Newbie Range Question

[carsly]

You can get 360+ miles of highway range in an AWD if you manage driving style, speed, tire pressures, etc. Short clip, but I did 180+ miles and used less than half the battery tripping up I-95 from MD to NJ with 99% FSD.

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[kpanda17]

You can get 360+ miles of highway range in an AWD if you manage driving style, speed, tire pressures, etc. Short clip, but I did 180+ miles and used less than half the battery tripping up I-95 from MD to NJ with 99% FSD.

mastering your domain

 

[TyPope]

Thanks man that does help! I am thinking about taking a trip from Houston to Destin (over 500 miles) and figure I will have to stop around 4 times which isnt so bad

500 mile trip is about ... 8 hours average?

I'd call those stops:
1. breakfast
2. lunch
3. "comfort break"
4. dinner

Really, they don't take much time at all if you plan your breaks right.

In 20,108 miles, I have averaged 381.8 Wh/mi. in my Beast with A/T tires which is equivalent to 322 miles of range in the battery.

But, I'm well past being able to drive for more than 3 or 4 hours without stopping...
So, 3 miles at 70 mph is 210 miles. Stop for a break, food, and/or restroom and then back on the road. Really, other than the time it takes to charge, range isn't that much of an issue. BUT, because you can't charge full-speed from 0 to 123Kw, you tend to stay in the 10-80% zone. Which means you have about 86 KwH of battery to actually drive. For me, that's 225 miles between charging stops.

 

[kpanda17]

You are going to love this road trip, especially with FSD. I just got home from a 4700 mile trip (CA > TN and back), I drove less than 2 miles the entire time, FSD made the trip relaxing. Pro tip, get a phone mount that clips to the top left of the screen (so you are looking straight ahead) and enjoy your favorite shows, BUT always, pay attention

As for charging along the way, it sounds counterintuitive, but you want to charge more often, you spend less time overall charging if you charge enough to get to the next Supercharger.

On V3 (250kw) and V4 (350kw) you will max out your charging curve to around 35% ish. When you start charging up over 50% is when the curve really starts to drop and is totally fine if you want a longer stop like to eat lunch but during my long trip I was mostly stoping for 12 minutes at a time, just enough for a coffee and bathroom break, then drive about 1.5 hours to the next stop.

Most of my drive was between 77 and 80 mph with a few hundred pounds of gear in the vault, and I was averaging 417wh/mi. The Trip planner was so accurate that I felt comfortable arriving at superchargers in the 7-10% range to maximize the charging speed.

exactly, Tesla's superior battery management coupled with NAV is amazing
I just towed 1300 miles and the NAV was perfect for not only telling me when to charge, but also sending me to the best trailer friendly SCs
wow

 

[CyberT]

I’d say it’s about time for an intermediate step towards unsupervised FSD. Like leave me alone on the freeway. Or at least any freeway that isn’t 5 lanes wide and during rush hour.

Seriously! During my trip id see something cool out the window and zoom in on the screen to learn more about what I was seeing. Only to get the nag 3 seconds later. Super annoying.

 

[Beetlebug62]

So I have never owned an EV and got my CT 2 weeks ago. Tesla says range is low 300mi from full charge and 260 using the recommended 80% charge. Unfortunately i am not getting close to that and would estimate I am getting about 70% of that. I asked the Tesla service advisor and he just said it depends on how i drive but i am not driving crazy and use FSD most of the time.

Is this normal? Any tips on how to get better range? I want to take it on a road trip but kind of worried about having to stop every 150 miles or so.

So, speed kills. If you drive on city streets or country roads, you'll get better than EPA-rating. If you drive 75mph or faster on the interstate, you'll get much worse than EPA-rated range.

Having said that, a lot depends upon your driving goals. If i'm roadtripping, I like to get there as fast as possible. The fastest roadtrips are to drive as fast as you are comfortable, and charge at low SOCs. I don't care what my range is. I'm just trying to get where I'm going in as short a time as possible.
****
To get the best answers you have to give as much background as possible. Show us these 3 screens, so we can see where you are losing range.

If you want to run simulations to understand the best strategy, I'd get ABRP, A Better Route Planner, and test out ideas. ABRP. Put in your common trips, and test out how to get the answer you want. Drive fast, drive slow, etc. For me, open-ended questions with little actual background info, just makes people write long answers that may not be relevant. Do the community a favor by providing as much context as possible. Then you'll get better answers.

 

[kpanda17]

Seriously! During my trip id see something cool out the window and zoom in on the screen to learn more about what I was seeing. Only to get the nag 3 seconds later. Super annoying.

and now ask Grok from inside the vehicle, imagine our future, UFSD, talking to Grok as a true personal assistant and able to drive all apps, music, videos, reading apps or read to me...
completely changes the transportation experience

 

[ChronoDog]

So, speed kills. If you drive on city streets or country roads, you'll get better than EPA-rating. If you drive 75mph or faster on the interstate, you'll get much worse than EPA-rated range.

Having said that, a lot depends upon your driving goals. If i'm roadtripping, I like to get there as fast as possible. The fastest roadtrips are to drive as fast as you are comfortable, and charge at low SOCs. I don't care what my range is. I'm just trying to get where I'm going in as short a time as possible.
****
To get the best answers you have to give as much background as possible. Show us these 3 screens, so we can see where you are losing range.

If you want to run simulations to understand the best strategy, I'd get ABRP, A Better Route Planner, and test out ideas. ABRP. Put in your common trips, and test out how to get the answer you want. Drive fast, drive slow, etc. For me, open-ended questions with little actual background info, just makes people write long answers that may not be relevant. Do the community a favor by providing as much context as possible. Then you'll get better answers.

Appreciate the feedback and answer. I really did not know how complex it was and honestly figured a question like "my range is lower than expected what can i do" would be sufficient lol. I will try and find those screens and post them. Thanks!

 

[FL370]

Appreciate the feedback and answer. I really did not know how complex it was and honestly figured a question like "my range is lower than expected what can i do" would be sufficient lol. I will try and find those screens and post them. Thanks!

You will soon get over your range apprehension. ICE cars have the exact speed/range dilemma, except most people don't pay that close attention to their fuel gauge. Also, if on a road trip, don't be too concerned with charging above 80%. Yes, quicker stop with less than 80% may be faster most of the time - but if you are at a spot having dinner, going for a hike, or perhaps shopping - I would charge to a 100% to have fewer but longer stops. Let's say you drive like a very responsible driver at 65 mph - should easily get your 300-mile range. 300/65 = 4.6 hours of driving. My wife and my dog demand to stop much more frequently than that.

 

[carsly]

You will soon get over your range apprehension. ICE cars have the exact speed/range dilemma, except most people don't pay that close attention to their fuel gauge. Also, if on a road trip, don't be too concerned with charging above 80%. Yes, quicker stop with less than 80% may be faster most of the time - but if you are at a spot having dinner, going for a hike, or perhaps shopping - I would charge to a 100% to have fewer but longer stops. Let's say you drive like a very responsible driver at 65 mph - should easily get your 300-mile range. 300/65 = 4.6 hours of driving. My wife and my dog demand to stop much more frequently than that.

THIS

I took my Defender on a 400 mile each way trip thinking it would be easier than the Cybertruck. Truth is, it wouldn't have mattered much either way. We made one stop each way after about 4-4.5 hours or 220-240 miles. The one stop was about an hour in length. 30-45 mins to eat and bathrooms and a second stop nearby for 10+ mins to gas up. Total time off the highway was about an hour. The Defender has real-world range of ~400 miles at highway speeds, not dissimilar from the 360+ miles I see in my AWD Cybertruck and in neither case do I have the bladder capacity or willingness to barrel all the way through without stopping. Hotel at the other end had EV charging so it would have also been a one-stop trip, for the same 45 mins to an hour, to charge, eat and bathrooms. And I bet I would have had to move the Cybertruck as it would have been done charging before we were ready to go.

BTW there were plenty of charging options en route, I did look just in case we changed our minds last minute, and doing 400 miles in a day would have been far easier with FSD than the Deferder's adaptive cruise control only. Don't get me started on their active lane keeping or whatever it is. It's terrible.

 

[koolio]

Wow thanks very informative. Trying to get the hang of this!

Think of wh/mi the equivalent of mpg.

I just did a 500 mile round trip drive from Boston to NJ earlier this week and I was surprised I was getting the stated range or 7-10% worse. I used FSD the entire drive and set it to 75mph on the highway (and this was during 95-100 degree hot and humid days). This is the AWD with Pirelli AS tires.

 

[Boyne]

So I have never owned an EV and got my CT 2 weeks ago. Tesla says range is low 300mi from full charge and 260 using the recommended 80% charge. Unfortunately i am not getting close to that and would estimate I am getting about 70% of that. I asked the Tesla service advisor and he just said it depends on how i drive but i am not driving crazy and use FSD most of the time.

Is this normal? Any tips on how to get better range? I want to take it on a road trip but kind of worried about having to stop every 150 miles or so.

I never do the math, though well explained. When on the road, I just pick my next charger that is ahead of me on my route. Charge until it says I’ll have 13% remaining charge upon arrival and then drive to the charger and then repeat process. I find best to arrive at next charger with a low percentage remaining so I spend less time charging. Only rarely do I stay at a charger too long and never charge above 75% unless I have to. This means more stops to pee but less time at chargers overall. Hope this helps.

 

[Beetlebug62]

...I want to take it on a road trip but kind of worried about having to stop every 150 miles or so.

To be honest, I typically stop every couple hours for a bathroom break, a coffee, and maybe a snack. That takes about 10-15mins. So, 150mi or so, is usually the maximum I'll go before a stop. Maybe my first leg of a trip will be further, but the rest are typically 100-150mi.

Here, I made a chart with the estimated charge curve. The lowest red line is a V2 supercharger. The middle red line is a V3 supercharger. I made those for my 2018 Model 3. So far, it seems the Cybertruck uses a very similar charge curve, blue line, so that, when the CT drops to 250kW, it matches the curve of my Model 3.

The takeaway is that the fastest charge speeds are at low SOCs, so the most efficient trips are when you charge at 10% SOC, so you can take advantage of the fast charge rates, and since the charge curve tapers quite rapidly, once I get past about 65%, if my Tesla is ready to make the leg to the next supercharger, I'm ready to go.

Drive fast, charge low.

Of course, if there are no superchargers for the next 200mi, you need to charge up to whatever level that gets you there. But if I have a choice, once my charge rate drops below 100kW, I feel it's a bit of a negative time-wise to just sit there.

 

[Gaximus]

I had a Model S before my CB. Tesla Has 2 different algorithms for determining range. One is on the top left of the screen. It’s as simple as, making a percentage, to a mileage. That updates every few months when battery degradation loses a percent or so. The other is the range for your current “routed” trip. It is very accurate, and uses elevation and wind and rain and temp. If you use that, it will get you to the next supercharger with no issues.

Also only going 150 miles between stops and keeping your battery below 60%, will mean only stopping for 5-10 minutes.
The range anxity will go away after a few road trips.

 

[DaBagBoy]

Thanks man that does help! I am thinking about taking a trip from Houston to Destin (over 500 miles) and figure I will have to stop around 4 times which isnt so bad

no you might stop twice if you're willing to arrive with a lowish SOC.

There is a ton of great advice in this thread. It's all technically correct.

BUT - the best advice I have is to just chill out about it. After 31,000 miles my truck gets about 480wh/mile. Thus 60% of my range (from 80% down to 20%) is about 154 miles, just over 2 hours at highway speeds. Which is usually about the time me or one of my passengers wants to stop to pee anyway.

When you do stop to charge just be glad that even at that rate you're getting 70 empg, and saving a fortune on gas.

Now you know why I named her IDGAF!
(well that and the unsolicited opinions of random libs)

To convert 480 Wh/mile (watt-hours per mile) to eMPG (equivalent miles per gallon), we use the EPA's standard that 1 gallon of gasoline is equivalent to 33.7 kWh (33,700 Wh) of electrical energy. 1. Calculate how many miles can be driven with 33,700 Wh: Miles = 33,700 Wh ÷ 480 Wh/mile = 70.21 miles. 2. This means 480 Wh/mile is equivalent to 70.21 miles per "gallon" of gasoline energy. **Answer**: 480 Wh/mile is approximately **70.2 eMPG**.

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