Performance not performing

[jliver33]

Hi All. Excuse my first post, I'm not really one for forums but wanted to share and get some advice.

Middle of last week, I managed to get a 2021 Model 3 Performance that appeared on the inventory, an ex-demo. Grey, ubertubrines, looks beautiful.
Collected it in Manchester with my work colleague taking me there in his Long Range!

Have done just over 800 miles since then, but couple of nights ago it seemed to be dropping power, almost like it was restricted in some way. This got worse on the way home and as the battery level reduced.

Got in touch with tesla who downloaded the logs (?), and said the car is acting "within spec". whatever that means.

Looked through some threads here and see it was discussed previously (unbeknown to me before order), that the latest P model seems to limit power when the battery level passes through 50% and it's worse when cold.

Went back to tesla this morning with that info and they said it was designed that way to protect the battery and extend range, its within spec and I basically I have to live with it.

It's really put me off the car. Am i being unreasonable to not expect the battery to go into some kind of limp mode when it's cold outside and it's not fully charged? That feature isn't communicated anywhere so far as i know? My colleagues LR doesn't do it at all and thats a 2021 model ? Has anyone else experienced this?

I did some acceleration times last night just to post here. Was cold here up on the scottish border, battery was 8c. Not even that cold really.
At 60% the 0-60 was approximately 6 seconds, then just got more and more restricted managed to run it down to 20% by the time I neared home and at that level it was doing 0-60 in 12 seconds!!! This wasn't me just constantly doing 0-60 blasts either although I tried to do a few just to get some measurements. It was restricted across all speeds and you could really feel it being held back. Reminded me of an ICE car in limp mode!

So basically if you buy a Performance model then expect it to be worse than a long range for acceleration when your battery is below 60% and for 9 months of the year.

I raised a complaint with Tesla and asked to return the car but nothing heard back since. Anyone got any ideas or thoughts?

cheers
john

 

[jmaddr]

WOW. 6 and 12 second times are not the norm. Some of what they said is very valid: The car does lose power as the SoC drops. Cold weather does reduce the ability to provide the amps necessary for fast acceleration (until the battery heats up). If you have a data logger working (I use Teslamate), it will log the power ouput along every one of your drives so you can see for yourself what your car is putting down.

I think you could have an issue. No way does my 0-60 drop that bad in cold or low SoC. BTW, this affects all Tesla cars, even the LR. Here is a good, but older, article from MPP:

Tesla Model 3 LR RWD Dyno Testing At Various SOC

Join Team MPP as we test our long range rear wheel drive Model 3 on the dyno! Tesla Model 3 LR RWD Dyno Testing At Various SOC

www.mountainpassperformance.com

 

[Durzel]

Sadly performance does drop off with lower SoC, although the severity of what you describe sounds excessive. I do know there were reports of the heat pump scavenging heat from the battery and in so doing reducing the performance.

Worth a watch (pardon the clickbait titles - Bjorn is a solid YouTuber):

I don't know if or when this might get resolved. As you surmised this doesn't seem to affect the LR to the same extent, for some reason.

 

[btc1k]

Sorry to hear your troubles.

Anecdotally it does seem to affect the 2021 P more (maybe because of heat pump scavenging the battery heat?). But if that is so, then I can't understand why it would affect the P so much and not the LR, comparatively.

I mentioned this previously in the performance waiting room thread after seeing the Bjorn video, consensus seemed to be that it wouldn't affect us in the UK as it's not cold here (I know!), but your battery temperature shows it does.

The other thing I read was that if this was a problem then it'd be fixed in time with a software update. Hardly reassuring through to have a car that might work as intended in the future but doesn't now!

Here another thread on it
Bjorn Nyland: New Model 3 Battery Pack Has Temperature Issues in Cold

and here
Model 3 Performance feels slow?

Starting to see a few threads pop up on this now, saying the 2021 Performance is anything but....

 

[Jason71]

What version of software are you on. Sometimes new cars are on quite old versions and need a kick to update. Took Tesla a while to optimise the new heat pump and not steal too much heat from the battery. not sure if its improved in recent releases.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

This is an issue with 2021 cars as they are using different battery tech.

One theory is Tesla want some real world data from these cars before software updates will release their full potential.

 

[ACarneiro]

This is an issue with 2021 cars as they are using different battery tech.

One theory is Tesla want some real world data from these cars before software updates will release their full potential.

No, unless I completely got this the wrong way round only the SR+ is using different battery tech.
The issue with the 2021 and later cars is that the heat pump scavenges heat form the battery pack so that may well be the cause of the excessive drop in performance.
Whilst I am sure people are correct saying that performance drops noticeably when charge goes below 60%, personally I only really start to get that "sluggish" feeling when the SoC is below 30ish percent.
There are dotted lines on the power gauge thingy to indicate the reduced performance as well.

 

[Durzel]

Tesla could presumably adjust the aggressiveness of the scavenging on the battery at some point in the future, or maybe even disable it completely if the user chooses to on the UI, or something.

 

[Pud123]

Just to reiterate the chap above - the Bjorn experiment is definitely worth a watch which should help you make up your mind. If you do decide to send it back you've only got 7 days under Tesla's returns policy so as you picked it up middle of last week you should act quickly.

If you miss the 7 day window you could still go down the rejection route under the consumer rights act... i.e. car not as advertised. But i'm going to assume that'll be way more hassle.

My 2 cents - i'd send it back and get the LR instead. You could get the 19 inch alloys, plus the acceleration boost and still be many thousands better off.

Whilst i'm rambling - not that i've been paying particular attention, but i'm surprised the 2021 performance (or lack of) hasn't got more push back.... Good luck whatever you do.

 

[Jez_GB]

/RantMode

This is all a bit woolly isn't it! As much as I want the P, I'm buggered if I'm shelling out all that extra for the performance "bits" if I can't use them, or might be able to at some future point yet to be determined - time to reconsider amending my open order for another LR.... Or cancel and wait for Tesla to get off the bloody pot

 

[webbah]

I imagine they will sort out the issues with the newer models with the heat pumps. Mine is a 2019 without the heat pump and while it does suffer a bit in the cold here in Switzerland it's still a very fast car and definitely more fun/fast than the Porsche's, Audi's and other cars I've owned. I suspect they will have this resolved before next Winter, but then again Elon time is very unpredictable.

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

I wonder if this is why there are no M3Ps being shipped at the moment anywhere? It seems odd that the most profitable model you can buy anywhere is the one that is not available.

Software may be able to fix it, but based on some videos I've seen, even on a good day it only has a car length jump on the LR without acceleration boost and then they're level pegging with the LR even catching and overtaking eventually..

Its hard to make a case to keep it, its either the way they are or you have a lemon, neither of which you want.

 

[seadog]

Very surprised the difference in the tail off in performance between the 2020 and 2021 Performance models. Mine is 2020 and you really don't notice that much difference in the performance as the SOC lowers, I wouldn't be giving it full beans at only 10-20% battery anyway.

 

[Jez_GB]

I wouldn't be giving it full beans at only 10-20% battery anyway.

I probably wouldn't either but should be able to at 50% SoC - My mates' 2CV stands a chance of leaving me at the lights on a cold day with a low battery - that's pathetic Elon, sort it out!

 

[15Peter20]

Since buying my LR in December I have had intermittent occasions when it has seemed as though the battery thought itself colder than it reasonably could be, resulting in hugely reduced regen and significantly reduced power as well as odd charging behaviour and poor range.

I took it in for service, bringing along some Teslafi data to show these events and, after some scepticism they took the car and, same day, diagnosed that the main battery needs replacing.

Unfortunately BEVs are weather sensitive and this can, especially at this time of year, mask underlying issues and your perception of them especially if you, like me, had never driven an EV previously.

ETA it took a hell of a lot of careful explanation in order to be believed by the SC ("cold weather does that sir") backed up with Teslafi logs.

 

[DrJFoster]

I wonder if this is why there are no M3Ps being shipped at the moment anywhere? It seems odd that the most profitable model you can buy anywhere is the one that is not available.

It does seem odd that none have been available since last years batch, I thought it was just the UK but maybe not.

I wonder if they've the same problem with the new MS and MX which is delaying their launch?

#love-a-good-conspiracy-theory

 

[init6]

Got in touch with tesla who downloaded the logs (?), and said the car is acting "within spec". whatever that means.

It would be nice to know what the specs are. Seems Tesla just hide behind that statement rather than properly investigate.

 

[Dangerous Fish]

No, unless I completely got this the wrong way round only the SR+ is using different battery tech.
The issue with the 2021 and later cars is that the heat pump scavenges heat form the battery pack so that may well be the cause of the excessive drop in performance.
Whilst I am sure people are correct saying that performance drops noticeably when charge goes below 60%, personally I only really start to get that "sluggish" feeling when the SoC is below 30ish percent.
There are dotted lines on the power gauge thingy to indicate the reduced performance as well.

OK, I should have qualified my statement a bit more. I don't buy that it's just the heatpump causing this issue. Either the battery pack is different to the pre-refresh cars, or there is something else connected with the pack. In any case, isn't the refresh P fitted with a Panasonc pack?

Here's another post which might be of interest: Heads up: Some Late 2020 M3s Requiring Battery Replacements

 

[gil.i.am]

Hi All. Excuse my first post, I'm not really one for forums but wanted to share and get some advice.

Middle of last week, I managed to get a 2021 Model 3 Performance that appeared on the inventory, an ex-demo. Grey, ubertubrines, looks beautiful.
Collected it in Manchester with my work colleague taking me there in his Long Range!

Have done just over 800 miles since then, but couple of nights ago it seemed to be dropping power, almost like it was restricted in some way. This got worse on the way home and as the battery level reduced.

Got in touch with tesla who downloaded the logs (?), and said the car is acting "within spec". whatever that means.

Looked through some threads here and see it was discussed previously (unbeknown to me before order), that the latest P model seems to limit power when the battery level passes through 50% and it's worse when cold.

Went back to tesla this morning with that info and they said it was designed that way to protect the battery and extend range, its within spec and I basically I have to live with it.

It's really put me off the car. Am i being unreasonable to not expect the battery to go into some kind of limp mode when it's cold outside and it's not fully charged? That feature isn't communicated anywhere so far as i know? My colleagues LR doesn't do it at all and thats a 2021 model ? Has anyone else experienced this?

I did some acceleration times last night just to post here. Was cold here up on the scottish border, battery was 8c. Not even that cold really.
At 60% the 0-60 was approximately 6 seconds, then just got more and more restricted managed to run it down to 20% by the time I neared home and at that level it was doing 0-60 in 12 seconds!!! This wasn't me just constantly doing 0-60 blasts either although I tried to do a few just to get some measurements. It was restricted across all speeds and you could really feel it being held back. Reminded me of an ICE car in limp mode!

So basically if you buy a Performance model then expect it to be worse than a long range for acceleration when your battery is below 60% and for 9 months of the year.

I raised a complaint with Tesla and asked to return the car but nothing heard back since. Anyone got any ideas or thoughts?

cheers
john

Yeah, this doesn't sound right at all to me. Under about 30% you could understand losing performance but 60% is ridiculous.

 

[TheManofMead]

I can't see that anyone has mentioned it, but have you also checked your acceleration is not set to "Chill".