Model S only 222 miles of range?

[CSFTN]

I’m gonna have to call BS on this. No way are you getting rated range at 77 mph

Energy is spent overcoming resistance, drag and ACCELERATING. If you drive steadily - constant energy use - you can seriously increase your range. I have made the 210 mile trip to my closest major city, and I rarely if ever use > 240 miles worth of electrons. And I drive 70-75, but I do coast over hills (regen on low) until near the bottom, and then I accelerate to make the most of gravity.

 

[AMPd]

It's not hard on road trips, particularly during good weather.

You can believe what you want

Energy is spent overcoming resistance, drag and ACCELERATING. If you drive steadily - constant energy use - you can seriously increase your range. I have made the 210 mile trip to my closest major city, and I rarely if ever use > 240 miles worth of electrons. And I drive 70-75, but I do coast over hills (regen on low) until near the bottom, and then I accelerate to make the most of gravity.

so you disagreed with me and then proved me right... good game good effort.

 

[David_Cary]

My car gets rated at 67 mph. I have 82k miles on it. That 67 is roughly a weighted average based on my weight temp and tire condition.
It has been closer to 70 mph on warmer days with broken in tires.
So 77 mph to me is a bit of a stretch but I have the old nosecone. Rims matter a bit too and I did most of my observations with aftermarket 19s. I now have the originals and haven't noticed a change but also haven't road tripped much.
I don't see how 55 degrees is much different than 65 degrees. The primary difference is air density which is based on physics, not a particular car's characteristics. Now if you are using regen or heating the battery, then certainly there can be a difference. Between body heat and sunlight, I would not expect cabin heating at 55 degrees.
The sad part of all this is that the average person or car buyer hasn't a clue all the factors that determine range and also don't know when it is important. So they read a C&D story and believe it. Best advertising that money can buy....

 

[Lovie]

Interesting replies. I was primarily asking this because it seems that by publishing this 'data' in a respected automotive magazine, the publishers are being somewhat irresponsible in downplaying the capabilities of the Tesla S brand compared to the Taycan, making it seem like there isn't really much difference in the range of the two cars, despite what Tesla claims. It seems like Car & Driver is claiming that if you took the S out on the highway, you could only really get less than 2/3 the mileage that Musk claims. Call me biased, but it just seems like more Tesla-bashing to me....

I feel like they are spot on from what I have seen in my 25,000 miles of driving.

 

[David29]

Another issue with this test is regen… The Taycan reputedly has much less aggressive regen than the Model S. But if you are running a steady speed on a closed course, then there is no braking, there is no regen on either car. It just underscores how pointless the C&D test was, if you were looking for anything applicable to real-world driving.

I have heard that before, that the Taycan has limited regenerative braking. Then recently I saw an episode of Jay Leno's Garage in which he drove a Taycan along with a Porsche rep. The Porsche rep explained that the regenerative braking is engaged by pressing the service brake pedal. (When Jay asked him where the regen effect was, he said it was "in your left foot.") The service brakes themselves are applied either after or together with the regen brake effect, depending upon how hard you brake and depending on all the usual conditions for how much regen you can get. The rep gave some numbers, which I have forgotten, but at the time i got the impression that the Porsche had plenty of regen capability. So Porsche apparently did not attempt to produce a car with one-pedal driving. And it may well be that some of the reviewers who have reported the limited regen were expecting it as part of the throttle response as it is on the Tesla and many other EVs, and perhaps did not know that some or even all of the brake pedal effect was actually regenerative braking.

 

[Bridor]

I can easily get EPA range at 75 MPH in my P100DL - I have it in Chill Mode, Range Mode and I do not use the heater. I also put on 19" wheels. I have the heated steering wheel on and the seat warmer on. In fact, I put the cruise control on at 79 MPH on the I-8 going from Arizona to California and I averaged less than 300 Wh/Mi.

Brent

 

[FatherTo1]

I can easily get EPA range at 75 MPH in my P100DL - I have it in Chill Mode, Range Mode and I do not use the heater. I also put on 19" wheels. I have the heated steering wheel on and the seat warmer on. In fact, I put the cruise control on at 79 MPH on the I-8 going from Arizona to California and I averaged less than 300 Wh/Mi.

Brent

You would have to average quite a bit lower to get "EPA". I am starting to think most people are equating 300 Wh/m as the official number for every Tesla. It depends on your battery size.

A P100DL is rated for 348 miles off of a 100 kWh battery. To get EPA, the math says 100,000 Wh ÷ 348 miles = about 287 Wh/m. However, since a 100 kWh battery really has 95 kWh usable capacity, then you'd need to average better than 273 Wh/m to get EPA range...that is gonna be a challenge at 75 MPH.

I need to average 254 Wh/m to get EPA on our Standard Range Raven S. Today I saw 248 Wh/m at 65 MPH. Even if I had Chill and Range mode both on, it is doubtful that would be enough to offset an increase of 10 MPH but I'm willing to try it and report back.