SR+ Range at 10°F - Will I last?

[jordanM3]

Okay so I am not good with the kw/hr or the range of these cars based on degrees, so i thought I'd ask for some help so please forgive me if it has been posted countless amounts of times! Anywho, I drive probably 100 miles a day and I have a wall charger at home that I am able to charge with every night. My charger and car will be in the drive way so they will be outside constantly. Only thing I am worried about is if I leave my house at 90% and drive 50 miles then leave my car sitting outside for 8 hours while at work; then drive another 50 miles back home will I survive? I pick my car up Thursday and do not want to stress. Where I am winter is not fun so please tell me some good news lol.

Thanks guys!

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

Warm the car up while plugged in before you leave and charge to 90% each night.

A long drive is better for range in the winter than multiple short drives as it allows the car to settle down once everything is warmed up.

Assuming you take a 40% range hit, you are still OK.

 

[xcat]

That and charge to 100% the first time to see what you’re left with at the end of the day. No harm.

 

[jordanM3]

Warm the car up while plugged in before you leave and charge to 90% each night.

A long drive is better for range in the winter than multiple short drives as it allows the car to settle down once everything is warmed up.

Assuming you take a 40% range hit, you are still OK.

Good to know, thank you!!

 

[ZOMGVTEK]

The major hit to range is with short drives in very cold weather, which is just the same as it is with ICE vehicles. The difference being heating can be a VERY significant factor for an EV since it’s not an abundant waste product. If the car is warmed up and you don’t have the heat hammered, the range is only a little bit worse when it’s quite cold outside. But if it’s well below freezing, the heat is cranked the whole way, you’re driving through deep snow at low speeds, expect around half the rated range. But for just cold weather and clear roads, the impact isn’t that terrible on longer drives. A dozen short drives with lots of sitting to cool down are really brutal though. I’d expect you should be able to do 100 miles a day quite reliably if it’s in two drives. I suspect the battery gauge won’t be too comforting on the return trip.

 

[KenC]

Okay so I am not good with the kw/hr or the range of these cars based on degrees, so i thought I'd ask for some help so please forgive me if it has been posted countless amounts of times! Anywho, I drive probably 100 miles a day and I have a wall charger at home that I am able to charge with every night. My charger and car will be in the drive way so they will be outside constantly. Only thing I am worried about is if I leave my house at 90% and drive 50 miles then leave my car sitting outside for 8 hours while at work; then drive another 50 miles back home will I survive? I pick my car up Thursday and do not want to stress. Where I am winter is not fun so please tell me some good news lol.

Thanks guys!

To be honest, driving 100 miles, with the car sitting for 8hrs, at 10F, in a SR+, could be cutting it close. In addition to @M3BlueGeorgia 's recommendation of preconditioning the interior, you'll want to use the seat heater, and try to minimize overheating the cabin. If things look sketchy, remember slowing down will help alot. Also, you need to have an alternate plan to charge en-route, just in case, because there could be a day with cold temps, headwinds and snow on the ground, and your range could be cut in half. That makes you marginal.

 

[Teedub21]

Do you have the HPWC or just using the 120V that comes with the car? If its charging on 15A/120V and outside in those temps the car probably wont charge enough for the next day. If its a HPWC then probably ok.

 

[justsomeguy]

Okay so I am not good with the kw/hr or the range of these cars based on degrees, so i thought I'd ask for some help so please forgive me if it has been posted countless amounts of times! Anywho, I drive probably 100 miles a day and I have a wall charger at home that I am able to charge with every night. My charger and car will be in the drive way so they will be outside constantly. Only thing I am worried about is if I leave my house at 90% and drive 50 miles then leave my car sitting outside for 8 hours while at work; then drive another 50 miles back home will I survive? I pick my car up Thursday and do not want to stress. Where I am winter is not fun so please tell me some good news lol.

Thanks guys!

I would recommend charging the car to 80% or so when you get home, then when you wake up immediately bump it up to 90% and go about your morning routine. About 5-10 minutes before leaving turn on the climate control. This way your batteries will be warmer for the drive (enabling more regen) and you won't have the huge range hit for the initial warming of the cabin. Otherwise you should be fine. Highly recommend disabling sentry and stuff during the time your car will sit during your work day. I reckon you'll make it home with range to spare.

Wear super warm clothes, that way if things get sketchy you can completely disable the cabin heater and be more confident in having enough range.

 

[Sophias_dad]

When its new the SR+ should be fine for this drive, but what happens when you've lost 29% of the battery capacity and your predicted 250 range has now become 177?

Justsomeguy has the right idea, but I'd take it a bit further... don't charge at all until the amount of time needed before you leave, and get the HVAC to turn on 5-10 minutes before you leave.

If you happen to have an android phone, "Smart Charging" can do this...
https://sg57productions.com/dashboardfortesla#advanced-charging , but be aware the 'scheduled" feature of this is relying on your PHONE to start charging, not the car. I haven't used the smart charging feature, but I have scheduled timed HVAC turn-on and had it fail once or twice. That's not really a big deal if you have to live with a couple minutes of cold commute, but if you get up and your car doesn't have enough power to get you to work, it could suck. You can also do it by scheduling the car to start charging every night at the same time, using the car's built-in interface.

And as another poster said, you can't hope to do this on a 120V outlet...even 16 hours on 4mi/hr(best case, in Summer!) won't remotely charge the car for your next day, never mind doing it at 10F with the heat running! Because an SR+ has only a 32 amp built-in charger, you'll likely need ~10 hours of charge EVERY NIGHT, and that's assuming you are charging on a 40 amp circuit(delivering 32 amps to the car)

TBH, I'd get an LR RWD if they are still available, or an LR AWD. So much more capacity and charge speed.... do you ever do ANYTHING besides drive to and from work every day? A side trip to the grocery store might get extra exciting if you don't know if you'll make it home.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Ok... so you won't need 10 hours every night at 32 amps... its more like 6-7...which is still a lot.

What happens when there's a cold snap and your 10f becomes 0f? -5f?

Does it ever snow there? I understand plowing through fields of snow and slush is pretty hard on the range, too....

 

[Teedub21]

And on 120V the car will actually charge at 6mph. Still a problem if it’s outside though.