Upcoming FW upgrade to "positively impact" essentially the entire fleet

[Gizmotoy]

What happens when you try to drive beyond 0?

The car shuts down when you've exceeded the storage dedicated to propulsion, maintaining some reserve for itself. Some people in the early days were able to "drive beyond 0", but I think they recalibrated that in the late-2013 timeframe. All recent posts I can fine have mentioned the car simply shutting down when you get to 0.

 

[Chris TX]

The car shuts down when you've exceeded the storage dedicated to propulsion, maintaining some reserve for itself. Some people in the early days were able to "drive beyond 0", but I think they recalibrated that in the late-2013 timeframe. All recent posts I can fine have mentioned the car simply shutting down when you get to 0.

Not really. I've driven 15 miles or so past "0" on a 6.x firmware. There is a pucker factor and you start to see the yellow dashed line slowly drift downward, limiting your top speed. After a while the HVAC shuts down, but going 45MPH got me to the Supercharger. The amps are very low for charging until you get back up to 0, then it kicks up to normal Supercharging rates.

 

[paco3791]

The car shuts down when you've exceeded the storage dedicated to propulsion, maintaining some reserve for itself. Some people in the early days were able to "drive beyond 0", but I think they recalibrated that in the late-2013 timeframe. All recent posts I can fine have mentioned the car simply shutting down when you get to 0.

I can attest that you can still drive beyond 0, just did it about a week ago when I was hyper-mileing in cold weather. Didn't do much beyond 0 (maybe a mile?) but there was something left in the tank.

 

[Gizmotoy]

Not really. I've driven 15 miles or so past "0" on a 6.x firmware. There is a pucker factor and you start to see the yellow dashed line slowly drift downward, limiting your top speed. After a while the HVAC shuts down, but going 45MPH got me to the Supercharger. The amps are very low for charging until you get back up to 0, then it kicks up to normal Supercharging rates.

I can attest that you can still drive beyond 0, just did it about a week ago when I was hyper-mileing in cold weather. Didn't do much beyond 0 (maybe a mile?) but there was something left in the tank.

Interesting. Good to know, thanks guys. I remember at least two posts from people complaining their cars shut off when they hit 0, so I figured that was just the way it worked now. Looks like there's still some variance (there were complaints of unpredictability past 0 back in 2012/2013 as well).

 

[rlang59]

Interesting. Good to know, thanks guys. I remember at least two posts from people complaining their cars shut off when they hit 0, so I figured that was just the way it worked now. Looks like there's still some variance (there were complaints of unpredictability past 0 back in 2012/2013 as well).

It seems to be hit or miss and definitely isn't something I would count on.

 

[Andyw2100]

Interesting. Good to know, thanks guys. I remember at least two posts from people complaining their cars shut off when they hit 0, so I figured that was just the way it worked now. Looks like there's still some variance (there were complaints of unpredictability past 0 back in 2012/2013 as well).

And there's also a thread on here some where started by someone who had his car shut down before he reached 0. (He was speeding to a supercharger because he was close, and showed plenty of range to make it.) So the bottom line is we should definitely not count on being able to drive beyond 0 miles remaining.

 

[mspohr]

And there's also a thread on here some where started by someone who had his car shut down before he reached 0. (He was speeding to a supercharger because he was close, and showed plenty of range to make it.) So the bottom line is we should definitely not count on being able to drive beyond 0 miles remaining.

Thanks for all these informative replies.
Sounds like you "may" be able to drive in a very limited way below zero but don't count on it.
I like this guy's solution to not enough range... get a tow to charge the battery...
ЗарÑдка Tesla Model S на веревке, вÑлед за грузовиком. - YouTube

 

[SW2Fiddler]

Thanks for all these informative replies.
Sounds like you "may" be able to drive in a very limited way below zero but don't count on it.

I'd say "Speeding To The Supercharger" is the exact opposite of what you'd want to do (to improve your chances of making it)...
It's a prediction the car makes based on recent energy use, it's not sand running out of an hourglass that you race against!

 

[Andyw2100]

I'd say "Speeding To The Supercharger" is the exact opposite of what you'd want to do (to improve your chances of making it)...
It's a prediction the car makes based on recent energy use, it's not sand running out of an hourglass that you race against!

I don't remember the exact details, but it was something like the following: his dash indicated he had four or five miles of range left. He was a mile from the supercharger, driving 70 MPH uphill, on the off ramp to get to the supercharger, when the battery died. He could have and would have been going more slowly if he thought he was in danger of running out of power, but the fact that he saw plenty of range remaining gave him confidence that in this case was unfounded.

 

[tomas]

3 miles on an estimator is NOT "plenty of range".

 

[dirkhh]

3 miles on an estimator is NOT "plenty of range".

I don't think everyone sees the range display as "estimator". I'll admit that I'd be rather unhappy if my car stopped driving with 3 miles of miles left. I have driven my S60 below 3 miles a few times... admittedly, I was going 40 miles an hour or something like that and not 70 uphill...

 

[apacheguy]

Not really. I've driven 15 miles or so past "0" on a 6.x firmware. There is a pucker factor and you start to see the yellow dashed line slowly drift downward, limiting your top speed. After a while the HVAC shuts down, but going 45MPH got me to the Supercharger. The amps are very low for charging until you get back up to 0, then it kicks up to normal Supercharging rates.

Did not know about HVAC getting shutdown before the battery craps out. Would be useful to have some other indicator since I'd likely shut down HVAC manually were I to realize that I didn't have sufficient range.

 

[Chris TX]

Did not know about HVAC getting shutdown before the battery craps out. Would be useful to have some other indicator since I'd likely shut down HVAC manually were I to realize that I didn't have sufficient range.

Yeah, there's a message that says something like "Battery level low, reducing power to climate control systems." The heat/AC shuts off but the fan motor is still responsive. When it gets to ~10 miles of range, there is a yellow dashed line that shows throttle limiting. As time goes on and battery level gets lower, that yellow line drops further. You'll see that line before the HVAC message.

Time of events:

1. Yellow line appears briefly
2. Yellow line stays on the gauge and slowly slides down
3. HVAC message
4. After "0" miles range, you see "Charge Now" appear
5. Yellow line continues to drop. I've never seen it go below the 40kW mark. It might go lower, or it might shut down

As a disclaimer, I have done that scenario only once. I have seen the "Charge Now" a few times, but that was right before hitting home or a Supercharger. I still get ~264 miles to a full range charge in my 1.5yo S85, too.
Beware: I do not lead by example! :|