Model X Winter Driving Experience

[SMSMD]

[QUOTE="Pandamoanium, post: 1910835, member: 50175" I have the sub zero package[/QUOTE]
I have the subzero as well. I have noticed heated wipers are not useful in my situation. The water droplets become ice both on the wipers and the windscreen once you switch on the defroster and drive. .I once used the wipers, & defroster in snow, it was like rubbing with rocks on the windscreen
Since then I have no intention of repeating it so I carry a windscreen cleaner in a spray bottle and manually clean it if need be. I agree with the streak marks.

 

[KayRJay]

Didn't see anyone mention the following ... do you have a problem with the washer fluid not wetting the lower half of the driver's side? We had the wipers replaced once already, but this seems to be a design issue.

 

[aesculus]

Yes. Mine really don't wet much of the driver's side at all.

 

[hahler2]

What are you guys seeing for average w/mile consumption in the cold? Looking to buy one but I'm very concerned about that aspect. Where I live there is nothing for elevation changes to speak of, but can get quite cold and windy in the wintertime. Like temps below 10 F and often times we will have one or two week stretches where the high will be below 0. Could a person safely assume 150 to 160 mile range with a 100D with 20 inch tires? Or would I be lucky to get it go that far? One thing to note, my wife doesn't like to be cold so I'm sure she will have the heat cranked most of the time.

My rough figures with a 90 percent charge we would have to average around 560 w/mile to get 160 mile range. Just curious if that is doable.

 

[Solarman004]

What are you guys seeing for average w/mile consumption in the cold? Looking to buy one but I'm very concerned about that aspect. Where I live there is nothing for elevation changes to speak of, but can get quite cold and windy in the wintertime. Like temps below 10 F and often times we will have one or two week stretches where the high will be below 0. Could a person safely assume 150 to 160 mile range with a 100D with 20 inch tires? Or would I be lucky to get it go that far? One thing to note, my wife doesn't like to be cold so I'm sure she will have the heat cranked most of the time.

My rough figures with a 90 percent charge we would have to average around 560 w/mile to get 160 mile range. Just curious if that is doable.

This is not a direct comparison, but in my 75D, 20" wheels, I am averaging 330 wh/mi in winter, and 292 in mild weather. This is in hilly and mountainous terrain over 5500 miles.
Even with the 100D and heater on, 560 wh/mi would be a very high average.

 

[BuddysX]

WEIRDEST THING EVER: I was up in Mammoth area over MLK day and drove up in about 1 inch fresh packed snow on the road at about 32 degrees. Got to my house , parked in the driveway and left the car there overnight. The next morning I went outside, 5 degrees , and looked at my wheels and there was a solid ring of rock hard ice all around all 4 tires from the tread to the inside of the wheel wells. The tires could not roll and the front wheels would not turn to steer. They were frozen solid to the body of the car. I was completely stuck and after about 20 minutes of going after it with a small sledge hammer and a big screwdriver , I had barely made a dent as the ice was so hard. My son, who always thinks he is smarter than me said " Dad, Just run the engine for a while and it will melt". I relished the moment for a while but then got the idea of running a hose from my hotwater heater in the garage , out to the driveway. It took a whole tank of hot water to melt the ice enough to drive the car. I'm worried now what may happen if I park it somewhere where I can not use hot water. Moral of the story is that because it is an electric car and the engine doesn't seem to produce much external heat , snow can get packed up in the wheelwells and freeze solid overnight. Before you leave your car be sure to check to see if any snow is packed in the wheelwells and remove it before it freezes solid. Sorry I don't have a picture of this but I was kind of freaking out at the time.

 

[Gwgan]

It is the battery calling for heat that really drives up the Wh/mi, not your wife's. I find a drop from 500's-600's when regen is still limited back down to 390-450 once the dotted yellow line is gone. Today with all heat sources going on a 5 mile trip from a cold soaked start I saw over 1200Wh/mi. Consumption decreased as regen availability increased. Of course some of that is just using regen to improve the overall consumption but on the flats where I was driving it did not amount to much. Charge before you leave to prewarm the battery. Preheating the cabin does not preheat the battery, but is a nice thing to do for your wife.

 

[hahler2]

Doesn't preheating also warm the battery too? I thought that's what I read somewhere. The car would be in a heated garage and plugged in every morning so that will help with the cold weather. It would just be after it's sitting outside all day while she's at work that it would get cold soaked.

 

[Gwgan]

Without having access to the battery temperature, all I can tell you is that when I preheat my car in the 50F garage for half an hour while it is plugged in the regen is limited but if I charge the car until just befor leaving then regen is not limited.

 

[Yinn]

Doesn't preheating also warm the battery too? I thought that's what I read somewhere. The car would be in a heated garage and plugged in every morning so that will help with the cold weather. It would just be after it's sitting outside all day while she's at work that it would get cold soaked.

I've read the same, but I still see a regen limit on my car with preheating. Multiple experiences with the car reading ~47F. With scheduled charging I would find the car would preheat and my charge would not be re-initiated to then warm the battery. I'm not sure if a non-scheduled charge would then top off the battery.

Without having access to the battery temperature, all I can tell you is that when I preheat my car in the 50F garage for half an hour while it is plugged in the regen is limited but if I charge the car until just befor leaving then regen is not limited.

My experience exactly. If I preheat the car + turn up the charge limit; the regen limit is usually gone by the time we drive the car (~15min)

 

[AndreyATC]

If you need to warm the battery, you have to turn off the range mode when pre-heating

Also since the thread is about winter driving, the car is a tank!
I never had as much confidence in any car
Equipped with Nokian Hakka R2s, it's virtually unstoppable
I went trough variety of blizzard conditions and what surprised me the most is when i was going through deep snow almost expecting to get stuck or at least some drama, car just rolled where i needed it to
No wheel spin, no slip, no effort

 

[mikevbf]

I have had pretty much the same experience with my Model X and Nokian R2's. However, when I really pushed it around windy turns in slush and ice, my Model X did begin losing traction sideways. Mind you this was way faster than I would have ever pushed any of my ice cars even the ones with studs and low center of gravity. As magic as the Model X is, I find I still have to exercise common sense while driving in challenging conditions.

 

[hahler2]

Thank you for the info guys! Most of the time I think it would be a non issue. Normal days commute for wife is only 20 miles. But one day a week it's closer to 140 and just want to make sure we would be good on one charge, even when it gets really cold out.

 

[AndreyATC]

I have had pretty much the same experience with my Model X and Nokian R2's. However, when I really pushed it around windy turns in slush and ice, my Model X did begin losing traction sideways. Mind you this was way faster than I would have ever pushed any of my ice cars even the ones with studs and low center of gravity. As magic as the Model X is, I find I still have to exercise common sense while driving in challenging conditions.

Yes, no one canceled laws of physics even for model X

 

[Pandamoanium]

Colorado is going through a wet snow right now and I've got to say. While the X handles well and feels solid in most respects, the down sides for me are the headlights, wipers, windshield and intense battery drain. I also had something concerning happen to me. Might just be my X, but the snow built up in the wheel well on the drivers side and snow entered the space between my door hinge and the body of the car. I couldn't open my door until I basically forced it open no the snow was there.

 

[mikevbf]

Colorado is going through a wet snow right now and I've got to say. While the X handles well and feels solid in most respects, the down sides for me are the headlights, wipers, windshield and intense battery drain. I also had something concerning happen to me. Might just be my X, but the snow built up in the wheel well on the drivers side and snow entered the space between my door hinge and the body of the car. I couldn't open my door until I basically forced it open no the snow was there.

I had a lot of snow collecting in the wheel wells which would melt and refreeze in there. I could sometimes feel the wheels scraping at the ice in the wells in the turns, but never encountered a difficulty with opening the door because of it.

 

[Pandamoanium]

I had a lot of snow collecting in the wheel wells which would melt and refreeze in there. I could sometimes feel the wheels scraping at the ice in the wells in the turns, but never encountered a difficulty with opening the door because of it.

It literally got in between the door and the main body. Basically right under the door hinge.

 

[Cowby]

Just had a thought....how about raise the suspension to very high whenever we get to our destination after driving in snow for a good period of time and then throwing a bucket of hot water on the wheels to melt whatever snow/ice has accumulated?

 

[Yinn]

Just had a thought....how about raise the suspension to very high whenever we get to our destination after driving in snow for a good period of time and then throwing a bucket of hot water on the wheels to melt whatever snow/ice has accumulated?

Wouldn't the hot water eventually freeze as well? Also depending on how it's splashing and the outside temp, now the water is covering additional components (brake calipers, etc.) instead of just the wheel well and might cause even more issues.

 

[SMSMD]

It literally got in between the door and the main body. Basically right under the door hinge.

Literally like this. ..