Tips for a frequent long-distance driver

[grgrsstr]

So we've just ordered 4 x M3 Performance at work and are all mega excited about them arriving! I'm keeping tabs on delivery movements etc on here and everyone seems really helpful - still looks like we're not going to have a clue as to when they will arrive but if anyone has ordered around the same time let me know (we placed our orders on Friday of last week - 7th Feb 2020).

Anyway, I live in Macclesfield, Cheshire and frequently travel down to Birmingham/Coventry, etc, and back, for work (perhaps 2/3 times a week). On a typical 'big day out' I will be clocking around 240-250 miles, mostly on the motorway.

I know the predicted range is 300+ so, in theory, I should be fine, but I have read lots of posts saying to not frequently charge to 100% unless doing a 'roadtrip'. My issue is that each day I commute down to the midlands, I will effectively be doing a roadtrip. Should I be charging to 100% or is it a real no-go to do this frequently? I'm very interested in preserving the life of the battery but at the end of the day, it is a lease car that will be going back in 3 years.

I know there are superchargers on my route (the M6 is getting much better as far as I've seen), but I don't really want to have to rely on these if my car should see me through the whole journey.

 

[LukeT]

For me (350 mile "ideal" range car) a 250 mile day would usually include some kind of charging in the day, partly because then I can keep away from very low and very high states of charge but partly also just because it tends to be convenient and work out that way.

If you are regularly going to the same location would it be possible to install a charge point there? Eg, just an hour on a 3 phase one would eliminate any range concerns.

That said, you can probably do it without.

You'll find a way to do this trip with no major inconvenience, eg a stop that suits you for 10 mins of checking your emails at a time to suit you on the days where things are going to be tight. But are all the drivers of your 4 Model 3s really "bought in" to your plan? If not they might find a way to see the change as a big inconvenience if they want to (see umpteen bits of motoring journalism about the difficulties of EV ownership and then the responses on here of "a little bit of effort/thought and that doesn't have to happen").

 

[LongRanger]

My use of the car for work (LR AWD) will be 200-210 mile one-way journeys, twice per week.

Having seen colleagues take delivery with approx half this mileage to do regularly, they have adjusted their schedules to get as close to full charge after the end of their first leg i.e. at midpoint for your daily mileage. For you this would mean planning a supercharge stop or other 50kw+ charge as close to your midpoint destination as possible. This means factoring in 20-30 mins "break" which is no bad thing as you get to reset the brain before you get into the office. Relax, refresh, get ahead of emails etc.

You can use your home charging to keep you at 80-90% charge state most of the time, then top right up just before your work location, then you have plenty to get home with and can use home charging to keep the 80-90% level topped up.

Eliminates any final forms of range anxiety, means you don't have to drive over-economically and avoids 100% of your charges being up to the 100% level.

Given the mileage you state you could even vary the "close to work location" charge to sometimes charge to 90%, sometimes to 100 so you are cutting down the overall 100% charge cycles if you are really bothered about it.

I reckon my approach will end up being always charging to as close to 100% as I can at superchargers and keeping the car at 90% with a 7.6kw home charger.

 

[Jason71]

The range is about 308 miles I think on the EPA cycle. The WLTP range you see advertised (348mile) is about as much use as the ICE fuel consumption at a constant 56 that you see. its for comparison purposes.
But that is 308 in warm conditions without rain or a head wind and probably not doing 80mph on the motorway.
realistically you are going to struggle to do your 250 mile journey day in day out without a 15 minute stop at a supercharger.
it is doable if you charge to 100% ish , in dry warm conditions and with a light right foot but probably not practical day after day as plan A and, as you say if you do charge to 100% every day you will soon start to see degradation in your range anyway.
I would look at a better route planner:A Better Routeplanner
you can put in your journey, car, weather conditions etc and see what comes out

 

[Puddles]

I’m not an expert but that won’t stop me from offering advice.

My take is that it is harmful to spend time at 100% (or very low) soc. This is different than simply reaching these points. If you fill the battery, then drive, I think it’s fine. If you empty the battery, then immediately charge, also fine. I would say you could make the whole trip on a charge without harm if you follow these procedures.

We use our RWD LR similarly, but only a few times a month. Degradation over 45,000 miles like this is undetectable.

I think the single engine model would have suited your purpose better, being a bit more efficient. But if I had the chance to order 4 Model 3’s for “work” I doubt I would have done it different.

Having said all this, stopping at a supercharger for 15 minutes will hardly extend your trip significantly, and you’ll get over 100 miles and a chance to stretch your legs.

Edit: just noticed the bit about the lease. Why care? Thrash ‘em!

 

[Mr Miserable]

It's a company car so charging to 100% is not a problem.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but do not expect 300+ miles range, especially on a motorway.
Have a play with a abetterrouteplanner and see what to expect for your particular journeys.

 

[M3BlueGeorgia]

My use of the car for work (LR AWD) will be 200-210 mile one-way journeys, twice per week.

Having seen colleagues take delivery with approx half this mileage to do regularly, they have adjusted their schedules to get as close to full charge after the end of their first leg i.e. at midpoint for your daily mileage. For you this would mean planning a supercharge stop or other 50kw+ charge as close to your midpoint destination as possible. This means factoring in 20-30 mins "break" which is no bad thing as you get to reset the brain before you get into the office. Relax, refresh, get ahead of emails etc.

You can use your home charging to keep you at 80-90% charge state most of the time, then top right up just before your work location, then you have plenty to get home with and can use home charging to keep the 80-90% level topped up.

Eliminates any final forms of range anxiety, means you don't have to drive over-economically and avoids 100% of your charges being up to the 100% level.

Given the mileage you state you could even vary the "close to work location" charge to sometimes charge to 90%, sometimes to 100 so you are cutting down the overall 100% charge cycles if you are really bothered about it.

I reckon my approach will end up being always charging to as close to 100% as I can at superchargers and keeping the car at 90% with a 7.6kw home charger.

My use of the car for work (LR AWD) will be 200-210 mile one-way journeys, twice per week.

Having seen colleagues take delivery with approx half this mileage to do regularly, they have adjusted their schedules to get as close to full charge after the end of their first leg i.e. at midpoint for your daily mileage. For you this would mean planning a supercharge stop or other 50kw+ charge as close to your midpoint destination as possible. This means factoring in 20-30 mins "break" which is no bad thing as you get to reset the brain before you get into the office. Relax, refresh, get ahead of emails etc.

You can use your home charging to keep you at 80-90% charge state most of the time, then top right up just before your work location, then you have plenty to get home with and can use home charging to keep the 80-90% level topped up.

Eliminates any final forms of range anxiety, means you don't have to drive over-economically and avoids 100% of your charges being up to the 100% level.

Given the mileage you state you could even vary the "close to work location" charge to sometimes charge to 90%, sometimes to 100 so you are cutting down the overall 100% charge cycles if you are really bothered about it.

I reckon my approach will end up being always charging to as close to 100% as I can at superchargers and keeping the car at 90% with a 7.6kw home charger.

Normally charge to 90%, but immediately before your long trip, charge then to 100%.

In warm weather you'll be fine at 70-73mph, especially if you have long stretches at 40 - 50mph.

If you can charge at your destination, do so.

If not, a good Supercharger strategy would be to top up near the end of your first leg and halfway back on the return trip. That would have the least time charging.

 

[LongRanger]

Indeed, rather conveniently I have SuC 2 miles from one office, 15 from the other and on the way home 75 miles from destination on a max 210 mile trip. It was what sealed the deal for me after test driving a SR+ for 2 days and trying out various SuC sites.

 

[grgrsstr]

For me (350 mile "ideal" range car) a 250 mile day would usually include some kind of charging in the day, partly because then I can keep away from very low and very high states of charge but partly also just because it tends to be convenient and work out that way.

If you are regularly going to the same location would it be possible to install a charge point there? Eg, just an hour on a 3 phase one would eliminate any range concerns.

That said, you can probably do it without.

You'll find a way to do this trip with no major inconvenience, eg a stop that suits you for 10 mins of checking your emails at a time to suit you on the days where things are going to be tight. But are all the drivers of your 4 Model 3s really "bought in" to your plan? If not they might find a way to see the change as a big inconvenience if they want to (see umpteen bits of motoring journalism about the difficulties of EV ownership and then the responses on here of "a little bit of effort/thought and that doesn't have to happen").

Cheers for this. For work, I travel to a number of locations throughout the day visiting customers so there is no single destination. I agree, 10/15 mins of email checking at either supercharger or decent public charger will see me through.

As for my colleagues, totally agree, although I am the only one out of the 4 who will be doing any major long-distance, the others are occasional long-distance and general commuting etc.

 

[Need]

I am almost sure your car will not see your thru a 250 miles trip without a charge stop. I don't know the ambient temperature in the part of UK where you drive, but I am on SoCal where temperature is around 70 in the afternoon in winter. I drove 135 actual miles daily and I lost about 155 to 160 miles daily on the car's range. If you really really want to go 250 miles, you will have to charge to 100% daily and hope for very warm weather and don't drive over 60 miles per hour then you may make it with very little left at end of the trip.

 

[grgrsstr]

I’m not an expert but that won’t stop me from offering advice.

My take is that it is harmful to spend time at 100% (or very low) soc. This is different than simply reaching these points. If you fill the battery, then drive, I think it’s fine. If you empty the battery, then immediately charge, also fine. I would say you could make the whole trip on a charge without harm if you follow these procedures.

We use our RWD LR similarly, but only a few times a month. Degradation over 45,000 miles like this is undetectable.

I think the single engine model would have suited your purpose better, being a bit more efficient. But if I had the chance to order 4 Model 3’s for “work” I doubt I would have done it different.

Having said all this, stopping at a supercharger for 15 minutes will hardly extend your trip significantly, and you’ll get over 100 miles and a chance to stretch your legs.

Edit: just noticed the bit about the lease. Why care? Thrash ‘em!

All makes sense, about the difference in being at the lower and higher soc, and staying there. We did consider the LR but all things considered, the performance was obviously the preferred. Plus with what people are saying about the real-life range, is the LR actually that much more efficient? Quick supercharge stop is the answer I think, to suppress any range anxiety.

 

[grgrsstr]

Indeed, rather conveniently I have SuC 2 miles from one office, 15 from the other and on the way home 75 miles from destination on a max 210 mile trip. It was what sealed the deal for me after test driving a SR+ for 2 days and trying out various SuC sites.

That's ideal!

 

[grgrsstr]

It's a company car so charging to 100% is not a problem.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but do not expect 300+ miles range, especially on a motorway.
Have a play with a abetterrouteplanner and see what to expect for your particular journeys.

Cheers for this, I will have a look on abetterrouteplanner. Is it not a problem because of the fact it's a lease vehicle? I don't think I'm likely to see any major degradation in the 3 years I will have the car - is this correct?

 

[TonyP_UK]

I do 140miles a day which cost me about 200 miles of battery range. By the time I get home I have around 60miles left, and as I am yet to have my charge point installed and unfortunately I don't have a charger at the office, so I need to do this from a supercharger. Fortunately I have a Supercharger about 6miles from home, so I stop there daily on the way home and charge to around 85% and then the rest on the 3pin charge cable at home.

I was hoping to be able to do 2days worth of commute before having to fully charge, but with the current low temps this is not possible. Hopefully will be better in the warmer months.

Oh mine is a M3P

 

[Avendit]

I have a customer that is 160 miles away. I usually go down and stay a night or 2 at a destination charger, but I do also do there and back in a day. 320 will never happen, will be interesting to monitor as it get warmer eventually.

I can do it with a single SC stop on the M6 somewhere, to get enough to get me home only take 15mins, which I keep finding is actually a pretty rushed coffee :-\. Remember to charge after you have been driving for a bit - a high charge rate needs a warm battery, so nipping to the nearest charger as you leave isn't the best.

I've done this trip when my home charging option was unavailable (other construction work) so left with 40% battery. Still got to a charger an hour away with more than 20% left and just had a decent breakfast. That got me enough to do my other 2 hours of driving, day with customer and hour back to another SC. Another 25 minute charge got me home with plenty to keep me going for the rest of the week.

As long as you don't have an unlimited bladder you should be fine. The 10 mins it takes to get in and out a services is enough to make a difference if the battery is warm and below 50%.

--sneaky edit to fix my math-

 

[arg]

is the LR actually that much more efficient?

A significant proportion of the difference in efficiency is the wheels/tyres. Put aero wheels and less sticky tyres on your Performance and it will go further. Personally in your position I'd have gone for the LR (though I can see why the Performance is tempting!).

I agree with most of the other comments here; a few extra notes:

• Don't charge to 100% every day, but don't hesitate to do so the night before any trip where it looks like it will make the difference.
• You can get close to the advertised range even in winter if you want to enough (ie. are prepared to go slower) and if it's a single long trip. The loss of range in winter has a large component of "departure tax", starting off with a cold car and getting it warmed up - eventually it's quite close to summer efficiency. Unfortunately your driving pattern won't get you there as you are making stops and letting the car cool down, but it will probably work out better than an overnight stop.
• Not all miles are equal. Traffic (or roadworks) on the motorway that forces you down to 50 will improve range; wide open road and trying to make up time will waste it away. A-road miles typically better than motorway. Weather will be better or worse.
• Real life will vary. You will need to plan for the worst, but usually things will work out better. Sometimes you will find yourself with nearly enough range and the choice of driving slower or making a short stop.
• Amount of margin you need depends on the certainty of getting a charge at your destination. I'm willing to arrive home with little margin; arrive at a supercharger with not much more; any third-party charging I want to have enough in hand to go to another option if it doesn't work out.
• This actually also fits with charge speed: at a supercharger, you want to arrive near empty for best rate; at slower chargepoints it doesn't matter much (indeed some units will actually charge faster when the car is >50% full), so much better to get that little top-up charge done in the morning on the way there rather than on the way back.
• But that also gives you room to fit your schedule - you plan to get there on time with a modest charging stop; get caught in traffic and you skip the stop and do it on the way home instead: takes you slightly longer overall but you made your appointment on time.
  
• You need more margin at the start of a leg. Once the charging stop is a few miles away and the traffic looking good, you can get your foot down.
• For very long trips, the speed of superchargers is essential. For the sort of "can nearly make it but not quite" journey you are talking about, you only need a short stop and often a slower chargepoint in a more convenient location can beat the supercharger.
• 90% of the time you've got multiple options and can pick whichever feels best on the day.

 

[Uncle Paul]

On a long trip day, it might be better to stop for 10-15 minutes for some extra juice. Your Tesla will charge up very fast when you pull in near empty. You can quickly gain 100 miles or so with a quick stop.

Charging the last 10% takes forever. Much more time efficient (and battery friendly) to get a quick splash while using a loo or checking some emails etc.

Owners quickly learn the most efficient way to run their cars after they have owned them a while, and figure out what will be most efficient in their individual circumstances.

If you charge at home, it is relatively easy to charge to 100% overnight, but this is hard on the battery over time.

 

[grgrsstr]

Thanks all, really useful info and very helpful!

In general, I think I'll be okay but a well planned 10/15 min stop at a supercharger will do wonders for the overall trip and make for a much less stressful journey! Also, I think when I really feel I need to, I will charge to 100%. If I was definitely keeping the car for many years to come I would be much more worried about degradation but after 3 years and around 70k miles, I don't think it will be that much given I will only do it occasionally.

Thanks again guys!

 

[Uncle Paul]

Good plan...

Wait until you realize how Autopilot can make you journey so much better.

 

[LukeT]

Loads of good advice above from those more experienced than me, but I'd add that in winter your schedule could hurt range a bit more, because it sounds like your 250 miles will be split across a number of shorter journeys. Compared to summer range, UK winter is perhaps 10% worse on average if you do only longer journeys, maybe 20%+ worse than summer if you do shorter journeys. This is because the battery cools when the car is stopped and energy is wasted then in both warming the battery and in the reduction of regenerative braking capability when the battery is cold.

That said, it sounds like you can make a habit of 15 mins at a supercharger here and there, in which case you should be covered anyway.

I do a single 200 mile fairly fast motorway journey twice a week in my long range Model S. In winter that's OK charging to 90% but any further and I'd have to take a bit extra care over speed, charge to 100% or add a stop. I use 65-80% (in my case same as kwh) for the journey and in what I'd regard as normal battery use "best practice" that's as much as I'd want to use habitually without a charging stop.

Leased or owned, I suspect you can keep to good practice without much inconvenience anyway, and you might as well. I own mine and don't find it a problem. I don't often charge to 100% but if I think it's needed I'm happy to do it and I think it's easy to do it right. This is to time the (all or just last bit of) charge for just before you leave, which also warms the battery for your drive, with the benefit of reducing how much regen is restricted, adding range and the car drives better. If you're a geek, consider subscribing to teslafi for scheduling. It's a bit clunky but it works well. I use it all the time. (I and a gazillion others here would be happy to give you a referral code, which gets you a longer free trial and the referrer a fiver).