Model S winter range

[brandinimo]

I'm hoping some of you that live in cold temps can help me out.

I'm considering a 2017/2018 100D, which according to Tesla should give me 335 miles of range. I can charge at home and don't routinely have long drives. Several times a year though I have to travel approximately 210 miles from Rochester, NY to Canton, NY.

A Better Routeplanner tells me (if I enter 20 degree farenheit weather) that I'd have to stop at 2 Superchargers on the way there, for a total of 27 minutes of charging. I'd then arrive at my destiation with a 10% SoC. Once at my destination I'd only have access to a 110v charger (plug into a family members outdoor outlet). Depending on how cold it is (Canton gets really cold) I'd likely barely be gaining any mileage with a 110. That would then require me to hopefully make it to some type of charger on the way back if lucky.

If I add in the return trip, it then wants me to charge for over an hour on the way to my destination, so that I arrive at Canton with 55% SoC, which is probably the only way I make it back to another charge on the return trip.

This all seems somewhat cumbersome and janky compared to an ICE.

Am I missing something?

 

[evfeh]

I drove 240ish miles up to northern Wisconsin in 2 below, and temps hovering slightly above zero. One night it got down to 10 below with windchills. I estimated about 55% efficiency range wise.

some data captured over two years of ownership:

 

[ucmndd]

I'd be curious to see the variables you put into ABRP because I'm certain you could make it there with only one brief stop at the Syracuse or Watertown supercharger, even when it's very cold.

As for what to do in Canton, I might suggest using one of the several L2 chargers in town to put a decent charge in your car when you get there, then the 120v outlet at your family member's house to keep it topped up in the cold. See plugshare.com for details on the chargers shown on the map below.

 

[cduzz]

Looking at that, the big difficulty is the distance from the watertown supercharger; its a 120 mile round trip.

I've got a 90; if I were to do this I'd make sure to fill to 95% or more at the watertown charger and not rely on the L2 chargers in Canton.

I'd try to top off at one; the one in the "municipal lot" looks like a good bet, but there aren't enough that I'd rely on them unless I was planning on a tour of Canton's broken L2 chargers rather than whatever actual plans you have in Canton. Maybe there's 3 hours of stuff to do in town and get the car totally topped up.

I also wouldn't bother with the L1 charger; 120v/12a is simply not going to make headway against the cold. If you plug it in with a hot battery you might possibly gain yourself 10-20 miles of range total, but you may also blow circuit breakers or melt plugs or do other unfun things. None of that's likely, but what's certain is that 110 won't heat a battery from -20f to +35f to allow it to take a charge, and probably won't keep a 75 degree battery above 30 if it's -20f outside. In the 6 hours the battery takes to get cold, you'd get (wild guess) 18-22 miles of added range; if that makes the difference between getting back or not, you're better off just camping at the L2 to get a safe buffer.

You almost certainly don't need to actually top it up at watertown, but I'd do it the first time or two just to have that added comfort level.

 

[airborne spoon]

I drive in the snow a lot during the winter in the good part of California (North) and yes there is additional battery drain caused by the car heating the battery to keep it at whatever temp tesla wants it at.

However, its not that much to notice, in the summer leg 1 of my trip will take 65%, in the winter the same trip will take about 68% this slight increase is twofold first as I said the car is heating the battery. Second I have to drive slower because there is snow and ice. And driving slower uses less power (summer 90 mph avg, winter 40 mph avg)

 

[brandinimo]

It seems like 30 to 40% range loss is mentioned. If my budget was unlimited I would get a 2021 for the heat pump, but it’s really not worth it to me to spend 20 or $25,000 more for that feature.

I can’t help but feel for those of us in cold climates the range of today’s batteries just isn’t quite there yet. If I lived in the south or California it would be a no brainer.

 

[KalJoMoS]

As all have tried to point out is that if you choose to leave ICE then there is some preparation needed to be done. I would consider to change that 110V outlet at your family household to withstand some more power, in US it’s easiest to change to NEMA outlet. Second would be to understand battery management and make decision according to this. I would be thrilled if I’d have had a chance to get maximum battery size at my car’s purchase.
I have only 70kWh battery and can survive around 200miles around trip, with DC charging (currently CHAdeMO only) in between below freezing winter conditions. It would take me 40-50min to get back used electricity. That Level2 charging option that have been suggested is even better than any household outlet as there is power up to 11kW (or even 22kW if it’s Tesla HPWC). At least this is the situation here, in EU. At Tesla destination chargers (this HPWC) it takes three to four hours for me to get going again.
If you can manage the time at your destination and select after arrival to top up let’s say two three hours at the Level2 charging stations then keeping your car plugged in over night after that will be sufficient for low level charging. Keep in mind that you can also precondition your car before you start to leave back home.
Anyway, good luck on your decision.

 

[polyphase]

I'm hoping some of you that live in cold temps can help me out.

I'm considering a 2017/2018 100D, which according to Tesla should give me 335 miles of range. I can charge at home and don't routinely have long drives. Several times a year though I have to travel approximately 210 miles from Rochester, NY to Canton, NY.

A Better Routeplanner tells me (if I enter 20 degree farenheit weather) that I'd have to stop at 2 Superchargers on the way there, for a total of 27 minutes of charging. I'd then arrive at my destiation with a 10% SoC. Once at my destination I'd only have access to a 110v charger (plug into a family members outdoor outlet). Depending on how cold it is (Canton gets really cold) I'd likely barely be gaining any mileage with a 110. That would then require me to hopefully make it to some type of charger on the way back if lucky.

If I add in the return trip, it then wants me to charge for over an hour on the way to my destination, so that I arrive at Canton with 55% SoC, which is probably the only way I make it back to another charge on the return trip.

This all seems somewhat cumbersome and janky compared to an ICE.

Am I missing something?

You've gotten good answers already. I would just add that the route planners try to get you there quickest, which might include being almost empty when you arrive. If you spend more time at the charger (like it wants you do do for a round trip) to get full you'll be able to plug into a 110 at your destination just to make up the vampire drain and let you turn on the climate to pre-heat the battery before you leave. Nobody says you can't completely recharge at the superchrarger.