Snow storm driving issue to be aware of?

[Drone Flyer]

Drove back from Niagara last night in the storm and I thought I had plenty of charge left. I had to top off at a public station for an hour and even then, I barely made it home.
I was going about 50 km/hr on both the freeways and highways and yet my average Watt/hr usage was up to 300 when normal driving it is around 200.
It appears that the car uses a lot more energy to drive the wheels in the uncleared snow on the roads than I thought. An ICE would just need more gas as well.
Something to be aware of when driving in a snow storm. I would say allow a lot more of a buffer than normal.

 

[juschilin]

Drove back from Niagara last night in the storm and I thought I had plenty of charge left. I had to top off at a public station for an hour and even then, I barely made it home.
I was going about 50 km/hr on both the freeways and highways and yet my average Watt/hr usage was up to 300 when normal driving it is around 200.
It appears that the car uses a lot more energy to drive the wheels in the uncleared snow on the roads than I thought. An ICE would just need more gas as well.
Something to be aware of when driving in a snow storm. I would say allow a lot more of a buffer than normal.

What model do you have? I pick up my 70D in three weeks and this makes me nervous.

 

[Drone Flyer]

An 85 but it doesn't matter. In fact, I'm thinking dual motor drive could be worse as both set of wheels will be struggling through the snow so you could be using more energy on a dual drive Model S when trudging through fresh snow.
I could be wrong, of course, just my two cents worth of course. It could also mean less energy is required on dual drives but essentially, to move the car through the snow, the car would require the same amount of energy no matter what car it s.

 

[SmartElectric]

I'm thinking dual motor drive could be worse as both set of wheels will be struggling through the snow so you could be using more energy on a dual drive Model S when trudging through fresh snow

The dual motor cars rarely run both motors simultaneously unless under heavy load (foot to the floor).
The front motor is more efficient than the larger motor in the 85, so the "D" models are unlikely to use more energy, but just as well, unlikely to be noticeably more efficient either in the same slushy conditions.

Frankly, anyone purchasing an EV should expect 50% range loss in challenging winter conditions, be they cold (-10C due to battery heating) or snow (due to traction).
See "dougs blog":
Cold Weather Driving - Blogs - Tesla Motors Club - Enthusiasts & Owners Forum

 

[Jaff]

Remember too, if you were driving back from Niagara, you were driving directly into the teeth of some pretty strong winds...

Drove back from Niagara last night in the storm and I thought I had plenty of charge left. I had to top off at a public station for an hour and even then, I barely made it home.
I was going about 50 km/hr on both the freeways and highways and yet my average Watt/hr usage was up to 300 when normal driving it is around 200.
It appears that the car uses a lot more energy to drive the wheels in the uncleared snow on the roads than I thought. An ICE would just need more gas as well.
Something to be aware of when driving in a snow storm. I would say allow a lot more of a buffer than normal.

 

[wayner]

I had a similar experience exactly a year ago driving from London to Toronto in a storm. Were you having to also run your front defrosters on high to melt snow/ice on the windshield? I have found that this also increases the power usage.

 

[Cottonwood]

Just basic physics. It takes a lot of energy to move that slush out and away from the wheels. It's the same for 2WD and AWD vehicles.

 

[Doug_G]

Yep, this is known and expected. It has nothing to do with RWD/AWD and everything to do with your wheels slogging through the snow. Puddles, i.e. very heavy rain, can do this also.

 

[SmartElectric]

my average Watt/hr usage was up to 300 when normal driving it is around 200

Luxury!

Drove two 20 minutes stretches last night (-10C) and used 500 wH/km over 30 km... Heating a cold battery is a b#%ch on energy usage.

 

[wayner]

Drove two 20 minutes stretches last night (-10C) and used 500 wH/km over 30 km... Heating a cold battery is a b#%ch on energy usage.

I had the same issue yesterday morning after I dropped off my P85D at Lawrence and drove the cold-soaked loaner plain vanilla Model S less than 10 km to my office on the snowy partially plowed streets. I think the rear wheel drive may even be less efficient in the snow on unplowed streets as the traction is so poor - with a D you have a better chance of getting decent grip.

 

[Drone Flyer]

I had a similar experience exactly a year ago driving from London to Toronto in a storm. Were you having to also run your front defrosters on high to melt snow/ice on the windshield? I have found that this also increases the power usage.

Yes, I had to have the defrosters and fans on high to get rid of the ice. I don't have the cold weather package but in this case, I wonder if it even would have helped?
Definitely something to keep in mind when driving through a snowstorm.
Luckily, shouldn't have to do that very often.

 

[iKhalid]

Could it be that you were doing 50km/h? I'm wondering since the heater will need to stay ON for a longer period. Also, I think having the fan at the highest level and the highest temp might be a bad idea; and make sure the AC is OFF. I would also use a washer fluid that has a deIcer (sold at Costco).

No matter what the outside temp is, I always set the temp at 22C max. And to get the real range left in cold weather, I use [RATED RANGE X 0.65 = REAL RANGE] to make sure I don't face any surprises.

 

[Beckler]

For those who say 90 kWh (or whatever) is enough, this just shows you can never have enough. 10 years from now for example even 200 kWh would be a useful option.