When I last ran out my battery..

[Missile Toad]

Pick the largest category that fits your situation. Do not count as a 'shut down', a situation where you arrived at the Supercharger, and it failed to produce electricity -- and you had to go hunting for charge. Also, don't count situations where there was a mechanical/electrical problem in the car.

Be sure to measure the distance to where your car came to a final stop. I've coasted a Tesla, on a flat, no-wind day about 1.5 miles.

It took me 4 years of driving my Tesla get the buffer so low, that the car shutdown. I've had 1 or 2 times that I went beyond the 0 State of Charge, without problems.

 

[jboy210]

I have never had this problem. I will run my car down to 10% or so when traveling but have never run any lower. The Tesla navigation system seems to be very accurate at predicting what percentage you will have when you reach a charger. So, I usually arrived within 1-2% of the prediction.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Where's the option for never?

 

[Missile Toad]

Where's the option for never?

Well, its easy to spot the people who's car's die on the driveway into the superchargers. And, given that the roll-out of Tesla has ramped up massively in the last couple years -- I expect that there is a 10-to-1 ratio of 'never' to those who had this happen at least once. In other words, it would be hard to compare the finer-gradations of distance with 'never'.

I'm going to guess that when the poll completes, in 4 weeks, that the numbers will be

1/8 mi	8
1/4 m	1
1/2 mile and beyond	0

 

[mbp11]

This is so funny. I have never gotten below 15%, I heard that running the battery into the ground is not good for the battery. Rarely I will run it down to 15 and then supercharge up to 90 or 95% to recalibrate the battery software, but that is like every 9-12 months. I once saw a bunch of young males crossing the country in a model X on a you tube video that did go dead just outside a very rural out of the way supercharger and they had to push the car into the supercharger to charge the car. That was quite funny too and I never want to do that.

 

[jboy210]

This is so funny. I have never gotten below 15%, I heard that running the battery into the ground is not good for the battery. Rarely I will run it down to 15 and then supercharge up to 90 or 95% to recalibrate the battery software, but that is like every 9-12 months. I once saw a bunch of young males crossing the country in a model X on a you tube video that did go dead just outside a very rural out of the way supercharger and they had to push the car into the supercharger to charge the car. That was quite funny too and I never want to do that.

I am going to guess those guys were doing that for views.

The real cross-country speedsters seem to run down to the teens, charge to 60% or so and go. They know where the sweet spot for time wasted charging lies.

 

[nwdiver]

With the nav these days you basically have to run it to zero on purpose...

 

[Missile Toad]

With the nav these days you basically have to run it to zero on purpose...

The nav takes into account nearly everything -- and it is very good at warning you away from trouble. It lacks a priori forecasting when there is cold or wind involved. It can, once driving, account for how the car is performing, in those weather conditions. Willfulness can be a reason to run out the battery. However, unusual conditions, or changing weather can play a significant role.

Accordingly, taking a (slower) charge can result in departing a few minutes too early with too little of a charge. Detours, unusual precipitation, wrong-turns, can all be factors too.

Results of this poll will reflect:
1. Operation of the car - at a physical level, such as, amps, volts, etc.;
2. Ability of the software to communicate, in a meaningful way, risks;
3. The propensity of TMC posters to take on risk;
4. The degree to which non-standard efficiency techniques of drafting and over inflating tires is employed
5. Randomness of weather and breakdowns

 

[nwdiver]

The nav takes into account nearly everything -- and it is very good at warning you away from trouble. It lacks a priori forecasting when there is cold or wind involved. It can, once driving, account for how the car is performing, in those weather conditions. Willfulness can be a reason to run out the battery. However, unusual conditions, or changing weather can play a significant role.

Accordingly, taking a (slower) charge can result in departing a few minutes too early with too little of a charge. Detours, unusual precipitation, wrong-turns, can all be factors too.

Yeah... I really hope that Tesla adds wind forecasting soon. That would be a huge improvement.

 

[Missile Toad]

Good news, bad news. Good news: in the 48 hours since posting this poll, I'm the only person who has described a 'shut down'... so people must be driving conservatively -- and the car warns people from problems well. Bad news, I have no idea if my 'close-in' shut-down is anomalous among people who run-out the battery, or if it always happens within sight of the superchargers.

Actually, I have some idea. Bjorn showed a video where he could see a Supercharger, at his point of shutdown. I encountered a Model X that was half-way up the ramp to the floor where some garage superchargers were located.

Some tips, if you find yourself in these situations.

1. Assess if you are projected to arrive with -2 miles or less range at 50 miles out
2. If so, stop at any gas station and seek 110v charging
3. If not, conserve battery: a) slow down; b) draft responsibly; c) range-mode on; d) AC & Heat off
4. As you approach 5 miles out, switch regen to low, and drop your speed another 10 MPH
5. As you approach 2 miles out, put your hazard lights on, and drop your speed 5 MPH
6. When you are 0.5 miles to off-ramp, use lowest regen, as early as possible, with the intention to 'glide' to regen-only stop 100 yards before the stop light. Every strong regen OR strong acceleration may cause car to shut-down
7. Expect to roll through a green light at the lowest speed possible (lower than half speed you would normally)
8. On 'surface streets' keep your speed to 20 MPH only
9. Be particularly slow on any uphill leg (people frequently shutdown ascending)
10. If the the SuC is full -- lucky you! You get to make new friends if your car shuts down, and needs a push.

 

[Missile Toad]

I gotta say, I thought that there would be more people who would have experienced 'shut-down' using their cars -- particularly since I've seen someone get towed from about 150 feet away from the charger -- to the Supercharger. Must be that I, as well as the lady who stranded her Model X, within sight of the chargers, are outliers.
Certainly, given that the average Tesla battery, sold today, is good for around 300 miles, and the charging network is 10X more mature than it was 10 years ago, probably accounts for the low number of responses (just me so far), in the two weeks since posting this. My guesstimate: 0.05% of Tesla drivers have done this.

There are 481 views of this post, so far.

If someone, other than me, voted, then we would have a 0.2% rate of 'shut-down' among the people viewing/posting (discounting my single data point).

 

[Silicon Desert]

Hmmm, let's see. I've driven over 800,000 miles in an ICE car. Never ran out of gas. Fortunately I am into two Teslas after 5 years and never ran out of juice. So I have a hard time understanding how this happens if one is planning properly

 

[Missile Toad]

So you all know, Tesla strongly discourages trying to use the buffer that is present below the car's UI output of 0 range miles. Tesla Wants To Count Buffering As Range, But Says You Shouldn't Use It

 

[MrTuna]

Hmmm, let's see. I've driven over 800,000 miles in an ICE car. Never ran out of gas. Fortunately I am into two Teslas after 5 years and never ran out of juice. So I have a hard time understanding how this happens if one is planning properly

I ran out of gas one time when I was 16, like 30 feet from the pump. Then I learned my lesson and stopped being dumb

That said, a Tesla can use energy when not moving, so it could be a bit easier to get in a bad spot.

 

[Silicon Desert]

I ran out of gas one time when I was 16, like 30 feet from the pump. Then I learned my lesson and stopped being dumb

That said, a Tesla can use energy when not moving, so it could be a bit easier to get in a bad spot.

yea, good point. Though, the car would have to sit for a very long time before that occurs. There are times when I have been on vacation for a month and come home to the Tesla still having quite a bit of energy. On average I lose about 1/2 mile worth of energy per day when it is sitting idle.

 

[Candleflame]

I have never had this problem. I will run my car down to 10% or so when traveling but have never run any lower. The Tesla navigation system seems to be very accurate at predicting what percentage you will have when you reach a charger. So, I usually arrived within 1-2% of the prediction.

theres many people who live without a close DC fast charger nearby and do have to run their cars down to a few %.

 

[Yelobird]

Since this appears to be the confessional of failure….. I have never run out of gas in my life but I have always been the guy that likes to push the limit. IE car says only 6 miles left and I need to push it to 8. Lol. Had my first and hopefully Last miss calculated run out of power event this past winter. All data (computer) seemed close but I failed to account for drastic temp change and lack of chargers in area. All of this my fault as I felt it was just conservative. Left Chicago it was 25-30 degrees headed to N Minnesota doing an all night drive. The direction I took had very few chargers but enough for a normal drive. My failure was it said I had 200 miles of power and my last leg was only 120 miles. Should be fine right? Ice turned to snow and it was soon -30! Kept pushing even though the computer Did warn me it would be close. Just stuck with available was greater then the end sum. Lol. End of story, got to 0, turned to slow mode of 25 for a few miles then crawl mode then shut down. So embarrassing I could liter SEE the super charger only a half block away. (at the top of a hill so no pushing….) had to get a flat bed tow for my over calculation and simply laugh as he moved the car so short a distance. Funny til I had to Pay for said help lol. Don’t be me, trust the computer and DO take notice of crazy low temps. EV’s don’t play nice after -30.

 

[Missile Toad]

Since this appears to be the confessional of failure….. I have never run out of gas in my life but I have always been the guy that likes to push the limit. IE car says only 6 miles left and I need to push it to 8.

I'll pay a Ford F-150 Lightning $50 to add 2 miles of charge if I'm ever at 0 miles. I literally saw a lady getting loaded onto a flatbed 0.5 levels below the 3rd (elevated) level of a garage that hosts a supercharger. The final half mile should have little road-side memorials for all the times a flatbed had to pull somebody to the supercharger. Maybe a little cross as follows:

 

[Missile Toad]

Ford ships its F-150 Lightnings with a Tesla adapter. What for? So it can charge stranded Teslas, what else?

 

[KenC]

Never been under 7%.