The fear of CT being towed

[jimnycricket65]

I am enjoying my CT very much and preparing to sell my previous car.

I feel like if something goes wrong, I will be totally stranded with CT more than a gas-powered car; this is due to my lack of experience and ignorance. The fear is running out of battery or some electronic failure on a freeway. I think I won't have issues with running out of battery since I check it often, and I am a daily commuter and keep it plugged into the 80% limit at home. I have read that I need to request a flatbed tow, and that's another layer of this unknown fear - none are available. If you had any experience with CT being towed, would you share your story so I can put my getting-old mind at ease?

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[igs]

I think I won't have issues with running out of battery since I check it often, and I am a daily commuter and keep it plugged into the 80% limit at home.

80% is way too high.
Tesla: "To maintain service life, the battery pack should be stored at a state of charge (SOC) of 15 to 50%."

 

[VAF84]

80% is way too high.
Tesla: "To maintain service life, the battery pack should be stored at a state of charge (SOC) of 15 to 50%."

You are correct from a technical standpoint. However, OP's post literally states his concern about range. He purchased an EV with 320 miles of range in ideal conditions, 224 miles for long distance range (remove top 20% and bottom 10% for charging zone), minus whatever the cold weather impact to range will be in the winter, minus the range impact at higher speeds. Now you are telling him to cut all of that in half to protect the battery.

OP, I don't know how long you plan on keeping the vehicle. If it's 3-5 years fill'er up and make the most of your range to have peace of mind. By the time any serious degradation happens it will be in the second hand market. The whole point of buying new is for peace of mind.

I can't speak to towing, but I can promise you the other concerns will pass over time. I'd just maybe bookmark a youtube video explaining what to do for towing in case of emergency. Gremlins are out of your control, but it's pretty rare. In my non Tesla EV I had one limp mode in the first week. Yes it sucked, but luckily we just pulled into a parking lot, and it went away after a while. Since then I have not been stranded and I've driven 17k miles in 8 months, a lot of it in rural America. I don't even have access to the full Tesla network. For daily driving just keep it topped off at home by plugging in every night until you get more comfortable. It took me about 6 months before I was comfortable not plugging in every night. On long trips just remember to plan.

 

[TyPope]

80% is way too high.
Tesla: "To maintain service life, the battery pack should be stored..."

Storage and use are quite a bit different.

 

[GuyV]

I am enjoying my CT very much and preparing to sell my previous car.

I feel like if something goes wrong, I will be totally stranded with CT more than a gas-powered car; this is due to my lack of experience and ignorance. The fear is running out of battery or some electronic failure on a freeway. I think I won't have issues with running out of battery since I check it often, and I am a daily commuter and keep it plugged into the 80% limit at home. I have read that I need to request a flatbed tow, and that's another layer of this unknown fear - none are available. If you had any experience with CT being towed, would you share your story so I can put my getting-old mind at ease?

Tesla roadside assistance, it's in the app. Are there other cheaper options? Sure, but in an emergency it's there for you with people who know the vehicle requirements.

 

[SCTesla]

Tesla roadside is free if the truck dies.

Regarding running out of battery. Just input a destination everywhere you go (outside of short distances). I am used to navigating even down the street since I've had FSD in my last 3 Teslas since 2021, but it will always input charging stops so you don't have to think about it.

 

[jcktrb]

I've been driving Teslas since 2017, mostly on long trips (SF->LA, LA->Vegas), granted there are Superchargers just about anywhere here, but I've never come close to requiring a tow.

 

[REM]

First, welcome to EV ownership. I'll start by saying there is a bit of a learning curve to wash away the range anxiety, but it will quickly pass with a little experience.

The architecture of most "ground up" designed EVs are in a position to be much more robust and hardened than ICE vehicles even from a simple physics standpoint that there are dramatically fewer moving parts, (especially "metal-on-metal", where oil lubricant is required). So statistically speaking, your reliability will be through the roof.

Notwithstanding, the CT is a brand new, boldly innovative architecture and there will be some bugs along the way. If you are ever stranded somewhere and need a tow, absolutely under no circumstances allow a tow-truck driver to dolly your vehicle. I don't care how many years are under their belt. I don't care how many EVs they have done before. If it's due to a covered event, first allow Teslas Roadside Assistance to help. If they send someone that doesn't have an adequate rollback, then kindly refuse and thank them for trying. Then get on the phone with Telsa and remind them that they need to contract people who understand EVs. Only accept rollbacks that can drop to zero clearance. Period.

Just in general, I would never allow anyone to dolly any of my vehicles. It's really not good for them at all. There are too many rollbacks that can drop down to zero clearance and tow something away safety. Your biggest enemy in any situation would be to rush through the process. Question everything; trust no-one lol.

As far as range anxiety goes, I have traveled all over the United States and have never even seen a critical range warning (there are different levels, youtube some examples). Generally speaking, while you are learning the ropes for your CT, I highly recommend charging until your next stop estimate says 20% of range upon arrival. Speaking of which, go ahead and switch your battery display to percentage rather than miles and thank me later. You will be a far better judge of percentage than miles, and the fluctuation is far less. 20% is ideal while you are learning, 15% seems to be the sweet spot for me. If you arrive at 15%, your charging time will be dramatically lower than arriving with more range. The estimator is REALLY good, but not perfect.

For a typical days worth of charging, the general rule is to keep your battery at 50% as much as possible. So if you drive to work daily, try to make it so that you arrive home at the end of the day with about 40% of battery). This accounts for a higher charing state in the morning that will give you plenty of wiggle room for an unexpected chore around town. Anything outside of that, you will be hitting the supercharger anyway.

Treat your truck battery like your cell phone. You don't want it charged at 100% at all times, and you don't want to drain it below 10%. You CAN if you need to, but after a while you will get a far better feel for the capabilities of your vehicles and you will be much better at estimating range and ancillary drain (parked with overheat protection on during a super hot day, sentry mode activated, etc.)

 

[igs]

You are correct from a technical standpoint. However, OP's post literally states his concern about range. He purchased an EV with 320 miles of range in ideal conditions, 224 miles for long distance range (remove top 20% and bottom 10% for charging zone), minus whatever the cold weather impact to range will be in the winter, minus the range impact at higher speeds. Now you are telling him to cut all of that in half to protect the battery.

Battery degradation directly affects range.

 

[VAF84]

Battery degradation directly affects range.

I'm not saying it doesn't. I'm just saying that by the time it has any meaningful degradation, it will likely not be his problem. Further, by the time it degrades the OP will have enough experience to adapt to whatever the battery gets degraded to.

I don't know how much he plans to drive, but I've frequently DC fast charged, repeatedly charged off construction site diesel generators, and frequently top to 100% and have zero battery degradation after 17k miles. Maybe it's different with Tesla batteries, just my experience.

 

[Cf400ex]

Towed yesterday. No big deal. Request roadside via app and they send flatbed.

 

[igs]

I'm just saying that by the time it has any meaningful degradation, it will likely not be his problem.

This is why I will never buy a used EV.

 

[VAF84]

This is why I will never buy a used EV.

Ditto! Which is a contributor to why trade-in/resale values are awful in the EV world. Although really not that different from the ICE world, just that in that case the mechanics, common knowledge, and replacement parts are readily available for a relatively handy person to do them theirselves or take it to the local shop.

 

[Jhodgesatmb]

This is why I will never buy a used EV.

Interesting. I know a few people that have bought used Teslas and have had ZERO issues with the batteries years later.

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