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New Tesla Owner, battery range lower than expected

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So I just took delivery of my Model 3 Long Range and have had it on charge at the office and just now been notified that charging is complete. It tells me that I have 279 miles and it shows as not fully charged in the graphic in the app. Does it not fully charge the batteries to give you the well advertised 348 miles from a charge? 68 miles is a huge difference to what I was expecting?

Maybe I am being simplistic expecting to at least see higher rates than that from day one?

Cheers
Chris
 
As standard, the charge level is set to less than 100%, it's not good to fully charge the battery unless you're about to set off on a long journey.

If you're about to do a long journey, just drag the slider to the right.

If I drag the slider fully to the right on mine, I get an estimated range of 310 miles - about right.

I've got a M3LR and I did a 300 mile round trip last week. In theory, I would have arrived home with 4% battery. I decided there wasn't any point in that and charged for 20 mins or so whilst I ate some tea, arriving home with ~40 miles capacity.

I was achieving around 220 Wh/m. Just like a petrol or diesel car, if you're doing 80 on the motorway, your efficiency and therefore range will be significantly less.

Luke
 
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Does it not fully charge the batteries to give you the well advertised 348 miles from a charge?

Thats a fictitious test number from a test to allow you to compare relative ranges of EV's. A bit like MPG - you are not going to achieve in most real world driving.

The range in the car is based upon 310 miles (for a LR AWD) when new. That is based upon an efficiency of around 225W/mile. If you drive under that, you theoretically will get better than 310 miles, over that, less. Lots of things work against that, right foot, speed, weight, cabin heat/AC, temperature etc etc etc.

I say theoretically, because you do not drive an EV 0 - 100% battery. Maybe 20-80/90%. Everyone had their own views on where the sweet spot is for battery, but the only thing most agree on is to never leave the car close to the 0% or 100% mark for any period of time. If you charge to 100%, you drive pretty soon after - its called trip for a reason. You go below 10/20%, you put it on charge as soon as you can.

The other theoretical bit is that the batter will lose range slightly. So the 310 may become 295/300/305 etc - not a fixed range, can go up as well as down. But it will always be 310 when full. Much like a fuel gauge will show 100% when full. On that subject, many people just use % for battery, much like a traditional fuel gauge.

I wish Tesla wouldn't use 348 mile range, but thats what they have to put. It just sets expectations at a pretty much unachievable range. Just like the 310 will likely be come cooler days or faster driving.

An EV is not a traditional car that you may have been use to for many years. It requires a slight change in thinking. Its more like being a student again and borrowing parents car and topping it up with £5 just to cover what fuel has been used. You charge more for immediate needs rather than filling up when it gets near empty.
 
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So I just took delivery of my Model 3 Long Range and have had it on charge at the office and just now been notified that charging is complete. It tells me that I have 279 miles and it shows as not fully charged in the graphic in the app. Does it not fully charge the batteries to give you the well advertised 348 miles from a charge? 68 miles is a huge difference to what I was expecting?

Maybe I am being simplistic expecting to at least see higher rates than that from day one?

Cheers
Chris
Tesla dont use the WLTP on the car screen or app (348 miles WLTP is a EU law thingy that car maunfautures advertise with) Tesla use an "almost" real range 310 miles which i belive is on the LR? 238miles on the SR+ (Although mine now shows 220!)

Don't forget the longer you drive, the BMS will slowly readjust itself and that reading will drop to lower than 300 over time.

So 75kwh battery /310 miles = 242w/mile which would seem possible if you drive efficiently and its sunny, warm, dry and smooth straight roads

The WLTP would have you try 215w/mile in the LR - might be possible, not sure? Its possible in the SR+ but i have to drive carefully to maintain that.

Dont forget that 310miles you see today, you will not achive in the Winter! Cold and Wet is an eater of electrons :)
 
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So I just took delivery of my Model 3 Long Range and have had it on charge at the office and just now been notified that charging is complete. It tells me that I have 279 miles and it shows as not fully charged in the graphic in the app. Does it not fully charge the batteries to give you the well advertised 348 miles from a charge? 68 miles is a huge difference to what I was expecting?

Maybe I am being simplistic expecting to at least see higher rates than that from day one?

Cheers
Chris
Don't take this the wrong way but you might want to read the manual. if you aren't used to Teslas or Even EV's then the learning curve is way higher than switching between ICE cars. I don't think I had ever read more than a couple of pages of a car manual before getting a Tesla but for this every page was like, Oh OK I didn't know that. People on this site are very helpful and will happily answer your questions as you can see but there will be lots of stuff that you don't even know that you don't know.
 
Aha this is all making sense, thanks I will look into this more

It's worth hanging out here and looking over some of the topics being discussed. There's loads of useful stuff that you will pick up. Just be warned that people will make a point of raising problems and issues ... that's what we use forums for ... don't panic! Occasionally some of those issues will affect you and your car but frequently they won't. Either way it's worth being informed. The Tesla is "a work in progress" and it's constantly evolving. The regular over the air updates are designed to improve the car ... at no cost to you ... so things are constantly being tweaked and changed ... this is a place where you can share experiences ... welcome!
 
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As the others have said, swap from miles to %charge, and get comfy with the Energy graph’s Wh/mile concept.

Think of your car like your phone, the time the battery lasts depends greatly on what you do with it. If you spend a long time on calls or looking at the screen with the brightness up, then the battery will run down fast in comparison with the odd glance to check messages. If you know you are going to be out all day and use the phone a lot, you would probably consider how and where you are going to charge it again. If you know your battery normally lasts you the whole day, you probably wouldn’t think about that at all.

Your car works in exactly the same way, enjoy its performance characteristics and marvel at the new peaks on your Energy graph as your average Wh/mile climbs dramatically in direct proportion with the smile on your face. Same with the heater in the cold.

I don’t know what your typical day of journeys will look like or what chargers are likely to be available en route, but if it is more than 150 miles (100 in winter), you will probably want to plan your day a bit more than you would have done in an ICE car because chargers aren’t as plentiful as petrol stations. There is an app and website called ABRP that would help with this if Superchargers aren’t common where you want to go.

I recommend you watch Bjørn Nyland’s videos on YouTube. He is an acquired taste, but I learned most about how to get the best out of my Tesla from them.

Finally, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I was as puzzled as you at first, but range ceased to be an issue for me after about a month when I understood how it all worked. You just need a tiny bit more thought than you used to give to your ICE cars when you go a long way in a day. You can read endless posts and watch any amount of videos on it, but they are all a bit meaningless until you experience it personally.

I hope you enjoy exercising your right foot.
 
Oh I forgot, there is another thing. If you travel long distances, the entire proposition only works if you can plug in at night or fast charge before parking up. This becomes an issue if you venture into the boonies to visit friends or go on holiday in rural areas. I’ve found this does have a marked impact on what would be an ordinary day in an ICE car.
 
"...the well advertised 348 miles..."

Who's gonna tell him?
The EU Ranges are different than the US. In the US the Long Range Model 3 gets a 320 mile range listing from the US Government. They put every can under the same conditions, so that it is a fair comparison. Tesla does not just pull numbers from their Butt.

In Europe, Cars are once again given a range by the government. Everyone in the world knows that the EU are not accurate for any vehicle.

In the US it is a compbination of City/Highway miles. I do not have the exact numbers, but let's say the in City the Model 3 goes 360 miles and on the Highway 280 miles for an average of 320 miles City/Highway. That is not exact, but it gives you an idea as to how the government arrives at their numbers...
 
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Thats a fictitious test number from a test to allow you to compare relative ranges of EV's. A bit like MPG - you are not going to achieve in most real world driving.

The range in the car is based upon 310 miles (for a LR AWD) when new. That is based upon an efficiency of around 225W/mile. If you drive under that, you theoretically will get better than 310 miles, over that, less. Lots of things work against that, right foot, speed, weight, cabin heat/AC, temperature etc etc etc.

I say theoretically, because you do not drive an EV 0 - 100% battery. Maybe 20-80/90%. Everyone had their own views on where the sweet spot is for battery, but the only thing most agree on is to never leave the car close to the 0% or 100% mark for any period of time. If you charge to 100%, you drive pretty soon after - its called trip for a reason. You go below 10/20%, you put it on charge as soon as you can.

The other theoretical bit is that the batter will lose range slightly. So the 310 may become 295/300/305 etc - not a fixed range, can go up as well as down. But it will always be 310 when full. Much like a fuel gauge will show 100% when full. On that subject, many people just use % for battery, much like a traditional fuel gauge.

I wish Tesla wouldn't use 348 mile range, but thats what they have to put. It just sets expectations at a pretty much unachievable range. Just like the 310 will likely be come cooler days or faster driving.

An EV is not a traditional car that you may have been use to for many years. It requires a slight change in thinking. Its more like being a student again and borrowing parents car and topping it up with £5 just to cover what fuel has been used. You charge more for immediate needs rather than filling up when it gets near empty.

Tesla does not give the Range, that is calculated by the European Union...