When I was first looking at the Tesla I was convinced I HAD to get the 85kWh battery to do what I needed. After 8 months of logging my daily travel I think I can comfortably get the 40kWh. I drive close to 20,000 miles a year. I drive 55 miles round trip for work every day. You might be surprised how far a 40kWh pack can get you.
So I have been keeping a log of all of my driving since January 13th of this year. That makes 236 records so far. I have a 3.5 week period where I didn't 'drive' as I was on vacation or in bed with a fever.
I have a bunch of distance data. I took the total distance driven every day. My average daily trip distance is 80.8km (50.2 miles), if you take out the 3.5 weeks of not driving you get 87.8km (54.6 miles). Maximum was 673.6km (418.6 miles). My really long trip was to a funeral in the middle of nowhere Georgia about 100 miles from Augusta. An 85kWh Models wouldn't have made it. I was not able to charge at home over night 3 of the days. And 2 days I would only be able to charge at 120V in my dad's garage. But none of the non-charging days would cause any distance issues.
I am logging everything to determine if I can get a 40kWh pack. Right now it looks like that is easy. I have 3 warning levels (for each battery), drive it like I stole it, drive it at 65 on the interstate, and hypermile (used 55 mph number from Tesla). My distances were estimated a long time ago (before the EPA range on the 85kWh) but I believe them to be still fairly good. The 40kWh ranges are 95.5 miles, 119.3 miles, 160 miles respectfully. As a reference I have the 'drive at 65' giving 223.7 miles for the 85kWh pack, which is pretty close to the MT number. I fully plan on charging in range mode (at this point) if I am going to drive over 100 miles in a day.
As of today (236 records, 217 non vacation records) I have exceeded the 95.5 miles 6 times. I have exceeded the 120 miles twice. Once was the 400+ mile trip. The other was 3 separate trips on a Sunday. I was at home for about 4 hours between trips. I could have easily gotten enough charge to make it through the day. I could have easily taken my wife's car on one of the 3 trips. So I don't count this as a true failure.
A lot of my trips are very close to the 95 miles. But I currently drive my car down past "0 miles to empty" about 80% of my tanks. And about 1/2 of my fill ups are with less that 1 gallon remaining in the tank. I have yet to run out of gas (except on gas station property, twice!) in a car. So I am very comfortable running to the very edge of range.
I drive roughly 20,000 miles per year (a little low this year due to the almost 1 month of not driving). So I drive a lot. My driving is pretty well balanced, as in I drive roughly the same every day. But if you are feeling pressured to get a bigger battery I would really think about your actual driving habits. You might not need as much as you think.
I plan on driving slower and 'better' as the battery degrades, as I currently drive really fast. I also plan on purchasing a replacement battery after about 150,000 miles if my driving stays in the same distance range. I expect about 80% capacity after 150,000 miles or 8 years.
Do what you want with my spreadsheet. It may help you truly understand how far you really drive.
View attachment RangeAnxietyMitigationSheet_2012-09-05.xlsx
Some notes on my file.
All distances are in km not miles.
I have a running fuel, and predicted fuel cost at the top.
The top green line has limit distances.
The Reference tab can change your % multipliers for how far you think your car will go.
Lots of things are automated. I only enter 4 columns: 'Distance', 'Notes', 'Fuel Cost', and 'PM Charge'.
The little colored dots change color automatically. Green if you have plenty of range to spare. Yellow if you are within 25km (15.5 miles) from empty. Red if you go over the stated distance.
Off to the very right I have a 70 mile LEAF range. As you can see I regularly put it into the red. And almost put it into the yellow every day.
ASP = The plant where I have been working
Ken = My office in Kennesaw, GA
ATL = Atlanta Airport (ATL)
Soccer = Varies in location all over Cobb County
GT = Georgia Tech
Publix = BEST GROCERY STORE EVER. Based out of Lakeland FL
So I have been keeping a log of all of my driving since January 13th of this year. That makes 236 records so far. I have a 3.5 week period where I didn't 'drive' as I was on vacation or in bed with a fever.
I have a bunch of distance data. I took the total distance driven every day. My average daily trip distance is 80.8km (50.2 miles), if you take out the 3.5 weeks of not driving you get 87.8km (54.6 miles). Maximum was 673.6km (418.6 miles). My really long trip was to a funeral in the middle of nowhere Georgia about 100 miles from Augusta. An 85kWh Models wouldn't have made it. I was not able to charge at home over night 3 of the days. And 2 days I would only be able to charge at 120V in my dad's garage. But none of the non-charging days would cause any distance issues.
I am logging everything to determine if I can get a 40kWh pack. Right now it looks like that is easy. I have 3 warning levels (for each battery), drive it like I stole it, drive it at 65 on the interstate, and hypermile (used 55 mph number from Tesla). My distances were estimated a long time ago (before the EPA range on the 85kWh) but I believe them to be still fairly good. The 40kWh ranges are 95.5 miles, 119.3 miles, 160 miles respectfully. As a reference I have the 'drive at 65' giving 223.7 miles for the 85kWh pack, which is pretty close to the MT number. I fully plan on charging in range mode (at this point) if I am going to drive over 100 miles in a day.
As of today (236 records, 217 non vacation records) I have exceeded the 95.5 miles 6 times. I have exceeded the 120 miles twice. Once was the 400+ mile trip. The other was 3 separate trips on a Sunday. I was at home for about 4 hours between trips. I could have easily gotten enough charge to make it through the day. I could have easily taken my wife's car on one of the 3 trips. So I don't count this as a true failure.
A lot of my trips are very close to the 95 miles. But I currently drive my car down past "0 miles to empty" about 80% of my tanks. And about 1/2 of my fill ups are with less that 1 gallon remaining in the tank. I have yet to run out of gas (except on gas station property, twice!) in a car. So I am very comfortable running to the very edge of range.
I drive roughly 20,000 miles per year (a little low this year due to the almost 1 month of not driving). So I drive a lot. My driving is pretty well balanced, as in I drive roughly the same every day. But if you are feeling pressured to get a bigger battery I would really think about your actual driving habits. You might not need as much as you think.
I plan on driving slower and 'better' as the battery degrades, as I currently drive really fast. I also plan on purchasing a replacement battery after about 150,000 miles if my driving stays in the same distance range. I expect about 80% capacity after 150,000 miles or 8 years.
Do what you want with my spreadsheet. It may help you truly understand how far you really drive.
View attachment RangeAnxietyMitigationSheet_2012-09-05.xlsx
Some notes on my file.
All distances are in km not miles.
I have a running fuel, and predicted fuel cost at the top.
The top green line has limit distances.
The Reference tab can change your % multipliers for how far you think your car will go.
Lots of things are automated. I only enter 4 columns: 'Distance', 'Notes', 'Fuel Cost', and 'PM Charge'.
The little colored dots change color automatically. Green if you have plenty of range to spare. Yellow if you are within 25km (15.5 miles) from empty. Red if you go over the stated distance.
Off to the very right I have a 70 mile LEAF range. As you can see I regularly put it into the red. And almost put it into the yellow every day.
ASP = The plant where I have been working
Ken = My office in Kennesaw, GA
ATL = Atlanta Airport (ATL)
Soccer = Varies in location all over Cobb County
GT = Georgia Tech
Publix = BEST GROCERY STORE EVER. Based out of Lakeland FL
