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Model X Winter Driving Experience

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As an aside, it took 45.9kWh over three hours (traffic galore) to crest Donner Pass from Rocklin. That's a distance of about 68 miles. Heat was on the whole time.

If I did the math right that's 676 Wh/mi, which is remarkably consistent with my last Rocklin-->Donner Pass crest (no snow, driving consistently 45 mph out of range fear).

It makes me feel a lot better/fear traffic less knowing that the slow speed makes up for the cost of running the car for twice as long. I had visions of having to stop for L2 charging in Colfax or the Cisco Grove RV park on our way up on busy Friday nights.
 
I drove in temps around 4 tonight. The two below are not as good in the Tesla when compared to other luxury vehicles.

1. Front windshield heater - Lots of ice and mostly near the bottom of the glass.
2. Rear and side mirrors heater turns off after a while. Causing the rear window to build up snow and ice really fast.
 
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I drove from Steamboat to Fort Collins this week and averaged 525 Wh/mi over 155 miles and a net elevation loss of 1932 ft. I started with a 100% charge and ended with 30%. Conditions were pretty bad; heavy snow and winds.

Since then it has been very cold and even more snow in Fort Collins. With an unheated detached garage i was getting significant buildup of snow in the wheel wells. Driving around town I was averaging 1152 Wh/mi!!!! Now that I cleaned out the buildup and set the suspension to high i'm hoping i can get those numbers back down to something normal.
 
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I drove from Steamboat to Fort Collins this week and averaged 525 Wh/mi over 155 miles and a net elevation loss of 1932 ft. I started with a 100% charge and ended with 30%. Conditions were pretty bad; heavy snow and winds.

Since then it has been very cold and even more snow in Fort Collins. With an unheated detached garage i was getting significant buildup of snow in the wheel wells. Driving around town I was averaging 1152 Wh/mi!!!! Now that I cleaned out the buildup and set the suspension to high i'm hoping i can get those numbers back down to something normal.
Man, I was stuck in traffic on I-25 and I-225 from Aurora to Parker. The most energy sucking item I'd say was the front windshield and I was above 1000 also.
 
I decided to escape Tahoe before this second storm hit. It was a zoo at Squaw today.

Model X treated me very well the entire trip, up and down Northwoods Blvd en route to our rental in Tahoe Donner. That hill caused me a great deal of trouble in my Model S and even in my Honda Odyssey previously.

Someone mentioned the windshield wipers, and I did forget to bring that up - mine got pretty caked with snow on the drive up and I had to run the windshield defroster on HI for a while to keep them melted/free. I didn't necessarily find that to be a different situation from other vehicles I've owned, though.
 
I decided to escape Tahoe before this second storm hit. It was a zoo at Squaw today.

Model X treated me very well the entire trip, up and down Northwoods Blvd en route to our rental in Tahoe Donner. That hill caused me a great deal of trouble in my Model S and even in my Honda Odyssey previously.

Someone mentioned the windshield wipers, and I did forget to bring that up - mine got pretty caked with snow on the drive up and I had to run the windshield defroster on HI for a while to keep them melted/free. I didn't necessarily find that to be a different situation from other vehicles I've owned, though.
I've found the wipers and windshield to ice faster and have dead spots from the windshield heater. I'll put pictures up but they're not very clear, it ices above where they rest at, which just causes more issues for me.

In my other vehicles that whole area would be ice free. That for me is the biggest difference since it kept the water drops off.
 
IMG_4811.JPG IMG_4810.JPG
In one of them you can see it went over 1K.

The ice at the bottom is what caused for the water droplet buildup in my view. Not undrivable, but highly annoying especially when I'm paying attention to the other cars around me.
 
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View attachment 209485 View attachment 209486
In one of them you can see it went over 1K.

The ice at the bottom is what caused for the water droplet buildup in my view. Not undrivable, but highly annoying especially when I'm paying attention to the other cars around me.
We do not have the cold package.
We just had our first significant snow.
My wife drove the X and complained about the buildup.

So without a cold package, what are the recommendations to avoid ice/snow buildup on the baldes?

1) windshield defroster on high
2) climate on auto

Then what else should we try doing to minize the buildup, please?
 
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The ice at the bottom is what caused for the water droplet buildup in my view. Not undrivable, but highly annoying especially when I'm paying attention to the other cars around me.
Wipers are more than annoying for me, definitely poor than my MB suv.
I park the wipers on service mode when it's snowing to prevent the snow buildup on the wipers in their usual position.
1st Photo driving back home
2nd in the garage
3rd Snow well
Yes I used the snow brush and scrapper to dust off the snow before I started to drive.
 

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Wipers are more than annoying for me, definitely poor than my MB suv.
I park the wipers on service mode when it's snowing to prevent the snow buildup on the wipers in their usual position.
1st Photo driving back home
2nd in the garage
3rd Snow well
Yes I used the snow brush and scrapper to dust off the snow before I started to drive.
It's a bummer that something like this is an issue. I'm just very disappointed that this is the performance so far and it wasn't even a bad snow in my opinion. I'm worried for the -10 and under conditions with downpouring snow.
 
It's a bummer that something like this is an issue. I'm just very disappointed that this is the performance so far and it wasn't even a bad snow in my opinion. I'm worried for the -10 and under conditions with downpouring snow.
Quite possible that Tesla should include the heated lower windshield area on all Model Xs moving forward, instead of just including it on the subzero package. Or they should provide guidance that anyone dealing with snow or ice, even rarely, should upgrade to that package.

If I were to reorder my Model X, I'd include subzero and UHFS.
 
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Wipers are more than annoying for me, definitely poor than my MB suv.
I park the wipers on service mode when it's snowing to prevent the snow buildup on the wipers in their usual position.
1st Photo driving back home
2nd in the garage
3rd Snow well
Yes I used the snow brush and scrapper to dust off the snow before I started to drive.

Yeah, all that buildup along wiper/lower windshield is there reason SubZero package does help, but even it doesn't get it all. Subaru's have the same heated elements at the bottom of their windshields even.

For anyone in a cold climate, I'd recommend the subzero package if not for this feature, the heated steering wheel ;-). Plus, the rear model X heating is really poor, blows cold air a long time so heated seats in the back are key for passengers.
 
I wonder if the experience would be the same with 22'S and all seasons?

I ask because there are no snow chains/socks option for the 22.

And going up to Tahoe once per season probably doesnt warrant another set of whes/tires
I did some snow in temporary 22" wheels as reported in below thread. Seemed really good. I have 20" Autosocks for good measure.

Driving in icy/snow condition
 
Quite possible that Tesla should include the heated lower windshield area on all Model Xs moving forward, instead of just including it on the subzero package. Or they should provide guidance that anyone dealing with snow or ice, even rarely, should upgrade to that package.

If I were to reorder my Model X, I'd include subzero and UHFS.
I can agree to that. I have the sub zero package though so my experience is with it. These are still brand new blades also, but a couple of winter drives and they're already not performing well anymore. Lots of streak marks, even after cleaning the blades.