Winter is coming

[vitesse]

I don't know about you but we're enjoying a proverbial Indian Summer here in sunny West Herts today, but it will be cooler tomorrow and winter is only a few weeks away.

I've not yet experienced Tesla driving in cold weather so I'm curious as to how much range loss we can expect in low single finger centigrade temperatures, adding in a bit of rain for good measure

According to Teslafi my wife's 15.6 mile commute in the morning comes in at:

407 Wh/Mile

71.3% Efficiency

That's with the temperature outside at 13 Centigrade.

If you drop that to 3C, what kind of efficiency could we expect?

 

[WannabeOwner]

how much range loss we can expect in low single finger centigrade temperatures

Short journeys, lots.

Travelling salesman - stopped for an hour or more at each stop, time enough for battery to get cold again, lots-and-lots - that's the worst case scenario for EV I reckon ... even a 13 AMP plug-in at each stop will make significant differences to that

Long journeys, i.e. impact on "max range", I usually figure about 10% less. Below 0C more loss, but if the weather is that cold, midday, chances are good that UK weather is sufficiently bad that making that long journey is a bad idea anyway ...

 

[JCremonini]

Autumn is a few weeks away. A little while to go before winter ( 22nd December )

 

[vitesse]

Short journeys, lots.

Travelling salesman - stopped for an hour or more at each stop, time enough for battery to get cold again, lots-and-lots - that's the worst case scenario for EV I reckon ... even a 13 AMP plug-in at each stop will make significant differences to that

Long journeys, i.e. impact on "max range", I usually figure about 10% less. Below 0C more loss, but if the weather is that cold, midday, chances are good that UK weather is sufficiently bad that making that long journey is a bad idea anyway ...

Her 3 times a week commute (15.6 miles each way) is two thirds local roads and one third on the M25 (just a couple of junctions). She leaves at 7AM and heads home at about 5PM, so the car will be parked at her work for about 8 hours. There is no charging there.

I'm not actually that concerned about running out or anything like that as the car gets recharged overnight at 5p/kWH.

It's really just idle curiosity and a boring tendency of mine to want to know everything! LOL

At least at long last the sleep function now seems to work.

 

[vitesse]

Autumn is a few weeks away. A little while to go before winter ( 22nd December )

Optimist! You are, of course correct.

 

[WannabeOwner]

She leaves at 7AM and heads home at about 5PM

TesalFi scheduler (or an alternative) for pre-condition before morning departure, and before departure from work perhaps? Pre-heating the car will clear screen of ice as well etc. etc. I leave my schedule on all year - so car is cooled in Summer on days when the sun is out

I know you know this but TeslaFi scheduler can be set for GPS location - so only pre-condition if car is at HOME / WORK, and optionally only if plugged in, only Mon-Fri etc. etc.

For anyone interested in trying TeslaFi grab a referral code from someone, before you register, as it extends the trial from 2 weeks to a month.

 

[vitesse]

I've already warmed the car up for her a couple of times in the morning...

 

[LukeT]

I'm curious about the same. Also the limiting of regen braking. I'm noticing our car sometimes limits regen for quite a distance (c.20 mins 10 miles local roads) even with temperatures in the low teens. I couldn't absolutely swear it but I think it does it sometimes even if has come straight off charge.

 

[WannabeOwner]

I'm noticing our car sometimes limits regen for quite a distance (c.20 mins 10 miles local roads) even with temperatures in the low teens

Yes

I think it does it sometimes even if has come straight off charge.

Yes.

Likely that Battery heater will come on during charging (when weather is cold) but not sufficiently to heat the battery to avoid reduced regen.

That's on the Model-S ... Model-3 may be better, but I don't know by how much. Maybe set SatNav to a Supercharger just down the road to force battery heater on?

 

[Epico]

TesalFi scheduler (or an alternative) for pre-condition before morning departure, and before departure from work perhaps? Pre-heating the car will clear screen of ice as well etc. etc. I leave my schedule on all year - so car is cooled in Summer on days when the sun is out

I know you know this but TeslaFi scheduler can be set for GPS location - so only pre-condition if car is at HOME / WORK, and optionally only if plugged in, only Mon-Fri etc. etc.

For anyone interested in trying TeslaFi grab a referral code from someone, before you register, as it extends the trial from 2 weeks to a month.

Is teslafi good? What does it do I can't with the native app?

 

[WannabeOwner]

What does [TeslaFi] do I can't with the native app?

Check the link I posted

TeslaFi logs all the API data (hundreds of values from Temperature to Location, which seat heaters are on and Battery SOC along with whether the battery heater is on ...) ... every minute ...

... from the moment you started using it.

Also has a scheduler as described above. Want to get the car to charge to 100% shortly before you depart on a long trip and start Climate a few minutes before you leave, and change the battery limit back down from 100% to 90% in case you forget ... and turn the Cilmate off a bit later in case you don't actually leave on time ... ?

Figure out where you have been on Business trips?

Know when you got each version update, and what the version number was ... and whether you are lagging behind the Average for the Fleet ... for your hardware level and model?

Diagnose WHY your battery used up loads of charge whilst it was sat parked ...

Check a single journey that you made to the Relies months ago ... and a Lifetime map of where-you've-been

 

[WannabeOwner]

And TeslaFi's view of my day yesterday:

and today:

 

[Epico]

Check the link I posted

TeslaFi logs all the API data (hundreds of values from Temperature to Location, which seat heaters are on and Battery SOC along with whether the battery heater is on ...) ... every minute ...

... from the moment you started using it.

Also has a scheduler as described above. Want to get the car to charge to 100% shortly before you depart on a long trip and start Climate a few minutes before you leave, and change the battery limit back down from 100% to 90% in case you forget ... and turn the Cilmate off a bit later in case you don't actually leave on time ... ?

Figure out where you have been on Business trips?

Know when you got each version update, and what the version number was ... and whether you are lagging behind the Average for the Fleet ... for your hardware level and model?

Diagnose WHY your battery used up loads of charge whilst it was sat parked ...

Check a single journey that you made to the Relies months ago ... and a Lifetime map of where-you've-been

View attachment 455142

Right....but apart from that WHAT has Teslafi ever done for us...hahahaha

 

[ACarneiro]

I would give Teslafi a go but it stops the car from going to sleep, from what I understand, and the vampire drain becomes significant...

 

[gangzoom]

Likely that Battery heater will come on during charging (when weather is cold) but not sufficiently to heat the battery to avoid reduced regen.

That's on the Model-S ... Model-3 may be better, but I don't know by how much. Maybe set SatNav to a Supercharger just down the road to force battery heater on?

I thought Model 3 didn't have a battery heater. Once prewarmed our X only uses about 10% more energy on a 150 mile trip in winter than summer.

Old Leaf use to suffer horrific range drop in winter due to cold battery. Wonder how Model 3 will fair.

 

[Fraank]

I would give Teslafi a go but it stops the car from going to sleep, from what I understand, and the vampire drain becomes significant...

I'm using a trial right now, I set Teslafi to enable sleep mode with default settings. Car goes to sleep just fine, and stays asleep until I open the Tesla app/go to car etc.

 

[ACarneiro]

That’s very useful to know, thank you.

Maybe I’ll give it a try after all /)

 

[vitesse]

I would give Teslafi a go but it stops the car from going to sleep, from what I understand, and the vampire drain becomes significant...

I use Teslafi and initially the car wouldn't sleep at all, but it does routinely now after some tweaking of the Teslafi settings but also most probably after Teslafi themselves reacted to a change made by Tesla in a recent software update.

 

[LukeT]

I use Teslafi and initially the car wouldn't sleep at all, but it does routinely now after some tweaking of the Teslafi settings but also most probably after Teslafi themselves reacted to a change made by Tesla in a recent software update.

I'm a relative newbie and had a similar issue. I had one of the "try to sleep requirements" ticked and removing that got it sleeping just fine.

Another teslafi advantage is that whenever you open the app you wake the car. Looking at TeslaFi will likely get you whatever you were after but doesn't wake the car, unless you get teslafi to contact the car for something.

 

[NickFie]

Comparing TeslaFi records on frequently driven routes helps me tune my driving, see effect of various strategies. Less comfortable climate setting, Chill mode, Range mode, different average speed...

In your wife’s case, most effective strategy would be to schedule charging so it completes at departure time so battery is warm from the start; turn on climate 15 minutes before departure so heat comes directly from mains, avoiding loss during trip into then out of battery.

Fewer options at office. Spoil her - turn on climate and seat warmer 15 minutes before departure so she enters a comfortable vehicle. FWIW, every female I’ve encountered has appreciated a warm seat.

I’ve also concluded that you can’t buy love, but there’s no doubt you can rent something that feels a lot like it. A few pence of power for “warm” appreciation when she gets home seems a bargain.