Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Urgent Question: Model 3 Range

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
this thread is helpful to my OCD.. hahaha

I just got my Model 3 Performance and I have to get the milage and charging out of my mind.

I will start out in the morning with say 250mile range. I set the trip monitor and only drive about 50 miles and the range at the end of the drive is 170-180.

I know there are a ton of variables and my only concern was my 20k miles per year and charging ALL the time. At my current rate I will be doing 90% charge Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.. Or should I just set limit to 80% and let it charge every night. I have a Wall Charger and get 48AMPs so I am good any way.

mike
 
Or should I just set limit to 80% and let it charge every night.
Do this. Better for your battery. As Tesla says, "A plugged in Tesla is a happy Tesla." The more time your car spends plugged in, the more time the BMS has to do its magic and wizardry.

Keeping it plugged in all the time is great. What you want to avoid is charging it to high charge levels (>90%) frequently.
 
this thread is helpful to my OCD.. hahaha

I just got my Model 3 Performance and I have to get the milage and charging out of my mind.

I will start out in the morning with say 250mile range. I set the trip monitor and only drive about 50 miles and the range at the end of the drive is 170-180.

I know there are a ton of variables and my only concern was my 20k miles per year and charging ALL the time. At my current rate I will be doing 90% charge Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights.. Or should I just set limit to 80% and let it charge every night. I have a Wall Charger and get 48AMPs so I am good any way.

mike

A plugged in Tesla is a Happy Tesla. :)

If there's no logistical challenge involved, just plug in every night and let the car manage itself. Getting in the habit will make it less likely that you'll forget, too.

I charge to 80% every night. It's a bit of an awkward compromise - at 80% the battery wear is reduced, but you're in the constant voltage part of the curve, so the BMS can't see exactly where the SoC is and sometimes its estimates wander.

I've had it show me having lost half a dozen miles when it stopped at "80%", then I bumped the SoC to 90% (Tesla's recommended point, more wearing but above the constant voltage section) and had the range suddenly reappear.
 
Good point, I missed that.

The EPA numbers for the Standard Range are based on 18” wheels. That is likely the explanation for what the OP is seeing.

To be clear, I was aware the 19" wheels caused the range to decrease when I posted. Based on the Teslike chart, I figured that the wheels would account for an 8% decrease when driving at 70mph, compared to the aero wheels. Still, I was at 17.5% below EPA, and the wheels can't account for all of that. I was trying to determine whether that extra 9.5% of range that suddenly disappeared is typical. Based on the responses so far, it seems like my range is pretty typical.
 
I usually figure 80% of the EPA range in normal driving. Less if running the heater. Less if doing a lot of short trips. More if doing a long freeway-based trip (an hour or more) at 65 mph. Check your watt-hours/mile. The EPA rating is based on about 240 wh/M, but I usually average 260 mh/M with normal driving. If you bought the long-range model, I'd say just live with it. If you bought the normal-range model, my advice is to consider spending that extra 10K for the longer range - you will appreciate it in the winter.
 
At my current rate I will be doing 90% charge Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights..

ABC - Always Be Charging. Set it and forget it!

I leave mine at 90%. Leave it plugged in whenever I'm home. 7,000 miles and 6 months, and Stats for iOS still shows my charging trend line just a hair over 310mi.

Set it and forget it... best not to overthink this. Just drive the car and enjoy it.
 
Model 3 Standard Range Plus
19" Tires
Car condition: New, about 540 miles on it so far
Trip length: 99.8 miles
Average Speed: 68mph (I set the AP to 68 for the first 70 miles, then set it to 70 mph for the rest. There was also a 2 mile stretch of heavy traffic, which brings the average back down to 68.)
Charge Used: 121 miles (started at 195, finished at 74)
Wh/mi: 253
Weather: 60 - 65 degrees
Elevation: Relatively flat for most of the trip
AC/Heating: None

For those who are curious, I am keeping the car. Thanks again for all the input, it really helped with the decision!

Glad you decided to keep the car. Hope it works well for you.

You say "relatively flat for most of the trip", but really it is the net elevation change which matters (a lot). So it is important to specify when quoting efficiency numbers.

Your numbers look exactly correct, and not that unreasonable for the speeds you were going - though sometimes I would expect you'd do a bit better. Anyway, for reference, you need to hit 209Wh/mi to hit "parity" in the SR+ (mile for rated mile rolloff). (Note that this performance would actually be slightly better than the EPA rating, since after you hit 0 rated miles, you'll still be able to travel a few miles more...probably...)

You can do the math:

99.8mi*253Wh/mi / (209Wh/rmi) = 120.8 rated miles. (You used 121 rated miles.)

(209Wh/rmi is the discharge constant for the SR/SR+; 219Wh/rmi is the charging constant.) These specific constants only apply to the SR & SR+; other variants have different constants.

You'll find you can always use this formula to calculate your usage (for charging & discharging, use the appropriate constant). It's always constant (but of course the trip meter does not count any use when in Park).

Now that you're keeping the car, make sure your tires are properly inflated to greater than 42PSI, and buy some aeros if you really need highway range. I'm sure they aren't too expensive second hand as a lot of people don't like them. At least they fit your car! I'd love to have them but no such luck for me.
 
Last edited: