Ski trip, need your advice

[Galinette]

Dear all,

I have a model S 100D in France on the west coast, where it almost never freezes, and stays between 5°C (41F) 10°C(50F) during winter days. So I never had the need for winter tires.

I plan a 1 week ski trip in the mountains. By the past, I have driven economy ICE cars there multiple times, without winter tires, or snow chains. The strategy was checking the weather before taking the road, and postponing or taking a longer but safer route in case of any snow.

Now I wouldn't go there without any solution in case of snow. I have basically three choices:
- Buy winter tires. This is roughly a 1000€ investment, plus about 100€ every time I switch the tires. I know it is not totally lost since the summer tires will then last longer. But storing 4 tires is complex for me (small garage, appartment) and it seems overkill for 1 week a year.
- Tesla official snow chains. About 300€. I'm not a fan of snow chains, a lot of things may go wrong if they start to go off the wheel, like damaging the car. They can be mounted on the rear only, isn't it bad to have traction only on the non steering wheels?
- Socks such as Autosocks. It seems to me that they can't cause much harm to the car. They are not durable, but this isn't a problem in my case, as I plan to avoid as much as possible getting in a situation where I need them. They are reported to have a performance close to winter tires. As with chains, if only used on the rear wheels, isn't it poor for steering?

That's a tough choice...

Thanks for your advices!

 

[Sparky]

...By the past, I have driven economy ICE cars there multiple times, without winter tires, or snow chains. The strategy was checking the weather before taking the road, and postponing or taking a longer but safer route in case of any snow.

My advice, stick to your strategy if you're not going to switch to winter tires. But definitely buy/bring chains in case you have a weather surprise. There's many models that are pretty easy to install. I've used chains and winter tires on an S and just winter tires on an X. In my case, the chains were only needed to get up a steep snow-covered driveway. If you're going to drive on snow-covered roads, there's no good substitute for winter tires. AWD is a small benefit, winter tires provide better stopping when you need it as well as great traction for getting up hills with tight turns (like driveways). With decent winter tires, the S and X are beasts on snow IMO. Also, it's best to have dedicated wheels rather than taking the tires on/off each season. But, it sounds like that's not an option for your circumstances and it's expensive for just a single trip per year.

 

[Lasttoy]

I lived there for 10 yrs, skied every winter in France, wonderful.
Rent a car for a week. Relieves the stress. Save your Tesla the shock.

 

[Leeclanual]

If you grew up in the alps then your good to go in any winter driving condition... from what I’ve heard on this forum anyway.

Like recommendation above... save your S and rent.

 

[linkster]

save your S and rent.

All +1 on the above previous posters.

Good Luck and have fun! Off to Jackson Hole in a few weeks.

 

[AustinP]

I lived there for 10 yrs, skied every winter in France, wonderful.
Rent a car for a week. Relieves the stress. Save your Tesla the shock.

If you grew up in the alps then your good to go in any winter driving condition... from what I’ve heard on this forum anyway.

Like recommendation above... save your S and rent.

All +1 on the above previous posters.

Good Luck and have fun! Off to Jackson Hole in a few weeks.

So I understand the rationale of saving the car mentioned. Driving on snow and salted roads is a hasard and probably causing some wear (salt).
However, I’m not sure financially it is better. To be compared between a onetime cost (chains and/or winter tires) and car rental cost each year.

More importantly to me, I would lose the fun part: driving the Tesla on longer trips like ski or summer holidays is something I really look forward to.
We (family) had to change our mind set of reaching asap our destination, somehow forcefully due to the SuC stops. It turned out those regular stops are anyway similar to those needed with the kids and planning wisely, using the lunch breaks, it does not add too much time. AP and the car altogether makes the trip so much more nice and relaxing.

But to each his own of course.
Have a safe trip!

 

[bishoppeak]

I like the Autosocks option. Priced right, easily stored, minor odds of actually needing to use them. Get them for all four wheels.

 

[Galinette]

I had considered taking the winter tire option, even if not the cheapest, as safety is n°1 priority, and as the local tire shop has a very interesting tire storage offer (they keep your unused tires for about 100€/year). But most of winter trips (including going to the ski resort) consists in taking wet highways at 10-15°C (50-60°F), and I've just read that winter tire are just unsafe on these... As I won't travel with 4 tires and change them before climbing the mountain, winter tires is just not an option even if not considering cost...

Yes I have considered renting... But I'm advocating EVs to all friends and family (which is EV skeptical) and can't show them I need to rent as the Tesla can't do the job. That's a matter of honor.

I don't like chains. They damage tires, they make so much noise that you feel your car is blowing up, and if they detach for any reason they really can cause a big mess. Also i'm quite skeptical in using chains on rear wheels only (good for going straight, but what about steering???) and Tesla clearly warns against using them on front wheels.

I'm more and more thinking of the Autosocks solution on four wheels. They are really slim and should not mess with the wheel mechanics. And if they do, there is a big chance that fabric looses against steel.

And anyway, I'll keep the strategy of carefully checking the snow conditions before trips, delaying if necessary. In the ski town, the car will sleep in a garage and won't be needed. And they have four 22kW chargers

If the weather forecast gets crazy a few days before, I'll rent some ICE

 

[AustinP]

I had considered taking the winter tire option, even if not the cheapest, as safety is n°1 priority, and as the local tire shop has a very interesting tire storage offer (they keep your unused tires for about 100€/year). But most of winter trips (including going to the ski resort) consists in taking wet highways at 10-15°C (50-60°F), and I've just read that winter tire are just unsafe on these... As I won't travel with 4 tires and change them before climbing the mountain, winter tires is just not an option even if not considering cost...

Yes I have considered renting... But I'm advocating EVs to all friends and family (which is EV skeptical) and can't show them I need to rent as the Tesla can't do the job. That's a matter of honor.

I don't like chains. They damage tires, they make so much noise that you feel your car is blowing up, and if they detach for any reason they really can cause a big mess. Also i'm quite skeptical in using chains on rear wheels only (good for going straight, but what about steering???) and Tesla clearly warns against using them on front wheels.

I'm more and more thinking of the Autosocks solution on four wheels. They are really slim and should not mess with the wheel mechanics. And if they do, there is a big chance that fabric looses against steel.

And anyway, I'll keep the strategy of carefully checking the snow conditions before trips, delaying if necessary. In the ski town, the car will sleep in a garage and won't be needed. And they have four 22kW chargers

If the weather forecast gets crazy a few days before, I'll rent some ICE

I like your sense of honor

About the risk of driving with winter tires above 7 degree Celsius, the only risk I know of is that they will wear faster. But to my knowledge they are certainly not a security risk.
My understanding is that the rubber is softer and so will wear faster if not cold enough, but on the positive , it stick also much better in wet conditions and in warmer temperatures.

I’m you friendly north neighbor, so indeed our winters are often not really cold enough but I prefer be safe and put on the winter tires set. Same for my wife’s car.

Mine is a rear wheel drive and I also have chains. I used them once and was very happy with them. I did go for the expensive ones also recommended by Tesla btw. Easy to mount and remove and thin for performance cars.

 

[EllyMac]

Hi, I've just returned from a week ski trip in the French Alps (Aussois)I took my model S and didn't have winter tires and both the car and I survived. My S is RWD plus my summer tyres are also nearing the end of their life. I generally felt the car handled pretty well, I think the extra weight vs ICE car helps however I tried to avoid icy or snowy patches and chose to park 500 metres down the hill from my apartment to avoid the risk of getting snowed in. I have now considered buying winter tyres to make the anxiety levels a bit lower however I do have room in my garage to store them so it probably makes more sense for me and as the miles will be so low I'll get years out of them.

We did have one sticky situation where we got stuck trying to drive up a very icy hill, I had missed a turning and was re-naved and should have payed more attention to the very dodgy looking road in front of me. I got about half way up and the car would not go any further however I was able to reverse back down with no issues or sliding, looking at the road in the morning I think most cars would have struggled and I was quite impressed with how far it actually managed, I decided to stick to the main roads from then on (which I found to be very well gritted in the main).

We did purchase snow chains as my belief is that it's a requirement to have them in the car when travelling into certain parts of the alps (only needing to put them on however if the conditions are impassable without). My husband brought them on-line for approx £150 I believe so approx 300 euros sounds high. (let me know if you would like the website we purchased from).

I was really pleased with the journey in the Tesla, we saved about £350 in fuel costs (driving from UK) plus the environmental benefit. The superchargers en route we're well placed and generally well served with restaurants etc (we had one in the middle of nowhere which was annoyingly going to be a lunch stop but we just chucked 15 mins in, enough to get to the next one) and the journey was comfortable and smooth with all the usual benefits of driving a Tesla (my 2 friends in the back certainly felt comfortable as they managed to sleep pretty much the whole way)

The other thing to be aware of (if you're not already) is the depleted range in the cold conditions. The temperature during our stay got to -11 overnight and -4 while driving to the resort, this can mean that you get about 2 thirds of the range you expect while driving plus the car will lose much more overnight than usual. So you want to make sure you have charging facilities and lots of spare range before doing the last stretch into the resort. Here's my recent post i you're interested in some more detail.

Trip to the Alps - range

 

[.jg.]

Another option is to consider a set of all season tyres - some newer variants even have the 3MPSF (Three Mountain Peak Snowflake) symbol, required in Austria and Germany. Michelin CrossClimate are available in Tesla sizes but I have just ordered a set of Bridgeston Weather Control A005 tyres.

I am not so keen on metal snow chains - I worry about loose metal parts thrashing parts of the suspension. However, there are plastic snow chains, which I understand are intended for emergency/temporary use.

 

[Galinette]

Dear all,

This ended up in ordering a set of four winter tires... This is clearly not the cheapest solution, but at least I will sleep well the night before departure