Bet she had the cabin overheat protection on. That will suck a lot of energy over time, and keeps the car from going into deep sleep where drain is minimal. And of she was checking her app frequently, that also wakes the car up.
-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Model Y very poor range/efficiency
- Thread starter Gooseg8
- Start date
boulder.dude
Member
sleepydoc
Well-Known Member
Yes! Also people need to remember that milage in ICE cars also sucks in the wintertime. Between cold starts, running defrosters, warming up the engine, etc it's not uncommon for your milage to drop 30-40%.
The bigger difference with ICE cars is that for longer trips that starts to disappear because after the car reaches operating temp, cabin heat is 'free'
Midnightsun
Active Member
Ice cars average a 15% drop whereas EV a 40% drop. Quite a substantial difference. I have been driving in cold winter condition for close to 50 years, never really noticed the ICE car range difference although it is there. You definitely notice it on an EV without even trying. You just say WTF happened to my range when going somewhere in extreme cold.
Had to run an errand the other day, -28C, had the Y charged to 100% in a warm garage. Was not sure I was going to make it back but I did on fumes that is. Range was 500km when I left, only had to go 270 total.
I was under the impression that Tesla implemented changes in the past 2-3 years that reduced cold-weather range loss to around 20%, down from the traditionally accepted 40%. No?
Midnightsun
Active Member
They may have improved efficiency some but I can tell you from experience it a 40% loss on todays vehicles. New battery chemistry will eventually close the gap but that is probably a decade away.
sleepydoc
Well-Known Member
I've definitely seen more than 15% drop in our ICE cars. The big difference with an EV is you notice it. For all Elon's bravado about eliminating range anxiety, it still exists. You can't 'fill up' an EV on every street corner like you can an ICE car, and the average EV's range is significantly lower to start with.
There's only so much you can do. They switched over to a heat pump which is more efficient at heating the cabin, but you don't get heat for 'free' like you do with an ICE car.
We just drove back from our cabin, about 150 miles/240 km. The temperature ranged from -15 to -10ºC (5-15º F). We averaged about 320 Wh/mi, started with 91% and ended with 18%. The cabin was not cold but not warm either (my feet were definitely happy to come inside) and we didn't use the seat heaters.
Why didn't you use the seat heaters? The seat heater and steering wheel heater energy usage is negligible compared with the Climate Control system's heat pump.
sleepydoc
Well-Known Member
yes, Model Y long range. Delivered July, 2020
We preheated the seats before we left, but while we drove our butts weren’t cold. Our feet and hands were. The seat heaters wouldn’t have contributed much if anything to our comfort. We also had dogs in the car and needed some climate control to keep the windows clear.
boulder.dude
Member
They just need 600 miles of EPA range (= 300 miles of cold weather range) to eliminate the issue.
Midnightsun
Active Member
My Model S is already rated at over 600 and the range is about 300 in frigid temps albeit in kilometers.
Come to think of it the range cut reminds me of the time I had a Murano. Attached a double snowmobile trailer with 2 sleds and headed off way up north. Was probably -20C out in a major snowstorm. By the time we got to Quebec city from Montreal we needed to refuel, consumed almost twice as much as I normally would without the trailer. Was probably towing around 3,000 lbs. For those who know how bad economy drops while trailering with an ICE, it is a good reference of what to expect with an EV in the cold minus the trailer of course.
Last edited:
My Model S is already rated at over 600 and the range is about 300 in frigid temps albeit in kilometers.
Come to think of it the range cut reminds me of the time I had a Murano. Attached a double snowmobile trailer with 2 sleds and headed off way up north. Was probably -20C out in a major snowstorm. By the time we got to Quebec city from Montreal we needed to refuel, consumed almost twice as much as I normally would without the trailer. Was probably towing around 3,000 lbs. For those who know how bad economy drops while trailering with an ICE, it is a good reference of what to expect with an EV in the cold minus the trailer of course.
Towing with an EV will instantly drop your range by half.
I don't know how practical the Rivian R1T and Ford Lightning will be IMO. I want them to succeed but realistically... the two use worst use cases for current EV are: cold climates and towing.
Midnightsun
Active Member
Tell me about it! Hooked up a lightweight all aluminum trailer last summer to the Y to go pick up a new pool heater (negligable weight). Was rather shocked at how much I consumed in such a short distance to my destination and this is with an empty trailer! On the way back, I needed to keep the speed down substantially as I was worried about making it home and did not want to unhook the trailer to charge which is another big issue with a supercharger vs trailer connection. A snowmobile trailer on a Y in winter condition must be really bad. If time permits I may just do just that and record the outcome. My guess is a 65% reduction in range if not more.
Someone with a Rivian (not an employee) just towed a Mustang (real one) across country. I think they had to stop every 90 - 100 miles to recharge.
sleepydoc
Well-Known Member
That makes for a long trip!
EVs achieve their range through efficiency. That means regenerative braking to recoup braking losses, low rolling resistance tires and aerodynamic efficiency. Wind resistance ends up being one of the single biggest losses at highway speeds and a trailer drastically increases wind resistance.
On a recent trip we were on I35 where the speed limit was 70. I was traveling with the flow of traffic, about 75 MPH. Out of curiosity, I dropped the speed to 70 for 5 minutes and watched power consumption. It went from about 370 Wh/mi down to 340. Essentially 5 MPH caused about a 9% drop in efficiency.
Th
Yup. I haven't even gotten my car yet, but I'm already looking at a lot of the places I usually travel, especially the ones that are 70-90 miles away, and figuring out if there are any routes that may be a little longer but have me traveling 55-60 instead of 70-75.
Or you could just familiarize yourself with charging options, especially Superchargers, on your normal route. May be about the same amount of time as a slower route.
Similar threads
- Locked
