Last night I decided to test the energy consumption of the HVAC of both our Model 3 and Y. I wanted to see how much of a difference the heat pump in the Y would make. Both cars were pre-heated to 70F for several hours while plugged in. Simultaneously, both cars were unplugged. "Camp Mode" and 70F were then selected. They were both side by side in our garage which stayed at 65F all night. So the load on both cars was quite light, as only a 5 degree delta T was set. These results obviously don't show what the loss would be under cold winter conditions; I'm just showing a comparison between the two. I would think the difference would be greater as the outside temperature decreased, up until the point that the heat pump became so inefficient that the Y would require mostly resistive heating. Even at that point the Y should still show an advantage as the Y can use waste heat from the motors to warm the cabin. Also, please note that even under only slightly cool temperatures, the Y should show a greater advantage while driving than this test indicates due to the afore mentioned ability of the Y to use waste heat from the motors and battery to heat the cabin.
Long story short, the results here indicate a worst case scenario for the Y, and at ambient temperatures above approximately 35F the Y's advantage should be greater than the test results contained herein.
The Model 3 started at 255 miles of range and ended the test with 181 miles of range, using 74 miles of range to heat the car overnight. The Model Y started at 170 miles of range and ended the test with 148 miles of range, using 22 miles of range to heat the car overnight. The test ran for 11 hours and range was checked once via the app for both cars approximately 1/3 of the way through the test. Energy consumption was linear for both cars according to that check.
The Y required 2 miles of range/hour to heat the car, the 3 required 6.73 miles/hour. As I stated earlier, the difference should be even greater under actual driving conditions and mildly cool/cold temperatures for a variety of reasons. At some very cold temperature--where no waste heat is available for the Y to heat the cabin--the range loss to heat the cabin should equal out.
Long story short, the results here indicate a worst case scenario for the Y, and at ambient temperatures above approximately 35F the Y's advantage should be greater than the test results contained herein.
The Model 3 started at 255 miles of range and ended the test with 181 miles of range, using 74 miles of range to heat the car overnight. The Model Y started at 170 miles of range and ended the test with 148 miles of range, using 22 miles of range to heat the car overnight. The test ran for 11 hours and range was checked once via the app for both cars approximately 1/3 of the way through the test. Energy consumption was linear for both cars according to that check.
The Y required 2 miles of range/hour to heat the car, the 3 required 6.73 miles/hour. As I stated earlier, the difference should be even greater under actual driving conditions and mildly cool/cold temperatures for a variety of reasons. At some very cold temperature--where no waste heat is available for the Y to heat the cabin--the range loss to heat the cabin should equal out.
