Has anyone seen any studies done on Model Y cold battery performance. I just finished a trip between Calgary and Edmonton Model Y long range in about -10 Celsius, no wind to speak of, averaged 112 km/hr and the battery efficiency reported by Tezlab was about 54%. I left the house with 95% capacity and battery warmed up from charger. For a total distance of 500 km (there and back) I had to stop 3 times at super chargers. The tesla trip monitor was showing I could not get 250km out of the 95% start. Summer efficiency reported by Tezlab is about 82-84%. This means winter driving radius is about 120 km unless jumping between super chargers.
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Model Y long range: Cold battery performance
- Thread starter tdawson11
- Start date
I recently went on a roadtrip from Chicago to Toronto and had a very similar outcome. Charged 6 times to get there (approximately 800km trip). I have A 2021 MYP. Definitely seems like a considerable hit in the cold. I also had the car pretty full of kids/stuff. Michigan has some quick interstate speeds (75mph) so I was going over 80 for a while. Speed definitely seems to hugely impact battery life as well.
I drove across Kansas in about 4F with a headwind and I don't think it was as bad as you experienced. But we did have to spend a lot more time at each charger.
I'm not sure the specifics, but speed (wind drag) is definitely the biggest hit on range followed by temperature then road surface then weight.
I'm not sure the specifics, but speed (wind drag) is definitely the biggest hit on range followed by temperature then road surface then weight.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
What shocked me was the price and duration of each supercharging session. On average, each time I stopped was about $25 or so and took ~35-40 minutes.
Watts_Up
Well-Known Member
You should look at your Charging cost under your Tesla.com Account to have a better idea of your charging rate.
My recent Supercharging rates have been between $.23 and $.38 / kWh (Between California and Wyoming.
This was only a little bit more than my low peak and high peak cost at home ($.17 and $.34 / kWh).
So, depending of your own charging cost at home, I found the Supercharging reasonable,
Note: I also get charged by duration in Jackson, WY at a rate of $.14 for 13 minutes and then $.28 for 18 minutes, and $.39 VAT.
The amount of electricty delivered was not mentioned but the total amount was $6.86.
I remember charging from about 50% to 90% or about 30 to 35 kwh, so the Supercharging cost was around $.20 / kWh
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I have to look at TeslaMate over the next couple of months. Im used to the winter hit in range from driving a chevy bolt. That car had about 230ish range when fully charged in summer. The coldest winter months would see a range of about 160 on the 60kwh pack.
Now the Model Y does have the heat pump. I do notice the Tesla doesn’t do much regen at all in the cold temps even with 15 mins of preheating. So the reduced regen is one source of rediced efficiency in colder temps. My model Y doesn’t seem to suffer anywhere near as much as the Bolt did. Road trips are always interesting. Speeds and load both play a big part in your range. I have found that anything over 65 mph results in a significant reduction in range. I normally do about 79 on one highway around here.
Also, what was the change in elevation during your trip?
Now the Model Y does have the heat pump. I do notice the Tesla doesn’t do much regen at all in the cold temps even with 15 mins of preheating. So the reduced regen is one source of rediced efficiency in colder temps. My model Y doesn’t seem to suffer anywhere near as much as the Bolt did. Road trips are always interesting. Speeds and load both play a big part in your range. I have found that anything over 65 mph results in a significant reduction in range. I normally do about 79 on one highway around here.
Also, what was the change in elevation during your trip?
Midnightsun
Active Member
Took the Y on a 135km run 2 weeks ago in -20C. Charged to 100% in a heated garage before departure. Needed to charge to get home since I was down to 46% upon arrival at destination which I probably could have made if I slowed considerably on the way home and turned down the heat. I would say your 120km radius is just about right in colder winter temps. Without a doubt, very cold weather causes a substantial hit in range, probably around 40%.
Will be going the same route today with the Model S this time. Temps slightly colder -28 now and a max of -22 today. S is charged to 100% showing an impossible cold weather range of 660km.
Will be going the same route today with the Model S this time. Temps slightly colder -28 now and a max of -22 today. S is charged to 100% showing an impossible cold weather range of 660km.
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I have a new 2022 Y with 500 miles.. I didn't have enough data but last week. Last week I completed two 21-mile round trips to a same location (total distance 83 miles) but found the range was reduced from 280 to 145.. The temp was 30F to 45F. Set the interior temp to 69 Auto. The car was parked a garage before the departures. I need more data but it seems the range is significantly reduced during cold day trips.
Battery life is also based on how fast you are driving. Anything over 65mph increases the drain on the battery. Also, the car uses 3-10% a day even parked just to maintain (Sentry, operations while sitting, etc). Sentry is 6% a day alone. Then there's the other computer operations while parked/sitting. Then there's the cold.
Here is a snapshot of my January numbers. I am in central Maryland for reference. I plan to use a scan tool soon to get more insight into what the car is doing. I believe ABRP will tell you the elevation change on your route. Hope this helps.
A little more data for reference here. This is about 10,000 miles worth of data logging. There is a clear hit to efficiency in extreme temperatures (hot or cold). This will be the first full winter of data logging so I do need to collect more data for winter temperatures.
TomServo
Active Member
It’s no secret that extreme temps especially COLD temps is the Achilles Heel of any EV, you can minimize it but it’s always going to be lurking to suck the range out of an EV. I’m glad I’m retired and can pick and choose when we take long road trips in our Y. I hope we won’t have to take a long road trip in extreme COLD temps anytime soon, but there is always the ICE vehicle we can rent if needed. Sadly I’m not sure what new technology is available to solve this conundrum.
Here's my efficiency over the last 18 months in Wisconsin. Keep in mind I typically charge and then preheat right before driving, so for me, it's the best possible efficiency at these temps.
One thing I would suggest is not to navigate directly to the Supercharger, so the car doesn't pre-condition the battery. You might not be able to charge quite as quickly, but the pre-conditioning uses quite a lot of power. If you want the most range, navigate to somewhere close to the Superchargers and charge for a few extra minutes if needed.
That said, YEG to YYC is barely do-able in very cold temps, from my place in north Edmonton to Cross Iron at least (300-ish km). 100% charge will get me there with buffer, 90% is cutting it close and depending on wind might not make it. I would typically drive to Cross Iron, charge there, do my driving in Calgary and on the way home drive to Red Deer, charge there and make it home no problem even at -30.
Brian-MS90D
Member
My experience is that the Y is certainly affected by higher speed and external environment. It's tall and less aerodynamic than Tesla's sedans; thus, wind resistance becomes exponentially more impactful with higher speeds and/or colder air. Speed and temp was much, much less impactful with my previous S. With the Y, if you want to maximize range you really need to keep your speed below ~ 65 mph (as already noted by others above).
Having an average speed of 112 km/hr (70 mph) is irrelevant. That average could includes highs and lows. The high speeds are costlier than what the lower speeds would save; they don't balance each other out regarding energy consumption. Plus, once going above 65 mph you're already building up heavy wind resistance in the Y.
The Y will get you there. I'm happy with mine and road trip in it quite often (although road trips only constitute probably 2% of my annual driving). However, if one's top priority was road trip EV range at higher speeds, then you need a S.
Having an average speed of 112 km/hr (70 mph) is irrelevant. That average could includes highs and lows. The high speeds are costlier than what the lower speeds would save; they don't balance each other out regarding energy consumption. Plus, once going above 65 mph you're already building up heavy wind resistance in the Y.
The Y will get you there. I'm happy with mine and road trip in it quite often (although road trips only constitute probably 2% of my annual driving). However, if one's top priority was road trip EV range at higher speeds, then you need a S.
My cottage is about 360 km away; in the summer, I do it with a 15 minute stop at a Supercharger along the way for my MYLR - I technically could just do it straight through with a very full battery, but I like leaving some wiggle room for possible detours, etc along the way. So, I happily stop for a Starbucks and bio break 2/3 of the way along. In the winter (starting with a cold battery, since I don't have an EVSE at home), I stop twice along the way, for a total of about 40-45 minutes at Superchargers. Some trips I take the non-highway route, which is slower speed but shorter distance - and fewer Supercharger options. Then my charging time is longer (L2 + Supercharger, rather than 2 Superchargers), but a more scenic drive 
Midnightsun
Active Member
Cannot imagine snowmobile EVs yet there is one company out there doing just that. Not like you are going to find a supercharger on the trail. I think it's a great idea however battery tech in extreme cold still has some issues to resolve before putting to market IMHO. For a someone with a large property and not into trail riding it may be a good alternative then again they must get darn heavy. Taiga Electric Snowmobiles - 100% electric high torque sleds
