Sudden Decrease in Range and Increase in Consumption

[Brenkj]

A few weeks ago I noticed that the range started showing as about 265 miles with a full charge (which I have set at about 90%). For the first 15 months I owned the car, a full charge to 90% was more like 285 miles. Around this same time I also noticed that the battery seems to run down faster than it used to (i.e., fewer miles to get down to a range where I have to charge again).

I initially chalked this up to a difference in power usage in cold weather months, but it's been fairly warm here in Texas the last few weeks and the full-range charge and battery usage have stayed the same. I decided to get a more accurate measurement, so I charged it fully and took note of my odometer reading. Since then I've driven 110 miles, but my range estimate is down 151 miles. That seems like a pretty big disparity. Does anyone have thoughts on causes of either of these issues?

Just to anticipate some potential responses, I do use regen braking; I drive pretty conservatively; and the weather has been pretty comfortable where I live the last few weeks (highs between mid 60's and low 80's; lows in the low 40's to mid 60's).

Thanks.

 

[jmaddr]

Over that 110 miles, what was your Wh/mi?

 

[Brenkj]

Sorry - I'm not familiar with that term. Obviously "mi" is mile. What does "Wh" refer to?

 

[KenC]

So you have two issues, best to keep them separate. You could have some "phantom" or "vampire" drain. When you park, you can use as little as 0.1mile/hr, or as much as 1.5miles/hr. Depends upon whether you have Sentry on, or Smart Summon Standby, or some other thing like the wifi polling away.

As for your rated range, it could be BMS drift. You charge to 90%? Try changing it up for a couple weeks to 80% or 70% and see if that helps. You can also try recalibrating by running the battery low, 10%, then charging it up to 90% and do that a few times. Seems to be what the SC recommends, but it doesn't seem to work all that often. Good luck.

 

[Mrbrock]

Wh/mi is watt hours/mile. It is what the car displays consumption units in if you swipe the lower left subscreen to energy. There are subscreens for wipers and tire pressures as well but one is consumption. Once you have the consumption subscreen you should see usage for your last trip and if you scroll up you can see since last charge and then for Trip A or Trip B (like the trip odometer in ICE cars) that most people reset when they fill up on gas.

 

[Brenkj]

Okay, I just checked and it looks like my avg. Wh/mi. is 232.

 

[TW14 9LF]

I've noticed that since the stay at home orders, my "mileage" has gotten way worse. I typically get around 210-220 Wh/mi driving to my office in LA traffic. Without traffic, I'm up around 270-280 Wh/mi. I'm guessing it's because I'm driving a lot faster than usual. Completely ruining my lifetime average!!!

 

[JBT66]

I've noticed that since the stay at home orders, my "mileage" has gotten way worse. I typically get around 210-220 Wh/mi driving to my office in LA traffic. Without traffic, I'm up around 270-280 Wh/mi. I'm guessing it's because I'm driving a lot faster than usual. Completely ruining my lifetime average!!!

I’m seeing the same increase but I really don’t think I’m driving much faster.

 

[augkuo]

For your numbers, a 100% battery would mean a max range of 294 miles now vs 317 miles when you first got the car. This represents an 8% loss over your 15 months of ownership. Depending upon how many miles you've driven and the number of times you've used the supercharger, you should expect a decrease in range. I'm in a similar position, I used to charge to 270 or so when I first got the car and now 260-265 at 90%. The car has ~41k miles after 19 months of ownership.

You can go to the Plug In America Survey for Model 3 battery survey here - Battery Survey « Plug In America
and see how your car compares. There are some cars below 300 miles (like mine) and your numbers match the lower end of max battery range of other people.