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Model 3 (not so!) Long range
- Thread starter Mdubs
- Start date
I’ve done very few longish trips in my car of late but was surprised when I plugged in a journey of 109 miles (Salisbury to Royal Leaminton Spa) and the energy useage monitor predicted a loss of 47% battery. Does the energy usage prediction assume a certain motorway speed or is it based on previous driving style?
The energy monitor/app is based on your recent driving, and the graph will recalculate as the journey progresses. It is by far the best way of determining your range and state of charge at destination. The display on the screen next to the battery icon is, if displaying "miles," based on a set Wh/m and bears no relationship to any driving history. Many drivers have the display set to % for this reason (as I do).
based on recent driving style. I think you can switch between 5/15/30 miles and I guess (but not sure) it'll adapt the energy prediction based on that.
battery bar just shows the EPA rating and is always fixed (which is stupid - doesnt' even change to WLTP for European models). It would seem logical for it to reflect the same as the energy graph based on eg 30 miles or whatever you have that set to. Almost unbelievable that it doesn't do that
It depends if you put that destination in the navigation. The energy graph operates in two different modes. If there is no destination then it takes no account of anything other than the last few miles of driving. If (as sounds to be the case) you had your destination in the nav then is does take account of the route and it's particular impact on energy usage. I don't know why other people are saying it doesn't ... because it does .. and it's usually quite accurate based on a moderate driving style. Clearly it can't take account of whether you are going to drive fast or slow before you set off so that bit needs to be taken account of by you.
The cars navigation and arrival estimates are very accurate if you drive normally - if you floor it away from every junction / red light then obviously it won’t be.
It might not also take into account effect of ac on your battery consumption (the only time I noticed a discrepancy was on a very hot afternoon where I used a whole 3% more than it predicted over a 30 minute drive
)
It might not also take into account effect of ac on your battery consumption (the only time I noticed a discrepancy was on a very hot afternoon where I used a whole 3% more than it predicted over a 30 minute drive
)
Collected my LR on 22 May, now 3100 miles of very mixed use I'm averaging 260w/hr per mile. So based on charging to 100% and running down to 15% and assuming the functional capacity of the battery is 75kwh I have 63.75 usable energy. At 260w/hr per mile I could get 254 miles range.
In the real world I assume 250 miles are possible, but don't normally charge to 100% as I charge every 2 or 3 days to 90% at home, I've used a supercharger twice...both times arriving with about 15% and charging to about 60%, in the time it took to go to the loo, get a coffee and take a walk, 15 to 20 mins I think.
I'd like to have 275 to 280 miles, but I'm not prepared to change my driving style.
Where the M3 REALLY scores is on short trips, the C63 was getting about 12 mpg.
We are spending £80 to £100 a month less on fuel.
In the real world I assume 250 miles are possible, but don't normally charge to 100% as I charge every 2 or 3 days to 90% at home, I've used a supercharger twice...both times arriving with about 15% and charging to about 60%, in the time it took to go to the loo, get a coffee and take a walk, 15 to 20 mins I think.
I'd like to have 275 to 280 miles, but I'm not prepared to change my driving style.
Where the M3 REALLY scores is on short trips, the C63 was getting about 12 mpg.
We are spending £80 to £100 a month less on fuel.
PITA
Model 3 Performance
I'm in the UK with a September 2021 M3 performance.
I charged to 100% then went on a drive to see my Mum... about 120 miles away, through the Cotswolds into Gloucestershire. Got there with 50% battery left.
Came home via M5 at 70-80mph with only 18% battery left and did 200 miles in total.
I drove to enjoy the car, some overtakes, some sprints, lots of queues and traffic, some lovely countryside.
So I now just factor that I'll get 200 mile range and about 6 hours of driving, which is enough for me.
Easily calculated as 2 miles for every 1% battery
I charged to 100% then went on a drive to see my Mum... about 120 miles away, through the Cotswolds into Gloucestershire. Got there with 50% battery left.
Came home via M5 at 70-80mph with only 18% battery left and did 200 miles in total.
I drove to enjoy the car, some overtakes, some sprints, lots of queues and traffic, some lovely countryside.
So I now just factor that I'll get 200 mile range and about 6 hours of driving, which is enough for me.
Easily calculated as 2 miles for every 1% battery
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PITA
Model 3 Performance
It seems the slower you go, the more regen braking you do... the further and more miles you'll achieve.
However, I didn't buy a Performance model to not enjoy the performance.
I thought to myself, if I'm only getting a 200 mile range having fun in this Tesla, then I'd hate to be a regular EV car driver.
200 miles range is ok by me, but it's borderline.
However, I didn't buy a Performance model to not enjoy the performance.
I thought to myself, if I'm only getting a 200 mile range having fun in this Tesla, then I'd hate to be a regular EV car driver.
200 miles range is ok by me, but it's borderline.
Jason71
Well-Known Member
regen braking is only about 70% efficient so actually no braking is the most efficient. The reason it feels this way is that routes with a lot of regen braking also tend to have lower average speeds. it is the lower average speed that makes it seem more efficient.
The MOST efficient is always going to be a constant speed with no braking but that tends to be higher speed which is the real battery hog. So the ideal for range is probably an uncongested section of motorway with the average speed cameras set to 40-50. But who wants that! It particularly annoys me when they do it for air pollution reasons now!
Though it is true that going slower (all other things being equal) will give greater range the impact of regen braking is often misunderstood.
Any kind of braking works against your maximum potential range … even regen … it’s just that regen braking allows you to recover some (not all) of the energy used in slowing the car. So if you really need to take some speed off the car regen is better than conventional braking but it’s worse than not braking at all. Anyone interested in achieving the very best range must minimise their use of regen as well as their conventional braking. So you could even say that driving slower is more efficient because you use LESS regen (and less conventional braking of course) than when driving faster.
Another counterintuitive factor is if using Superchargers … remember they can charge your car very much faster than you can drive. This can mean that driving faster and less efficiently is no bad thing if just looking at journey time. Your charging stop may be a few minutes longer but not necessarily enough to wipe out the time you gained from a faster average speed!
Also often misunderstood is that longer range at lower speeds generally won't mean you arrive any earlier if you need to supercharge on route. I charted it out once using ABRP, the total journey time from London to Glasgow was shorter the faster your average speed even when it meant adding stops, until after 130mph.
There may be some exceptions based on whether SuC are actually on your route, but in general drive at the reasonable speed for the road just like you would in an ICE car.
There may be some exceptions based on whether SuC are actually on your route, but in general drive at the reasonable speed for the road just like you would in an ICE car.
Did my first (semi-long) trip in my new M3LR last Sat.
142m round trip to London and back, roughly 75% motorway, weather was crap (heavy rain both ways). Started at 100% and finished at 55% so could have achieved approx 280 with 10% left. I was pleased with that considering the conditions weren't grear for efficency.
142m round trip to London and back, roughly 75% motorway, weather was crap (heavy rain both ways). Started at 100% and finished at 55% so could have achieved approx 280 with 10% left. I was pleased with that considering the conditions weren't grear for efficency.
Stranger Dings
Member
That is exactly the same as how I calculate things for my 2020 M3P.
Now the temperatures are dropping, there may be a slightly more negative effect on range, but pre-conditioning when needed ensure the battery is warm before leaving and minimises range loss.
Motoring is now so cheap, that I’ll regularly go for a 100 mile drive in an evening to enjoy the countryside (maybe less so now it is getting dark earlier) and the fantastic audio system.
PITA
Model 3 Performance
Same here. I normally take my motorcycles out... but now my Wife and I take the Tesla
We joined the National Trust, and now drive to the sites and go walking.
On the whole, a very nice experience...
SpareHeadOne
Member
I also did a long run this weekend, 290 miles each way, about half on 70mph roads and the rest mostly 50/60 roads. Started with 100%, stopped about half way to charge from 48% to 90% - about the time it took us to walk to the loo and back - then arrived with 30%.
In total, 110% battery, so that would give me a theoretical max range of about 263 miles, but it's within the ball park of what I expected was realistic for this kind of journey when I bought the car (I thought 270-280). The journey was about six hours each way with breaks and TBH I wouldn't do more than three hours without a break anyway, so as long as there's somewhere to charge in the 2-3 hour window it's really not a pain at all.
This weekend the only thing that was a bit of a pain was having to go to a car park that I wouldn't normally use to charge while I was there as my usual venue doesn't have chargers (yet, anyway) and the half way Supercharger not being at a services I normally use. My old ICE car would have done the return journey with about ⅔ of a tank, so I suppose it was a little less convenient in the T, but not in any significant way.
In total, 110% battery, so that would give me a theoretical max range of about 263 miles, but it's within the ball park of what I expected was realistic for this kind of journey when I bought the car (I thought 270-280). The journey was about six hours each way with breaks and TBH I wouldn't do more than three hours without a break anyway, so as long as there's somewhere to charge in the 2-3 hour window it's really not a pain at all.
This weekend the only thing that was a bit of a pain was having to go to a car park that I wouldn't normally use to charge while I was there as my usual venue doesn't have chargers (yet, anyway) and the half way Supercharger not being at a services I normally use. My old ICE car would have done the return journey with about ⅔ of a tank, so I suppose it was a little less convenient in the T, but not in any significant way.
Didn't read the whole thread so maybe someone already said this....
Your issue is that you are using it as an ICE car - long drive, as few stops as possible. That's not the best way or the quickest way to complete a long drive in almost any EV
Your charge is fastest between 10% and 60%. Don't worry about taking it down to 10% or less, there is about ~30 miles after 0.
So if you charge for ~10 min to 60% and go for another stop - again to 60%. That way you shave 30 min off your trip even though you adding another stop. You can drive faster and keep the car below 60%. Unless you want to eat or something.
Only go from 100% to destination if you can make it there and back or if there is destination charging.
I did a 4 hour drive from 100% to 30% in my LR. And that's with 80% of rated efficiency. To me that's plenty without taking a toilet break... Could have probably driven for another hour.
