K isn't the only reason to not get the LR. If you have the money, sure it's not a big factor in your decision, but saying it's the only reason someone would get the SR is discounting what people would actually use the car for. If money is no object, why not get a Model S? Why would people ever buy a M3 if they 'can afford it'? It's way more accurate to say 'saving 9K can be a large factor for some people in the decision to get the SR'. For me personally, the decision to get the SR is more why spend an extra $9K when what I'll use the car for on a daily basis can be easily handled by the SR battery.

I haven't seen where you've demonstrated that there is any other reason than cost to not get the LR.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with getting the SR car, I'm just saying that the only real reason not to get the SR is the cost.

If the SR car meets your needs 100% of the time and you don't want to, or can't, spend the extra $9K then there's absolutely no reason to get the bigger battery.

The problem is that there are lots of things that can cause your usage of the vehicle to change and suddenly the longer range matters.

I've seen multiple comments that the LR is for rich/wealthy people. I can assure anyone interested that I'm not "rich". $9K difference in price will be noticeable to me but I think there are more negatives to the SR that outweigh saving the $9K.

 

[Austindude]

I live in Texas with high heat much of the year (demanding the use of air conditioning), and fast highway speeds of 75 mph, so I want all the starting range I can possibly get. I certainly don't need that range for my daily drive but I will need it for trips to see my son in Dallas,196 miles from my home in Austin, and for even more trips to see my daughter and granddaughter in McAllen, 312 miles away. I do believe that I will recover at least some portion of the initial extra $9,000 cost whenever I want to sell. I think that it is likely that in about five years there will be many EV's that can get 300 miles of range. I will be competing with those vehicles when I want to sell my used vehicle.

Now do I think this long range option should add $9,000 to the price? No, I think it should be no more than $7,000 (assumes the battery is about 42% of the cost of the base car). I also understand however that it is to my benefit for both warranty work and resale purposes that Tesla, the company, eventually becomes profitable. I think profitability could happen from sales of the Model 3 with options.

 

[internalaudit]

I made a similar value judgement 2 years ago and 30K miles ago when I chose my Model S 70D.

You are 100% correct - in daily driving, and charging at home, you will never notice the difference, except maybe when you get your bank statement. ;-)

I have done several long trips - as much as 3,500 .

The 240 mile EPA range on my 70D is not much more that the M3 with the smaller battery. In the early days, especially in winter, there were a few times that long trips took a lot of planning, but since the number of superchargers, and the distance between them is improving, the only thing that you lose is a littleof your time charging .

If you get better at planning your trip and can avoid charging above 80% SOC, the delay is small. If you can live with a little delay, you can avoid spending the extra $$.

Difference is for the S or X, charging is free, but not for the 3. So a little bit more compelling to get the larger battery for those who need to frequent a SCN on the SR version.

 

[voip-ninja]

I live in Texas with high heat much of the year (demanding the use of air conditioning), and fast highway speeds of 75 mph, so I want all the starting range I can possibly get. I certainly don't need that range for my daily drive but I will need it for trips to see my son in Dallas,196 miles from my home in Austin, and for even more trips to see my daughter and granddaughter in McAllen, 312 miles away. I do believe that I will recover at least some portion of the initial extra $9,000 cost whenever I want to sell. I think that it is likely that in about five years there will be many EV's that can get 300 miles of range. I will be competing with those vehicles when I want to sell my used vehicle.

Now do I think this long range option should add $9,000 to the price? No, I think it should be no more than $7,000 (assumes the battery is about 42% of the cost of the base car). I also understand however that it is to my benefit for both warranty work and resale purposes that Tesla, the company, eventually becomes profitable. I think profitability could happen from sales of the Model 3 with options.

The LR is probably the only thing that makes the Model 3 initially profitable.

GM says it costs them $140/kWh to source batteries. Tesla cost should be less. Let's say it's about $120.

The difference in the batteries in the two cars is, at most, 25 kWh. So it costs Tesla about $3,000 to provide a bigger battery that they are charging $9,000 for.

Definitely a huge cash cow for them. Similar to Apple charging $150 for 192Gb of flash storage that they pay $10-$20 for.

 

[SageBrush]

So the math looks a bit better for the price difference from SR to LR.

Presuming the SR is not under reported as well

 

[ModelS1079]

MKnox, first step, agree with your comments completely. If you can afford it, going with largest battery always makes sense. Now five years into ownership, more than ever. Further, my car‘s ranges still competitive, for resale, with the new model three at it’s lower range.
Secondly, it’s nice to hear your e-voice, five years or bit more after we started posting here. Always thoughtful and helpful responses.

One reason I went for the largest (85 kWh) pack with my Model S back when I ordered in 2012 was to account for the expected (and realized) degradation that occurs over time and with miles driven. When new, my S gave me 265 miles at a 100% charge (exactly the EPA rated number). Now after 4.5 years and 90,000 miles I see about 240 miles.(218 miles at 90%, used to be around 240)

Another thing to consider is that Tesla does not like you charging above 90% on a daily basis. In fact, if you do charge above 90% more than a couple of times in a row, the car will start throwing up warning messages.You need to consider whether 90% of the rated range is enough for you as well. I believe, but am not 100% sure, that other EV makers hold a bit of battery capacity in reserve and don't balk about charging to 100% daily (i.e. they hide a bit at the top so you really aren't charging the battery all the way up).

 

[pfmahoney]

I remember when I bought into solar about 4 years ago, the one thing that everyone told me was "the one thing you will want to change is to make it bigger" and now that I'm edging on 5 years in, the one thing that I wish is that the array was slightly larger, or maybe even much larger.

People who drive EV's have consistently told me that they wish the battery was bigger. And I'm reminded again of when I was installing solar. I'll get the LR even though the price makes me wince because I am sure that everyone is right and I'll be glad of the larger battery later on.

 

[loganintx]

Won't the LR have a 48A onboard inverter
240V * 48A = 11.5kW and not 9.6kW

 

[mwoody999]

I was leaning towards SR with no PUP...After talking to a few folks, I've decided to go for LR with PUP. Sure, it costs an extra $14K. I am going to take loan for this difference in cost and pay it over 60 months. Turns out to be a couple of hundred per month.