Range over performance

[jamgolf]

Hello

I am a brand new member and have placed an order for Model S LR. I have owned more than my fair share of cars but Model S would be my first EV replacing my Lotus Evora GT. My main concern with current EVs has been highway range. The 400+ mile Model S is the first time I am feeling remotely open to the idea of owning an EV, with the understanding that in the real world it might mean 250 - 275 miles of highway range. A 250 mile highway range is definitely my lower limit.

I don't know too much about battery technology but I am wondering if it would not be possible for Tesla to "tune" the battery/vehicle for ultra-long-range, just as they are able to "tune" it for ultra-high acceleration for Plaid. What I mean is a Model S variant that perhaps accelerates 0-60 mph in 5 seconds instead of 1.99 (Plaid) or 3.1 (LR) but offers maybe 500 miles of range - translating to 300 miles of real-world highway range.

It seems many buyers appreciate the super-fast acceleration, but I am getting older and have had my share of fun/tickets. A 5 second 0-60 mph in family sedan such as Model S would be plenty fast enough for me, given I could extend my range considerably.

Any other owners or potential owners who would rather have more range than crazy fast acceleration?

Cheers!

 

[jjrandorin]

Drive 55 MPH and dont stomp on the accelerator, and you will likely get 300-350 miles range. Its not like its impossible to "not press the go pedal so far down". Drive slower than 55 and you could likely even go further. its not 0-60 that is killing range for the most part, its driving at 70 MPH.

 

[SilverGS]

Hello

I am a brand new member and have placed an order for Model S LR. I have owned more than my fair share of cars but Model S would be my first EV replacing my Lotus Evora GT. My main concern with current EVs has been highway range. The 400+ mile Model S is the first time I am feeling remotely open to the idea of owning an EV, with the understanding that in the real world it might mean 250 - 275 miles of highway range. A 250 mile highway range is definitely my lower limit.

I don't know too much about battery technology but I am wondering if it would not be possible for Tesla to "tune" the battery/vehicle for ultra-long-range, just as they are able to "tune" it for ultra-high acceleration for Plaid. What I mean is a Model S variant that perhaps accelerates 0-60 mph in 5 seconds instead of 1.99 (Plaid) or 3.1 (LR) but offers maybe 500 miles of range - translating to 300 miles of real-world highway range.

It seems many buyers appreciate the super-fast acceleration, but I am getting older and have had my share of fun/tickets. A 5 second 0-60 mph in family sedan such as Model S would be plenty fast enough for me, given I could extend my range considerably.

Any other owners or potential owners who would rather have more range than crazy fast acceleration?

Cheers!

Congrats on the best large sedan EV purchase!

1. The car has a "chill' mode that you can set and the acceleration will be slowed down.
2. Stay at 65 mph on the highway and the car will easily exceed 300 miles range without any question.

 

[jamgolf]

Thanks for the welcome ... I appreciate it.

I agree that going slower will result in a longer range ... that's no different for EV or ICE vehicles.
But as a highway driver, I am sensitive to highway range ... hence the question/post

For someone like me, I would love to have more highway range and give up acceleration performance.
Would a 100 KWh not be able to yield a range of 500+ miles with modest 0-60 mph acceleration?
If that's feasible and someone Tesla is reading/listening, please take my money for a 500+ mile, 5.5 seconds 0-60 mph Model S

 

[DerbyDave]

The car also has a Range mode:
Range Mode
automatically limits the amount of power
that the climate control system uses to
maintain the temperature the cabin area
and limits the amount of energy being
used to heat or cool the Battery. In
addition, Range Mode turns off signature
lights (only in market regions where
daytime running lights are not required).

 

[SilverGS]

Thanks for the welcome ... I appreciate it.

I agree that going slower will result in a longer range ... that's no different for EV or ICE vehicles.
But as a highway driver, I am sensitive to highway range ... hence the question/post

For someone like me, I would love to have more highway range and give up acceleration performance.
Would a 100 KWh not be able to yield a range of 500+ miles with modest 0-60 mph acceleration?
If that's feasible and someone Tesla is reading/listening, please take my money for a 500+ mile, 5.5 seconds 0-60 mph Model S

As I said already, change the acceleration setting to be "chill" mode and you will get your 5.5 seconds 0-60 mph Model S

 

[jamgolf]

As I said already, change the acceleration setting to be "chill" mode and you will get your 5.5 seconds 0-60 mph Model S

Will the chill mode exceed the EPA range?

 

[SilverGS]

Will the chill mode exceed the EPA range?

Chill mode and driving at 60 mph will net the EPA range easily which is over 400 miles.

 

[jamgolf]

Thanks ... thats is good to know that 60 mph could yield 400 miles of range.
I am guessing at that rate, 75 mph in Chill mode might yield 300 miles of highway range which would be great.

 

[SilverGS]

Thanks ... thats is good to know that 60 mph could yield 400 miles of range.
I am guessing at that rate, 75 mph in Chill mode might yield 300 miles of highway range which would be great.

Yes (but chill mode is only to reduce the acceleration numbers).

 

[jamgolf]

So you mean Chill mode is meant to be a choice for people who do not want the car to have aggressive acceleration, and as a side effect that results in a better range.

 

[SilverGS]

So you mean Chill mode is meant to be a choice for people who do not want the car to have aggressive acceleration, and as a side effect that results in a better range.

Yes.

Setting the car in "Range mode" does that even more.

 

[airborne spoon]

The car also has a Range mode: Range Mode automatically limits the amount of power that the climate control system uses to maintain the temperature the cabin area and limits the amount of energy being used to heat or cool the Battery. In addition, Range Mode turns off signature lights (only in market regions where daytime running lights are not required).

range mode contrary to its namesake uses more power because it keeps the main HV battery at a higher temp for optimum use but it takes power to do so. I have made several trips along an identical route in identical conditions at identical speeds and every time i used range mode it took more power to get from A to B.

The best way to conserve power is to get a model that has a small drive unit. like a week ago while my P85D was in service i got a 75D loaner and it had more range despite having a smaller battery because it has 2 small ass motors compared to my 1 small and 1 big ass one. It was slower which sucked ass but i was only stuck with it for like 4 days. Basically i was able to drive from rancho Cucamonga to home without having to stop once and i still had about 20% when i got home. Vs my car i have to charge at least once and will only have 20% if i charge it to 55% or higher in Barstow.

 

[jamgolf]

LOL ... so Range Mode worked more like (Less) Range Mode
Is Chill Mode different/better than Range Mode?

 

[croman]

I get 300 mile of actual range (199wh/mi is actually 375 miles of range)with my 75D on highway trips. You'll get 400 miles if it's not winter (though heat pump will help a ton), good weather (rain and snow on roads kills range) or wind.

Just time leaving so you just finished charging and try to keep it below 80mph.

 

[SilverGS]

I get 300 mile of actual range (199wh/mi is actually 375 miles of range)with my 75D on highway trips. You'll get 400 miles if it's not winter (though heat pump will help a ton), good weather (rain and snow on roads kills range) or wind.

Just time leaving so you just finished charging and try to keep it below 80mph.View attachment 686331

You got 300 miles on a car rated for 249 miles of range?

 

[croman]

You got 300 miles on a car rated for 249 miles of range?

Yes. I got 238 miles when it was a 60D because there wasn't a supercharger. I live dangerously though. I'll go based on my math when the computer yells at me that I'm doomed and could I please slow down.

My last trip from that photo it was even more dire and told me it knew of no charging options and I was screwed. Luckily I was near my destination and knew it.

But OP should have no issues getting 350.

My car is rated at 259 but I never had that. My car reads 242 now at 100 percent.

 

[jjrandorin]

Thanks ... thats is good to know that 60 mph could yield 400 miles of range.
I am guessing at that rate, 75 mph in Chill mode might yield 300 miles of highway range which would be great.

Probably not, no. 75 MPH uses a lot (a lot lot) more power than 60mph. If you drove 45 mph you could likely go 450 miles. Whether the 0-60 is 4 seconds or 10 seconds wont matter if the majority of your time is cruising at 70MPH.

 

[nwdiver]

Would a 100 KWh not be able to yield a range of 500+ miles with modest 0-60 mph acceleration?

Unlike ICE cars with EVs there really isn't much of an efficiency hit with a more powerful drivetrain. The biggest bottleneck is the battery not the motors. The reason higher performance EVs have shorter range has more to do with the tires than the car itself. If you put low rolling resistance tires on a Plaid + you're gonna get an almost identical range to the LR.

 

[PCMc]

I don't know too much about battery technology but I am wondering if it would not be possible for Tesla to "tune" the battery/vehicle for ultra-long-range, just as they are able to "tune" it for ultra-high acceleration for Plaid. What I mean is a Model S variant that perhaps accelerates 0-60 mph in 5 seconds instead of 1.99 (Plaid) or 3.1 (LR) but offers maybe 500 miles of range - translating to 300 miles of real-world highway range.

Highway range is really around energy consumption, which at highway speeds is dominated by aerodynamics. Unless you want to talk about active aero devices, there really isn't a lot that can be done beyond adjustments in ride height which newer cars with adaptive suspension already do. That's where everyone points to moderating your speed as the single biggest lever you have to achieve greater range.

You need to think of this differently than with an ICE car where there are ways to adjust the engine calibration (spark timing, air:fuel ratio, egr rates, etc) which will influence the combustion efficiency of the engine. There are not those types of levers with the electric motors in an EV. Chill mode really doesn't do anything other than you can do with your finesse of the accelerator pedal to moderate your rate of acceleration/deceleration. Range mode benefit can vary based upon ambient conditions with the balance of influences on interior HVAC vs battery active heating/cooling.

I have a mid-2016 MS90D. Rated range when new was 294 miles (US, EPA). My max distance on long way highway drive is 306 miles. That was from Macedonia, OH to Indianapolis, IN supercharger (so. side off I-465 location). I'll admit it was pretty much ideal weather conditions, did limit speed to probably about 65 mph running with trucks for a subset of the trip, but didn't even start going into trying to stretch my range until getting close to Columbus OH when I decided to see whether I could save enough to skip Dayton, OH supercharger. Still had 6% / 18 miles on the display when I rolled into Indy supercharger having averaged just under 70 mph for the trip. That was with about a 2 year old battery at the time, so still only about 1-2% apparent degradation at the time. So yes, achieving greater than rated range on a highway drive is possible without having to drive 55 mph all the way, but I don't plan on it and doubt I'll ever break this record for highway range on a single charge again with this car.