New model y range issues

[Reisinger]

I just got my Model Y on December 26. My first trip out of town, Sarasota to Disney. 90 miles all interstate. Driving 90 miles and it drained 50% of my battery. Is something wrong? Should I take in to be looked at?

 

[Dennisis]

Only because at every opportunity I have been told that there’s so many factors and this is normal. I’m hoping that it’s not normal and can be fixed. If not, why would I keep it? It can’t meet minimum expectations.

I have friends with teslas and a friend in Denver with the exact same MY Performance. He hasn’t had this level of range issue. So I’m hopeful it can be resolved but diagnostics show the battery is “fine”. Part of this is mentally preparing myself to be disappointed with the (lack of) performance and that I may have to part with a car that barring this one trip has been so much fun and is great.

If you truly feel that way about the car spend a little time reading and using available resources (A Better Route Planner is a good one) to prep for your next trip - it doesn’t have to be hard. I’ll soon be traveling on my annual trip through the Mts of AZ, Utah, CO, and NM with no worries. You just need to do more research and plan ahead and you’ll be fine. Or sell and move on if you’re just comfortable with the current convenience with an ICE and can’t be bothered.

 

[Gadmandu]

If you truly feel that way about the car spend a little time reading and using available resources (A Better Route Planner is a good one) to prep for your next trip - it doesn’t have to be hard. I’ll soon be traveling on my annual trip through the Mts of AZ, Utah, CO, and NM with no worries. You just need to do more research and plan ahead and you’ll be fine. Or sell and move on if you’re just comfortable with the current convenience with an ICE and can’t be bothered.

There are no additional chargers on the route. So what research could be done that would address that constraint? If I can’t make it between the two super chargers, then I can’t make the route.

 

[Dennisis]

There are no additional chargers on the route. So what research could be done that would address that constraint? If I can’t make it between the two super chargers, then I can’t make the route.

More charge and less speed if the conditions dictate. If the wind were at your back you’d have been fine.

 

[Big Earl]

Wind can make or break a road trip. My advice is to check the wind prior and plan accordingly. A 20 MPH head wind can double your energy consumption, cutting your range in half, depending on the speed you're traveling. 70 MPH + 20 MPH head wind = 90 MPH through the air. The prudent course of action would be to charge a little extra and/or slow down to help offset wind.

Yes, it's different from just setting out blindly in a gas car that you can fill up at any gas station. Part of EV adoption is acknowledging that there are fewer charging options available, and planning for changing weather conditions. A person crossing extremely rural areas in an internal combustion vehicle could easily get caught out by adverse weather, especially at night.

So yes, your car is functioning normally. You can make ownership more enjoyable by putting a small amount of additional effort into trip planning. I'm not blaming new owners for this - just trying to educate on the paradigm shift that is EV ownership. It gets easier every year as more charging stations are involved, so the network today will continue to get better and be easier to live with.

 

[Gadmandu]

More charge and less speed if the conditions dictate. If the wind were at your back you’d have been fine.

Yeah I can believe that another 20mins or so at the charger to get to 95% and driving well under the speed limit would have worked. But I’ve seen where others are reporting road trips at normal speeds and similar conditions and distance. I was hoping for a more fun experience, I guess.

 

[Gadmandu]

Wind can make or break a road trip. My advice is to check the wind prior and plan accordingly. A 20 MPH head wind can double your energy consumption, cutting your range in half, depending on the speed you're traveling. 70 MPH + 20 MPH head wind = 90 MPH through the air. The prudent course of action would be to charge a little extra and/or slow down to help offset wind.

Yes, it's different from just setting out blindly in a gas car that you can fill up at any gas station. Part of EV adoption is acknowledging that there are fewer charging options available, and planning for changing weather conditions. A person crossing extremely rural areas in an internal combustion vehicle could easily get caught out by adverse weather, especially at night.

So yes, your car is functioning normally. You can make ownership more enjoyable by putting a small amount of additional effort into trip planning. I'm not blaming new owners for this - just trying to educate on the paradigm shift that is EV ownership. It gets easier every year as more charging stations are involved, so the network today will continue to get better and be easier to live with.

Not convinced that the wind was the same yesterday as indicated today. It sure felt pretty still out there.

But maybe you’re right and I guess my old Kia Optima is just a better car for my needs. Maybe one day when I can have a road trip ICE car to pair with my city Tesla this will work out.

 

[Dennisis]

Yeah I can believe that another 20mins or so at the charger to get to 95% and driving well under the speed limit would have worked. But I’ve seen where others are reporting road trips at normal speeds and similar conditions and distance. I was hoping for a more fun experience, I guess.

Sometimes there are compromises if dictated by charging availability and environmental conditions but those are fairly rare and normally easily overcome - normal driving and situations are seamless.

 

[Big Earl]

Just curious: did you take the route Cisco > Coleman > Ballinger > Eden > Junction or did you do Cisco > Coleman > Brady > Junction?

I ask because Supercharge.info suggests the latter route, which is shorter at 158 miles, while A Better Route Planner suggests the former route, which is longer at 176 miles.

Yesterday's weather would have been a 5 - 15 MPH headwind depending on time of travel.

 

[thesmokingman]

If that is “how it’s supposed to work” then unfortunately the car won’t work for me and I’ll have to sell it.

Yeas, anyone can clearly see this is the best choice for you.

 

[WhiteWi]

Gosh another range whining. Sorry I was able to road trip in old ass S 75 with available range at 100% being 229 with no problems.

 

[jsight]

Yeah I can believe that another 20mins or so at the charger to get to 95% and driving well under the speed limit would have worked. But I’ve seen where others are reporting road trips at normal speeds and similar conditions and distance. I was hoping for a more fun experience, I guess.

That's fair, IMO. TBH, your trip highlights a problem with the current charging network. Its almost always suitable for interstate trips, but it isn't always great for trips along state highways right now. Most of the time, I'd expect this trip to be easy and fun, but its something that will likely need that 20 minute push to >90% to do so. I doubt you'd have to go super slow, maybe ~75.

Its really not fun to have a performance car but avoid using it to stretch a travel leg. Thankfully my routes now all have superchargers, but I can't blame you for thinking about switching to something else if that is a route you do often.

 

[DanDi58]

Not convinced that the wind was the same yesterday as indicated today. It sure felt pretty still out there.

But maybe you’re right and I guess my old Kia Optima is just a better car for my needs. Maybe one day when I can have a road trip ICE car to pair with my city Tesla this will work out.

Yeah, you seem like a Kia Optima kinda guy, TBH. Goof luck.

 

[advocate8]

Straight into a significant headwind…

View attachment 815460

Now we’re getting somewhere. If you had a block headwind averaging 20 mph it is exactly as if you were driving the car 95mph.
Even if it was just 10 mph avg then you were driving at 85 mph apparent wind speed, as we say in the sailing business.
85-95 mph will flat drain a battery.

 

[dino007]

Who knows I’ve taken trips from el paso to dallas twice already and was able to skip the pecos supercharger from van horn to midland section and thats about 190 miles and had like 15% left from 90% driving at 75-80mph

And it was 100+ degrees last year when i did it with A/C set to 70

U can try giving it another go if not your gonna be disappointed so just sell the car

 

[ranss12]

I've taken 3 cross country round trips from NY to San Diego. The best screen to monitor by far during long trips if there is any doubt about reaching the next SuperCharger is the Trip/Consumption page that shows the projected battery capacity when arriving at the next Supercharger. If that dips below 7 or 8%, then start slowing down. If it drops to 5%, slow down more, etc. If it climbs back to 8%, speed up if you want. If it drops below 0%, start looking for an on-route Level 2 charger on Plugshare (I've never needed to do that) that will give you just enough to get to the Supercharger (no need to sit there for hours if you only need an extra 20 miles).

 

[KL_68]

80% SOC should be able to go 155 miles without having to drive like a grandma. I frequently drive to San Diego (~100 miles one way) and do +/-10mph over speed limit, leave with 90% SOC and arrive with ~45%-50% remaining. Granted I know everyone's situation and condition are different.