Winter Driving Experiences

[mknox]

It is possible to get excellent winter range on longer trips since once the car is up to operating temperature it runs very efficiently. The initial bump in energy use levels off to near summertime levels.

Here's a shot of the last 30 miles of a 50 or so mile drive I took just the other day. You can see I'm actually exceeding Rated numbers:

 

[Mario Kadastik]

I guess you don't get cold enough weather to get the "squeaky" snow?

We do ... but this year the coldest has been -16C so far (yesterday) and it didn't quite get there though normally I think it starts around -10C, but I didn't hear anything in the car It looks like -20..-25C during the weekend and I'm going on a small road trip to sled with 16 huskies (bringing two of my own) over the day so will see how the snow sounds then Will also be interesting what the total consumption will be. The trip is only ca 160km total with 3-5h of car standing unplugged. Will contemplate taking my camera to snap a nice foresty pictures of the car to contribute to the Model S in nature thread

 

[hockeythug]

Can anybody in Minnesota tell me how today went with the S?

 

[J in MN]

Fabulous as always:
No problems "starting".
Does not create black ice on the roads.

Just for fun I used range mode this morning. Outside temp was -25 C. This kept energy use to 205 Wh/km or 328 Wh/mi compared to the 256 / 410 I got most of last week in normal mode. But cabin temp got down to 10 C by the end of the 30 minute drive.

For comparison, my summer energy use is around 165 / 273.

 

[Duckjybe]

Thought I'd share a proud moment while winter driving.

We went skiing for the day in a snow storm that dumped about 10 cm (4" ) of fairly wet snow. We closed the place and on the way home, I drove up a steep winding hill with about a few centimetres of wet slushy slippery snow. The traction control was activating constantly but I was managing it, albeit quite slowly. I turned a bend and had to stop as a GMC Acadia (or similar) was stuck. It was not making it up with its front wheels spinning. It was front wheel drive and looked like it had regular all season tires. I thought, great, now I am in trouble. He waved me past and I managed to get going and successfully passed. On the next bend it got a little steeper and the traction control stopped my progress completely. I turned off traction control off, spun the tires a little and carried on up over the crest of the hill. Awesome.

Just goes to show you, the Model S with snow tires is definitely superior to a front wheel drive SUV with all seasons.

 

[brianman]

Just goes to show you, <most cars> with snow tires <are generally> superior to <most other cars> with all seasons.

; )

 

[Duckjybe]

; )

right! sorry to state the obvious. Snow tires should win, and they did thank goodness. I often forget I am driving on snow tires as the Hakka R's are so darn quiet !

 

[SamGarber]

Spotted in the Russian news - Model S in -24C temperatures in Siberia is doing just fine. Use Google Translate if interested. Seems like -24C was really cold last year. This year with all the extremes it feels like another winter day. It was -10C when I woke up today to drive.

Source: novosibirsk.rfn.ru/rnews.html?id=281981&cid=7

 

[Doug_G]

Spotted in the Russian news - Model S in -24C temperatures in Siberia is doing just fine.

No need for Siberia... I could have told you that!

 

[Duckjybe]

Was down to -32C (-26F) even in relatively balmy southern Ontario (Huntsville), and Model S performed well. Ironic thing is at those temperatures ICE vehicles start needing to be plugged in!

 

[SamGarber]

Was down to -32C (-26F) even in relatively balmy southern Ontario (Huntsville), and Model S performed well. Ironic thing is at those temperatures ICE vehicles start needing to be plugged in!

Jeez. I need to stop my complaining about temperature. You win.

 

[Mayhemm]

Was down to -32C (-26F) even in relatively balmy southern Ontario (Huntsville), and Model S performed well. Ironic thing is at those temperatures ICE vehicles start needing to be plugged in!

I used to plug my car in at anything below freezing (seemed to warm up faster that way).

Yeah, it was only -33C here in Saskatchewan last night...but it's supposed to come up to single digits this weekend! Probably so it can snow.

 

[zwede]

It's snowing here today, and the forecast for Thursday is 61 dgr & sunny. Ah, Dallas. You never have time to get tired of the weather before it changes.

 

[bsd]

I don't much enjoy driving when regen is disabled: it feels like I'm losing control, like I'm sliding out of my seat. I realized that it's because I've become accustomed to pushing my head back slightly to counter the forward movement that normally occurs with regen braking; when regen is disabled there's no such forward movement but I still push back. I get the same sensation I get when driving a rental ICE.

 

[AlMc]

My impressions: This winter has been tough in many areas of the country and we have gotten record amounts of snow already in the Delaware/Philadelphia area along with colder than average temps. The car drives much better than I expected on snow filled/packed roads. As expected, my KW usage is higher. I set my A/B trip modes with my 'A' mode corresponding to the installation of my winter tires. I realize that they have better traction at the expense of increased roll resistance. My late spring/summer/fall energy usage with the OEM 21s
310. Since the winter tires; 412. Now I do not do lots of highway driving/cruising at 55-70mph...mostly roads with traffic lights and 35-50mph speed limits.

 

[bsd]

I don't much enjoy driving when regen is disabled: it feels like I'm losing control, like I'm sliding out of my seat. I realized that it's because I've become accustomed to pushing my head back slightly to counter the forward movement that normally occurs with regen braking; when regen is disabled there's no such forward movement but I still push back. I get the same sensation I get when driving a rental ICE.

I realize this sounds like complaining; I make sure to always prewarm the car, and I'm now happy to see the "battery is warming" message.

 

[Mario Kadastik]

January was really cold here (-16..-22C for weeks) and my car sits outside so it was always cold soaked (interior temperature -13C in the morning). The way I got the car to decent behavior was to time the charging so that it finishes approximately when I plan to leave. The way I did the math was that I charge 3x13A (EU model, so ~40A) and that fills ~10% / hour. For the initial battery warming I add 0.5h and for the afterwards pre-heating the car I added ~20 minutes. So if I planned to charge to 90% and car was at 75% then I needed 2.5h + 0.5h + ~0.5h = 3.5h so if I plan to leave at 9AM I set the car to charge at 5:30AM and set the heater at ~8:40AM. The result was always a warm car (~+15..+20C) and regen limiter at 30kW with no battery heating message. Even if the outside temp was -22C the whole night and day and the car stood ~12h. Of course leaving from office my only resort was to double pre-heat (i.e. start ~45min before, let it heat and slightly cool, then heat again), that got me to ~15-20kW regen and a cozy warm car at the cost of some range, but daily I don't really need it

Of course my January average usage was 294Wh/km i.e. 475Wh/mile Mostly doing 5-10 mile trips in true cold where the battery never heats up in the time.

 

[CarlE_P439]

My impressions: This winter has been tough in many areas of the country and we have gotten record amounts of snow already in the Delaware/Philadelphia area along with colder than average temps. The car drives much better than I expected on snow filled/packed roads. As expected, my KW usage is higher. I set my A/B trip modes with my 'A' mode corresponding to the installation of my winter tires. I realize that they have better traction at the expense of increased roll resistance. My late spring/summer/fall energy usage with the OEM 21s
310. Since the winter tires; 412. Now I do not do lots of highway driving/cruising at 55-70mph...mostly roads with traffic lights and 35-50mph speed limits.

AIMc- What kind of winter tires do you have?

- - - Updated - - -

Thought I'd share a proud moment while winter driving.

We went skiing for the day in a snow storm that dumped about 10 cm (4" ) of fairly wet snow. We closed the place and on the way home, I drove up a steep winding hill with about a few centimetres of wet slushy slippery snow. The traction control was activating constantly but I was managing it, albeit quite slowly. I turned a bend and had to stop as a GMC Acadia (or similar) was stuck. It was not making it up with its front wheels spinning. It was front wheel drive and looked like it had regular all season tires. I thought, great, now I am in trouble. He waved me past and I managed to get going and successfully passed. On the next bend it got a little steeper and the traction control stopped my progress completely. I turned off traction control off, spun the tires a little and carried on up over the crest of the hill. Awesome.

Just goes to show you, the Model S with snow tires is definitely superior to a front wheel drive SUV with all seasons.

Duckjybe- What kind of winter tires do you have?

 

[PatP]

Thought I'd share a proud moment while winter driving.

We went skiing for the day in a snow storm that dumped about 10 cm (4" ) of fairly wet snow. We closed the place and on the way home, I drove up a steep winding hill with about a few centimetres of wet slushy slippery snow. The traction control was activating constantly but I was managing it, albeit quite slowly. I turned a bend and had to stop as a GMC Acadia (or similar) was stuck. It was not making it up with its front wheels spinning. It was front wheel drive and looked like it had regular all season tires. I thought, great, now I am in trouble. He waved me past and I managed to get going and successfully passed. On the next bend it got a little steeper and the traction control stopped my progress completely. I turned off traction control off, spun the tires a little and carried on up over the crest of the hill. Awesome.

Just goes to show you, the Model S with snow tires is definitely superior to a front wheel drive SUV with all seasons.

I really think we should not have to mess with traction control (especially that it's not easily accessible for urgent situations). The software should be able manage these situations automatically. No way my wife will remember to do this if she's not getting traction. I think a winter driving mode or a smart temperature detection should modify the traction control behavior.

 

[AlMc]

AIMc- What kind of winter tires do you have?

Pirelli SotoZero3 on 21" rims. If I had 19" rims I would have gone with Bridgestone Blizzaks. I have been happy with the Pirellis but I have experience with Blizzaks on other vehicles so I would have gone with them but they do not have a 21" offering.

Pirelli SotoZero3 on 21" rims. If I had 19" rims I would have gone with Bridgestone Blizzaks. I have been happy with the Pirellis but I have experience with Blizzaks on other vehicles so I would have gone with them but they do not have a 21" offering.