Wife treating 100 miles range as empty

[Carnut74]

You guys rock!! Thank you for the support and ideas. For such a self claimed pragmatic individual all I could see was frustration, not solutions. I think all these ideas will help tremendously, and I feel better being able to support her, not just tell her to deal with it.

I pretty much trust the car and my ability to adjust on the fly to changing conditions, however I had always been worried about worst case and I (she) doesn't make it to a charge point. Until I saw this wonderful trick on You Tube.

So my emergency charger would look like this -

+

My cell phone displays % of charge, not "You can talk for 118 minutes until the phone dies." It still works quite well for a nearly four-year-old phone.

Great Analogy!! Lol.

RECAP!

• Always plug in at home so the car is charged to 90-95% in the morning, and some range is added while at home between trips.
• Change the display from miles remaining to %. HUGE psychological boost here - did wonders for me and I wasn't even worried about it to begin with
• View power graph to see real time range.
• Use the car's navigation for all trips. This is fantastic. You also get the added bonus of finding the fastest route based on real time traffic.
• Plan an extended trip that requires a Supercharger - get the experience.

In the end it's really just a matter of getting comfortable with the car's ability to predict the future. Which I've found to be QUITE good.

Thank you for the summary!! I can't wait to put some of this into practice. I had changed the display to ideal thinking a larger number would look more comfortable. But if not accurate at all I can see how that would have the opposite effect.

paste a little red dot over the mileage number.

Like to old days of black tape over the CEL light. In keeping with the technology of the car I'd have to use a LED. Maybe one that gets brighter as the mileage gets lower.

 

[TwistedGray]

In the end it's really just a matter of getting comfortable with the car's ability to predict the future. Which I've found to be QUITE good.

Just note that it does a good job until you start going on long, higher speed trips where you'll hold 70-75mph for extended periods of time. You'll quickly find out that it's not THAT good.

I learned that when I flew to pick up my Tesla and drove it back 2,99# miles away almost running out of a range a few times. Fortunately we learned early on to add 10-20% margin to each estimated percentage of range at arrival. If the car said we would arrive with 6% of range if we left now we would wait until it at least said 20%. We also had to throttle down the speed quite often in order to make it to our next destination.

We did that until we learned something else which really maximized our range, allowed us to blast the a/c (it was 100+ throughout the trip home), and have a comfortable ride - draft! The only challenge was to find an 18-wheeler holding the speed that we were happy with. I didn't want to do 65mph in a 75mph zone...10 miles in an hour when you are driving 3,000 miles makes a noticeable difference over time.

Around town and more localized trips, none of what I mentioned will be of concern. It's only when you're out trekking around the country with no home base.

Happy driving!

 

[Rice&Curry]

Hello community,

WooHoo! First Post

New MS85 owner here. After almost 2 years and many discussions my wife finally gave in to selling her beloved G37 and getting a Model S. The car is growing on her, however she has severe range anxiety. In her Infiniti she would drive around with the low fuel light on regularly. Drove me nuts(no pun intended). Now with the Tesla, she basically treats 100 miles as empty. For example, if she has 150 miles of charge and needs to make a 70 mile round trip, she won't do it.

I'm at a loss of how to reassure her or calm her nerves. This really is ruining what should be a wonderful experience.

How have others dealt with this kind of problem? Any suggestions short of strapping her in the car blindfolded would be very much appreciated.

You have my sympathies, I am in the same boat as you. My wife is paranoid on range, so I have changed it to % SoC recently, waiting to see if this changes her range anxiety.

 

[drtimhill]

Yeah, we do that. Every morning starts at ~225 miles. Today she went to work, came home then had to go visit her mom in the hospital(covid is still a thing). Her car had around 150 miles left, and had to make about 60 mile round trip. She had her daughter drive (gas car) instead because she doesn't trust her car to make it if not fully charged. The psychology is interesting. Before she had to be on fumes before getting gas, and now she almost won't drive unless it's full. This is baffling because in nearly all other matters she is very rational.

Try getting her to use the nav system to route her to the destination (even if she knows the route) .. it will show percentage battery left at end of drive AND (in small print) percentage left if she also makes a return journey to her current location.

If she is unhappy with that, YOU drive a round-trip like that, and compare the cars predication with the actual percentage. After a few trips she should start to get more confident (at least when she uses van system).

 

[gaswalla]

It may be time to upgrade..
Let her know about the plan
A new wife will be tough to find, but it'll be worth it

 

[arnolddeleon]

Plenty of good advice already

Funny enough my wife went from being more timid on range than me to being more comfortable pushing it.

The deal when we started the EV journey was I would deal with any range issues (check for charging locations, etc.) When we had a LEAF she ran into a situation where she might not have enough range to make it home. I identified a place to charge, met her there, she took the rescue car home (I think it was our RAV4-EV then) and I stayed and charged the LEAF just enough to get home.

With the Tesla it is just too easy. I always drive with destination set in the navigation so the car will help with range calculation (as someone already pointed it gives you the round trip estimate for remaining energy). Contrary to others, I drive with the miles indicator instead of percentage. Because I know how to drive the rated range, I know what is approximately my worst case scenario range is. If the display shows 2X the miles I need to drive I don't even think about it.

Have you looked at something like Plugshare/Chargepoint for chargers around the area your are driving? Knowing about "emergency" charging is reassuring. It allows you to explore the battery with a safety net.

 

[LoudMusic]

Just note that it does a good job until you start going on long, higher speed trips where you'll hold 70-75mph for extended periods of time. You'll quickly find out that it's not THAT good.

I learned that when I flew to pick up my Tesla and drove it back 2,99# miles away almost running out of a range a few times. Fortunately we learned early on to add 10-20% margin to each estimated percentage of range at arrival. If the car said we would arrive with 6% of range if we left now we would wait until it at least said 20%. We also had to throttle down the speed quite often in order to make it to our next destination.

We did that until we learned something else which really maximized our range, allowed us to blast the a/c (it was 100+ throughout the trip home), and have a comfortable ride - draft! The only challenge was to find an 18-wheeler holding the speed that we were happy with. I didn't want to do 65mph in a 75mph zone...10 miles in an hour when you are driving 3,000 miles makes a noticeable difference over time.

Around town and more localized trips, none of what I mentioned will be of concern. It's only when you're out trekking around the country with no home base.

Happy driving!

I've not had that problem with high speed driving. So long as I'm consistent with speed it will reasonably accurately predict arrival percentage.

This is assuming there are no outside variables that the car is unaware of, such as changing weather patterns. The car will display arrival percentage while you're charging based on prior consumption. If there is a headwind on the next leg of the trip the car will have increased energy consumption. The consumption rate skyrockets after about 55mph, and a head wind is mph added directly to that number. So you would have to slow down the amount of that headwind in order to compensate for consumption.

But yes the car will tell you how fast you need to drive in order to arrive at your destination with necessary battery charge. I find that I drive about 110% of the speed limit most of the time, and as the car adjusts arrival percentage through a journey I adjust my speed. I've done 26,000+ miles, mostly interstate, and over 100 Supercharger visits, with that driving style. The only time I've had trouble was driving across Kansas. We had a freaking 15mph headwind on our trip west and again on our trip east. Bad timing!

 

[Carnut74]

It may be time to upgrade..
Let her know about the plan
A new wife will be tough to find, but it'll be worth it

It may be time to upgrade..
Let her know about the plan
A new wife will be tough to find, but it'll be worth it

As long as she's willing to sport something Plaid......

 

[Carnut74]

Had the perfect range test opportunity tonight. Went to a Demolition derby that was about 85 miles one way. She met my daughter and I at an equestrian park about 40 miles away from home where I took over. Car trip computer said we'd have 50% battery once we got to our destination, and 7% when we got home. Passed 2 supercharging stations on the way there and back, so we were never at any real risk. Turns out even with a slight detour, we had 7% power left when we got home. Exactly what the car had predicted.

She admitted after we were home safe and plugged in that the prediction accuracy was pretty impressive. Hopefully this will help her step away

What I do question though is that at full charge the car claims about 220 miles rated range. Our trip tonight was 171 miles and we had 19 left when we got home. There was no Ricky road racing, as hard as it is not to, mostly freeway driving. What happened to the other 30 miles?

 

[ZilWin]

paste a little red dot over the mileage number.

That was going to be my suggestion. Take the same approach as ICE drivers do with the CEL (Check Engine Light). A little piece of black electrical tape over it and problem solved. LOL

 

[ucmndd]

What happened to the other 30 miles?

The EPA ate them. Your observation of real world range is pretty normal.

 

[The Lorax]

I only ever display % (vs mileage) and always enter my destination into the trip planner. In my experience, the predicated range in percentage terms is always very accurate. In fact, on longer drives, I often end up arriving with slightly more range left than originally predicated. The car takes into consideration battery temperature and elevation changes. On some days (colder temps, steeper elevation changes, highway speeds) you’ll get less than the displayed mileage and on other days (warmer temps, less elevation changes, more moderate speeds) you’ll get more.…But you’ll find that your always very close (if not a bit better) than the predicated battery % shown in the trip planner. You can always watch the prediction change in the trip planner if your take a detour or ramp up your speed on the highway. Range anxiety is best left to people who don’t understand how well these cars do this.

 

[wwu123]

In the SF Bay area, before superchargers became ubiquitous, I do remember that my range anxiety was higher when doing a longer trip to SF (about a 45-mile drive away and no superchargers then) with 150 miles of range, than doing short errands near home with only 30 miles of range. I think the fear of being stranded is compounded the farther one might be stranded from home, rather than staying close by where friends and family are also available for help.

Looking at OP's location, while it is true that there are relatively few superchargers in UT, it also looks the case that there are few major roads to travel far. It looks like 3 of 4 major road directions to travel have a supercharger roughly about 30-40 miles of home. Methinks that so far, there's probably been no reason at all for OP's wife to ever have tried to visit or use a supercharger.

These are some things I did re superchargers with my 80+ year-old parents in Las Vegas to alleviate them of anxiety for road trips (they never use them otherwise), that could help:
-Set the map always to show the supercharger locations nearby (every big red dot becomes a range safetey haven as good as home)
-On some near future family trip, make a side visit to a supercharger when SOC is relatively low - like 30-40% SOC, and show wife how easy it is to use - no credit card, no button, just plug-and-play with a firm motion. Also will show how quickly range will be gained, it is NOT like home charging, and just a 5 min top-up would gain enough range to get home comfortably - again, better to do this with relatively low SOC so you're not far into the taper zone.
-Always use the nav both when going somewhere, but particularly when going home. It's not about the routing, but the range displays, speed reduction warning, and re-nav to nearest supercharger, esp on the homebound direction when anxiety will be higher. The challenge here is that normally these anxiety-reducing features will not even pop-up until one is at really low SOC. So perhaps again on a near future family trip, on the homebound route, set the destination to somewhere far past home, to where the nav will automatically add additional charging waypoints - this will also set the mentality that if you DON"T see any of these features pop up, you are nowhere near getting stranded.
-The nav these days also can show Destination and L2 chargers, and I believe also can do re-nav to these as well, making it basically impossible to run out of range if following the nav. But this may require teaching how to use the J1772 adapter and discerning various payment portals - I think in this case better to keep things simple and leave these out of the picture.

Getting OP's wife familiar with the superchargers is not to have her ever really use them, but that they will push out that circle of anxiety at least 30-40 miles farther from home in nearly every direction - enough that range anxiety would no longer come into play during her day trips.

 

[airborne spoon]

I have had my tesla for 4 years now and never once have i gotten range anxiety, I even drove from Fremont to NC 3 days after i bought the car with no concern for range.
However i was out riding the Harley last year and i had to flip it onto reserve and i started doing the oh *sugar* oh *sugar* mentality because i didn't knw where i was going to fill up at and i only had about 40 miles to empty. Before i got the Tesla i would commonly ride the bike till it was running on fumes and never think twice about it. But after having the Tesla for so long i don't ride the bike as often and not knowing if i could make it to a gas station was very stressful.
Now I'm back to riding the bike more and flipping to reserve doesn't bother me, so i think you just need to get your wife to take some trips down to the single digit of range left. I take my tesla down to 9% or lower all the time and have gone to 1% about a dozen times. Only died once and that was when i was testing the range and i died 1/2 mile from a supercharger.

 

[drtimhill]

What I do question though is that at full charge the car claims about 220 miles rated range. Our trip tonight was 171 miles and we had 19 left when we got home. There was no Ricky road racing, as hard as it is not to, mostly freeway driving. What happened to the other 30 miles?

The rated range should be treated the same way you treat EPA ratings of ICE cars -- it's a good level-playing field way to compare range across EVs, but doesnt represent the actual mileage you should expect in driving.

Also, as has been noted elsewhere in this forum, EV energy usage goes up rapidly with increases in speed (non-linearly). This is also true of ICE cars, but is less noticeable since, as they waste so much energy in the first place, the delta is much less. Try making a trip on a freeway at 75mph and then the same trip at 65mph and see what your car reports in energy usage.

Also, never forget that, even in the worst case, your MPGe is far better than any ICE car.

 

[TwistedGray]

Try making a trip on a freeway at 75mph and then the same trip at 65mph and see what your car reports in energy usage.

As I noted earlier - this ^

The car did not seem to know that the speed limit in Texas is 75mph, and that I would like to go the speed limit en route to the next location (ie: Supercharger). The car's initial estimate of % required was substantially off when I set the cruise control at 75mph. After a short period on the road it immediately told me to drop my limit to 65mph in order to make it to the supercharger. It just seems obscure that the car would not know the speed limits throughout the country except when I typed this out perhaps I am (we are) asking too much? Then again maybe every time that this happened it was primarily due to a head wind? I dunno, but what I do know is that I will take the "arrive w/ x%" notice with a grain of salt and always add 10-20% buffer.

Either way, as noted by the post above, do some trials and see how they differ based on your speed.

 

[Greg29]

So, worst case the car is run to empty. Do we call Tesla, AAA or what? Would Tesla tow to nearest charger?

 

[Huachipato]

I'll be honest - I get the best range when I put on AP at a really high speed (like 85MPH) AND follow behind a slightly slower larger vehicle (one travelling at 75 - 80MPH). Idea being that you draft a bigger vehicle. Easy to do in TX in most cases since it seems like everyone has a giant pick up truck. I don't even have to tailgate - just setting AP to a distance of 3 puts a nice gap and still see the benefit.

 

[TwistedGray]

I'll be honest - I get the best range when I put on AP at a really high speed (like 85MPH) AND follow behind a slightly slower larger vehicle (one travelling at 75 - 80MPH). Idea being that you draft a bigger vehicle. Easy to do in TX in most cases since it seems like everyone has a giant pick up truck. I don't even have to tailgate - just setting AP to a distance of 3 puts a nice gap and still see the benefit.

This

 

[DelPhonic1]

Unlike an ICE car, a Tesla will actually warn you during your trip if you have to modify your speed to reach your destination. The car’s computer is watching the range so you don’t have to. In my mind, this should give more, not less, comfort to the driver.

this is only if you put in your destination. What I love is it gives you how much percentage you'll have left at the destination and how much percentage you'll have left when you return from whence you started.