Model 3 range in rain.

[gangzoom]

I wondered if any UK Model 3 owners could give me some idea of consumption/range in rain/cold at 70mph M way speeds?.....ie like the kind of weather we had last night.

One of reasons am reluctant to go fully EVs is because in bad weather conditions consumption on our X goes nuts.

We did 160 miles yesterday, its a routine trip which normally see an average consumption of around 350Wh/mile but yesterdays bad weather increased consumption by 15%.

We have a 75D X, which means in bad weather the range drops to 170 miles 100-0%, if you factor in a 10% buffer for diversions etc thats a real life M way range of about 150 miles.

Even in a 100D X I would suspect the real life range in bad conditions will be just 200 miles. When you consider my wifes Lexus did a 380 mile road trip recently in similar conditions with still half a tank a tank of fuel left, you can see my reluctance to give up the combustion car for proper big road trips when you don't want to stop.

I just watched this video which sums up my feelings about having a whole EV driveway well......BUT if a Model 3 LR can truly do 300 miles at 70mph (essentially a 150 mile each way trip) in bad UK weather conditions than maybe I could be convinced to go full EV, or is our Lexus self charging hybrid going to be a permanent fixture on the driveway for a long time to come?

So can people share their experiences of Model 3 range in rain/wind/cold at 70mph?

 

[|Chris|]

I did a trip from Manchester to Bristol the other day in most wet and rainy conditions in my P-. I drove at 70 when able but there are some 50 zones on route.

I got 310 wh/m. This means I would expect about 225 (100 - 10%) in bad weather. On the way back the weather was dry and I got much improved efficiency, my round trip ended up at 283wh/m.

My view is then on the motorway realistic mileage 100-10% is between 225 and 275.

I would be interested to hear what others think.

 

[gangzoom]

I drove at 70 when able but there are some 50 zones on route.

I got 310 wh/m. This means I would expect about 225 (100 - 10%) in bad weather.

Thanks for that, I thought about slowing down yesterday, but a 10 minute charging stop meant I could essentially stay in lane 3 pretty much all the way.

Range is getting there, hopefully the a Model S with a new upgraded pack will get 300 miles+ in bad weather.

 

[mpandrew]

My trip counter B hasn't been reset since the car was made, I've done 1,300 miles in it - collected with 6 miles. Average consumption is 293Wh/mi and I cannot remember driving it without the wipers being on A good proportion of that has been up and down the M5, I stick to the limits in the main but have nailed the throttle many times for the test rides that everyone wants to have. Drove south from Birmingham on Thursday during the torrential downpour in the early evening with lights on, full speed wiper (manually set of course), heated seats x 2 and was using about 315Wh/mi.

 

[MrBadger]

Finding far worse than I was expecting, and I had done my homework first so expected bad, but not this bad. Mid - high 300's, even 400's are not uncommon and we are not doing heavy acceleration or excessive speeds, and thats just looking at the 15+ mile journeys where car not starting off from cold.

 

[SimonTe]

...not that you should be aiming to drive non-stop for more than 140ish miles. Your body's battery also needs monitoring and recharging!

S

 

[gangzoom]

Drove south from Birmingham on Thursday during the torrential downpour in the early evening with lights on, full speed wiper (manually set of course), heated seats x 2 and was using about 315Wh/mi.

So assume 70kWh usable after some degredation, 3.2 miles per kWh, 10% buffer, that's 200 mile range. Clearly better than 150 miles in our X, but 50 miles is not really life changing, and no where near the near 600 miles+ range of our Lexus self charging hybrid in similar conditions.

Day to day it makes no difference, but for work trips in winter combustion cars still are far more convenient.

 

[gangzoom]

...not that you should be aiming to drive non-stop for more than 140ish miles. Your body's battery also needs monitoring and recharging!

S

A return trip for a work meeting 140 miles away is 280 miles. Unless you want to increase your travel time, faff with trying to find destination charging, sadly I cannot see EVs been more convenient for our work trips for a while yet. Not if your looking at only 200 miles real life range in winter conditions for a LR Model 3.

 

[ianto999]

300 Miles in winter in an EV seems an attractive and intersting idea.
(i also own a 2011 leaf, now degraded to 16Kwh, which can just about get down the road in winter..)

What happens if you plot your hoped-for route/LR into abetterrouteplanner, and alter the temperature down, and add 'heavy rain/snow' in the settings?

If I do a 142M route from Glasgow to Kendal at 70mph max, 20c (rare in Scotland..) and dry (battery deg=0), LR AWD 18 Aero
it calculates I will get there with 46% remaining. Most of the route is at Motorway - an average 62 mph. There are hills!

If i do the same route at 0C and heavy rain I get there with 34%....to get home again, I need to add about 30 mins of SC time somewhere..

I don't think you will get 300 M in M3 in UK winter/Mway. On the route above, even a 100 Raven says it gets there with 44%.

I can 'force' the calculations to let a model s raven do it with a max of 65mph, at 10C and 10% for 'rain', but that seems to be as close as I can make it. You might manage better with a flatter route somewhere, M1?

I don't think there is an EV that will do 300Miles in the UK at 0c and rain(20%loss) according to abetterrouteplanner?

 

[spon88]

I did a trip from Manchester to Bristol the other day in most wet and rainy conditions in my P-. I drove at 70 when able but there are some 50 zones on route.

I got 310 wh/m. This means I would expect about 225 (100 - 10%) in bad weather. On the way back the weather was dry and I got much improved efficiency, my round trip ended up at 283wh/m.

My view is then on the motorway realistic mileage 100-10% is between 225 and 275.

I would be interested to hear what others think.

This is very close to what I'm seeing. I've revised expectation down somewhat since purchasing and it's clear that poor weather makes a big difference. That said, my days of big motorway work trips are now behind me so still a very viable option for what I need now. We are planning a trip to the south of France in summer next year so that will be interesting. I used to blast 350 miles in one go but that will need to change!

 

[adsheff]

I suspect a big component of the bad weather range is wind. These last few days the wind has been very strong from the south-west. We did a trip from cornwall up to Gloucester. Trip computer said we'd arrive with 9%, we actually arrived with 14%, and that's driving at exactly 70 as much as possible. I guess the strong tailwind played a big part. But also a massive factor is how lightly you accelerate. The top speed can still be the same, but if you take your time getting up to 70 it can make a big difference. IMO the autopilot accelerates quite hard, so what I do is set it then slowly roll the speed up to 70 on the controls.

 

[m3gt2]

It's still early days for me but earlier in the week I done Leicester-Bristol-Leicester-Birmingham-Heathrow-Leicester, was at the speed limit most of the time and used Hopwood and West Drayton Superchargers plus had a few minutes at Birmingham Motorcycle Museum Destination Charger while I was waiting so I was happy with that. Not sure how much it will go down as temperatures drop more. I was at both Superchargers for around 30 minutes each, started the day with 90% and got back home with approx 30% so while it's not as 'easy' as with an ice car it is not that much of an inconvenience either.

 

[interbear]

Interesting thread this. Not done any long road trips yet but will regularly be heading from near Bristol up to Glasgow. 375 miles ish. I was figuring 1 supercharger stop en route would cover it.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Speed & accompanying wind resistance makes a big difference. Switch to the energy graph and see what speed keeps you on/below the "rated' line (225 wh/mile)

I was "making good progress" on the A1 last weekend, dipped to 60-65 and estimated range jumped up a lot.

 

[interbear]

Is it possible to simultaneously see the energy graph (which shows real range based on current conditions) and the navigation map on screen?

 

[NorfolkMustard]

no. You still get the audible navigation cues but can't see the map.

Try it on a stretch of motorway where you don't need to turn off for a while - get to know what speed you should target, to keep to rated wh/mile, and then you'll know for the future.

 

[interbear]

no. You still get the audible navigation cues but can't see the map.

Try it on a stretch of motorway where you don't need to turn off for a while - get to know what speed you should target, to keep to rated wh/mile, and then you'll know for the future.

OK that’s a shame, would be great to see both somehow.

Any guidance on what wh/m is considered good for range? Or what average I should be targeting? Lowest possible no doubt - mine varies widely but I think that’s because I’m still enjoying the novelty and fun of Tesla acceleration a little too much For longer road trips I’d likely focus more on range.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

In the video above, the chap suggests the “rated” target line on the energy graph = 225 wh/mile

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Actually, just jumped in the car (no, of course I’m not on my way to get McDonald’s breakfast, why would you think that? ) And the line is called “Typical”

 

[interbear]

In the video above, the chap suggests the “rated” target line on the energy graph = 225 wh/mile

I don’t think I’ve ever achieved that yet