range anxiety

[cusetownusa]

thanks to all that replied...
as an update, another part of my concern is I have to leave the vehicle un plugged at work for upto 36 hrs, and yes in the winter also, with temps dropping to -25c routinely

Are you able to charge at home?

How far is your work?


As long as you can charge at home and work isn’t like 100+ miles away with no superchargers around then you should be fined. Also, if range is a concern I am not sure why you would get the performance version especially in a cold winter climate, unless you plan on swapping out to 19” wheels to improve range.

 

[sleepydoc]

I wouldn’t blink an eye leaving without preconditioning at -25C. Won’t hurt a thing. Battery will heat naturally as you drive. Leaving it plugged in wouldn’t make any difference unless I actively charge or precondition (which NEVER pays).

Most wasteful thing to do is warm the whole system up. Drive 5-10 miles to work. Then let it cool down. If you drive it normally it would NOT have warmed up naturally. But it also was never needed and a complete waste of energy.

People will spend 3x the energy to precondition their car. Just so they can get full regen. You are better off not preconditioning and forget about regen.

Measure total watt/hours spent at your outlet, not by the cars stats. Tesla has so many folks completely fooled.

I've done it several times. It's improved with the latest update but in the past, the app would take quite a while to connect and would not infrequently time out so it would just be connecting by the time I got to my car. I frequently work nights and on a cold January morning in MN the car did just fine.

I'll qualify 'just fine' by saying you will have no regenerative braking and limited acceleration. The acceleration isn't really an issue. If you're driving an ICE car you should be driving gently when it's that cold, too. The braking will wear the brakes quicker and trashes your efficiency, but cold weather does that, regardless.

 

[Whiskeypapa]

Are there Superchargers in your area? Honestly, that's much more important having a big battery. I came from a LEAF with only 80 mi on it's best day, and a RAV4EV with only 100 or so at the best. I have the shortest range model 3, but I wouldn't hesitate to head out on a long trip because of the Supercharger network.

Does your commute to work stretch the car's range at all? If not, don't sweat it.

I also had a Leaf, for 5 years, that I bought used with about 10% battery degradation. My plan was to use my ICE Honda for longer trips, but I quickly found that a little planning literally goes a long way! I moved last year from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Sierra foothills, so the colder weather was another range hit, and finally motivated me to order my MYP. But, while waiting for delivery, I adapted my driving plans to add more fast charger stops, and still managed to only go below 10% charge once, and that was 2 blocks from home. I sold the Leaf in April, and I realized how much I dislike waiting in line for the lowest price gas, sometimes twice a week. Now, with 4x the range of my Leaf and access to the Superchargers, planning seems so easy!

Moral of the story: It’s different, but not that hard, even during the “worst case” scenarios. Home charging is second nature now, and the Supercharger network and destination L2 charging keeps expanding. EV is not just the future, it’s here now!

 

[DrGriz]

I wouldn’t blink an eye leaving without preconditioning at -25C. Won’t hurt a thing. Battery will heat naturally as you drive. Leaving it plugged in wouldn’t make any difference unless I actively charge or precondition (which NEVER pays).

Most wasteful thing to do is warm the whole system up. Drive 5-10 miles to work. Then let it cool down. If you drive it normally it would NOT have warmed up naturally. But it also was never needed and a complete waste of energy.

People will spend 3x the energy to precondition their car. Just so they can get full regen. You are better off not preconditioning and forget about regen.

Measure total watt/hours spent at your outlet, not by the cars stats. Tesla has so many folks completely fooled.

It's not a matter of the battery. I just wouldn't want to be in a car at -25C if I could avoid it!

 

[DanDi58]

One advantage of having an EV in that sort of crazy weather is that you know it will start....! I remember visiting a branch office in Buffalo in the winter with my ICE car. The office was right on the eastern end of Lake Erie, and the winds could be brutal, to the point where they had ropes you could hold on to while walking to the office from the lot.... When I walked in, the receptionist asked me which way my car was pointing. She said, 'You don't want to have the front of the car facing the lake, as the battery will freeze'....!

 

[mswlogo]

It's not a matter of the battery. I just wouldn't want to be in a car at -25C if I could avoid it!

Got it.

At those temps I might precondition cabin for 5 minutes. For comfort. But that was when it was a resistive heater. Not sure how long heat pump would take at those temps and how much stress it puts on it.

With resistive heater 5 minutes and you were good to go.

 

[MacO512]

People have a bad habit at looking at “efficiency” from looking at stats in the car. Versus their power meter.

Preconditioning will get better efficiency and range. But it WILL cost you more per mile.

Preconditioning while not plugged in will get you less range and less efficiency. But of course the car will report better stats because it doesn’t include any costs while the car is not in drive. So it’s very misleading.

I never precondition, ever. All 3 Teslas I’ve had have lifetime efficiency close to EPA and live in the northeast.

I might if the car is -20F but I have never been exposed to those temps.

Keeping HVAC on while you park to improve efficiency is total nonsense.

Most helpful thing to help on range is an attached garage

Great point. Yes preconditioning while parked doesn't do anything to help efficiency.

But it would help with range.

 

[mswlogo]

Great point. Yes preconditioning while parked doesn't do anything to help efficiency.

But it would help with range.

Actually it’s exactly backwards. You would get better efficiency (i.e. better regen). But it will not increase $/mi. Because preconditioning cost $$

The energy you spent preconditioning is now lost range. If not plugged in.

No form preconditioning will increase the $/mi.

Preconditioning while plugged in will increase the efficiency and range of the car, but not your net $$.

 

[MacO512]

Actually it’s exactly backwards. You would get better efficiency (i.e. better regen). But it will not increase $/mi. Because preconditioning cost $$

The energy you spent preconditioning is now lost range. If not plugged in.

No form preconditioning will increase the $/mi.

Preconditioning while plugged in will increase the efficiency and range of the car, but not your net $$.

When I said help with range I meant while parked and plugged in.

Yes you are right, it will cost $, but help with range available for the trip. Likely not needed for a routine commute, but could be useful for road trips or when starting a long drive.

 

[DrGriz]

Got it.

At those temps I might precondition cabin for 5 minutes. For comfort. But that was when it was a resistive heater. Not sure how long heat pump would take at those temps and how much stress it puts on it.

With resistive heater 5 minutes and you were good to go.

Yeah, the heat pump. Last year in the worst of winter there were some serious heat pump failures. Supposedly fixed with software, but we've heard that before. I would suspect that at rest at those temperatures the heat pump would have to rely on the motors to generate any significant cabin heat.

 

[boulder.dude]

As an example, yesterday I took my MYP to a track for some performance driving instructions. The track is about 20 miles away, with no nearby Superchargers, and we get seven 20-minute driving sessions. Knowing what I had in store for the day, I charged it to 100% and drove the car to the track in Chill mode, arriving with 94% SOC. The first two sessions only took off about 14%, so I thought I was in good shape to finish all seven sessions. But by the third session I was driving faster and it took off 15%. The next session was even faster and took about 20%. Knowing that I wasn't going to make it through all seven sessions at this rate, I cut the sixth and seventh sessions short and ended up leaving myself about 17% SOC to go home.

Did you notice a drop off in acceleration as the SOC got lower? There are other threads on TMC that discuss this but I don’t have firsthand experience.

 

[boulder.dude]

I learned the car is far more efficient if I'm running a bunch of short errands to leave the HVAC ON when you stop and exit the vehicle. If you keep heating and losing that heat and having to RE HEAT the car you are wasting a ton of precious BTU err kWh.

Intuitively it seems leaving the heating running would use more energy than letting the car cool a bit. This because every degree colder the car gets, the less rapid the further cooling. (This is the same reason keeping your thermostat lower in the winter / higher in the summer reduces energy consumption.)

(The car doesn’t measure energy consumed in park so from the “apparent” efficiency on the energy screen (I.e. energy consumed while car is in motion) will appear better if you keep climate on when you’re not in the car.)

But I may be missing something!

 

[gx9901]

Did you notice a drop off in acceleration as the SOC got lower? There are other threads on TMC that discuss this but I don’t have firsthand experience.

The track was a 1.2 mile track with a lot of turns and no long straights, so I think the highest speed I got to before having to hard brake was near 90 MPH. Probably because of that I did not notice any drop off in acceleration toward the end of the day. I don't know if the power bar on the screen changes to some dotted lines when power is cut, like when regen is limited in cold weather, but on the way home the power bar was still solid.

 

[mswlogo]

Intuitively it seems leaving the heating running would use more energy than letting the car cool a bit. This because every degree colder the car gets, the less rapid the further cooling. (This is the same reason keeping your thermostat lower in the winter / higher in the summer reduces energy consumption.)

(The car doesn’t measure energy consumed in park so from the “apparent” efficiency on the energy screen (I.e. energy consumed while car is in motion) will appear better if you keep climate on when you’re not in the car.)

But I may be missing something!

You are not missing anything.

 

[Bigship]

Install a tesla charger at your home. It will be wired for 240 volts. If you use a 50 amp circuit breaker your be charging a MY at 9.6 kw, or about about 35 to 3 miles per hour. If you go to a max 60 breaker you'll charge around 40 mph. I'm actually quite happy with my old 30 amp dryer circuit charging at 22 mph. Top off at 85 to 90% every day. Keep you speed a bit lower than the limit, keep tire pressures a bit high, and adjust climate control to a sane temperature. Plan your route around available chargers (level 2 or 3). These things will minimize range anxiety. You'll get the hang of it. Breaking up long trips across Texas to accommodate charging has done wonders for eliminating driver stress!

 

[Undecided_2]

Breaking up long trips across Texas to accommodate charging has done wonders for eliminating driver stress!

Buying a Tesla has made long trips far more enjoyable now I have to take a break more often. Even when the car suggests a SUC three hours away I plan a stop halve way. From day one we were surprised that neither got range anxiety. Switched from miles to percentage and forgot about it.

 

[Stuart Watson]

haven't received my vehicle yet, but panic is setting in like most newbies... just read a thread on facebook of a lady only getting 300km, on a charge, she drove 3.5 hrs at an average of 120km/hr... long-range Y, is this realistic range for a LR Y ? even more panic, since I've ordered the MYP

how bad are EV's in the winter, I was figuring 20-30% range drop, but others even suggest 50%, just can't imagine only getting 150-200km on a charge in the winter...

thanks

I was going to reply “ relax I drive mine flat out (when I don’t have passengers)..and i can achieve 540km range….

But then I noticed you are in Ontario and I’m in the Algarve `(Portugal) ….

So I’ll leave it to other cold weather owners to comment.

 

[Undecided_2]

So I’ll leave it to other cold weather owners to comment.

I’m in Scotland, Helensburgh and it’s cold/chilly all year. I’ve noticed on a long run our range drops from 300 to 220 when it’s 0c. But we don’t worry as the car calculates SUC stops.

 

[Brolan]

My experience last winter in Minnesota is that you can lose up to 50% of your range in temperatures of -10 F and below which is close to your -25 C. If you have heat pump issues you can use the seat heaters and front defrost on the red setting to provide heat until you get it into service.

I always pre-conditioned when leaving the garage during the winter to save charge on the battery. The car was plugged in 24/7 during the winter unlike the rest of year when I just plug in as necessary to charge.

 

[sleepydoc]

My experience last winter in Minnesota is that you can lose up to 50% of your range in temperatures of -10 F and below which is close to your -25 C. If you have heat pump issues you can use the seat heaters and front defrost on the red setting to provide heat until you get it into service.

I always pre-conditioned when leaving the garage during the winter to save charge on the battery. The car was plugged in 24/7 during the winter unlike the rest of year when I just plug in as necessary to charge.

Agreed - that’s been my experience as well. Preconditioning not only warms the cabin for you, it warms the battery so it can use regenerative braking. If it’s plugged in then it’s a freebie in terms of range. If not, I don’t know if it’s a net benefit or not.

In general, the heated seat and steering wheel are a more efficient way to stay warm than the cabin heat - the reverse of an ice car. Unfortunately, I have an early MY that doesn’t have a heated steering wheel.

The other thing I do in the winter is drive much more conservatively, braking far earlier to minimize the use of the friction brakes.