Are D owners still seeing 280-320 Wh/mile at freeway speeds? (I did a quick forum search for Wh/mile and picked those figures) Is Torque Sleep always on, or does it only work when both TACC and Range mode are active? Is anyone noticing changes to Wh/mile with Autopilot?
Those numbers sound about right. I'm about to do a longish road trip and will follow up if I get something outside that range. As for torque sleep, my recollection is that it's only active when range mode is active, but I'm sure it doesn't depend on TACC.
AFAIK it's only working when you turn on Rage Mode. Torque sleep shuts off one motor and only used the other one. Why is this better? The type electric motor used in a Tesla is more efficient when it's load is high (relative to it's max rating) than when it's low. In other words, it's more efficient to have just one motor run at 80% of it's max rated load than two motors run at 40% of their max rated load. The differences are not large but noticeable. It's kind of confusing because over the last hundred years we have learned that a combustion engine runs more efficient when it's at low RPM and low load.
Well that and the fact that Tesla bills the dual motors as being more efficient with greater range. Can anyone please explain this discrepancy?
I don't have an explanation for you, sorry, but before someone jumps in with the "the motors are geared differently" theory I want to preemptively ask, has anybody at Tesla said so in print, or has anybody done a teardown of the front/rear gearboxes yet?
It's just the motor design, as far as I know. It's a more efficient motor, likely due to better wire windings, and less internal drag. What I would like is a clear explanation of torque sleep from Tesla, as well as the conditions it's used in. Anyone have clear data as to how (how much power is split) and when it works.
From the technical section, a discussion of the patent for torque control in AWD: Dual Motor (and Triple) Torque Control for Maximum Efficiency
Oh right, it's starting to come back. A standard D uses two smaller motors than a standard RWD, so if you're just running one of those motors it's running at higher % of its max rated load than the RWD would be under the same conditions, see David99's point for why this is good.
I'm surprised there's still this much confusion about torque sleep and range mode. Torque sleep works better with range mode on, but there are some benefits of torque sleep even with range mode off, as per Jerome Guillen:
