Range Anxiety how close do you cut it - and have you been bit?

[mike123abc]

Yesterday I got bit...

I was driving to the Ardmore, OK supercharger (on US 70 between Waurika and Ringling OK if you want to see on map), it was about 40 miles away and I had 70 miles on the battery. Seems like an fine margin, but do not really have a choice since there are not any other superchargers near. Well I got turned around on the highway. A tanker truck had overturned and the road was going to be closed for the rest of the day while they cleaned up an oil spill... With the required U turn and new route it would add about 60 miles to the trip... So, I turned around and started on the new route. The map of course kept wanting me to do uturns. Eventually the map changed to the new way and it was already flashing that I would have negative battery. Used search on the cell phone and found an RV park. Had to pay $20 to rent a stall and charge for about 2 hours using the 15-40 plug. So, it took about 3 hours longer (hour driving and 2 hour charging).

Lesson learned: when they finally get the Wichita Falls superstation built (still says 2018 estimate, hopefully next year), I will always stop for 10-15 minutes to get an extra 50-60 miles added. My driving route is Norman, OK -> Wichita Falls, TX-> Ardmore OK about 230 miles in an AWD model 3, usually gives me 25-30 spare miles range (highways speed limits from 65 to 75 on route). When winter comes I will probably have to slow charge at one of my businesses for a while (have a 14-50 plug) in Wichita Falls.

 

[Nate977p]

These two were separate trips this past week alone...

 

[voip-ninja]

Yesterday I got bit...

I was driving to the Ardmore, OK supercharger (on US 70 between Waurika and Ringling OK if you want to see on map), it was about 40 miles away and I had 70 miles on the battery. Seems like an fine margin, but do not really have a choice since there are not any other superchargers near. Well I got turned around on the highway. A tanker truck had overturned and the road was going to be closed for the rest of the day while they cleaned up an oil spill... With the required U turn and new route it would add about 60 miles to the trip... So, I turned around and started on the new route. The map of course kept wanting me to do uturns. Eventually the map changed to the new way and it was already flashing that I would have negative battery. Used search on the cell phone and found an RV park. Had to pay $20 to rent a stall and charge for about 2 hours using the 15-40 plug. So, it took about 3 hours longer (hour driving and 2 hour charging).

Lesson learned: when they finally get the Wichita Falls superstation built (still says 2018 estimate, hopefully next year), I will always stop for 10-15 minutes to get an extra 50-60 miles added. My driving route is Norman, OK -> Wichita Falls, TX-> Ardmore OK about 230 miles in an AWD model 3, usually gives me 25-30 spare miles range (highways speed limits from 65 to 75 on route). When winter comes I will probably have to slow charge at one of my businesses for a while (have a 14-50 plug) in Wichita Falls.

That sucks but it's really the kind of completely unusual thing that an owner can't anticipate.

Roads in Colorado get closed pretty often in the wintertime due to severe weather. Hopefully EV owners here account accordingly when planning trips... a lot of the places you might get turned off the highway it might be pretty tough to find 220V charging.

 

[voip-ninja]

These two were separate trips this past week alone...
View attachment 348339 View attachment 348340

Um.... WHY would you do that once let alone twice?

 

[Nate977p]

Um.... WHY would you do that once let alone twice?

Because I like to live on the edge ...no lol
But really, the 8 mile one, I had I think 160 miles to go 100 miles. Made it the 70 miles to destination and turning around to go the 30 to the SC, with a rated 40 left. About 10 miles in my rated dropped to same as distance to go, so found a library with public charging, had breakfast. Rolled into SC with 8. So really I was negative if not for the lucky free L2 charger I found.

The 2, I was in rural Maine. I actually had to SC 4 times that day and missed a funeral service due to it ... I actually am starting to think there is something wrong... I have been averaging 400-450 wh/mile and the temps have been above 40 and driving pretty close to highway speeds. Granted one day had rain.

That all being said, I am really impressed with SC layout in New England. I drive all over New England and have put just about 4,300 miles on my car in 3 or so weeks; the SC have been everywhere I needed them!

 

[voip-ninja]

Because I like to live on the edge ...no lol
But really, the 8 mile one, I had I think 160 miles to go 100 miles. Made it the 70 miles to destination and turning around to go the 30 to the SC, with a rated 40 left. About 10 miles in my rated dropped to same as distance to go, so found a library with public charging, had breakfast. Rolled into SC with 8. So really I was negative if not for the lucky free L2 charger I found.

The 2, I was in rural Maine. I actually had to SC 4 times that day and missed a funeral service due to it ... I actually am starting to think there is something wrong... I have been averaging 400-450 wh/mile and the temps have been above 40 and driving pretty close to highway speeds. Granted one day had rain.

That all being said, I am really impressed with SC layout in New England. I drive all over New England and have put just about 4,300 miles on my car in 3 or so weeks; the SC have been everywhere I needed them!

Range will start to be affected by temperatures below 60 as you apparently are beginning to discover. Absolutely rain will have a huge impact on range, probably cuts a minimum of 10-20% off due to the added resistance.

If making a longer drive in cooler temps where range/charging is a factor it's probably better to simply drive slightly below the speed limit if necessary to get the maximum range possible. You can also turn on the seat heaters and turn off the cabin heat which will also give you a few extra miles.

It somewhat boggles my mind that cars with 300+ miles rated range on a 100% battery charge still leave people running the battery dry but gee, here we are.

The first rule of Tesla club is buy the biggest battery you possibly can. I can only imagine the stories we are going to see when ma and pa kettle join the forum to piss and moan about their SR car leaving them stranded in the middle of Minnesota in the dead of winter.

 

[Nate977p]

I agree with all that and observed all good habits. The rain took me by surprise a bit. Used abetterrouteplanner and it said knock off 20% so factored that in. Didn't know why, I thought maybe it was added tire friction, which is what you are saying? Or is it wind resistance? But regardless factored that 20% in. I had no desire to run it so low. And yes I did drive slower and took routes on back roads (under 55mph) vs highway. Agreed on temp, I know under 60 takes a hit, but didn't realize 40 would still be so dramatic.

But that being said, I was factoring in 20% for rain, 15% for temp, thus figured about 35% loss, but was at about 50% and thats what got me. I am not moaning, I realize you need to plan and I'm all for that. That's been my life. I drive about 1000 miles a week right now and don't have home charging or office charging Just gotta learn to be even more cautious! No compliants, was just a bit surprised.

 

[ngogas]

Sounds like you need to bring a portable generator in the back trunk. Lol

 

[voip-ninja]

I agree with all that and observed all good habits. The rain took me by surprise a bit. Used abetterrouteplanner and it said knock off 20% so factored that in. Didn't know why, I thought maybe it was added tire friction, which is what you are saying? Or is it wind resistance? But regardless factored that 20% in. I had no desire to run it so low. And yes I did drive slower and took routes on back roads (under 55mph) vs highway. Agreed on temp, I know under 60 takes a hit, but didn't realize 40 would still be so dramatic.

But that being said, I was factoring in 20% for rain, 15% for temp, thus figured about 35% loss, but was at about 50% and thats what got me. I am not moaning, I realize you need to plan and I'm all for that. That's been my life. I drive about 1000 miles a week right now and don't have home charging or office charging Just gotta learn to be even more cautious! No compliants, was just a bit surprised.

1000 miles a week is an insane amount of driving to do in an electric car. Glad you have found a way to make it work.

 

[ewoodrick]

These don't seem to have anything to do with an EV, ICE also runs out of gas when you stretch the limits

 

[Zythryn]

In eight years of driving EVs I have not once had 'range anxiety' nor been "bit".
I have had occurrences where I needed to adapt to stronger headwinds, detours, etc. Speed is the biggest variable that is under by complete control. Adjusting speed, following tractor trailers (not too close though) has given me more than enough leeway.
This includes trips to California, Arizona, Missouri and lots of regional trips around Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc.

 

[Nate977p]

1000 miles a week is an insane amount of driving to do in an electric car. Glad you have found a way to make it work.

Yeah I picked it up September 25th and it was getting PPF for 5 days, so yeah pretty much exactly 4 weeks and ~4,300 miles. Add to that no home or work charging and it's been interesting

I cannot say I have actually had much range anxiety. These two low range situstions i was able to plan for. Outside these I have only had 2 charges that were out of my way, and one of them made it a nice time to have ice cream with the gf (that @MXWing claims I don't have ). Even these trips where I was super low, I was able to plan enough where I was not very worried.

I do have to say though we as a community need to stop saying things like comparing EVs to ICE running out of gas. They are totally different and that frame of mind hurts the EV argument. Gas stations are everywhere and painless to use. EV charging is a lifestyle change and a positive one, but if we compare to gas and say they are the same, people get stuck in a mindset. We should focus on at home charging and starting each day with a full tank of gas or the availability of Urban chargers (in Tesla world).

 

[Nate977p]

Sounds like you need to bring a portable generator in the back trunk. Lol

I actually may get one of those little Honda's....

 

[alseTrick]

In eight years of driving EVs I have not once had 'range anxiety' nor been "bit".
I have had occurrences where I needed to adapt to stronger headwinds, detours, etc. Speed is the biggest variable that is under by complete control. Adjusting speed, following tractor trailers (not too close though) has given me more than enough leeway.
This includes trips to California, Arizona, Missouri and lots of regional trips around Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, etc.

Can you post a pic of the 3 in your profile?

 

[voip-ninja]

These don't seem to have anything to do with an EV, ICE also runs out of gas when you stretch the limits

Bologna.

With an ICE you can throw a rock and find a place to refill the gas tank in about 5 minutes. With an EV if you are really screwed you are charging on 120V and have to sit around spending hours just putting 10 miles of range back on the car.

EVs have a lot of advantage, range flexibility if you do a ton of driving and need to replenish range very quickly is not one of them.... especially if you are outside of high supercharger density areas like California.

 

[gaswalla]

there are multiple threads on folks that had sudden car shut down at <20 miles left, no warning provided (model s and x)... take home message: be prepared for inaccurate battery range at less than 10%

 

[StellarRat]

Speed is your enemy. Slow down to go the distance. You only get the rated range at 65 mph or less.

 

[RangerRick]

My only real close call was heading to Asheville, NC to go camping. Since fall color season had started, no campgrounds had any reserved spaces left, but most keep a number of spots open for walk-ups. Our campsite of choice was full when we got there, but they said "we just talked to Pisgah campgrounds a few minutes ago and they had plenty of spots left." So we decided to head that way...

It was 25 miles to get to the campground, and the campground was 18 miles from the Asheville supercharger. I had 70 miles range left.

I start climbing... and climbing... and climbing. Turns out the elevation difference between the Davidson River site and the Pisgah site is nearly 3000 feet.

I made it to the camp site with about 20 miles remaining, kinda freaked out and hoping I would be able to make it back to charge the next morning. (It would be in the 50s overnight so the battery would also not be in the best shape.)

I shouldn't have worried, I used -9 miles to get back down and to the supercharger. Potential energy + regen is a hell of a thing.

 

[Nate977p]

Bologna.

With an ICE you can throw a rock and find a place to refill the gas tank in about 5 minutes. With an EV if you are really screwed you are charging on 120V and have to sit around spending hours just putting 10 miles of range back on the car.

EVs have a lot of advantage, range flexibility if you do a ton of driving and need to replenish range very quickly is not one of them.... especially if you are outside of high supercharger density areas like California.

So true! Happy we agree there!

Speed is your enemy. Slow down to go the distance. You only get the rated range at 65 mph or less.

I took the local highways going 55 for that reason

 

[Kichwas]

I think I went below 50% once. Got kind of nervous seeing it drop below 150.
Usually don’t get below 180.

Which is funny because in ICE cars I am routinely the person with 5 miles of gas left pulling over the google the nearest gas station...

But with the plug, it is just intuitive to me to plug it in when I park.

Granted I also have access to plugs everywhere in my daily routine. If not I suspect I’d be gaming the bottom of the charge a lot.