Experience in very cold weather (excl. Battery)

[GrandEnigma]

That's similar to what I have read. Would probably just get all season three peak tires.

I found the stock ATs to be pretty terrible in the wet and slushy so recently swapped them with KO3s and have been quite happy. Bit of a rang hit and a little bit more noise, but much more confident in various conditions.

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[eswimm]

Yes, 40F will give you a snowflake. This is how batteries work. I'll see a big drop in range on my Zero even if it's 70F outside during the spring and fall if it remained cloudy and 40F in the evenings and morning and my bike didn't get access to direct sun. I don't have a preheating option!

Tesla may have also made the software be more sensitive to display reductions in range due to weather - it knows it's cold outside if it has access to the network.

-Crissa

It sounds like the snowflake is displayed if the battery is under 65F. Just to be clear though, the blue bar and associated inaccessible range is not linked to lower cold driving efficiency. The navigation range projection will account for lower efficiency due to outside temperature and other circumstances. The blue segment of the battery will return without loss as the battery warms up. Essentially, the BMS cares about battery temperature, not outside temp.

 

[KF3K]

Heater sounds like a jet engine when warming up the car in the morning.. Super loud

Glad to hear this is normal. I've been meaning to try to capture a recording of it so I could post here and ask if something was wrong with mine.

 

[Crissa]

That's similar to what I have read. Would probably just get all season three peak tires.

Yeah, all-weather tires aren't as good as the best dedicated snow, but they're decent enough at it. Much, much better than all-season tires for icy conditions. And often much better than good snow tires at the rain you hit near snow.

So many things go into choosing a tire, you could have a different one for every trip!

Essentially, the BMS cares about battery temperature, not outside temp.

True, but outside temp influences battery temp by constantly sucking (or adding) to it.

-Crissa

 

[Kryptek]

In central alaska we have dry dry snow. So dry you can not make a snowball or a snowman, it just very light and crystaline, also does not melt and if it does it freezes to ice instantly.

This snow does not effect the CT traction much, even with a 1/4 inch or more of solid ice underneath new snow. Albeit, do not mash the pedal and expect perfect traction but I can corner faster than the other trucks and rigs up here.

The only time the snow melts is when the CT dash heater is on, then it runs down the hood and ends up freezing on top of the frunk usually. My rear plate was totally snowblown today and could not be read without clearing it off.

I have a non insulated 'garage' the CT is parked in, last night i put a MR Heater buddy 9k BTU red unit on low *4k btu to warm up the charging process. It actually worked really well! The snowflake symbol turned off after it reached 56F. The external temp rose from 21F to 42F in about 20 minutes. That unit was placed about 1 foot from the front bumper camera. I think placing it near the sides where the passenger and driver door meet will evenly distribute the heat to the battery even better.

The garage is only 500 sq ft or so enough to move around both sides of the CT and have some space for items all around.

I think i will end up going with a diesel heater unit, we have not even gotten to really cold yet I mean when I drove it from anchorage to home it was about -15F on arrival. Right now we are abnormally warm for this time of year but I see a cold slap on the weather app next week into the negatives.

 

[65SoYoLO]

I have Duratracs on it. They were the winter recommendation by Tesla but I’m thinking of switching to blizzaks.

How much do you want for the duratracs?

 

[Ranger093]

I thought something was up with mine with the first 0 degree day here in Minnesota. Sounds like a jet engine, but what surprised me most was the noise almost like you’re warming your hands up with your mouth or trying to to smell your breath when cupping your hands. It’s really loud inside the cabin.

 

[NXTruck]

I go back and forth from Chicago area to middle Michigan and did the 210 miles going from 95%->5% yesterday at 15*. The snowflake didn’t appear until 1 hr into the 3:45hr trip.

This is on the duratracs. Didn’t have a noticeable effect on range. Maybe 3-4% and was within 2% of the estimate soc on arrival.

Hydronic heated garage.

 

[MyOtherTruck]

How much do you want for the duratracs?

Same price as last time??? ahaha. JK! I'd run them in 3 seasons and blizzies in winter. I do want another set of wheels to put them on so I am not stretching them each season...

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