Refresh Model S real world range

[uthatcher]

I have a Plaid with 21’s and 2900 miles. I picked it up on June 29th. I’ve done today trips, plenty of in town, and commuting 100 miles per day. So far the car is running at 80.52% efficiency and 320 wh/mile.

I’m in Los Angeles so the battery is liking the heat this time of year. I set my cruise at 80 mph almost all the time, sometimes 75. I don’t drivel’s slowly and floor the car at least once per day because I still can’t hardly believe how fast it is.

For comparison, I had a 2021 S Long Range with 19’s previously. That car also ran at around 80% efficiency but I drove it slower than the Plaid generally. It was good for around 285 wh/mile.

 

[WhiteWi]

Why in the world would you be using AC at 67 (very low) and use heater on the passenger seat? Maybe that is the clue that it is too low! LoL

 

[WhiteWi]

Future pro tips when traveling long distances please use AP and don’t go over 80 and you will see you range grow.
PS
Using very low or very high AC temps are not doing any good for your range either.

 

[NOLA21SGuy]

Why in the world would you be using AC at 67 (very low) and use heater on the passenger seat? Maybe that is the clue that it is too low! LoL

There was no heater on the passenger seat. I use the seat heater on long drives to keep my back from hurting. The ac was 67 because it was 80+ degrees outside and 70 didn't feel cool enough.

 

[Nosken]

Thanks for the great/detailed write up. I never realized the range would be cut back that drastically when driving what I consider normal for the way I drive and use my BMW. Sounds like it is a great car, but your posts/stats are making me reconsider my order, as not I travel a lot and not sure I could stop every couple to three hours to charge.

You car looks awesome!

EV charging vs gas
You are forgetting one of the most important aspects of "the charging time vs filling with gas". At the end of the year, almost every Tesla driver will have spent less time waiting to charge, than they would have filling with gas. This was done prior to the recent, faster Supercharger speeds.
I speak from experience, in 6+ years years of Tesla ownership I have logged over 170,000 miles, that entire time, it has been my only car. For the 2017 solar eclipse I took a 3800 mile trip, from near Sacramento, through 8 parks in Utah, heading up to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The finale was watching the eclipse from Eastern Idaho. Three of those days consisted of over 500 mile drives. While I spent 1.5-2 hours charging those days, 40 minutes of that was eating a leisurely lunch. Charging was convenient and easily accessible with very slight planning needed before hand.
Yes, on longer drives, it takes a more time to charge in route than it does to fill with gas. What needs to be taken into perspective is the time spent getting gas in everyday situations. If you figure about 15 minutes for a gas stop. In my case, driving 2500 miles a month required filling with gas twice a week. This "time waste" adds up very quickly. Now, it takes me 10 seconds to plug my car in at home, it charges overnight. I am saving 30 minutes a week. I essentially store that "saved time" in the "Bank of Time". 95% of driving is within the 300 mile range.
When on long road trips, yes, it takes longer, but I simply "withdraw" some of that accumulated time I saved not getting gas. At the end of a year, I have spent much less time in total, than filling with gas.
I’m a car guy, a gearhead, for a long time. I've owned Porsches, and SAABs, without a doubt, it’s the most exciting car I’ve ever owned. From a tech aspect, it’s wonderful that it constantly get software updates. Beyond that, driving with autopilot is a joy, it’s much safer, and more relaxing. Stop and go traffic is no longer painful, especially since in California I get to use an HOV sticker.

 

[NHK X]

So we are looking at 75-80% of rated range for 21” wheels. Was actually hoping for a little better than that.

 

[uthatcher]

So we are looking at 75-80% of rated range for 21” wheels. Was actually hoping for a little better than that.

Depends on how you drive, it could be higher. I would safely expect 80+% for most people just knowing how I drive. I’m sure it would go closer to 85% if I dropped down to 75MPH on my commute. Trouble is traffic roles too fast now and I don’t like being the one holding it up.
For the month I’m at 2897 miles and 80.2% efficiency. That’s with an average temp of 76F.

 

[Jbapckfan]

EV charging vs gas
You are forgetting one of the most important aspects of "the charging time vs filling with gas". At the end of the year, almost every Tesla driver will have spent less time waiting to charge, than they would have filling with gas. This was done prior to the recent, faster Supercharger speeds.
I speak from experience, in 6+ years years of Tesla ownership I have logged over 170,000 miles, that entire time, it has been my only car. For the 2017 solar eclipse I took a 3800 mile trip, from near Sacramento, through 8 parks in Utah, heading up to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. The finale was watching the eclipse from Eastern Idaho. Three of those days consisted of over 500 mile drives. While I spent 1.5-2 hours charging those days, 40 minutes of that was eating a leisurely lunch. Charging was convenient and easily accessible with very slight planning needed before hand.
Yes, on longer drives, it takes a more time to charge in route than it does to fill with gas. What needs to be taken into perspective is the time spent getting gas in everyday situations. If you figure about 15 minutes for a gas stop. In my case, driving 2500 miles a month required filling with gas twice a week. This "time waste" adds up very quickly. Now, it takes me 10 seconds to plug my car in at home, it charges overnight. I am saving 30 minutes a week. I essentially store that "saved time" in the "Bank of Time". 95% of driving is within the 300 mile range.
When on long road trips, yes, it takes longer, but I simply "withdraw" some of that accumulated time I saved not getting gas. At the end of a year, I have spent much less time in total, than filling with gas.
I’m a car guy, a gearhead, for a long time. I've owned Porsches, and SAABs, without a doubt, it’s the most exciting car I’ve ever owned. From a tech aspect, it’s wonderful that it constantly get software updates. Beyond that, driving with autopilot is a joy, it’s much safer, and more relaxing. Stop and go traffic is no longer painful, especially since in California I get to use an HOV sticker.

I appreciate your post. Filling up a 15-20 gallon tank with gas is absolutely a less than 5 minute experience though if you are not going inside the gas station. Going in, getting snacks, using bathroom 15 minutes in that case sure.

 

[WhiteWi]

I appreciate your post. Filling up a 15-20 gallon tank with gas is absolutely a less than 5 minute experience though if you are not going inside the gas station. Going in, getting snacks, using bathroom 15 minutes in that case sure.

240 minutes a year you spent at the gas station if we use your 5 minutes once a week gas fill up. Vs zero time spent with Tesla charging home.

 

[loganintx]

I was able to travel 550 miles in 9 hours and 3 minutes without ever charging to 100% or going below 14%. I felt it was rather successful. There were also lots of hills involved for more than half of the trip and serious rain for over an hour.

You should be able to average 60-65mph on a long road trip. For example if you are going 1000 miles it will take you 15-16 hours in a Tesla LR vs closer to 13-14 hours in an ICE. An easy metric to use is that a Tesla will add 15-20% to your travel time on trips greater than 500 miles.

 

[loganintx]

I was able to travel 550 miles in 9 hours and 3 minutes without ever charging to 100% or going below 14%. I felt it was rather successful. There were also lots of hills involved for more than half of the trip and serious rain for over an hour.

You should be able to average 60-65mph on a long road trip. For example if you are going 1000 miles it will take you 15-16 hours in a Tesla LR vs closer to 13-14 hours in an ICE. An easy metric to use is that a Tesla will add 15-20% to your travel time on trips greater than 500 miles.

 

[roblab]

It's interesting to me that some people have to worry about five minutes waiting for a charge. Or even thirty minutes. From what I see, most people sit around and do nothing for a lot longer than that every day, usually watching some vapid TV show. My wife and I have taken to playing games on our phones, and I often only get to play two games before the car's done. The rest of the time I get to look out the large moving picture at the front of the car and see amazing things every few minutes. I also like to play "spot the cops" as they try to hide up driveways or behind bushes. Long trips are not boring. And charging stops allow for a nice little walk with my honey.

 

[Jbapckfan]

240 minutes a year you spent at the gas station if we use your 5 minutes once a week gas fill up. Vs zero time spent with Tesla charging home.

Totally agree there, and the reason I plan on buying a MS LR soon. So my comment was really only relevant to a long drive where charging would be required.

 

[msm859]

You should be able to average 60-65mph on a long road trip. For example if you are going 1000 miles it will take you 15-16 hours in a Tesla LR vs closer to 13-14 hours in an ICE. An easy metric to use is that a Tesla will add 15-20% to your travel time on trips greater than 500 miles.

Not true. UNLESS you intend to essentially drive "non stop". For a 500 mile drive you make 2 brief 15 minute bathroom/charge breaks and 1 30-40 minute lunch/charge break. Most people would do that in an ICE or a BEV. So the actual "additional" wait time would be very little.

 

[Nosken]

I appreciate your post. Filling up a 15-20 gallon tank with gas is absolutely a less than 5 minute experience though if you are not going inside the gas station. Going in, getting snacks, using bathroom 15 minutes in that case sure.

Yes, that is the time to fill with gas, you must also consider the time getting to and from the gas station, and the occasional wait like at Costco for gas. 98% of my charging takes 5 seconds. In my garage, I get out, of the driver side, then plug in—-done.

 

[Jbapckfan]

Yes, that is the time to fill with gas, you must also consider the time getting to and from the gas station, and the occasional wait like at Costco for gas. 98% of my charging takes 5 seconds. In my garage, I get out, of the driver side, then plug in—-done.

Yeah good point. I just meant I can’t remember the last time I spent more than 5 min at a gas station actually filling the tank. I have a 150 mile roundtrip to work and cannot wait to home charge. It’s going to be a game changer and time saver. And sounds like I can drive 80mph blasting the AC and seat vents with zero charging concerns with the LR. Hospital I work at also has 2 chargers but doubt I will ever use them as I will install a garage charger at home and start each day full.

 

[DBV1]

240 minutes a year you spent at the gas station if we use your 5 minutes once a week gas fill up. Vs zero time spent with Tesla charging home.

Only true if all you do is local driving, which it seems like the majority on here do. When someone like me drives around 20,000 miles a year, it is a lot more than local driving and then the above is not true.

 

[Nosken]

Only true if all you do is local driving, which it seems like the majority on here do. When someone like me drives around 20,000 miles a year, it is a lot more than local driving and then the above is not true.

Not true at all. I have driven 170,000 miles in 6 1/2 years in my two Tesla‘s. That works out to about 28,000 miles a year. While the majority of my time is spent driving within 150 miles of my house, I have taken multiple 4000 mile road trips. The amount of time I’ve saved by not having to spend time at a gas station is somewhat mitigated when I take long trips. If I add up the time that I used to spend at a gas station, I was getting gas twice a week. Therefore, 30 minutes a week is put in the hopper, and I have surely not used even 1/4 of that when I take once or twice a year long trips. I also take other short trips, and may have to charge one time but I am still way ahead of the game on time. Couple that with the fun I’m driving a Tesla, it’s priceless.

 

[ucmndd]

Only true if all you do is local driving, which it seems like the majority on here do. When someone like me drives around 20,000 miles a year, it is a lot more than local driving and then the above is not true.

I do 35,000 miles a year and have driven all over the Western US. Supercharging is an afterthought, even in my 4 year old 75kwh dinosaur with 220 miles of range left.

 

[headcase]

I do 35,000 miles a year and have driven all over the Western US. Supercharging is an afterthought, even in my 4 year old 75kwh dinosaur with 220 miles of range left.

Ditto. I don’t even care as much about departing the house with a full charge anymore. I just get in and go.