Model Y - Hands On

[NovemberXray]

Good point. Is the 80 mile difference between the range of your trip and the rated range typical? Is this due mostly to speed or temp? I'm new to Tesla. Our Pacifica is rated for 33 electric miles, which it can do in the spring, summer and fall. It is closer to 25 in the winter.

With the MY having a heat pump and driving close to the speed limit (55-65), I was hoping the AWD MY with the 19" wheels would yield the full 316 miles in the spring, summer and fall with a 20% to 30% drop in the winter for longer trips. Reasonable when charging to 10% or no?

In over 100k miles of driving, including two coast to coast trips in the US, in Model X and Model 3, the best way to think about the range number in a Tesla is the same way you would look at the "estimated miles until empty" number in an ICE car. You can easily get WELL beyond the rated range in a Tesla, given the right conditions. The published range is the ideal scenario: flat ground, ideal temperature (around 60F I believe), no wind, dry roads, and probably around 55-60 MPH.

Just like an ICE car, you're almost never going to have to worry about it. The only time you have to do some careful planning is if you're heading into a rural area far away from any super chargers. The majority of the time you just plug in at home and never have to think about it. The majority of the time you go on trips, you just plug in where you want to go and the car will tell you where to charge and how much. Works great.

If you're curious about various scenarios, check out abetterrouteplanner.com, you can plug in different cars and trips to anywhere and see how it works.

 

[DarkNightP3D]

The range seems very similar to our Model 3 (18mo old, AWD with Aero wheels). I think all the improvements in range were just mitigated by the heavier car. We did a 186 mile drive yesterday and at the destination only had about 15 miles range left. I had cruise set to 80 most of the time and started out with 99% battery life. The temp was between 40 to 46F. Definitely had some hill climbs, but not a big change in elevation overall.

View attachment 524503

So you’re seeing about 350wh/mi at 80MPH? That’s a fairly significant increase in energy use vs. Model 3 on 18” Aero wheels and stock MXM4 tires. I manage about 310-320wh/mi at 80MPH in my P3D+, but our LR AWD Aero wheel 3 can manage about 265-280wh/mi at the same speeds., unless obviously we are climbing mountains or something.

Tesla obviously knows the larger and heavier 21” wheels and tires use more energy thus the 280mi range vs. 316mi with other wheels/tires. I wonder what the actual real world difference is at highway speeds between the standard 19” wheels with aero covers and 21” wheels/tires you have.

Did you use the heat since it was a bit chilly? Wondering how the new heat pump works vs. coil heater in other Teslas. Also, did you ever get a software update that added dual zone HVAC?

 

[DarkNightP3D]

Is 200 miles typical for an M3 at 80 MPH at this temp? Pretty far from the 316 rating. Is the delta mostly due to the high speed, temp, or both?

I wouldn’t say 200 miles is common for Model 3. Even in my Performance Model 3 with 20” wheels and Michelin PS4S summer performance tires I am able to go about 240 miles at highway speeds (75-85mph). Our long range AWD Model 3 with 18” Aero wheels and stock MXM4 all-season tires is about 20% more efficient than my P3D+. The tires make a huge difference to range. If I had to guess based on my experience with Model 3s, I’d guess the LR AWD Model Y with standard 19” Gemini wheels/AS tires will likely be 10-15% more efficient than the 21” Performance wheels/tires. Tesla obviously agrees because they rate the 21” wheels at 280 miles vs. 316 miles for the 19” wheels.

There is quite a large difference in efficiency between driving 70mph and 80MPH. I did find a Model Y Performance (with 21” wheels) range test video on YouTube where they set cruise control to 70MPH and managed a very respectable ~280wh/mi. That would give that car a real range of about 265 miles at a constant 70MPH.

 

[Zoomit]

There is quite a large difference in efficiency between driving 70mph and 80MPH.

Likewise, any highway efficiency test that doesn’t precisely note the wind is basically useless. One person could have a 5 mph headwind, while another could have a 5 mph tailwind and see a large difference in results. This is exasperated because a 5 mph breeze is hard to discern. I suspect most would even describe it as “calm” yet it can have a significant effect. At high speeds, measurements can easily be off by 10-15% due to unaccounted for winds, totally masking the differences in tire or wheel efficiency.

 

[ftmaybe]

Good point. Is the 80 mile difference between the range of your trip and the rated range typical? Is this due mostly to speed or temp? I'm new to Tesla. Our Pacifica is rated for 33 electric miles, which it can do in the spring, summer and fall. It is closer to 25 in the winter.

With the MY having a heat pump and driving close to the speed limit (55-65), I was hoping the AWD MY with the 19" wheels would yield the full 316 miles in the spring, summer and fall with a 20% to 30% drop in the winter for longer trips. Reasonable when charging to 10% or no?

Speed has a huge impact. Also terrain can make a big difference. Its not just Tesla, our PHEV's take a huge hit at freeway speed as well. The six years or so I have been driving my C-Max energi for my work commute, I chose to do most of that on surface streets because I could get more range out of the battery. It took a little longer to get to work, but I got a lot more range.

Additionally - I posted this in another thread, but after my wife got her Model 3 in December, I did a range test on the freeway. Driving North on the interstate is very slightly uphill. As such, I got only 154 miles out of 94% of the battery, when in town we can easily get 240-260 miles. Just coming back to the house this morning in teh model 3, I had almost 20 miles at a net consumption of ~170wh/mi .. freeway can easily end up over 260wh/mi depending on grade, speed and climate settings.

I feel like EVs should have a Freeway / City rating just like gas cars. It is absolutely a factor, just in reverse of a gas engine. I was shocked when I found out the "range" on a porsche taycan with a 94kwh battery only got ~200mi of range .. but it seems like Porsche is giving out the freeway range and not the city range, unlike tesla. In reality, Porsche / Tesla seem to have similar range.

 

[TT97]

Speed has a huge impact. Also terrain can make a big difference. Its not just Tesla, our PHEV's take a huge hit at freeway speed as well. The six years or so I have been driving my C-Max energi for my work commute, I chose to do most of that on surface streets because I could get more range out of the battery. It took a little longer to get to work, but I got a lot more range.

Additionally - I posted this in another thread, but after my wife got her Model 3 in December, I did a range test on the freeway. Driving North on the interstate is very slightly uphill. As such, I got only 154 miles out of 94% of the battery, when in town we can easily get 240-260 miles. Just coming back to the house this morning in teh model 3, I had almost 20 miles at a net consumption of ~170wh/mi .. freeway can easily end up over 260wh/mi depending on grade, speed and climate settings.

I feel like EVs should have a Freeway / City rating just like gas cars. It is absolutely a factor, just in reverse of a gas engine. I was shocked when I found out the "range" on a porsche taycan with a 94kwh battery only got ~200mi of range .. but it seems like Porsche is giving out the freeway range and not the city range, unlike tesla. In reality, Porsche / Tesla seem to have similar range.

EV cars do have City & Freeway ratings on the Monroney stickers, albeit, they are in MPGe. The range is based on combined MPGe which is set by the EPA to be 55% city/45% highway. Porsche can not "give out" freeway range and not city.

Going to fueleconomy.gov, you can look up the City and Highway ratings for any car. The Porsche Taycan actually is more efficient Highway than City - I'm guessing it's the "turbos" (or since EVs don't have turbos, it could be the two-speed transmission it does have).

 

[VT_EE]

Speed has a huge impact. Also terrain can make a big difference. Its not just Tesla, our PHEV's take a huge hit at freeway speed as well. The six years or so I have been driving my C-Max energi for my work commute, I chose to do most of that on surface streets because I could get more range out of the battery. It took a little longer to get to work, but I got a lot more range.

Additionally - I posted this in another thread, but after my wife got her Model 3 in December, I did a range test on the freeway. Driving North on the interstate is very slightly uphill. As such, I got only 154 miles out of 94% of the battery, when in town we can easily get 240-260 miles. Just coming back to the house this morning in teh model 3, I had almost 20 miles at a net consumption of ~170wh/mi .. freeway can easily end up over 260wh/mi depending on grade, speed and climate settings.

I feel like EVs should have a Freeway / City rating just like gas cars. It is absolutely a factor, just in reverse of a gas engine. I was shocked when I found out the "range" on a porsche taycan with a 94kwh battery only got ~200mi of range .. but it seems like Porsche is giving out the freeway range and not the city range, unlike tesla. In reality, Porsche / Tesla seem to have similar range.

The Taycan does not have similar range to any Tesla except the Model 3 SR+ in any normal situation excluding Autobahn speeds.

 

[alloverx]

I thought Car and Driver did a range test (Model-S vs Taycan) and extrapolated that the real difference was very small.

 

[VT_EE]

I don't know what Car and Driver was doing to get such bad range on a Model S, but Motor Trend made it 360 miles driving from Fremont to LA.

"To validate that number, MotorTrend testing director Kim Reynolds drove an updated Tesla Model S from the automaker's plant in Fremont, California, nearly 360 miles south to Tesla's design studio in Hawthorne. In the video, Reynolds explains the updates that gave the Model S the additional range. A front permanent-magnetic motor promises better efficiency and does most of the work when you're cruising on the highway."

What's the Longest-Range Electric Car? Find out in This Video! - Motor Trend

 

[SilverSmith]

One of my first trips in my M3 was 188 miles to the first super charger and we BARELY made it (8 miles of range), exact same trip actually. We did have aero wheels on. The M3 was charged fully, showing 308miles of range when we left. Granted we drove between 78-82mph, it was around 32 degrees out, snow/raining most of the way. And yes, both this MY trip and the M3 trip 15 months ago we using things normally (heater, radio, etc.). The heat pump didn't seem to make a major impact on distance, but that is hard to tell without the ability to turn it off. Last note, it wasn't noticably windy, but that doesn't mean there wasn't wind. I just have no way to measure a head or tail wind.

That said, I tried pretty hard to find my usage going 80mph on a flat part of the road without heater on (while we were coming home). It appeared that it could do 255-295Wh/mile, but since the entire trip is almost never flat, it is far from a good test.

On another note, did you see the review of our wheels and 0-60 times? Our performance wheels on the MY are over 60lbs each. We could easily add some range by finding a lighter and more aerodynamic wheel.

These videos show 3.23s 0-60mph by dropping down to a 18" lightweight wheel. 0.3s improvement is pretty impressive with just a wheel change.

 

[winglian]

@SilverSmith Could you post photos of the rear hatch and lights? I'm trying to figure how far out of spec my is. Thanks!

 

[MY-Y]

I know that the people most likely to run 0-60 and 1/4 mile runs probably bought the performance version, but I'd love to see some performance tests of the AWD MY!

 

[jdr93]

winglian
did you ask the delivery person about the obvious problem?

 

[Bikeman]

The heat pump didn't seem to make a major impact on distance, but that is hard to tell without the ability to turn it off.

Could you explain this in more detail? I find it troubling that there is no way to turn it off. Do you mean one can't decide to use heat or air conditioning at all? Is there no actionable climate control function on the Y?

 

[Electric Steve]

Could you explain this in more detail? I find it troubling that there is no way to turn it off. Do you mean one can't decide to use heat or air conditioning at all? Is there no actionable climate control function on the Y?

I think he means that he can't compare heat pump vs. resistive heating, so he's not sure how much power is being saved by the former.

 

[gNoj_LL]

s there a seat heater grid packaged on that armrest for the “center” 2nd row passenger’s back? Or is only heating the “center” passenger’s butt only.

 

[DarkNightP3D]

One of my first trips in my M3 was 188 miles to the first super charger and we BARELY made it (8 miles of range), exact same trip actually. We did have aero wheels on. The M3 was charged fully, showing 308miles of range when we left. Granted we drove between 78-82mph, it was around 32 degrees out, snow/raining most of the way. And yes, both this MY trip and the M3 trip 15 months ago we using things normally (heater, radio, etc.). The heat pump didn't seem to make a major impact on distance, but that is hard to tell without the ability to turn it off. Last note, it wasn't noticably windy, but that doesn't mean there wasn't wind. I just have no way to measure a head or tail wind.

That said, I tried pretty hard to find my usage going 80mph on a flat part of the road without heater on (while we were coming home). It appeared that it could do 255-295Wh/mile, but since the entire trip is almost never flat, it is far from a good test.

On another note, did you see the review of our wheels and 0-60 times? Our performance wheels on the MY are over 60lbs each. We could easily add some range by finding a lighter and more aerodynamic wheel.

These videos show 3.23s 0-60mph by dropping down to a 18" lightweight wheel. 0.3s improvement is pretty impressive with just a wheel change.

Well the snow/rain and freezing temp will def impact your range. Just running wipers has a discernible effect on energy consumption.

 

[DarkNightP3D]

Likewise, any highway efficiency test that doesn’t precisely note the wind is basically useless. One person could have a 5 mph headwind, while another could have a 5 mph tailwind and see a large difference in results. This is exasperated because a 5 mph breeze is hard to discern. I suspect most would even describe it as “calm” yet it can have a significant effect. At high speeds, measurements can easily be off by 10-15% due to unaccounted for winds, totally masking the differences in tire or wheel efficiency.

I mean it’s hard for average joes to note wind speeds. Most people don’t have weather stations in their car monitoring head and tailwinds. Weather apps on phone are rarely accurate. Best you can do is a back to back test with two vehicles running the same route at the same time so all of the variables are about as close to even as possible.

 

[ohmman]

I mean it’s hard for average joes to note wind speeds. Most people don’t have weather stations in their car monitoring head and tailwinds. Weather apps on phone are rarely accurate.

I know this from towing my camper with my X, where wind's impact is exaggerated due to the additional frontal area. I spend a lot of time trying to see if the grass or leaves on trees are blowing, even slightly. Sometimes I get lucky and hit the holy grail - a flag or series of flags.

 

[db93]

Has anyone measured with the second row seats down the measurement? I want to see if I can fit my bike without taking the front wheel off.

I was surprised to see that my Canyon size sm fit with wheel on, in the M3
Should be easy fit in the Y, like S or X