12 miles but I was on my way to a Supercharger. I always turn on the navigation as it is pretty accurate how much charge you will have left at your destination. If was getting a little nervous and turned on range mode as I got under 20 miles, which ended up giving me 1% extra and wasn't necessary.
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severe range anxiety
- Thread starter Bigjohn892
- Start date
eyespii
Member
Got down to 1 mile left in my S at a supercharger on a road trip. The charger was completely full, and I was sweating bullets thinking that the car would die while I was waiting for a spot to open up. Thankfully that did not happen!
It was my gf’s first Tesla road trip too, and probably woulda been her last had we gotten stuck!
It was my gf’s first Tesla road trip too, and probably woulda been her last had we gotten stuck!
The miles to empty is an estimate of an estimate so should be taken with a grain of salt. The state of charge (SOC) of a battery is itself an estimate based on watching current flow from the battery. The estimate miles is a an estimate based on the SOC and historical patterns. Add downhills and uphills, tailwind and headwind, high speed or low speed and the inaccuracies mount.
My 2 cents is just use SOC (i.e.) instead of range. This is the closer to looking at the amount of fuel you have in an ICE vehicle. Most of us seem to not had issue running out gas in ICE vehicles. Once I switched range anxiety disappeared.
My 2 cents is just use SOC (i.e.) instead of range. This is the closer to looking at the amount of fuel you have in an ICE vehicle. Most of us seem to not had issue running out gas in ICE vehicles. Once I switched range anxiety disappeared.
This is the most common question I get asked about the car. I don't feel any anxiety myself. Mileage is listed and I know that my commute home is 25 miles. I'd run low on my ICE cars because you would leave in the AM for work and not have time to stop and get gas, so you might be cutting it close. Now I have a gas pump in my garage (not to mention chargers at work and all over).
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
Seven miles left for me — I was fighting a fierce headwind from Grand Junction CO to Green River UT and driving as slowly as 50 in an 80 zone. As I got closer and knew I was going to make it, I sped back up to 80 for the last few miles. This was with the old nav that always underestimated energy use for high freeway speed roads. It is way better now — a ten to fifteen percent buffer is usually plenty in summer weather. Winter driving requires a bit more care.
From that experience I learned that if my estimated energy at destination is dropping unexpectedly, it is best to slow down a bit right away, rather than wait until getting closer to the destination. Better to drive 70 for much of the way than to have to drive 50 later.
Seven miles in my old LEAF would have been a comfortable margin — ~10% SOC — so it is all relative!
I did run out of gas once on a remote hilly stretch of I-70 in western Utah. Oops. Got a rescue from State Patrol.
From that experience I learned that if my estimated energy at destination is dropping unexpectedly, it is best to slow down a bit right away, rather than wait until getting closer to the destination. Better to drive 70 for much of the way than to have to drive 50 later.
Seven miles in my old LEAF would have been a comfortable margin — ~10% SOC — so it is all relative!
I did run out of gas once on a remote hilly stretch of I-70 in western Utah. Oops. Got a rescue from State Patrol.
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There are 168,000 gas stations in the US. But about a billion electrical outlets. Tesla has provided adapters that make most of those usable. In a pinch, or an emergency, any of those outlets can be used for a 'bump' charge. Most commercial establishments can be talked into letting you 'hook up' for a few dollars - even gas stations.
Just realizing that relieves the 'anxiety'.
Many AAA service vehicles now carry charging solutions for 'stranded' EV's.
Just realizing that relieves the 'anxiety'.
Many AAA service vehicles now carry charging solutions for 'stranded' EV's.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
I've run out of petrol a couple times over the years but never at a "need a rescue" location. Both times it just cost me my pride, about 20 minutes of walking, and paying convenience store prices for a jerrycan. That was back before the days of cars (or at least my car) having miles remaining readouts, when you were never really sure exactly where the bottom was on the gauge for a given vehicle until that time you ran out.I did run out of gas once on a remote hilly stretch of I-70 in western Utah. Oops. Got a rescue from State Patrol.
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Two Leafs and Model S owner here! I am currently 2500 miles from home and was down to 4 miles left when rolling into supercharger last night. The Tesla gives you all the great info of speed and distance that you need to eliminate range anxiety when the destination is programmed into the computer. The Leafs on the other hand do not...
Olle
Active Member
-10 (minus ten) miles in Model S. Car can't display negative but I had driven 10 miles after 0 "charge now" Range anxiety was probably 11 out of 10 because wife and small kids in car and minus 20 degrees outside 3AM in the morning
Wow! Great impromptu test!-10 (minus ten) miles in Model S. Car can't display negative but I had driven 10 miles after 0 "charge now" Range anxiety was probably 11 out of 10 because wife and small kids in car and minus 20 degrees outside 3AM in the morning
But... you also still appear to be alive after your wife wanted to kill you.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
Obviously a long, long ways from home, as well (unless you moved to FL after that).-10 (minus ten) miles in Model S. Car can't display negative but I had driven 10 miles after 0 "charge now" Range anxiety was probably 11 out of 10 because wife and small kids in car and minus 20 degrees outside 3AM in the morning
Service center dropped it off at my office without charging it and it had 50 miles of range left. It's 15 miles to my house and I got into my garage after using 20 miles of range, so the meter wasn't completely accurate. It was within the first 2 weeks of ownership, so I didn't know how much to trust the meter, but I wasn't worried I'd get home. I figured it was the equivalent of having about 2 gallons of gas left in my old car, which was before the fuel light would even turn on.
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
-10 (minus ten) miles in Model S. Car can't display negative but I had driven 10 miles after 0 "charge now" Range anxiety was probably 11 out of 10 because wife and small kids in car and minus 20 degrees outside 3AM in the morning
I think you win on this. Thread closed. LoL.
What I actually suspect was that the range was dropping due to an error in state of charge (SOC) calculation. The error was caused by low temperature, which increases the batteries internal resistance, and reduces the effective voltage screwing up this calculation. You were probably able to go past 0 because the battery still had charge (energy in the cell), but the decreased voltage due to the lower temperature makes it seem like it was empty already.
ℬête Noire
Active Member
But wouldn't the system shut down drawing current out of the battery anyway, based on that lower voltage reading? Even if it wasn't really as exhausted as it's voltage was suggesting, that voltage is the only thing the battery management system has for a metric. Battery management systems don't run Li-ion batteries (or most kinds of batteries) completely dead because of the damage that tends to do.
Jedi2155
Model 3 has Arrived.
I've heard from BMS engineers that calculating SOC on lithium battery can be really tough (especially on LFP chemistries due to their flat voltage curve), so there is more than just voltage at play here. There's some complex algorithms that does capacity calculations along with SOC history (ever heard of re-calibrating your battery on your cell phone?) etc.
Damage is typically on the current collector in a lithium cell once cell voltage drops < 2v. The electrolyte becomes very acidic and dissolves the copper anode creating hydrogen gas and things go boom etc.
There definitely is some type of safety cut-off voltage but I'm guessing he didn't reach it in his scenario but just a depressed voltage characteristic.
dgpcolorado
high altitude member
That isn't how the "miles meter" is supposed to work. The miles displayed is (usually, you can change it to "ideal miles") "Rated Miles" (RM). It is a proxy for how much energy is in the battery using the EPA efficiency numbers (~240 Wh/mile for the Model 3, if I remember correctly). It does NOT mean that you can drive that far unless your energy use is at or below the EPA efficiency number. Rated Miles is simply an energy gauge. How far you actually can go depends on how you drive and the weather conditions you face. For example, those of us driving in the snowbelt in winter conditions get substantially fewer miles than the RM number displayed.
Since RM can be a bit misleading, many of us choose to display %SOC instead. When using navigation the car will estimate the %SOC at the destination and if that number is dropping, you may want to slow down to conserve energy unless you know from experience that you will arrive with enough charge left at your destination. Rated Miles makes an excellent energy gauge but it is not a predictor of how many miles you can drive and it doesn't adapt to driving conditions.
FWIW.
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