Winter Charging

[asitter]

Hi everyone. Got a brand new long range all wheel drive Model 3 about a month ago. Love the car so far but have some concerns about winter charging. I live in the Midwest where temps frequently will be negative in the winter (temps are currently in the 30s).

My apartment complex has underground heated parking where I park. Unfortunately, the landlords are unwilling to let me charge on any of the multiple 120 V outlets, stating that they are working on a more “permanent” solution (which I don’t believe).

My work has a garage, but is not heated and there are no known charging options. The nearby supercharger was charging at roughly 600 mi/hr until this week (when it got colder), and only is charging between 200-300 mi/hr... is this typical?

Does anyone have any recommendations for my situation?

 

[Webeevdrivers]

Is there any place nearby where you shop that has level 2 charging? May help a bit.

 

[AlanSubie4Life]

The nearby supercharger was charging at roughly 600 mi/hr until this week (when it got colder), and only is charging between 200-300 mi/hr... is this typical?

How long a drive is it to the Supercharger? Are you using the navigation system to tell it you are going to the charger?

The cold weather means that the car needs to warm the battery to get good charging speed. On Route Battery Warmup will engage if you need it, if you navigate to the station.

But mostly you just need good Level 2 charging options. It is terrible to rely on a Supercharger - they are only for road trips and special situations.

 

[srs5694]

But mostly you just need good Level 2 charging options. It is terrible to rely on a Supercharger - they are only for road trips and special situations.

@asitter may already be aware of this, but just in case.... Check out PlugShare to help find Level 2 (and other) public charging options. (There are also apps for both iOS and Android.) If there are Level 2 options convenient to where you spend a lot of time (parks [maybe not so much in the winter], movie theaters, malls, etc.), then they can help a lot.

It might also be worth looking up CHAdeMO stations on PlugShare. An official Tesla CHAdeMO adapter is available, but it costs $450. Still, it might be worth the cost if CHAdeMO stations exist nearby and you don't have charging at home or at work. CHAdeMO is usually slower than a Supercharger, but you'll get a lot more charge off of a CHAdeMO unit than a Level 2 unit if you'll be spending half an hour somewhere (to eat or get groceries, say).

 

[ucmndd]

If you really have no suitable charging options at work or home, your best bet is to make an effort to supercharge your car when the battery is WARM, after you’ve been driving for a while. That will limit the amount of time you need to sit there due to slow charging.

But really, having an EV in conditions like that, with no home or work charging, is going to become a major drag really quickly.

 

[Carbon-0]

I'm on vacation with a friend. Left my Model X at the friend's house. Since Friday morning (57 hours ago) the car has used 37 miles of battery just sitting in the driveway. At this rate, I'll have zero miles left when I return from vacation. Does anyone have any idea why my car would be using so many miles while parked and how to conserve the battery? The outside temp is 60-70 during the day and 50's at night. Don't have sentry on.

 

[ucmndd]

I'm on vacation with a friend. Left my Model X at the friend's house. Since Friday morning (57 hours ago) the car has used 37 miles of battery just sitting in the driveway. At this rate, I'll have zero miles left when I return from vacation. Does anyone have any idea why my car would be using so many miles while parked and how to conserve the battery? The outside temp is 60-70 during the day and 50's at night. Don't have sentry on.

Not sure why you posted a Model X question inside a completely unrelated thread in the Model 3 forum, but if you got software version 10 recently, I expect your problem is described here.

Battery drain 10-20 miles every 24 hours

 

[jjrandorin]

I'm on vacation with a friend. Left my Model X at the friend's house. Since Friday morning (57 hours ago) the car has used 37 miles of battery just sitting in the driveway. At this rate, I'll have zero miles left when I return from vacation. Does anyone have any idea why my car would be using so many miles while parked and how to conserve the battery? The outside temp is 60-70 during the day and 50's at night. Don't have sentry on.

If you have V10 software and EAP / FSD (so have smart summon) there is a new setting that defaults to ON that makes the car respond to summon faster (and keep the car awake). If your friend has a key to your car have them turn off that setting. Its under summon. Forget the name but its on this site somewhere.

 

[doghousePVD]

I would try again with the landlord. Offer some payment - maybe $10 or $20 per month, until there is a more permanent solution.

 

[user212_nr]

My work has a garage, but is not heated and there are no known charging options. The nearby supercharger was charging at roughly 600 mi/hr until this week (when it got colder), and only is charging between 200-300 mi/hr... is this typical?

Does anyone have any recommendations for my situation?

Supercharging doesn't depend on the weather, but other factors. You just have to bear with it until you get the outlets or move.

Heated parking - really? You mean covered I think.

I'd definitely demand access to the 120v outlets. The idea that they're working on a "permanent" solution is in contradiction with them not letting you use the outlets with or without payment as a "temporary solution".

Right now, there are no good solutions other than and outlet + payments. A charge station is 6k.

Maybe you'll need to move eventually to make things work best.