Model 3 Range

[thurber]

I have a LR Model 3 which I took delivery of on March 31, 2019. The max range was 325 miles. I usually charge to 90% (and go to 100% every couple months) and it always charged to 292 -- perfect. The last couple times I noticed it a bit lower each time and it got down to 288. I decided to run the battery down to 27 miles (8%) and then charge to full. This time it only charged to 316 miles. I currently have 6300 miles on the car and it is just about 8 months old.

The range was spot on the first 6 months, but now seems to be decreasing each time. I'm curious what others have experienced. If it holds here, not a big deal, but it has been trending lower each time lately.

My charging habits are as follows... I generally charge about once a week running it down to 20% or 30% and charging to 90%. I charge at home with a 240 volt, 50 amp outlet (about 31 miles an hour). I have supercharged about 5 times.

What sort of battery range degradation have others seen? Or are there any tips for helping it recover back to its original range?

 

[VT_EE]

Same problem here. Seriously doubt is real degradation. Given the number of people posting about this, and the fact that it started after some recent updates, it's most likely software related.

 

[agg212]

I have not seen any noticeable degradation so far, but have only had my Model 3 (long range AWD) for about 6 months and 5k miles.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

....

The range was spot on the first 6 months, but now seems to be decreasing each time. I'm curious what others have experienced. If it holds here, not a big deal, but it has been trending lower each time lately.

....

What sort of battery range degradation have others seen? Or are there any tips for helping it recover back to its original range?

This is well within the normal. I started seeing my rated range drop with the car about 7 months old, with 6000 miles (I'm at 304 instead of 310 originally). No one knows why this happens, or whether it can be recovered. I haven't seen any convincing evidence that it can be recovered, in general - I've gone from 10% to 100% multiple times in the course of a road trip, with no "recovery." The longer this goes on and the more people who report this sort of behavior, the more it looks like this general phenomenon is real degradation; most significant degradation is expected in the first year. So most likely your range will level out soon.

No one knows what will happen though, or what the exact reasons are for some cars being more affected than others.

MASTER THREAD: Range Loss Over Time, What Can Be Expected, How to Maintain Battery Health

Note also that temperature affects rated range at 100% charge (or extrapolated). There is simply less energy available with a battery that is colder and this is factored in. In winter, the only way to really eliminate this factor is to do a long high-speed drive in not-too-cold conditions, immediately Supercharge (at maximum rate - no temperature-related charge-rate limitations allowed) to a decent charge level, and immediately extrapolate your range (say from 80% for accuracy), with a nice warm battery. Then you'll know whether your particular issue is related to temperature. You might see a 5-6 mile rated range difference at 35 degrees F vs. 80 degrees F (both referring to cold-soaked battery temperatures).

However, MANY people reported range reduction in the heat of summer, so in general, cold weather is not the reason for observed range reduction. Most likely it is real battery degradation, with varying results for different cars. Time will tell whether that is actually the case or whether there is more to it. I haven't seen an analysis done yet, but my perception is that Model 3 has worse degradation than most Model S/X. But, perception can be deceiving - it would be best to wait for a fleet-wide analysis. Maybe those 2170 batteries aren't all they were cracked up to be!

One thing that is 100% certain, though - everyone will experience some battery degradation over time.

 

[RickW]

Wow, it's really interesting to see this problem on several different threads. I think that the recent update has caused the issues. I have seen a 5% drop from 310 to 295 and it all relates back to the day after the upgrade. I have only had my car for 6 weeks so I know that it's got nothing to do with battery degradation. I think that if Tesla added more range to the low end, say the last 5% of SOC then I could understand (I think Bjorn from Norway on Youtube talked about this with his M3). But to not address it at all I think is worrisome.

 

[KenC]

I have a LR Model 3 which I took delivery of on March 31, 2019. The max range was 325 miles. I usually charge to 90% (and go to 100% every couple months) and it always charged to 292 -- perfect. The last couple times I noticed it a bit lower each time and it got down to 288. I decided to run the battery down to 27 miles (8%) and then charge to full. This time it only charged to 316 miles. I currently have 6300 miles on the car and it is just about 8 months old.

The range was spot on the first 6 months, but now seems to be decreasing each time. I'm curious what others have experienced. If it holds here, not a big deal, but it has been trending lower each time lately.

My charging habits are as follows... I generally charge about once a week running it down to 20% or 30% and charging to 90%. I charge at home with a 240 volt, 50 amp outlet (about 31 miles an hour). I have supercharged about 5 times.

What sort of battery range degradation have others seen? Or are there any tips for helping it recover back to its original range?

As the temps change, you'll see more BMS drift. Temps go down, BMS drift goes down. Temps go up, BMS drift goes up. The more extreme the temp change, the more extreme the BMS drift. You're in Florida, so you're only noticing it now, but there are tons of threads of people commenting about it since earlier this Fall.

Now, there may be some correlation with software updates, but I think those are chances for the BMS to recalculate, and of course, the differences from before the software update can be quite dramatic. Sometimes I wonder if one shouldn't charge up to 100%, and then let the software update go thru, that would reduce the chance for a BMS error.

Here's a recent chart I made of someone's data showing Rated Range estimate vs Temperature, as recorded by TeslaFi. Notice the correlation between temp change and the Range changing. There are lots of software updates in that data as well, but they don't correlate as well as the temp data does.

 

[gkarsin]

Wow, it's really interesting to see this problem on several different threads. I think that the recent update has caused the issues. I have seen a 5% drop from 310 to 295 and it all relates back to the day after the upgrade. I have only had my car for 6 weeks so I know that it's got nothing to do with battery degradation. I think that if Tesla added more range to the low end, say the last 5% of SOC then I could understand (I think Bjorn from Norway on Youtube talked about this with his M3). But to not address it at all I think is worrisome.

My salesman just texted me and told me there will be another update to increase range before the end of the year.

 

[thurber]

Thanks for all the feedback and info on experience. One thing to note in my case is that temperature should not be affecting anything at the moment as I live in South Florida. It's pretty much between 60 and 85 these days. Summer was very hot, but the car was new so the range was right on. I also have the luxury of garaging it both at home and work so except for weekend trips it rarely sits out in the sun.

I do expect battery degradation over time, but it just seemed to start suddenly and was going down a bit each week after being steady the first 6 months.

 

[KenC]

Thanks for all the feedback and info on experience. One thing to note in my case is that temperature should not be affecting anything at the moment as I live in South Florida. It's pretty much between 60 and 85 these days. Summer was very hot, but the car was new so the range was right on. I also have the luxury of garaging it both at home and work so except for weekend trips it rarely sits out in the sun.

I do expect battery degradation over time, but it just seemed to start suddenly and was going down a bit each week after being steady the first 6 months.

I would just point out that the chart I posted of the correlation between temp change and BMS drift is also in a very warm climate, Texas. That light green line is going from near 100F to about 62.5F. It's not the nominal temp that causes BMS drift, but the change in temp. The greater the change, the greater the potential for BMS drift.

 

[thurber]

I would just point out that the chart I posted of the correlation between temp change and BMS drift is also in a very warm climate, Texas. That light green line is going from near 100F to about 62.5F. It's not the nominal temp that causes BMS drift, but the change in temp. The greater the change, the greater the potential for BMS drift.

Very interesting data. It's surprising to see how much it can fluctuate. I'll keep a closer eye out on whether mine starts to change relative to the temperature.