Tesla Official Statement on Range

[jjrandorin]

Tesla has put out a support statement on range, and it was highlighted in the tesla app this morning (with a link in the messages).

Since many new owners go to the internet and come to sites like this one to find out about range, and if there is something "wrong" with their car because they are not getting the 250/260/310/322 miles promised, I thought it would be a good thing to have tesla's official statements here. You can currently find this information at the following site: Range

Since sometimes people dont like to click links, I have copy pasted the contents of the above link below:


===========================================

Range

Tesla cars travel farther on a single charge than any other production electric vehicle on the market. You can view the range of your car on your touchscreen or in the Tesla app. Your Tesla continuously monitors its energy level and proximity to known charging locations to provide range assurance.

The estimated range depends heavily on factors such as driving habits, elevation changes and weather conditions. To maximize efficiency, it is important to know the factors that impact range and the recommended ways to reduce energy consumption.

• What Impacts Energy Consumption?
• Recommendations to Maximize Range
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Impacts Energy Consumption?
Like all cars, there are a number of factors that increase energy consumption and reduce range:

• High driving speeds
• High cabin air conditioning or heating usage
• Low ambient temperatures
• Inclement weather such as rain, snow and headwinds
• Stop-and-go driving
• Short trips
• Uphill travel

Driving while your battery is very cold or charged above 90% can also impact range due to limited regenerative braking. This reduces the amount of energy that can be transferred back into your battery.

To see real-time and projected energy use, open the Energy app on your touchscreen. The Energy app provides feedback on how your driving habits are impacting the expected range of your vehicle and tracks your usage.

Recommendations to Maximize Range
To maximize the range of your Tesla:

• Maintain your vehicle's tire pressures. Inflation recommendations are listed inside the drivers-side door jamb.
• Remove unnecessary cargo to lighten your load – more weight requires more energy to move the vehicle.
• Remove roof racks or rear racks when they are not in use.
• Reduce aerodynamic drag. Fully raise all windows and change air suspension (if equipped) to “Low” or “Very Low” when driving at highway speeds, For Model 3 cars with aero wheels, install aero wheel covers.
• Avoid frequent and rapid acceleration. Driving at high speeds or rapidly accelerating uses additional energy.
• Limit the use of resources such as heating, signature lighting and air conditioning.
• Set your Regenerative Braking to “Standard” to maximize energy you get back while decelerating.

Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my displayed estimated range decreasing faster than miles driven?
The range displayed is not adapted based on driving pattern or other factors that impact range. When fully charged, the driving range displayed is based on regulating agency certification (Environmental Protection Agency - EPA). To view estimated range based on average consumption, open the Energy app.

After charging is completed, why is the estimated range less than expected?
It is normal for range to decrease slightly over the first few months but then begin to level off. Over time, you may see a gradual, but natural, decrease in range at full charge depending on factors such as Supercharging regularly or the mileage and age of the battery. Your Tesla will inform you if a hardware issue is causing excessive battery or range degradation.

Why does estimated range decrease overnight while my car is off?
It is expected for a Tesla car to consume around 1% of charge per day while parked. In some cases, you may notice that consumption is higher. We recommend deactivating features such as preconditioning, Sentry Mode, Keep Climate On, and any aftermarket equipment when not needed.

Note: Aftermarket equipment connected to the 12V system and/or third party mobile applications which collect data about your vehicle can decrease range while parked and reduce the battery lifespan. Tesla does not recommend using aftermarket equipment, and any damage to your vehicle's hardware or software resulting from unauthorized access to vehicle data through non-Tesla parts or accessories is not covered by warranty.

What is Range Mode?
In Model S and Model X, Range Mode conserves energy by limiting the power of the climate control system. For more visit our New Owner Frequently Asked Questions.

Does outside temperature impact range?
Yes. Range can be impacted by extreme cold or hot temperatures; however, the impact will seem far more noticeable in cold weather. Tesla high voltage batteries are regulated to keep the battery temperature within optimal boundaries. Even if the vehicle is not being operated, the high voltage battery temperature is monitored and regulated to prolong its lifespan and performance – this is why you may notice the compressor running even while parked. See our Winter Driving Tips for more information.

 

[fr100]

Limiting the use of signature lights (DRL) seems a bit extreme.

 

[duanra]

Tesla has put out a support statement on range, and it was highlighted in the tesla app this morning (with a link in the messages).

Since many new owners go to the internet and come to sites like this one to find out about range, and if there is something "wrong" with their car because they are not getting the 250/260/310/322 miles promised, I thought it would be a good thing to have tesla's official statements here. You can currently find this information at the following site: Range

Since sometimes people dont like to click links, I have copy pasted the contents of the above link below:


===========================================

Range

Tesla cars travel farther on a single charge than any other production electric vehicle on the market. You can view the range of your car on your touchscreen or in the Tesla app. Your Tesla continuously monitors its energy level and proximity to known charging locations to provide range assurance.

The estimated range depends heavily on factors such as driving habits, elevation changes and weather conditions. To maximize efficiency, it is important to know the factors that impact range and the recommended ways to reduce energy consumption.

• What Impacts Energy Consumption?
• Recommendations to Maximize Range
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Impacts Energy Consumption?
Like all cars, there are a number of factors that increase energy consumption and reduce range:

• High driving speeds
• High cabin air conditioning or heating usage
• Low ambient temperatures
• Inclement weather such as rain, snow and headwinds
• Stop-and-go driving
• Short trips
• Uphill travel

Driving while your battery is very cold or charged above 90% can also impact range due to limited regenerative braking. This reduces the amount of energy that can be transferred back into your battery.

To see real-time and projected energy use, open the Energy app on your touchscreen. The Energy app provides feedback on how your driving habits are impacting the expected range of your vehicle and tracks your usage.

Recommendations to Maximize Range
To maximize the range of your Tesla:

• Maintain your vehicle's tire pressures. Inflation recommendations are listed inside the drivers-side door jamb.
• Remove unnecessary cargo to lighten your load – more weight requires more energy to move the vehicle.
• Remove roof racks or rear racks when they are not in use.
• Reduce aerodynamic drag. Fully raise all windows and change air suspension (if equipped) to “Low” or “Very Low” when driving at highway speeds, For Model 3 cars with aero wheels, install aero wheel covers.
• Avoid frequent and rapid acceleration. Driving at high speeds or rapidly accelerating uses additional energy.
• Limit the use of resources such as heating, signature lighting and air conditioning.
• Set your Regenerative Braking to “Standard” to maximize energy you get back while decelerating.

Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my displayed estimated range decreasing faster than miles driven?
The range displayed is not adapted based on driving pattern or other factors that impact range. When fully charged, the driving range displayed is based on regulating agency certification (Environmental Protection Agency - EPA). To view estimated range based on average consumption, open the Energy app.

After charging is completed, why is the estimated range less than expected?
It is normal for range to decrease slightly over the first few months but then begin to level off. Over time, you may see a gradual, but natural, decrease in range at full charge depending on factors such as Supercharging regularly or the mileage and age of the battery. Your Tesla will inform you if a hardware issue is causing excessive battery or range degradation.

Why does estimated range decrease overnight while my car is off?
It is expected for a Tesla car to consume around 1% of charge per day while parked. In some cases, you may notice that consumption is higher. We recommend deactivating features such as preconditioning, Sentry Mode, Keep Climate On, and any aftermarket equipment when not needed.

Note: Aftermarket equipment connected to the 12V system and/or third party mobile applications which collect data about your vehicle can decrease range while parked and reduce the battery lifespan. Tesla does not recommend using aftermarket equipment, and any damage to your vehicle's hardware or software resulting from unauthorized access to vehicle data through non-Tesla parts or accessories is not covered by warranty.

What is Range Mode?
In Model S and Model X, Range Mode conserves energy by limiting the power of the climate control system. For more visit our New Owner Frequently Asked Questions.

Does outside temperature impact range?
Yes. Range can be impacted by extreme cold or hot temperatures; however, the impact will seem far more noticeable in cold weather. Tesla high voltage batteries are regulated to keep the battery temperature within optimal boundaries. Even if the vehicle is not being operated, the high voltage battery temperature is monitored and regulated to prolong its lifespan and performance – this is why you may notice the compressor running even while parked. See our Winter Driving Tips for more information.

Yes, it is all good information, however, some owners experienced some drop of the displayed estimated range.
It is not gradual. Some people lost 10% in the 1st year, some only 2 or 3.
The displayed estimated range, as stated in Tesla support pages, doesn't take into account driving style, temperature, tire pressure...etc...so I don't see why there are sudden drops and such differences between vehicles.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

Avoid frequent and rapid acceleration. Driving at high speeds or rapidly accelerating uses additional energy.

Maybe they could tell the Autopilot team that.

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

It's a good article to help people modulate things to give the range they need.

But, at the end of the day only one thing really matter and that's the temperature outside.

If it's low it's going to greatly hamper the range of the car. Heck you don't even need to drive it to experience this. You can just leave the car sitting outside for a 24 hour period, and watch the car drain power. You basically have the treat the car like a living thing that requires energy to survive.

Like I lose around 7 miles in range over night just by leaving my car outside versus putting it in the garage. During the summer I barely lose anything over night.

The weather really hammers my efficiency despite the fact that it doesn't really get that cold. It only gets down to around 40F, but that is significant enough that it nullifies re-gen which is important because my commute is hilly. So I tend to average around 380Wh going 9 miles to work. The lose of 7 miles a night plus horrible range over those 18 miles round trip means that I only get 5 days of commuting with a 90% charge. Like I'm charging every hundred miles, and yet it has an EPA range of 310.

It's so bad that a Porsche Taycan could probably give me the same 100 mile commute. And, I think that's the thing people are missing when comparing EPA numbers. They assume Porsche is going to be impacted as badly in each major category (temperature, speed, etc), but that isn't true.

Tesla uses fairytale like numbers for their range estimations, and so they have to put out lots of information on how to achieve these fairytale like numbers.

There is only one company that is worse than Tesla, and that's Boosted. With their Boosted Rev scooter they claim 22 miles of range, but if you read the fine print they did the range test with a rider being a midget and going only 6 miles an hour continuously until the electronics turned it off with the battery being low.

I love EV's, but they are fickle when it comes to range. There is a lot of stuff you can modulate to improve things. You have to be really careful when interpreting the numbers some manufacture gives you. Like Tesla doesn't use the performance 20 inch tires on the EPA test of the Model 3 P3D that comes with the 20inch performance tires,

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

Repeating my post from elsewhere...

I think this Tesla info has been around for some time. Maybe they have modified it a bit.

Worth emphasizing some subtlety here. It appears to me there is the “general” term of “estimated range” in this info from Tesla. This is an umbrella term applying to EITHER the projected range OR the battery gauge, apparently.

The estimated range depends heavily on factors such as driving habits, elevation changes and weather conditions

First they say the range depends on driving habits. But counterintuitively, this does NOT mean that the battery gauge is dependent on driving habits (!!!) - since that “estimated range” is an umbrella term.

The range displayed is not adapted based on driving pattern or other factors that impact range.

So that is very clear and is consistent with our understanding. The displayed battery gauge range is NOT dependent on driving pattern, and is an estimate of energy available scaled to the EPA tests.

To view estimated range based on average consumption, open the Energy app.

This is where the other meaning of the umbrella term “estimated range” comes in I guess.

It would have been nice for Tesla to rewrite this document to better distinguish between the two meanings of the umbrella term. But oh well.

I guess given the ambiguity, it is really not surprising that service centers tell people their indicated range depends on driving habits...

 

[duanra]

Well, service center people should know better. That's what they're paid for.

 

[pharma5]

I think they should've put the snowflake in directly... right now the reader has to click through to winter driving tips:

Watch for the Snowflake Icon
When your battery is cold, a blue snowflake alert may appear next to your displayed range. This means some of the energy stored in your battery won’t be accessible until your battery heats up to a sufficient temperature. You may also notice that battery power and regenerative braking are limited. Once the battery is warmed, the snowflake will disappear. Charging, driving and preconditioning are all ways to warm your battery quicker.​

 

[S4WRXTTCS]

The displayed battery gauge range is NOT dependent on driving pattern, and is an estimate of energy available scaled to the EPA tests.

This is precisely why I don't use it, and why I use percentage despite not really liking percentage.

I wish they would allow me to set it to using the previous X number of miles where X is whatever the trip planner setting is set to. That way it's constantly adjusting itself to the current situation.

 

[jjrandorin]

I think they should've put the snowflake in directly... right now the reader has to click through to winter driving tips:

Watch for the Snowflake Icon
When your battery is cold, a blue snowflake alert may appear next to your displayed range. This means some of the energy stored in your battery won’t be accessible until your battery heats up to a sufficient temperature. You may also notice that battery power and regenerative braking are limited. Once the battery is warmed, the snowflake will disappear. Charging, driving and preconditioning are all ways to warm your battery quicker.​

Good point.. I will dig out some more relevant stuff and past it in another post. The purpose is to get tesla's official statements front and center for new users. This will hopefully help them, and also be an easy place for forum vets to link new form members to official statements that tesla has made regarding the range topic.

 

[TM3blu]

If it's low it's going to greatly hamper the range of the car. Heck you don't even need to drive it to experience this. You can just leave the car sitting outside for a 24 hour period, and watch the car drain power. You basically have the treat the car like a living thing that requires energy to survive.

Here in Phoenix I lose about the same amount. Overnight temps in the low 50's to mid 40's. With the car plugged in, and not used, it will "topoff" about every other night.
Just remember YMMV.

 

[jjrandorin]

Additonal statements from tesla on the official support pages related to energy and range:

======================================


How can I monitor my energy usage?

The Energy app allows you to view the energy consumption of your car in real time. When there is an active navigation route, touch the ‘Trips’ tab in ‘Controls’ on your car touchscreen to view the projected energy consumption for your journey.

Extended Charging
Your Tesla is designed to maintain its battery over time, and will not overcharge when plugged in for an extended period of time. For that reason, when you’re away from home, we always recommend leaving your car plugged in.

Maximize Your Range
To maintain a cool cabin temperature and maximize your range, park in a shaded area and turn your AC on while charging. You can monitor your charge and temperature from your Tesla mobile app.

Set your Regenerative Braking to "Standard" to conserve range while decelerating.

Before starting a long road trip, we recommend checking your tire pressure (psi) shown on the Tire and Loading Information label located on the center door pillar. You should also inspect your tires for bulges, foreign objects, cuts or wear. If you notice anything concerning, you can self-schedule a service appointment in your Tesla app.

What should I know about driving in cold weather?

Both cold weather and a 100 percent battery charge contribute to limiting the effect of regenerative braking. You can prep your Tesla for cold temperatures from your mobile app or car touchscreen. Follow these best practices for improving your car’s performance in cold weather:

• Precondition your car from your Tesla app for about one hour to heat your battery before driving, especially in near freezing temperatures.
• Charge your car while preconditioning to reduce the amount of energy loss from your battery pack.
• Turn off Range Mode to avoid limiting the power available to precondition your car, even when charging.
• In temperatures below 40° F (4° C), use washer fluid with antifreeze. Not using antifreeze can impair visibility through the windshield.

Cold Weather Tips
It is normal to see increased energy consumption during colder months. To maximize range and efficiency in the cold, take extra steps to keep your battery warm and conserve energy.

Watch for the Snowflake Icon
When your battery is cold, a blue snowflake alert may appear next to your displayed range. This means some of the energy stored in your battery won’t be accessible until your battery heats up to a sufficient temperature. You may also notice that battery power and regenerative braking are limited. Once the battery is warmed, the snowflake will disappear. Charging, driving and preconditioning are all ways to warm your battery quicker.

Leave Your Tesla Plugged In
We always recommend leaving your Tesla plugged in when it’s not in use. This is especially helpful when it’s cold as staying connected helps your battery retain the heat it needs to operate efficiently and leverage regenerative braking.

Use Scheduled Departure or Precondition Before You Drive
If your Tesla is plugged in, you can conserve energy by warming it up before each trip. Use Scheduled Departure to add when to expect to leave so your car will be warmed and ready to go when you are. You can also preheat your car by activating preconditioning or defrost in the Tesla app.

• For scheduled departure, tap 'Charging' > 'Scheduled Departure' > 'Schedule' > 'Depart At.'
• To precondition, open the Tesla app and tap 'Climate' > 'Turn On.'
• In snowy conditions, use the defrost feature in your Tesla app.

Conserve Energy on the Road
In the winter time, reduce energy loss by driving conservatively and limiting energy use in the cabin. This helps with range and efficiency all year-round, but even more so during colder months.

• Activate range mode in Model S and Model X
• Drive at moderate speeds
• Limit frequent and rapid acceleration
• Once heated, lower the cabin temperature setting and use seat heaters for added warmth

Limit Checking the Tesla App
When you check your car via the Tesla app, your car uses energy to wake itself up from sleep mode. During the winter, it’s best to only check the app when necessary so that extra energy can be used on the road.

 

[Led Jetson]

Good post, thanks for sharing.

Here's what I don't get. Tesla now builds crazy faster V3 Superchargers. Isn't that supposedly bad for the life of the battery??? Then why are you building them then? I get the eliminating lines part, then find more places to have them that help businesses and plazas etc...

They then allow you to buy faster sports packages for your cars $2,000 cars, 13K cheaper than the others paid previously with some brakes and rims, so that when you actually drive the car like a sports car, your car loses even more range. I am on the fence, one part of me wants to believe my 8% range loss after one year is based on that we have to always run AC in Florida, on my driving habits. The other tells me that the listed range just shows me the reality in what I will get, and the battery is really fine. But why build these crazy faster Superchargers if they kill your battery over time?

My 310 range was already down past 8% on a Model 3 P in less than a year FWIW. If I can really reset it after a few hard resets, resell it, which I plan to do at some point once its paid off, if it reverts back close to 310 range great, but will it really after a few years like the other Tesla models? At this point, after paying the crazy premium early adopter M3P price, I would be happy if the only loss is their so called 3-5% or so after a few years, but I am not so sure yet as I am headed to 10% range loss at this point..

 

[duanra]

Again, only the range given by the app (bottom screen) is according to your driving habit, temp AC etc...
The one showing on the top of the screen reflects the health of your battery.
The only thing I am wondering is if a calibration of the BMS will actually change something.

However this thing about calibrating is all rumours propagated on internet and the Service centres employees.

There is absolutely nothing in Tesla official literature to support this theory.

 

[dmurphy]

These are good tips to maximize range. That said - for the most part, it doesn’t matter as long as you follow the ABCs of Tesla ownership ... Always Be Charging. The best thing I’ve found is to set my charging percentage to 90%, and always plug in when at home. It’s pretty much that simple.

I do my best to avoid situations where I’m down to my last 20-30 miles of range anyway, but that said ... following the 90% ABC rule, I’ve got 10,200 miles on the car, it’s wintertime, and a 90% charge puts me at 277 miles. Well within the margin of error for a brand new battery, let alone one with 10k miles on it.

I find micro-managing charging situations by making oneself uncomfortable (I’ve actually read folks suggest using a blanket instead of the heater!) or by spending tons of time and worry adjusting rates and times and percentages to be counterproductive ... just set it, forget it, and drive the thing.

 

[morningstar]

just set it, forget it, and drive the thing

This is where I'm at now. I've got about 4-5% loss on my battery now, but the SC says my battery is performing better than most others that were made in the same period. I think I was most upset because I lost that range all at once 2 months after getting the car and didn't expect to see that for a few years and at a slower rate. Plus, when I first got the car I thought I could realistically drive like 230 miles before needing to charge it. Have to laugh at my ignorance now. I should've done more research to learn about the car before I bought it, but now I know and I'm still glad I have it. No regrets. Just adjustments to my thinking and planning.

 

[holmgang]

Just to make it clear, "preconditioning" is a battery-specific feature only on the X and S?

And that "preconditioning through the app" on the 3 means specifically heating the cabin, which through the use of the battery, warms up the battery as well...?

My 3 keeps a 15c/60f cabin temperature overnight, so I don't strictly need to warm the interior for driving around freezing temps in the morning is. For sake of the battery, should I?

 

[jjrandorin]

Just to make it clear, "preconditioning" is a battery-specific feature only on the X and S?

And that "preconditioning through the app" on the 3 means specifically heating the cabin, which through the use of the battery, warms up the battery as well...?

My 3 keeps a 15c/60f cabin temperature overnight, so I don't strictly need to warm the interior for driving around freezing temps in the morning is. For sake of the battery, should I?

When I read teslas statement on pre conditioning above, I take the meaning to mean:

"Pre heat or Pre cool the cabin while connected to shore power, so that the cabin is your optimal temperature before you leave."

That allows the car to use less energy while on the road, since it is maintaining a temperature, instead of having to GET to a temperature, then maintain it. It also allows the car to use "shore power" to get to this temperature. "warming up the battery" is different in my opinion, and would occur somewhat as a by product of pre conditioning but not fully. If one wants to "warm the battery" in a model 3 before departure, one should use either scheduled departure (if the departure time is applicable), or time charging to end shortly before departure manually (by raising charging percentage) or automatically by other means.

 

[LOL@GAS]

Thank god for the info on this forum. I was wondering why I’m only getting 232 miles of range in a full 100% charge. I did the 100% once just to see how much maximum range I would get then went back to 80%. The weather sure does explains it. Lately where I’m at it’s been I’m the low 40’s at night and then 50’s morning.

 

[ngogas]

It's a good article to help people modulate things to give the range they need.

But, at the end of the day only one thing really matter and that's the temperature outside.

If it's low it's going to greatly hamper the range of the car. Heck you don't even need to drive it to experience this. You can just leave the car sitting outside for a 24 hour period, and watch the car drain power. You basically have the treat the car like a living thing that requires energy to survive.

Like I lose around 7 miles in range over night just by leaving my car outside versus putting it in the garage. During the summer I barely lose anything over night.

The weather really hammers my efficiency despite the fact that it doesn't really get that cold. It only gets down to around 40F, but that is significant enough that it nullifies re-gen which is important because my commute is hilly. So I tend to average around 380Wh going 9 miles to work. The lose of 7 miles a night plus horrible range over those 18 miles round trip means that I only get 5 days of commuting with a 90% charge. Like I'm charging every hundred miles, and yet it has an EPA range of 310.

It's so bad that a Porsche Taycan could probably give me the same 100 mile commute. And, I think that's the thing people are missing when comparing EPA numbers. They assume Porsche is going to be impacted as badly in each major category (temperature, speed, etc), but that isn't true.

Tesla uses fairytale like numbers for their range estimations, and so they have to put out lots of information on how to achieve these fairytale like numbers.

There is only one company that is worse than Tesla, and that's Boosted. With their Boosted Rev scooter they claim 22 miles of range, but if you read the fine print they did the range test with a rider being a midget and going only 6 miles an hour continuously until the electronics turned it off with the battery being low.

I love EV's, but they are fickle when it comes to range. There is a lot of stuff you can modulate to improve things. You have to be really careful when interpreting the numbers some manufacture gives you. Like Tesla doesn't use the performance 20 inch tires on the EPA test of the Model 3 P3D that comes with the 20inch performance tires,

I totally disagree with your statement about Tesla fudging their numbers. Your claims has no facts and is just your opinion and frustration against Tesla. Go to epa and see how they get these numbers and see how it backs up your crazy claims.