One major question and one minor question I had about Tesla's prior to buying my 2023 Model Y last June related to winter. The major question was cold weather performance. The minor question was about snow tires.
TIRES
Snow tires are the easy one so I'll get them out of the way. I've lived my entire life in the midwest, rather flat, but cold and snowy. Never had snow tired. Never cared. I wondered why everyone said you needed snow tires for the Teslas. Now here's my opinion after some ice/snow driving. Snow tires are probably safer and likely a good idea. We have 1-2 inches of snow/ice on the roads in central Wisconsin right now due to our recent storm. I'm doing fine with my factory tires, but the extra weight of the vehicle does seem to make it slide more. The traction control and antilock breaks work well, but I think stopping would be much better with winter tires. Also, with the massive torque the Teslas have, it would be easy to lose traction on ice when accelerating. If you are mildly careful its not really an issue.
That said, I don't have the money or storage space for a second set of tires, but if I could I think I would get winter tires. Minus ice, I don't know that I'd really care.
COLD WEATHER BATTERY PERFORMANCE
Battery in Cold Weather. This week has given me the test I've been looking for. I took two trips in zero degree temps and here's what I experienced.
My average Wh/mi over 7 months is 279. So I haven't gone a full season. I expect I'll average out around 285 wh/mi after a full 12 months of driving, but we'll see.
I charged in my insulated garage and preheated my car while it was 0.0 F outside. Then drove 18 miles to the gym and normal speeds on dry roads with nominal wind. My Wh/mi were 404.
After sitting in the parking lot at the gym for 2 hours in 0.0F temps I preheated the car and drove the 18 miles home. Same route, basically the same conditions. My Wh/mi were 416.
I'm sure there are many more scientific posts on this but here are my conclusions.
Assuming my Battery is 81,000 I could travel:
290 Miles on a single charge under normal conditions or 88% of the advertised 330 mile range. This has been my real world experience.
200 miles on a single charge after being preheated in the garage on a 0 degree day or 60% of the advertised 330 mile range.
195 miles on a single charge after the battery preheats itself after siting for a few hours outside on a zero degree day or 59% of the advertised 330 mile range.
So, first hand experience. Cold makes a difference (as I was told it would). 32 degrees and up the difference was marginal. But down to zero degrees and its noticeable.
I have a 400 mile work trip on Wednesday and it's predicted to -6 to 12 degrees. This will be my first longer trip in weather this cold. There are chargers roughly every 45 minutes, but I am hoping to not need to stop at each one. ;-)
Anyway, if anyone out there had the same questions I had, this is what it's like to drive in winter weather. If your round trip is less than 100 miles and you have your battery at 80%, it really won't matter much. I expect if you take longer trips, like me, it'll mean an extra 20 minutes and one or two extra stops at chargers... but it's not a big deal to me. I love the car. But winter does cause a dent.
TIRES
Snow tires are the easy one so I'll get them out of the way. I've lived my entire life in the midwest, rather flat, but cold and snowy. Never had snow tired. Never cared. I wondered why everyone said you needed snow tires for the Teslas. Now here's my opinion after some ice/snow driving. Snow tires are probably safer and likely a good idea. We have 1-2 inches of snow/ice on the roads in central Wisconsin right now due to our recent storm. I'm doing fine with my factory tires, but the extra weight of the vehicle does seem to make it slide more. The traction control and antilock breaks work well, but I think stopping would be much better with winter tires. Also, with the massive torque the Teslas have, it would be easy to lose traction on ice when accelerating. If you are mildly careful its not really an issue.
That said, I don't have the money or storage space for a second set of tires, but if I could I think I would get winter tires. Minus ice, I don't know that I'd really care.
COLD WEATHER BATTERY PERFORMANCE
Battery in Cold Weather. This week has given me the test I've been looking for. I took two trips in zero degree temps and here's what I experienced.
My average Wh/mi over 7 months is 279. So I haven't gone a full season. I expect I'll average out around 285 wh/mi after a full 12 months of driving, but we'll see.
I charged in my insulated garage and preheated my car while it was 0.0 F outside. Then drove 18 miles to the gym and normal speeds on dry roads with nominal wind. My Wh/mi were 404.
After sitting in the parking lot at the gym for 2 hours in 0.0F temps I preheated the car and drove the 18 miles home. Same route, basically the same conditions. My Wh/mi were 416.
I'm sure there are many more scientific posts on this but here are my conclusions.
Assuming my Battery is 81,000 I could travel:
290 Miles on a single charge under normal conditions or 88% of the advertised 330 mile range. This has been my real world experience.
200 miles on a single charge after being preheated in the garage on a 0 degree day or 60% of the advertised 330 mile range.
195 miles on a single charge after the battery preheats itself after siting for a few hours outside on a zero degree day or 59% of the advertised 330 mile range.
So, first hand experience. Cold makes a difference (as I was told it would). 32 degrees and up the difference was marginal. But down to zero degrees and its noticeable.
I have a 400 mile work trip on Wednesday and it's predicted to -6 to 12 degrees. This will be my first longer trip in weather this cold. There are chargers roughly every 45 minutes, but I am hoping to not need to stop at each one. ;-)
Anyway, if anyone out there had the same questions I had, this is what it's like to drive in winter weather. If your round trip is less than 100 miles and you have your battery at 80%, it really won't matter much. I expect if you take longer trips, like me, it'll mean an extra 20 minutes and one or two extra stops at chargers... but it's not a big deal to me. I love the car. But winter does cause a dent.
