Plug Me In
Member
I am still waiting on my Model Y but have been driving a Model S for over 9 years now. My general rule of thumb for long road trips is 25% range cushion in nice weather and 50% in cold weather (meaning below 40F, -25 C just doesn’t happen around here!). On routes I know really well and have a feel for range usage, I’ll cut it finer in nice weather but generally stick to the 50% rule in winter. When I’m driving, I keep track of my “cushion” and the rate it gets smaller. Say I have 100 miles to go, I want 150 miles range. My cushion is 50 and I expect it to drop slope of 1 as I drive. Halfway there at 50 miles to go I expect 75 miles of range. It usually doesn’t as that slope is worst case scenario. If my cushion is disappearing too early in the trip, then I slow down, turn off heat, etc. I’ve only had to do that a couple of times and every time I’ve gotten home with single digits left (maybe 4-5 times) I knew it was going to be tight starting out.