Sydney to Canberra in a Model Y RWD

I've done this trip plenty of times before in a Model 3 SR+, and so I thought I would document what it's like in a Model Y RWD.

The weather was is the low 20s, with some light rain coming out of Sydney. The car was driven at the speed limit to stay with traffic, and it could certainly have been driven more efficiently on the freeway between Sydney and Goulburn as I was battling the holiday traffic.

Route - Chatswood to City Hill, Canberra, via the M5 on Fairford road
Distance: 291km
Total Energy used: 42kWh
Average: 144Wh/km
Arrival charge: 26%

I noticed that on departure the car estimated my arrival charge as low as 12%, and at one point it was as high 44% in its estimates. That said as you get further into the trip the more accurate the estimate, and I'm sure that I would have had better arrival charge had I driven it more conservatively.

An easy way to eek out more range when leaving Sydney is to avoid the M2/M7 loop and cut across the city instead. It takes longer, but is a shorter distance at a lower speed resulting in more range. Given these results, I'm sure that driven carefully, staying below 110km/h, and in the opposite direction towards Sydney that a 400km range is possible on a full charge. Regardless for me the range of the Tesla is never the limiting factor, the law of the weakest bladder rules in my family and we had to make an unscheduled stop 2 hours into the trip.

"Tesla Model Y in San Ramon" by DestinationFearFan is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Admin note: Image added for Blog Feed thumbnail

 

[Futuretech]

noticed that on departure the car estimated my arrival charge as low as 12%, and at one point it was as high 44% in its estimates.

I noticed this as well - quite annoying for me when I try to get an accurate estimate at the start when I'm not sure whether the car will make it to the destination. Any workarounds?

 

[brend0s]

I always enjoy your write-ups Maximillian

 

[cafz]

I noticed this as well - quite annoying for me when I try to get an accurate estimate at the start when I'm not sure whether the car will make it to the destination. Any workarounds?

Some of this is because it takes into account weather conditions on the route, which can change a bit. I usually find these days it's close enough that if it says I'll arrive on 10% or more coming from 90% or above I'll be happy with that.

A workaround is to use ABRP where you can tweak the settings to make it as conservative or aggressive as you like.

 

[Maximillan]

I noticed this as well - quite annoying for me when I try to get an accurate estimate at the start when I'm not sure whether the car will make it to the destination. Any workarounds?

I'm going with an old school rule of thumb that for a fair weather trip at 110km/h, the maximum sensible range for me for a Model Y RWD is 360km.

 

[moa999]

Tesla Tom with a similar journey on his YT channel.
Interestingly car initially recommended a splash at Goulburn, but the stop disappeared after they stopped at Sutton's Forest for lunch

 

[ICUDoc]

Chatswood to Canberra is uphill.
More efficient on the way back (about 8%, or 6 kWh relatively).

 

[Maximillan]

The return leg, from City Hill Canberra to Chatswood was relatively easy, low 20s temp with clear skies and light traffic for most of the way. We had a couple of side trips along the way. As per the first leg, the car initially plans for a supercharging stop at Goulburn which I immediately dismiss. I also worked that I can save 5% by avoiding the faster (and longer) M7/M2 loop by cutting across the city.

Distance: 347km
Total Energy used: 48kWh
Average: 137Wh/km
Arrival charge: 29%

The MY RWD's efficiency is very impressive, those numbers were done with the car running at exactly 110km/h for the vast majority of the trip. In the right conditions, a 400km leg (Gundagai to Chatswood?) is possible.

 

[ICUDoc]

Total Energy used: 42kWh

Total Energy used: 48kWh

Chatswood to Canberra is uphill.
More efficient on the way back (about 8%, or 6 kWh relatively).

Gravity vs different route / traffic conditions / speed but close enough

 

[bcarp]

Average: 137Wh/km

I'm really impressed by the MYRWD's efficiency. I've not done the Canberra trip, but done a couple of Sydney-Lithgow return runs. Averaging across the up & downhill return journeys, our MYP has averaged about 170Wh/km according to Teslamate stats. That's about 21% more energy required than a MYRWD, albeit slower speeds but more up/down which is less efficient than constant altitude driving. So, the MYP requires a 21% larger battery than the MYRWD to have the same driving range. It has a 30% larger battery, so the real world range difference between the MYRWD & MYP isn't really that much. The MYLR with smaller wheels should be better, of course.

 

[rx80]

but done a couple of Sydney-Lithgow return runs

You probably need to do the same run if you're comparing apple to apple, since Lithgow sits much higher than Canberra.
My recent return trip to Canberra avg was about 152Wh/km, although I am using smaller wheels in my P.

 

[bcarp]

You probably need to do the same run if you're comparing apple to apple, since Lithgow sits much higher than Canberra.

Ideally, yes. We'll have a go in late June, but the car will be fully loaded & it'll be colder than it is now.

 

[Hugh L.]

The return leg, from City Hill Canberra to Chatswood was relatively easy, low 20s temp with clear skies and light traffic for most of the way. We had a couple of side trips along the way. As per the first leg, the car initially plans for a supercharging stop at Goulburn which I immediately dismiss. I also worked that I can save 5% by avoiding the faster (and longer) M7/M2 loop by cutting across the city.

Distance: 347km
Total Energy used: 48kWh
Average: 137Wh/km
Arrival charge: 29%

The MY RWD's efficiency is very impressive, those numbers were done with the car running at exactly 110km/h for the vast majority of the trip. In the right conditions, a 400km leg (Gundagai to Chatswood?) is possible.

Mine is similar to yours. Fully charged in Campbelltown. I use cruise control plus auto-steering, keep the speed btw 115-120km/h, and usually arrive home is 28%-29%. Driving from Gungahlin to Hurstville, it used about 74% battery capacity - so at 26% when arrived in Hurstville town centre.

I always keep Trip B to see the outcome but I forgot to check when arrive destination. I guess mine takes 74% battery usage to drive about 265km. If I remember correctly, usually it says 130-140km remaining.

 

[PC__LoadLetter]

Route - Chatswood to City Hill, Canberra

Did you find the dozen all-day chargers at One City Hill? I love charging there. They're 7kW but they slow right down pre-9am and post-2pm, and they drop out completely when it gets cloudy (per the notifications on my phone saying charging has stopped at xx%), but then resume promptly enough. It's a car park intended for daytime commuting with 8-9 hour occupancy, so the remaining hours still add enough to charge me from as low as I like, to as high as I like, during a typical workday.

For day trips to Canberra, if you're in Civic and don't need your car, it's the perfect place to park. Just avoid Wednesdays. Everybody seems to skip Wednesday as a WFH day, so it's packed.

BYO cable.

 

[Tmill]

Did you find the dozen all-day chargers at One City Hill? I love charging there. They're 7kW but they slow right down pre-9am and post-2pm, and they drop out completely when it gets cloudy (per the notifications on my phone saying charging has stopped at xx%), but then resume promptly enough. It's a car park intended for daytime commuting with 8-9 hour occupancy, so the remaining hours still add enough to charge me from as low as I like, to as high as I like, during a typical workday.

For day trips to Canberra, if you're in Civic and don't need your car, it's the perfect place to park. Just avoid Wednesdays. Everybody seems to skip Wednesday as a WFH day, so it's packed.

BYO cable.

Thanks for the tip. I have been wondering about an ideal car park when I get my car. I work in city.

 

[Tmill]

With more deliveries happening this year, I am noticing more Teslas in Canberra. They all seem to come with slimline front number plate and standard rear plate. Am I right or have people been fitting slimline front plates after delivery.

I would like to get plastic plates with black back ground. Should I choose to have the holes pre-drilled? Would be great if anyone can share their experiences.

 

[spades]

With more deliveries happening this year, I am noticing more Teslas in Canberra. They all seem to come with slimline front number plate and standard rear plate. Am I right or have people been fitting slimline front plates after delivery.

I would like to get plastic plates with black back ground. Should I choose to have the holes pre-drilled? Would be great if anyone can share their experiences.

Yes they would be after delivery. Some states would fit custom plates but I believe the delivery centre Canberra do not.

I've got Euro plates, which are metal and don't come pre-drilled so no choice for me. I recommend getting them predrilled, but agree that you may not like the look of plates having a lot of holes in them. Our other (ICE) vehicle has got black plastic with holes predrilled. As long as you don't look close enough you won't notice them. And by close enough I mean around 1-2 meters away.

 

[spades]

Route - Chatswood to City Hill, Canberra, via the M5 on Fairford road
Distance: 291km
Total Energy used: 42kWh
Average: 144Wh/km
Arrival charge: 26%

Really interested in these figures as I'm Canberra-based originally and with family in Sydney. Didn't think they would be this good. Only got my MY last week so haven't done a Sydney trip yet (though just did Wollongong). I thought SoC would dip below 20% especially coming to Canberra.

I might add to this thread at some point in the future when I end up driving up. Depending on whether kids are asleep, I might try and drive directly to Campbelltown to get enough juice for Sydney.

 

[Maximillan]

Really interested in these figures as I'm Canberra-based originally and with family in Sydney. Didn't think they would be this good. Only got my MY last week so haven't done a Sydney trip yet (though just did Wollongong). I thought SoC would dip below 20% especially coming to Canberra.

I might add to this thread at some point in the future when I end up driving up. Depending on whether kids are asleep, I might try and drive directly to Campbelltown to get enough juice for Sydney.

I haven't done anything special to get those numbers, and as my wife will gladly tell you, I don't drive for efficiency. A lot of trip back was in the overtaking lane.

The only thing I would recommend checking is that the tyres are at 42psi before leaving. When you put in your destination to Sydney, the car will automatically add a charging stop at Goulburn and immediately start pre-conditioning. Remove the charging stop, and it'll recalculate your estimated arrival state of charge, which will be a conservative estimate. Once you get off the Federal Hwy and it's estimating an arrival state of charge that too low for your risk appetite, then you've got plenty of time to reroute it to the Goulburn supercharger.

 

[alexgr]

The car was driven at the speed limit to stay with traffic,

From the perspective of a US driver, something is wrong with this statement.