Model 3 (not so!) Long range

[Mdubs]

Folks, what's your experience of range on your long range model 3s on long journeys?

I've had mine since Dec 2020 (it's the version with black handles and trims), and due to covid it's only the last month we've really had a chance to make some decent trips (300 miles each way).

Honestly...I'm really disappointed and I'm gutted about feeling this way.

Fully charged and driving in chill at a pretty constant 75 motorway speed...200-225 was closer to the actual range we'd hit if we hadn't stopped for a charge.

This was confirmed again on the return journey. 40 mins to recharge might not seem like much, but at midnight after a day at work...I could do without it.

Tesla service are remotely checking things out to be sure there aren't any faults, but their initial feedback suggests no faults with my car.

So that means that as much as I like the car, getting 225 miles instead of the advertised 360 makes it unsuitable for my needs. I know not to expect the quoted range, but so much less is hard to deal with.

What do you get from yours? If I can't get to 300/charge, I may have to trade it in for a petrol car until electric technology improves enough to have another go.

 

[CaptFish2003]

You won’t get 300 miles per charge realistically. Does the ICE achieve the claimed 50mpg though???

 

[MrBadger]

I've lost track of the changing ranges, but the 360 miles you quote is probably the WLTP range. WLTP is simply a value for comparing similar vehicles under the same test conditions - it is certainly not a proxy for 300 miles motorway driving at 75mph.

You will probably gain quite a bit from driving slower - there are numerous graphs around that show the effects of speed on range - even 5mph can have a dramatic difference.

40 minutes to recharge (presumably on supercharger) will be typical if you go from low SoC % (state of charge) to high %. Its actually been shown to be quicker to stop more frequently and do less charges within the ideal % range - ~10/20% - 60/70% will keep you in the charge rate sweet spot. Also make sure you put supercharger destination in to sat nav to allow car to pre condition for faster charging.

That said, unless its cold, headwind, heavy rain, 225 miles does seem a bit on the low side if you keep a stable right foot/use TACC. Use of heater and high fan speeds, less do A/C, weight, tyre pressures, ironically battery pre conditioning etc will all have a bearing on any vehicle efficiency than in an EV will directly affect range. We get over 240 miles from our LR in chilly winter conditions largely motorway journey on AP/TACC at 70mph.

But yeh, take the 360 mile range out of your head for most journeys. For those journeys where it would work for, you probably wouldn't want to be on a 360 mile trip.

May be worth giving abetterrouteplanner.com a check out to see what that has to say for comparison.

 

[Jagdipa]

M3 LR (bought march 2021) - I drove Manchester to Heathrow a couple of weeks ago - a 380 mile round trip. Got to Heathrow with over 50% charge, so I could have made it there and back on one 100% charge. I had no traffic though, and drove at 70mph most of the time. Weather was also around 15C.

 

[Jagdipa]

M3 LR - forgot to mention that I drove inner city most days and can get about 210 miles out of a 80% charge. Any chance you got a SR by mistake?

 

[Adopado]

So that means that as much as I like the car, getting 225 miles instead of the advertised 360 makes it unsuitable for my needs. I know not to expect the quoted range, but so much less is hard to deal with.

It looks a bit on the low side ... but ... you should bear in mind that the range figure for the car is (obviously) not the range you are likely to get when driving almost the entirety of a journey by motorway (slightly) above the speed limit. These ranges reflect a preset mix of driving which results in a composite estimate of achievable range. I've no doubt that some people have achieved a pro-rata 400 miles in a Model 3 LR but when driving a non-typical mix of slow roads and urban. If someone has suggested you can routinely do 300 miles between charges on the motorway then you have been misled.

 

[Fursty Ferret]

M3 LR - forgot to mention that I drove inner city most days and can get about 210 miles out of a 80% charge. Any chance you got a SR by mistake?

Just 210 miles from a LR in city driving?

 

[Roy W.]

This time of year in my LR I can easily get 250 at motorway speeds, and nearer 290-300 with mixed driving.

The wonderful acceleration is very tempting, but will batter range.

 

[26ct2143]

Drive at 60 mph on the motorway in the summer and I bet you'll get very near the 360 miles.
I did this on our leaf and it did 10 miles more than the 168 miles range quoted in the specs.
Chris

 

[M3noob]

Slow down = more range. We "regularly" drive from Beds to Girona Spain. No problem with range matching bladder capacity

 

[Big Earl]

My default assumption for my long range 3 is 200 miles. I can stretch that if I have to, but most highway driving of 70+ MPH results in about 200 miles of realistic range (95% to 10%).

 

[Llama.]

It seems low to me. I’m getting easily 250-270 miles of range at 70 mph at 15-20 deg c in my 2021 MIC LR.

Right now it’s showing a max range for 341 from the app. But we all know not to take much stock on that….

 

[AndrewGR]

I very frequently do a 160 mile round trip in my M3 LR. Except when it is cold or windy the round trip uses 60% battery equivalent to an overall range of 267 miles. It’s a mix of road types including motorway, dual carriageway, windy A road and country lanes. Plenty of roundabouts requiring stop start. I tend to cruise at 70 where legal and 60 elsewhere where possible. I’m happy with the potential 267 mile range. I think the WLTP figure for mine was 342 miles but i never expected it Actual is closer to advertised than it was for my allegedly 70mpg Qashqai!

 

[Llama.]

I very frequently do a 160 mile round trip in my M3 LR. Except when it is cold or windy the round trip uses 60% battery equivalent to an overall range of 267 miles. It’s a mix of road types including motorway, dual carriageway, windy A road and country lanes. Plenty of roundabouts requiring stop start. I tend to cruise at 70 where legal and 60 elsewhere where possible. I’m happy with the potential 267 mile range. I think the WLTP figure for mine was 342 miles but i never expected it Actual is closer to advertised than it was for my allegedly 70mpg Qashqai!

Yep this is my experience too.

 

[Drew57]

I drove 220 miles yesterday Suffolk to Cheshire (2020 LR acceleration boost, sport mode) at a steady 67mph except the 50mph M6 section. I started at 90% and finished with 21% (69% used). 220/69 x 100 gives 318.8m range & I'm happy with that as my car is rated at EPA 310m.

A/C was set to Low & fan speed 3, TPs were all four at 42psi, weather warm & sunny.

 

[browellm]

Drive at 70. You'll get a surprising range bump and you'll get where you're going at least as quickly as you would at 75.

 

[Mdubs]

Thanks for the replies.

I'll try the next journey at 70 and precondition etc beforehand and see how it compares.

I had the supercharger destinations put in the satnav a good half hour or so beforehand (when it was clear we weren't going to make the full journey). Tyre pressures were checked beforehand too.

Last question on the point of acceleration (so this time not range-related!)..do yours feel sluggish from standstill? It doesn't have the immediate torque you get when moving.
Mine definitely won't hit 60 in 4.2. Best I've managed is 4.6.

I've turned off the obstacle aware acceleration. Anything else/settings I need to change?

Thanks all

 

[PSmigg]

Drive at 70. You'll get a surprising range bump and you'll get where you're going at least as quickly as you would at 75.

“At least as quickly” can’t possibly be true but I’ll agree with you that the difference isn’t that much on such a long drive, 17 minutes.

 

[browellm]

“At least as quickly” can’t possibly be true but I’ll agree with you that the difference isn’t that much on such a long drive, 17 minutes.

Why can't it possibly be true?

 

[tstolze]

Drove 3900 miles within 2 weeks in May, 280-300 miles would be easy with 100% charge staying within a couple mph of the speed limit.
Drove 283 miles between charges one day from 100% to 7%.