Also something I tend to do when traveling in cold weather, is I crank the heat up when supercharging. This way I get everything in the car nice and toasty before I unplug and have some "stored heat" in the car and in my body. 
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Model 3 - Preheat battery - Winter Range Concerns
- Thread starter aaronM3
- Start date
jgs
Active Member
Yes, all that. A few more suggestions --
- If you can, time your 100% charge to complete not long before you leave. This is both to be kind to your battery, and to leave with a warmed battery. Don't forget to account for taper -- the last few percent will take a lot longer.
- As @SigNC suggests, heat the heck out of your cabin before you leave. This applies even if you're just on shore power at home and not Supercharging.
- Trust the nav system. If it tells you to slow down, do it. If it doesn't, you're probably fine.
- Use the trip energy graph -- it shows you your predicted state of charge when you arrive, and updates as you go.
You won't make it unless you charge or drive slowly and keep the heat off. If there's a head wind or precipitation, you're going to experience some serious range anxiety. Can you plug in at your destination?
I recommend planning on a 15-20 minute stop at a Supercharger so that you can both travel at reasonable highway speeds and be comfortable. Make sure the stop is at least an hour after you've started driving (either there or on the way back) so that the battery is warm enough to charge at full speed. If possible, it's best to arrive at the Supercharger with a warm battery between 15 and 20% (actually about 13%, but that's cutting it a little close for a new EV driver). Definitely plot the trip out on A Better Routeplanner and be sure to chose the correct settings, including more settings.
Enjoy the trip! We're taking our LR AWD on a 1,700 mile adventure to Michigan this weekend. Fortunately there is no real precipitation in the forecast, but the temperatures will be in the 20s.
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jgs
Active Member
Although remember it's a round trip -- if there's a headwind one way, with some luck there'll be a tailwind the other way.
My trip to Michigan this time will have a headwind both ways. Last time we were lucky and got a tailwind both ways. This is unlikely on a day trip, but happens quite a bit when travel is spread across multiple days.
www.windy.com is a great resource for trip planning.
Another thing to consider is taking people for rides in the car. That will eat range pretty quickly.
jgs
Active Member
Wait, really? I think 200 miles r/t will be a smidge tight but at 100% charge eminently doable. I did 200 miles +/- 20 miles in the Midatlantic and Northeast three times during Thanksgiving, and every time I started with 85% or so charge and stopped at a Supercharger before I dropped below about 7%. I also found the "Charge Remaining" estimator to be highly accurate within about 10-15 minutes of getting on the road.
I don't disagree with stopping at a Supercharger, I'm just a little surprised since I didn't see any issues re: cold battery or limited regen in the original post.
Mid-December can be a lot colder than Thanksgiving. Weather can also be more of a factor, particularly in the Pennsylvania mountains. It's doable on a single charge if conditions are favorable, but I think his trip will be more enjoyable if he plans a short charging stop.
Lon12
Member
Yeah, I'm not really disagreeing with you, it's good advice. I think part of my post was my own vague concern about changing weather conditions up here in MA. We did the TG drive around 37-45 degree weather. Winter has hit hard now though and I'm really hoping we don't see performance plummet at 20-30 degrees. We have a 175 mile drive for Xmas to see some very skeptical-about-EV relatives (one of whom owned an S and hated it!), and if we're late because of a supercharger stop we'll never hear the end of it!
I just did a road trip in my new Model 3 MR. My first leg was 228 miles and I made it by slowing down to around 70 mph and arrived with 2% charge. Temperatures were around 45 F, I had the heat off for most of the trip and used seat heaters.
On the return trip I planned to stop at supercharger because the temperatures cooled down to below freezing and I knew I would not make it. So the leg to the supercharger was 168 miles, I had the heat blasting, cruise set to 85 mph (our speed limit is 80 out here). Arrived at supercharger with 8% left.
With 260 Range a 200 Mile trip at 32F, 70-75 mph, Heat on. Yes, you should worry about making it.
You should plan on getting some juice along the way on that trip. Parents 120V, Supercharger, or Destination Charger.
It's not like you have a gas station at every exit. You need to be a little more conservative, especially in winter. Like, what if you got stuck in traffic for a couple hours. You still need heat.
If you are running low on juice, slow down, it saves a ton.
I would never plan a trip that I finish a trip with 10% battery in the winter. If it was summer I'd be less concerned.
You can probably count on losing 20% due to temps (mainly due to the heater) and probably 10% for doing 75 mph instead of 65 mph.
And lets say you don't want to go below 10% battery.
That's 40% and leaves you 156 miles of range on a 100% charged, fully warmed up, full regen battery.
Also something I tend to do when traveling in cold weather, is I crank the heat up when supercharging. This way I get everything in the car nice and toasty before I unplug and have some "stored heat" in the car and in my body.
I used to think the same thing, and sure I still do the same.
But that "stored heat" lasts all of about 5 minutes, if that, on highway when it's cold.
When it's in the teens. Try turning off the heat and watch how fast the cabin cools off. That's why the heater is such a big hit on range. The heat has to run constantly (even if you are all toasty). I tried recirculate to retain some of that heat and the windows fog up real fast (couple minutes). It's always heating cold air coming in.
I wish you could control how much you reciculate. It's either on or off. I also wish the cabin was better insulated for noise and warmth.
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jgs
Active Member
I think it’s not so much “pretty much” as it is exactly the same charge rate, at least as soon as the charge starts to taper in the slightest.
Back to the OP,
I did not have reduced juice at superchargers in Wi and MN this week with temps in teens. Did notice variable Kws, but lowest was about 75 in LaCrosse.
I did not have reduced juice at superchargers in Wi and MN this week with temps in teens. Did notice variable Kws, but lowest was about 75 in LaCrosse.
I’m up in Grand Rapids right now and I’ll definitely say that trip planning in the cold takes a bit more effort due to decreased charge rates when cold.
It takes at least an hour (90 minutes in sub-20F) of highway driving to get it warm enough to charge at full speed. A battery charge conditioning feature - active heating in preparation for charging - would help a lot.
It takes at least an hour (90 minutes in sub-20F) of highway driving to get it warm enough to charge at full speed. A battery charge conditioning feature - active heating in preparation for charging - would help a lot.
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