Picked up my Tesla in early December, worst car I've ever owned.

[SpaceKat]

I have a 2022 RWD and live in the Chicago area. At home, my car is in a heated garage at about 58 degrees. However, I frequently visit my parents, and my car gets "cold-soaked" for a few hours. The drive is only about 9 miles each way, but the range drops by more than 9 miles on each leg, especially when the car is warming up. It's as if every trip costs a few miles of range just getting the car warmed up. A series of very short trips in cold weather is one of the worst case scenarios. Still, across all my trips (almost all of them under 9 mi each way), my car is averaging 273 Wh/mi. Tesla estimates the range at 273 mi, but Tessie estimates it at 248, which is not bad.

I know the consumption is higher with the M3P (the extra motor and the big wheels), but with the added battery capacity, I would expect comparable range.

 

[BeeGood]

If I was the OP and the SC folks wouldn’t address this, I’d tweet those pics to Elon. I’m dead serious.

My 2021 M3 SR+ is better on Wh/mi in the winter than in the summer. Granted, I live in GA but the heat pump makes them crazy efficient.

These are by far the worst numbers I’ve ever seen, no excuse for a new M3 to be this bad, regardless of the weather/temps.

 

[father_of_6]

Picked up my Tesla in late December 2020, best car I've ever owned.

 

[VT_EE]

Evidently a lifetime average of 441 Wh/mi is to be expected and being charged full supercharger rate for 66kW per hour average charge rate is fine too.

Now I know.

I guess after hearing many from the Tesla side make fun of the Taycan's 175 mile EPA estimated range I hoped my Tesla would be more in the 200-250 range given the EPA projects 315 for my exact model. Lesson learned.

You can thank your state government for the per minute charges. In Maryland it’s per kWh.

 

[atxf13]

Lol
Service is standing by it. They said "I commend you on your Wh/mi use which is currently 397. That is difficult to accomplish in the cold weather months."

 

[BMWM3Man]

I picked a new Model 3 Performance in December. I wanted a car for normal city driving and the occasional road trip a few hours away. My other car is a sportscar that is deathly allergic to any temperature below 50 degrees so I thought this would be the perfect addition. I live in a high rise with a garage that while not being heated, typically only goes down to about 40 degrees at the coldest.

I live in the Midwest where it can get down to the teens so I expected some range loss in cold weather, but the real world range I'm seeing is nowhere near reasonable. And this cold weather the following data is in was 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

For example, a 80 minute drive on the highway, never exceeding 80 mph used up about 51 kWh, for a Wh/mi of 518.
I then charged for an hour and preconditioned, only to make it 120 miles, averaging 68 mph, with a Wh/mi of nearly 460.

When I complained I was told "this is a city car, not a roadtrip car", so now I rent cars for my drives anywhere outside of 120 miles and drive it around the city. I still have never seen a full charge make it 130 miles without scrambling for a supercharger.

My usage while baby'ing the throttle with it in chill mode still ranges between 393 at the lowest and 1352 Wh/mi at the highest, with the only times it's under 600 Wh/mi is when it's preconditioned. I've also stopped using the seat and steering wheel warmers and keep the climate below 67 degrees on low to try and save energy.

I'm also not saving on gas, not even accounting for the wasted time it takes to charge vs filling up a tank. I charged 22 kWh yesterday (on a supercharger), which took 20 minutes. That's 27% of my range and based on historical data that should go about 40 miles. It cost $9, which is the equivalent to about 2.3 gallons of unleaded and I can tell you 17 mpg is below average for me in my other car.

Everyone I've talked to says that a total range of about 150 miles is the absolute best I can expect when it's below 45 degrees, and when I've called Tesla for support they've stated the same. And they said driving it a few times a week around the city I should expect around 75 miles from a full charge because the battery needs to get to operating temp. lol. Imagine an ICE car saying the best range you can expect is 75 miles.

So now I have a new Tesla that is useless for road trips and useless around the city.
Okay rambling rant over. Anyone want to buy this amazing car?

Sell it. Its not for you. It happens.

 

[Taxvictim]

Evidently a lifetime average of 441 Wh/mi is to be expected and being charged full supercharger rate for 66kW per hour average charge rate is fine too.

I have a very heavy foot and drive mostly trips under 15 miles. Use the A/C here in NC or heater when appropriate. I thought my numbers would probably be similar to yours, but my M3P lifetime average is only 315 Wh/mi according to my odometer. I have driven 5k miles in 5 months. I charge at home and have never used a commercial charging station.

 

[RipVanFinkle]

Sell it. Its not for you. It happens.

Correct. Teslas are not for the mainstream. They fit a very niche market.

 

[Bouba]

Correct. Teslas are not for the mainstream. They fit a very niche market.

Well..I disagree, I think that Teslas are mainstream...but if you add up all the makes and models of cars available on the market...then obviously we all have different tastes, needs and budgets. But the OP should take advantage of the ridiculous used car market and find a vehicle better suited. Often it’s not the car but the pleasure of ownership that sours

 

[ZenRockGarden]

Correct. Teslas are not for the mainstream. They fit a very niche market.

My niche includes laughing as I drive past the $6/gal gas stations with lines of people waiting to fill up before it gets worse and watching them all burning their precious fuel as they leave their motors running while waiting in that line

 

[BMWM3Man]

My niche includes laughing as I drive past the $6/gal gas stations and lines of people waiting to fill up before it gets worse and seeing them all burning their precious fuel as they have to leave their motors running while waiting in that line

100% and that's why we have 2...

 

[one2many]

My niche includes laughing as I drive past the $6/gal gas stations and lines of people waiting to fill up before it gets worse

Well $10 is on the way

 

[Big Earl]

OP’s range problems are clearly due to short trips. It’s takes a lot of energy to heat up the cabin, and if you don’t amortize that over a lot of miles, it results in very high energy consumption (Wh/mi).

For OP’s highway range, the biggest factor is travel speed. 80 MPH uses a lot of energy. Try going closer to the speed limit.

Regarding not using seat heat and heated wheel, that’s counter productive. Use seat heat and heated steering wheel so you can rely less on cabin heat.

Preheating will lower the displayed Wh/mi while driving due to warming up the cabin when the Wh/mi counter isn’t running. However, that energy still comes from the battery and will reduce your overall range. Preheating when not plugged in is generally a waste of energy since it also heats the battery pack. Heating the battery pack for a short trip is nothing but wasted energy.

• Slow down a little on the highway
• Don’t preheat unless you’re plugged in
• Use the seat heat and heated steering wheel

 

[RipVanFinkle]

My niche includes laughing as I drive past the $6/gal gas stations with lines of people waiting to fill up before it gets worse and watching them all burning their precious fuel as they leave their motors running while waiting in that line

I laugh at the rattles, wind noise and various flaws in a car I paid $75k for.

I guess we have a different sense of humor.

 

[byeLT4]

I had a C7 too! Lol

 

[Dolemite]

I wish more people were aware of these issues. Every time I mention such shortcomings to non-EV owners, they're surprised.

 

[voxel]

I wish more people were aware of these issues. Every time I mention such shortcomings to non-EV owners, they're surprised.

It affects ICE cars but those cars have such large ranges in the first place folks don’t notice. My RAV4 Prime goes from 38mpg @ 60mph to 30mpg @ 85mph. EVs take multiple hits. Drop in efficiency due to speed/drag, cabin/seat heating, cold battery.

 

[Dolemite]

It affects ICE cars but those cars have such large ranges in the first place folks don’t notice. My RAV4 Prime goes from 38mpg @ 60mph to 30mpg @ 85mph. EVs take multiple hits. Drop in efficiency due to speed/drag, cabin/seat heating, cold battery.

It's not just the larger range, it's the also the greater sensitivity to any stressors.

 

[Bouba]

I think most people are aware of an ev’s limitations...in fact non ev people exaggerate...for example you can’t go far at night because of the headlights or the range will drop if you turn the radio on.
I’m quite new to EVs. What really pleased me was how economical the air con is. What shocked me was the battery drain from the heater

 

[ZenRockGarden]

It affects ICE cars but those cars have such large ranges in the first place folks don’t notice. My RAV4 Prime goes from 38mpg @ 60mph to 30mpg @ 85mph. EVs take multiple hits. Drop in efficiency due to speed/drag, cabin/seat heating, cold battery.

I think it's slightly more subtle: iC cars are already so inefficient with their use of fuel that they are somewhat oblivious to the losses from heating, high speeds, etc.

Electric cars carry the equivalent of a 2 gallon tank of gas, and are -super- frugal with it. If an IC car burns a whole gallon of each of it's tanks to heat the car and slog thru the rain, it's not big deal against the 18 gallon tank. That same exact added load against the 2-gallon-equivalent battery is much more noticeable.