I plan to contact the SC this week. I’m also having a charge port issue (only opens halfway automatically) and I’ll have them take another look at the degradation.
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Only charging to 302 miles?
- Thread starter rhino2627
- Start date
I plan to contact the SC this week. I’m also having a charge port issue (only opens halfway automatically) and I’ll have them take another look at the degradation.
The car stays in my garage which is in the 60s when I charged to 100%. Is that cold enough to make a difference?
My VIN is #83xx. I had the same thought as you, wasn’t concerned until I read that others were starting off at +310.
jschwefel
Tesla fan/TSLA, Model Y and Cybertruck owner.
BTW, I have the 19” wheels. Could it be the cars with 18” wheels see slightly higher range estimates?
I have 19 inch wheels. I charged to 309 before I manually stopped it. It said 40 minutes remaining until full prior to stopping.
True, but a full battery on a car with 19” wheels has less range than one with 18” wheels, even without any energy consumption history. Shouldn’t the battery meter reflect that?
dhrivnak
Active Member
No that is an ideal temperature for the pack. When I first got the car a range charge was 308 and a few days later it showed 311 so the numbers will vary some.
You're right about the physics but wrong about how the range display works.
Well, there are two schools of thought. Many (most?) EVs do have a range meter that reflects how much energy is used to go a given distance. It varies by wheel/tire, driving style, wind, air temperature, rain/snow, battery temperature, elevation, etc. Many call it a GOM for Guess-o-meter. Some manufacturers do better than others in their prediction methods. Tesla doesn't do this. They use a predetermined energy consumption for the rated range display. For the 3 LR, it appears to be ~234 Wh/mi. How you drive, under what conditions, and what wheels and tires you use does not affect this.
Tesla displays the range on the EPA test cycle. This is not changed by driving style, temperature, etc., because those conditions are defined by the EPA test cycle. However, the same car with two different size wheels would give different results on the EPA test cycle. To be consistent, Tesla should have a different rated range for the 18 and 19 inch wheels. Instead, they apparently test one version and use that energy consumption to give the rated range for both versions. One of them has to be wrong. If the 18 inch wheel car was tested and found to have EPA rated range of 310 miles, the 19 inch wheel car would have less rated range. If a 19 inch wheel car was used for the test and found to have EPA rated range of 310 miles, the 18 inch wheel car should have an EPA rated range even greater than that.
You're certainly entitled to your opinion but you may not realize that the difference in range is heavily dependent on wheel design, wheel/tire size, tire compound, and tire tread. Many people fall into the trap thinking that the tire size (18" vs 19") is the greatest discriminator between wheel/tire combinations. Tesla tested and reported to the EPA both currently available wheel/tire combinations. Here's the table:
Source: Model 3 epa | Battery Charger | Dangerous Goods
Tesla used the data from the 18" wheel/tire combo, which yielded a range of 334 miles according to the EPA combination of tests. They then opted to reduce that to 310 mi rated range, which is what is seen in the car. My theory is that the difference between those values is the available range below "0 range" as indicated from the car. Basically they built in a buffer below zero predicted range in which the car will continue to operate. It could be 24 miles.
But I digress, you can choose to put 18 or 19 or 20" wheels on your car. More importantly for range, you can also choose to put LRR tires on your car or racing slicks or winter tires. Some of those options are available for sale directly from Tesla. Tire selection can very easily have a larger impact than wheel size on driving efficiency. An 18" Aero wheel (cover installed) with Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires would likely have less range than 19" Sport wheels with Michelin Energy Savers.
So if you were Tesla what assumptions would you make for the rated range display in the car? They choose to use 18" Aero with the OE tire for Model 3 LR. They make similar choices for Model S/X.
Source: Model 3 epa | Battery Charger | Dangerous Goods
Tesla used the data from the 18" wheel/tire combo, which yielded a range of 334 miles according to the EPA combination of tests. They then opted to reduce that to 310 mi rated range, which is what is seen in the car. My theory is that the difference between those values is the available range below "0 range" as indicated from the car. Basically they built in a buffer below zero predicted range in which the car will continue to operate. It could be 24 miles.
But I digress, you can choose to put 18 or 19 or 20" wheels on your car. More importantly for range, you can also choose to put LRR tires on your car or racing slicks or winter tires. Some of those options are available for sale directly from Tesla. Tire selection can very easily have a larger impact than wheel size on driving efficiency. An 18" Aero wheel (cover installed) with Pilot Sport Cup 2 tires would likely have less range than 19" Sport wheels with Michelin Energy Savers.
So if you were Tesla what assumptions would you make for the rated range display in the car? They choose to use 18" Aero with the OE tire for Model 3 LR. They make similar choices for Model S/X.
jschwefel
Tesla fan/TSLA, Model Y and Cybertruck owner.
tagpats
Member
I didn’t range charge until 2 months after delivery. 301 was my max. Vin #41xx. Some might see some adjustment if you let the battery get quite low and then fully charge again (rebalancing the pack), but I haven’t experienced any improvement in my S or 3 doing that. Just be mindful of unnecessary and frequent range charging and its potential impact on your battery health. If you do fully charge, don’t let it sit that way.
I don’t know why two new cars can show such different rated ranges, but most can expect a quick drop in rated miles and then a long level off period with little to no degradation. My Model S75D never charged to its rated max of 259. It’s nearly two years old and 248 is the current max.
I don’t know why two new cars can show such different rated ranges, but most can expect a quick drop in rated miles and then a long level off period with little to no degradation. My Model S75D never charged to its rated max of 259. It’s nearly two years old and 248 is the current max.
No. It’s the EPA rated range, as has been explained here countless times.
Measuring the actual capacity of a battery pack can be difficult without hooking it up to specialized testing equipment and running it through full, controlled discharge cycles.
I won't venture to guess exactly how Tesla measures/calculates/estimates a pack's capacity, but it seems plausible that coming up only 2.5% short of the expected value might be within the margin of error.(?)
Still, if I was the owner I'd be a bit perturbed as well. But I'd also guess that it's too early and too small of a deficit to come to any definitive conclusions about it. :-/
I won't venture to guess exactly how Tesla measures/calculates/estimates a pack's capacity, but it seems plausible that coming up only 2.5% short of the expected value might be within the margin of error.(?)
Still, if I was the owner I'd be a bit perturbed as well. But I'd also guess that it's too early and too small of a deficit to come to any definitive conclusions about it. :-/
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