range anxiety

[jcanoe]

This can’t be normal??

Completely normal. Had you charged to 100% you would have completed the round trip with ~7% state of charge. The summer performance tires are probably costing you ~10% in efficiency and range versus the OE 20" tires.

The next time you take a trip of more than 300km try using A Better Route Planner (available as a phone app or on the web). ABRP will provide recommended charging stop(s) for the trip. You probably won't need to charge beyond 80% before starting the trip. Plan to arrive at the 1st Supercharger stop with less than 30% state of charge remaining. Stop Supercharging when the state of charge reaches 80% as it takes much longer to charge above that level.

 

[pbcsd]

So you were expecting to get the stock range with 4 people and luggage in the car, with non-standard summer performance tires? That doesn't even take into account any elevation changes or winds.

You do not need to drive like a granny - just drive normally and stop at a Supercharger when the car tells you to. Not sure what the big deal is. That's how you're supposed to use these cars. You're probably talking about 10 minute SC stops doing that.

Where did I say I was expecting stock range? Stock range at 95% is ~486km on 20" tires, was I expecting to get 330km with say 10% remaining to reduce range anxiety? Yes, unfortunately I was. Especially given the superchargers are more and more full.

 

[pbcsd]

Completely normal. Had you charged to 100% you would have completed the round trip with ~7% state of charge. The summer performance tires are probably costing you ~10% in efficiency and range versus the OE 20" tires.

The next time you take a trip of more than 300km try using A Better Route Planner (available as a phone app or on the web). ABRP will provide recommended charging stop(s) for the trip. You probably won't need to charge beyond 80% before starting the trip. Plan to arrive at the 1st Supercharger stop with less than 30% state of charge remaining. Stop Supercharging when the state of charge reaches 80% as it takes much longer to charge above that level.

Thanks, will have a look at the ABRP and ensure I use it for future trips

 

[Dennisis]

Thanks, will have a look at the ABRP and ensure I use it for future trips

To add to this, I recommend driving at the speed you’re comfortable and charging a bit more. It makes the trip more enjoyable for all. My wife hates it when I drive too slow (as do I really) but playing Scrabble with me on her phone while we charge for a few extra minutes is fine .

 

[JohnB007]

Remember, supercharger charges faster when your % is lower.

I personally prefer to charge more often, shorter charges and stretch my legs during longer journeys.

 

[pbcsd]

Remember, supercharger charges faster when your % is lower.

I personally prefer to charge more often, shorter charges and stretch my legs during longer journeys.

Concern is simply with the explosion in Tesla cars, I don't want to be relying on Supercharger visits only to find there is a 5 car wait sort of thing. I was shocked at how many folks were at the slightly off path Supercharger location I went to at 830am on a Sunday morning. Would imagine these locations are much more packed during the "more usual" commute home from Niagara around 2-4pm sort of thing.

 

[Fourdoor]

My view on charging stops is changing. I am moving into the "drive longer distances per leg and charge for at least 30 min" camp because many of the Superchargers I use have a 10 min walk to get to a bathroom... so, 10 min there, 10 min back and 10 min to relax a bit, or if the bathroom is more convenient at a stop 10 min for the bathroom with 20 min to relax... Checking with ABRP, this will cut out one supercharger stop and add around 30 min to a 900 mile trip. Taking a trip in the Bolt was actually more relaxing than the MYP because each charging stop was a minimum of 30 min, more often 45 min... but that makes distance traveled in a day to low for a convenient trip. Nice thing about the Tesla is we have a CHOICE about how long to make the charging stops, with the Bolt you didn't really have a choice

Keith

PS: If I adopt this new attitude on charging stop length I may stop using ABRP for detailed planning and just use the inbuilt navigation... if I charge for 30 min when it said I only had to charge for 12 it will recalculate the next stop for me and perhaps skip to further down the road. The problem is, that would add an hour or more to a long day of driving because it wants you to arrive at the next Supercharger with a much higher SOC than I typically aim for. I would have to change from a planned 900+ miles per day to 800 or less miles per day to avoid over 16 hours behind the wheel.

 

[boulder.dude]

Finally did a trip to Niagara Falls yesterday (165km). Charged to 95% thinking I should easily make it without needing to charge given the cars rating of 500km, ie 330km should be a no brainer.

Had myself my wife and 2 young kids in car, maybe 50lbs of luggage.

Drove slower and more carefully to not be hard on the accelerator than I have in my life. Literally killing me to drive 110km-115km/hr on the highway watching car after car pass me. Used Autopilot where I could. A/C on the entire ride as it was humid as hell.

Took 45% of the battery on the trip and told me I’d have 2% left trying to get home. So went to a super charger and charged to 80%. Thankfully I went early in the morn (25min out of the way and on the way back home, then turned back around to go back to the hotel) because even at 840 there were already 9 vehicles at the 12 chargers. Would imagine had I just gone on my way home it would have been more than an hour with a wait.

Same thing on way home in terms of how I drove, took 47%. So it’s not like both ways could have been uphill.

To say I’m disappointed in the range of this vehicle would be an understatement.

Can’t wait to do the hockey tournament 350-400km drives in the winter. Am I going to get 170km of range in the winter??

This can’t be normal??

This seems normal.

For this type of trip I’d be looking (using Plugshare) for any opportunity to “sneak in” 1-2 hours of L2 charging at or near the destination. This would give you just enough juice to get home avoiding an SC stop. Sometimes the L2 charging is even free!

We’ll probably be nostalgic about this ”foraging” behavior someday, when chargers are ubiquitous…

 

[pbcsd]

Thanks, used ABRP for my trip this week back to Niagara. Stopped at Grimsby Superchargers on my way home with ~13% left, charged for 20 minutes to around 65% or whatever and got home with 34%. So guess I could have only charged for 10 minutes or so.

I'm really hating the Tesla navigation screen, for some reason it is completely zoomed out so borderline useless and I use my Waze App. Probably a setting somewhere I need to use to zoom in, though when I tried just zooming in with my fingers the navigation didn't update my vehichle's movement and just stuck at the place where I had zoomed into.

 

[Rocky_H]

I'm really hating the Tesla navigation screen, for some reason it is completely zoomed out so borderline useless and I use my Waze App. Probably a setting somewhere I need to use to zoom in, though when I tried just zooming in with my fingers the navigation didn't update my vehichle's movement and just stuck at the place where I had zoomed into.

There's a button in the upper right to toggle that between three different modes. One is the "whole trip view", which is the one you are describing, as it always stays zoomed way out to include seeing the start and end points, and yes, it's not useful for driving.

Then there are two zoomed in views, which just have different orientations. "North up" is zoomed in on the car, but keeps the map orientation upright with North at the top.

And then what I call "Forward up", where it continually turns the map so the forward direction of the car is upward on the screen.

There is an annoyance about this though, where Tesla broke something several years ago and refuses to un-break it. You know the estimated % remaining, which is that VERY useful number to keep an eye on as you drive? That used to stay visible no matter which map view you were using, as it should be. But several years ago, they pushed an update, where that's only visible in the whole trip view, but is missing from either of the useful zoomed in views!

 

[DanDi58]

There's a button in the upper right to toggle that between three different modes. One is the "whole trip view", which is the one you are describing, as it always stays zoomed way out to include seeing the start and end points, and yes, it's not useful for driving.

Then there are two zoomed in views, which just have different orientations. "North up" is zoomed in on the car, but keeps the map orientation upright with North at the top.

And then what I call "Forward up", where it continually turns the map so the forward direction of the car is upward on the screen.

There is an annoyance about this though, where Tesla broke something several years ago and refuses to un-break it. You know the estimated % remaining, which is that VERY useful number to keep an eye on as you drive? That used to stay visible no matter which map view you were using, as it should be. But several years ago, they pushed an update, where that's only visible in the whole trip view, but is missing from either of the useful zoomed in views!

I'm a 'North Up' guy myself. Didn't the 'SOC at Arrival' come back in one of the 2022.20 updates? I'm not on there yet.

 

[Rocky_H]

I'm a 'North Up' guy myself. Didn't the 'SOC at Arrival' come back in one of the 2022.20 updates? I'm not on there yet.

Oh, I don't know. I hadn't been keeping track of update versions; I just keep being annoyed that it's still broken. We went on a trip in early June and it was still broken then.

 

[CaseyL]

You know the estimated % remaining, which is that VERY useful number to keep an eye on as you drive? That used to stay visible no matter which map view you were using, as it should be. But several years ago, they pushed an update, where that's only visible in the whole trip view, but is missing from either of the useful zoomed in views!

It's baaaackk!

The estimated destination SOC is always visible on map display now. It reappeared on one of the newest updates.

 

[Rocky_H]

It's baaaackk!

The estimated destination SOC is always visible on map display now. It reappeared on one of the newest updates.

Holy cow!! Are you kidding me?! I've put in that suggestion to Tesla few times over the years, that the fix that feature that they broke, and it has been a LOT of updates since then where they had a chance to correct it, but never did, so I figured they never would.

 

[Dennisis]

Holy cow!! Are you kidding me?! I've put in that suggestion to Tesla few times over the years, that the fix that feature that they broke, and it has been a LOT of updates since then where they had a chance to correct it, but never did, so I figured they never would.

Obviously you’re a force to be reckoned with….

 

[DanDi58]

It's baaaackk!

The estimated destination SOC is always visible on map display now. It reappeared on one of the newest updates.

Yes, I think it came back with 2022.20.x.

 

[Physicslawyer]

If you have range anxiety, you can always charge to a higher level. I took my first long trip (415 miles) and the Tesla app recommended that I stop twice. A better route planner recommended four stops, since I set it so I would arrive with 30% charge. That made me more comfortable. I was on the PA Turnpike and I missed my exit. My 13 miles home turned into 36 miles home. It wasn't an issue, since I had more of a buffer.

Also, on the way to Ohio, the exit was closed for the supercharger I was supposed to stop at. I had enough charge to make it to the supercharger by my destination, and got there at 17% (which is the lowest I have reached). I did the speed limit and lowered the fan speed on the AC.

All said, it took me almost two hours longer to make the trip compared to my husband, who was driving the Prius Prime. I stayed longer than I needed to at the superchargers to charge to a higher level. But, it was completely relaxing and I didn't mind at all.

This was the trip there:
I started at around 88% charge-
7/26 34%/96 3:35 81%/232 3:55 $12.00
7/26 57%/163 4:43 to 77%/220 $5.68
7/26 40%/115 6:34 to 70%/202 $8.16
7/26 17%/48 9:19 to 72%/205 $11.29 9:41

This was the trip home:
7/30 54%/155 11:58 to 94%/271 12:39 $8.51 (before I left)
7/30 53%/152 3:18 to 75%/214 3:31 $7.19
7/30 51%/147 4:25 to 83%/240 $8.60
7/30 43%/122 6:22 to 86%/248 6:44 $12.00
7/30 69%/198 7:39 to 86%/247 $4.61
7/30 35%/99 9:59 to 67%/192 $9.00 (I stopped here since I missed my exit and went by another supercharger, this stop was not needed)

 

[pbcsd]

I charge to 95% on long trips.

 

[DanDi58]

I charge to 95% on long trips.

I do, too, but only when I leave home. I usually do whatever the car says to do while enroute, plus maybe 5-7%.

 

[mtbwalt]

Personally, I don’t cut it too close like some folks getting it close to 0 before recharging. I have used abrp but frankly Tesla’s nav has done a fine job getting me to fast superchargers on routes from Miami through NC to Ohio. I have never waited in a line for a supercharger yet - maybe I’m just lucky. I only use superchargers on trips.

I just plug my car in everyday when I get home (level 2 charger in my garage), charge to 80%, unless I was able to charge at work.

I will sometimes turn waze on my phone in addition to Tesla nav to hear about hazards and speed traps on the freeway.

Overall the vehicle has been very low anxiety.