[Simon Mac]

Went to see my parents yesterday, 75 miles each way + 15 miles of test rides for various family members. Most of the journey was on the A1 at 70 mph.

No range anxiety, and the only driving compromise was switching the a\c into range mode (not that I could tell the difference)

As my portable charger isn't working yet, had to do the whole trip from a single charge, so set the car to do a full charge before I left, and it read 182 miles typical range when I started off. It had peaked at 188, but lost 6 miles from economy 7 switching off and when I actually set off.

When I got home I'd 15 miles range left, having consumed 53KWh, at an average of 321Wh/mi.

So the initial range estimate was pretty accurate. In fairness the family road tests killed a really low reading as I had to show them the car's performance. ;-)

The last 30 miles, I was down at an average of 274wh/mi. Not too shabby!

 

[Edd Beesley]

Uses less power than the Leaf at 70...

 

[Paul]

Uses less power than the Leaf at 70...

The LEAF really isn't great at speed, I think it's a classic combination of gearing and average aerodynamics.

 

[Mike McL]

Very interesting to see useful facts. Do you have access to cumulative/ overall figures?

 

[Simon Mac]

One thing I should add is on the return journey it was dark, hence needing lights, but I didn't need a\c which balanced it out.

Very interesting to see useful facts. Do you have access to cumulative/ overall figures?

So far 1275 miles averaging 340.

In fairness commuting is normally 250-300, but any social trips under 100 miles I do use the performance, so it goes well over 400.

 

[jontracey]

I am seeing similar numbers, 1890 miles average 319, some fairly long trips on single charge, agree no range anxiety as the indicated miles remaining are proving very accurate

 

[Simon Mac]

The LEAF really isn't great at speed, I think it's a classic combination of gearing and average aerodynamics.

Yep, the Leaf needs more hp to stay at 70 :
http://www.greencarreports.com/news...odel-s-electric-car-wins-the-wind-tunnel-wars

Of course a Leaf is much lighter, so inclines and accelerating will cost the Tesla more.

 

[Edd Beesley]

Yep, the Leaf needs more hp to stay at 70 :
http://www.greencarreports.com/news...odel-s-electric-car-wins-the-wind-tunnel-wars

Of course a Leaf is much lighter, so inclines and accelerating will cost the Tesla more.

But it has better regen so can take advantage of declines and decelerating better!

 

[Peter Waller]

Went to see my parents yesterday, 75 miles each way + 15 miles of test rides for various family members. Most of the journey was on the A1 at 70 mph.

No range anxiety, and the only driving compromise was switching the a\c into range mode (not that I could tell the difference)

As my portable charger isn't working yet, had to do the whole trip from a single charge, so set the car to do a full charge before I left, and it read 182 miles typical range when I started off. It had peaked at 188, but lost 6 miles from economy 7 switching off and when I actually set off.

When I got home I'd 15 miles range left, having consumed 53KWh, at an average of 321Wh/mi.

So the initial range estimate was pretty accurate. In fairness the family road tests killed a really low reading as I had to show them the car's performance. ;-)

The last 30 miles, I was down at an average of 274wh/mi. Not too shabby!

Portable charger not working? Is that a 3rd party one?

 

[Simon Mac]

I am seeing similar numbers, 1890 miles average 319, some fairly long trips on single charge, agree no range anxiety as the indicated miles remaining are proving very accurate

Portable charger not working? Is that a 3rd party one?

Yep, no official product yet. This is a third party 3 Pin to type 2 cable.

I'm waiting a new one which works with the latest model s firmware version. Currently the unit gives you a charge level choice on boot up (separate from the car).


This works by having a delay when the car negotiates limits in which you can choose a supply limit on the portable charger box. Unfortunately the latest Tesla firmware gets upset by the delay, and charging fails

 

[jontracey]

is this the mekennes unit or another 3rd party one ?

 

[Simon Mac]

This one:

http://www.nuworldenergy.co.uk/shop/product/portable-mode-2-evse-charger

 

[855]

Personally I wouldn't be considering doing many journeys like that without your charging cable. Yes the car will do it but it's bad for the battery. Get your cable and charge for an hour at some point on a fast charger (ecotricity 60A) . It's God practice to keep the soc above 40% minimum.

 

[Simon Mac]

Personally I wouldn't be considering doing many journeys like that without your charging cable. Yes the car will do it but it's bad for the battery. Get your cable and charge for an hour at some point on a fast charger (ecotricity 60A) . It's God practice to keep the soc above 40% minimum.

It's not something I do regularly, and in fairness it was at > 40% soc for all but my return journey, where it was immediately put back on charge.

TBH though, it's the first max charge I've done, and well within Tesla's claimed range, so ultimately I could fall back on the warranty. I have no doubt many of the US owners regularly push the range limits on a near daily basis judging by the posts on the other forums.

I guess we will see in a few years time how badly this is impacting the battery life.

 

[855]

I

It's not something I do regularly, and in fairness it was at > 40% soc for all but my return journey, where it was immediately put back on charge.

TBH though, it's the first max charge I've done, and well within Tesla's claimed range, so ultimately I could fall back on the warranty. I have no doubt many of the US owners regularly push the range limits on a near daily basis judging by the posts on the other forums.

I guess we will see in a few years time how badly this is impacting the battery life.

was just trying to give some friendly advice. Tesla won't replace the battery for range loss so it's your responsibility to take care of it.

 

[Jimbo]

Personally I wouldn't be considering doing many journeys like that without your charging cable. Yes the car will do it but it's bad for the battery. Get your cable and charge for an hour at some point on a fast charger (ecotricity 60A) . It's God practice to keep the soc above 40% minimum.

Agree it is crazy not to have a charging cable in the car, never know when you'll need it!

So is that 40% a technical fact, or just anecdotal? How do you know that 60 minutes of 22kw charging in the middle of a journey doesn't cause the same deterioration as running it down to 10% before charging?

 

[855]

40% is good practice as lithium ion batteries prefer to have a higher minimum SOC between charges. They also prefer not to be charged above 80% regularly hence standard charging is this.

 

[Paul]

This doesn't seem to be so true based on more recent real-world studies and general advice (ie Nissan dropping their "long life" mode, and as study by (I think) Plugin America), however it's always good to do as much as possible.

 

[Simon Mac]

Agree it is crazy not to have a charging cable in the car, never know when you'll need it!

I had the standard charging cable, but not a working portable EVSE, so despite spending five hours I couldn't use a standard wall socket to top off range. (Or the 16A commando welding socket in his workshop which would have been even better!)

Sure it's not a supercharger. But every little helps.

 

[Jimbo]

Seems a bit anecdotal to me. There is a Model S owner in the US who has topped 100,000 miles with no special treatment of the battery and hardly any range loss. I guess for daily usage there's no harm in keeping it between 40-80%, but not seen any proven technical reason why a MS battery should be nannied on long distance trips.