Discussion of Tesla, Inc
Tesla Inc. (formerly Tesla Motors) is an energy + technology company originally from California and currently headquartered in Austin, Texas.
They produce electric vehicles (with a heavy focus on autonomy), batteries, and energy/solar products for the grid.
Tesla’s mission is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy.
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Yeah, this won’t be a surprise to anyone who drives one regularly — the EPA rated range is a damn lie. I switched the car to percentage the day I got it, and rely on navigation to know if I can make it somewhere.
I would love to see them forced to be more honest and update it to be actually useful though. Most other EVs understate their range to help keep you from getting stranded.
What blows my mind is the energy estimate buried in the menus shows a reasonably accurate expected range based on driving behavior and conditions, and instead of using that value at the top level we get some basic kW-> miles conversion that means jack shit.
My first EV, a Chevy Bolt, had this nailed. It gave you an estimated range, and a min and max range if you drive carefully or recklessly. It was great! Tesla could absolutely do better here, but just doesn't want to show bad numbers.
Yup, yesterday a 130mi drive took up 75% of my M3s range, rated at 321mi when full, so I "lost" ~110mi of range on that drive. Of course AC full blast and it being hot as balls out is going to make it a little worse, but not 110mi worse.
I've also noticed "interesting" behavior at Superchargers. When navigating using their built in system, if it tells you to stop at a SC, while charging it will show your current battery % increasing, but not your arrival %. I assume to game you into charging a little bit more than you actually need to either account for these range differences, or to just make some extra cash from the charge at home crowd.
I think i've experienced some similar behavior. Usually canceling the nav and restarting it will make the arrival jump 5-7% or so.
You left out what caused you to use 75% for 130 miles.
If you were going the speed limit you would had gotten better range.
Your numbers equate to someone driving 90+mph
Yeah, no.
That was through a traffic jam that had traffic going 5mph, not 90. Speed limit is also 75mph and I use AP with a 5mph offset, so 80.
Not sure why you think you know more about my car that me, but just no.
At 39k miles my battery is already at 87% health. On top of that it's 100° outside and the AC was on Low to even keep up with the heat from the sun.
Yeah you just happened to leave out until now that you are at 87% health.
So your EPA range is not what you stated in OP.
Also I have the same vehicle and is not anywhere close to that bad going the speed limit or less.
So either you drive bad or your vehicle has issues. So yes something on yourside is fucked up. Either you or the vehicle. It's not normal.
Again, I don't know why you think you know more about my car than me.
According to Tesla I'm rated at better than my EPA estimate.
73% @ 247mi = 338mi @ 100%
Also anything above 70% health is considered "normal" by Tesla, so my car according to them is "normal."
Model 3 Long Range / Performance: 8 years or 120,000 miles, whichever comes first, with minimum 70% retention of Battery capacity over the warranty period.
This whole post is that they lie on ranges, everyone knows this, yet you accuse me of lying about something that's proven?
You are basing your numbers off the estimate I the car. You are using estimated data.
You need an ODB plug and phone app to see the actual battery data.
You don't know what you are doing is what I am saying.
And you're ignoring what we're talking about is what I'm saying.
Tesla doesn't give you an OBD plug and a phone app to see your percentage. They show it in the car. The thing the post is talking about, the thing I'm talking about and the thing everyone else but you in this thread is talking about.
We own a 2021 Model 3 that we purchased second hand with 7.5k miles. Yes, performance is noticeably impacted in cold weather, especially below 40 degrees F. Tesla probably deserves the scrutiny and best on tenge estimates and claims and how it handles customer service issues. However, consumers can also educate themselves better on current EV battery performance issues in cold weather and what happens when all systems are blasted while driving over the speed limit. A lot of factors influence range performance whether it is an EV or ICE vehicle.
Interestingly the behavior being described is close to how the fuel gauges in many North American ICE vehicles work. The first half of the tank takes longer to go through than the 2nd half and then when it displays "E" there's still 1-2 gallons of fuel in the tank as a reserve.
This isn't a secret either, here's an NPR Interview where it's discussed with an Automotive Engineer.