"Winter is coming..."

[Kermee]

Man, the battery gets very unhappy until it warms up after sitting in low ambient temperatures ️

It was pushing 400-600 Wh/mi at 62 MPH on the freeway (relatively flat) for about 10 miles before it leveled off back to around averages.

 

[Derek Kessler]

Yyyyyup. Welcome to #EVlife!

 

[Trevlan006]

Just need to plug it in more often. It’s a Tesla enough said. Cannot wait to get into mine...

 

[Phrixotrichus]

49°F = 10°C

Where I live I have 3+ months a year where it`s <10°C, and can get as low as -10°C. I knew that EV range falters in cold weather, but this is the first time I´ve seen an actual curve and how long it takes to normalize.
Considering that my daily drive is only about 13 miles one way that would mean that I´d be driving with an average consumption of 35-40kwh/100km for several months a year.

That would actually make the average yearly fuel price for a Model 3 more expensive than my LPG Merc thanks to the crazy power prizes here.
Ouch

Thank you very much for the heads up. This is actually a pretty big thing to consider for me concerning my next car purchase......

Just need to plug it in more often. It’s a Tesla enough said. Cannot wait to get into mine...

Leaving it plugged in doesn`t change a thing, just changes the source of the power needed to heat the battery.

 

[Rocky_H]

Yep, 4+ years with my Model S, and I only have a 2 mile drive to work. I will routinely go through 4-5 "rated miles" for that in Winter. The first few minutes show 600+ watt hours per mile sometimes.

 

[outdoors]

49°F = 10°C

Where I live I have 3+ months a year where it`s <10°C, and can get as low as -10°C. I knew that EV range falters in cold weather, but this is the first time I´ve seen an actual curve and how long it takes to normalize.
Considering that my daily drive is only about 13 miles one way that would mean that I´d be driving with an average consumption of 35-40kwh/100km for several months a year.

That would actually make the average yearly fuel price for a Model 3 more expensive than my LPG Merc thanks to the crazy power prizes here.
Ouch

Thank you very much for the heads up. This is actually a pretty big thing to consider for me concerning my next car purchase......

Leaving it plugged in doesn`t change a thing, just changes the source of the power needed to heat the battery.

Try setting your charge to end just prior to leaving in the morning. While not perfect. I have found that helps with a battery being warm along with a cabin being a little warmer.

 

[Trevlan006]

I just meant need to charge it more often on trips etc.

49°F = 10°C

Where I live I have 3+ months a year where it`s <10°C, and can get as low as -10°C. I knew that EV range falters in cold weather, but this is the first time I´ve seen an actual curve and how long it takes to normalize.
Considering that my daily drive is only about 13 miles one way that would mean that I´d be driving with an average consumption of 35-40kwh/100km for several months a year.

That would actually make the average yearly fuel price for a Model 3 more expensive than my LPG Merc thanks to the crazy power prizes here.
Ouch

Thank you very much for the heads up. This is actually a pretty big thing to consider for me concerning my next car purchase......

Leaving it plugged in doesn`t change a thing, just changes the source of the power needed to heat the battery.

I just

 

[ewoodrick]

Skiing a few years back, I get to the top and ready to take pictures with my camera. It doesn't work, crap. Oh well, don't let it bum me out, make the ski run.

I get to the bottom where I have a little time to look at it. What? It's working now? Oh yeah, the first trip up the camera was outside my jacket and got cold enough (app -40 out) that the batteries just wouldn't work. Next trip up, I kept it inside my jacket and it worked quite well.

Moral of the story, batteries don't work as well when they get cold.

Batteries store electrons. When it is cold, they don't like to come out and play.

 

[ChrisH]

Man, the battery gets very unhappy until it warms up after sitting in low ambient temperatures ️

It was pushing 400-600 Wh/mi at 62 MPH on the freeway (relatively flat) for about 10 miles before it leveled off back to around averages.

Ugh I’m still waiting on V9! I want that energy app lol

 

[brobinson]

Does cooler weather also impact the max capacity of the car? I typically charge to 80 or 90% for 248 or 279 miles respectively.

It’s been cooling down recently, which as expected has driven my consumption up. I’m now seeing 241mi at 80% and 272mi at 90%. Is the car adjusting for potential loss? It’s plugged in in my garage that is typically around 50-60deg over night. Current interior temp is 68.

 

[GVinn]

Does cooler weather also impact the max capacity of the car? I typically charge to 80 or 90% for 248 or 279 miles respectively.

It’s been cooling down recently, which as expected has driven my consumption up. I’m now seeing 241mi at 80% and 272mi at 90%. Is the car adjusting for potential loss? It’s plugged in in my garage that is typically around 50-60deg over night. Current interior temp is 68.

Yes the cold weather impacts the range of the battery, there was a Youtube video floating around that showed Model 3 lost around 30% range and was considered best in class compared to other EV's (i3, Volt)

 

[Big Earl]

Does cooler weather also impact the max capacity of the car? I typically charge to 80 or 90% for 248 or 279 miles respectively.

It’s been cooling down recently, which as expected has driven my consumption up. I’m now seeing 241mi at 80% and 272mi at 90%. Is the car adjusting for potential loss? It’s plugged in in my garage that is typically around 50-60deg over night. Current interior temp is 68.

You might want to take a peek at this post regarding the calculated range display and recommended charging practices: Model 3 Performance Battery Degradation One Month (Story)

TL;DR, shallow daily cycles can throw off the range/SOC calculation, causing it to under-report. Nothing to worry about.

 

[Kermee]

The struggle is real...

 

[Sophias_dad]

I've seen that message twice, and wasn't real happy about it either time. The latter time I parked it with 34m left, and a couple hours later it had only 23m left, apparently having lost 11m just getting colder.

 

[ChrisH]

The struggle is real...

Whoa. How’d that happen?!

 

[Kermee]

Whoa. How’d that happen?!

Parked the car with a low SoC (12%) after a long 3 hour drive like I have in the past, but this time, this message came up. Ambient was about 50F.

So 3 hours of straight driving, I'm pretty sure the batteries are properly "warmed". Guess the system knows that since it's 50F out with warm batteries showing 12%, it's going to show reduction in %/range as the battery starts to cool.

 

[Kuhz]

*braces for "why is my energy graph at 500" posts*

 

[Sophias_dad]

Whoa. How’d that happen?!

I'm pretty sure that happens every time you park the car with the battery below 20% and low ambient temperature.

 

[ChrisH]

Parked the car with a low SoC (12%) after a long 3 hour drive like I have in the past, but this time, this message came up. Ambient was about 50F.

So 3 hours of straight driving, I'm pretty sure the batteries are properly "warmed". Guess the system knows that since it's 50F out with warm batteries showing 12%, it's going to show reduction in %/range as the battery starts to cool.

Ah. Did you make it home/to charge?

 

[timk225]

When the battery is full or cold or both, we get the dots on the left side of the power bar showing reduced regen. Since getting version 9, if the battery is low on charge, I've seen a few dots on the right side of the power bar, which I presume is the BMS limiting the max power output.