Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

A "scary" trip from Davis CA to Los Angeles...

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Just got back from a trip from Davis, CA to Long Beach, CA. My first real test of the range… First, I will say… I made it! With that said, I must be doing something wrong. The range is not what I expected, and I am not sure how it can be made better reasonably. Here’s the story:

Wednesday, we left Davis at 3 pm on a extended charge of 259 miles on the battery. I mistakenly did not check my lights and realized later that I had the daytime running lights and fog lights on. I do not know if the radio can be turned off and if there is a draw on power from the radio (or internet radio) if it is on or muted or paused. The radio was on. We had the climate on fairly neutral at about 72 degrees. I drove at about 74 miles per hour. As we approached Harris ranch 204 miles away (45 miles out) I realized that I just might not make it! My battery gauge showed me with 45 miles of battery left… I was at this time I realized that my lights were on. So I turned them on, turned off the radio (any help? I don’t know), put the climate on extended range, and started driving only for range… I kept my usage at or below 20 watts on the odometer gauge (this made my speed fluctuate between 50 and 65 mph depending on hills). I didn’t turn the lights back on until it was pretty dark and I had about 15 miles to go. I arrived at the Tesla charger with 16 miles to spare… oh my!! The rest of the trip was uneventful. I fully charged at Harris Ranch, drove to Fort Tejon and charged again… went up the energy-sucking grapevine, and ended up in Long Beach with plenty of juice.

Gotta say that driving around the LA basin with an electric car is AWSOME! No problem and plenty of charge available (albeit for a fee with “Blink”, but still available).

Drove home with what I thought was everything in the right way… left at 8 am with the lights off, climate in range mode. I drove with no worries about energy usage for the first half of the trip, as Fort Tejon and Harris Ranch are plenty close. But at Harris Ranch I left with an extended charge of 262 and drove at the speed limit of 70 mph on cruise control. There was light traffic, so I very nearly never had to brake. I arrived in Davis at 4:30 (yes, that is 8 ½ hours) with 12 miles left!! This is NOT acceptable. If I do everything just right… don’t travel at night or in the cold or the heat and have no traffic, I can travel 200 miles with little or no buffer.

Gotta say, I loved the trip. I enjoyed the adventure… but my wife… well… not so much. The stress of possibly being stranded and bricking our car was too much.
 
The difference between 65 mph and 70 mph is rather incredible, and even more with 75 vs. 70. Until Superchargers are spaced at the 75 to 150 mi spacing, you'll run into this.

As I understand it, the lights are rather meaningless in the bigger scope, but everything you save might translate into 1 or 2 miles. The biggest thing is the climate control -- I would argue that 72 isn't neutral, it's hot... :) ...but that's just me. I typically set the climate control to 65 or so and use the seat heaters, myself.
 
A couple of thoughts from my experiences and what I've read on this forum...

- Lights don't matter much for range. I keep my DRL on and headlights on Auto.
- Radio doesn't matter much either.
- Climate control matters. I keep my on Drive Range mode and turn it off if I get in trouble. Seat heaters are good, air condition/heat is bad.
- Speed matters. Looking at this graph from Elon's blog post show a ~25 mile range difference just for slowing down from 70 to 65. (Ignore the max ranges at these speeds... or read Elon's disclaimers in the post.)
graph1.jpg


I keep the nav on to show me remaining miles to the destination in one half of the screen, the other half showing the Energy app with projected miles based on the average last 15 or 30 miles. Then all I have to do is make sure there are less miles to my destination than what the projected range is showing the Energy app... and that's how I arrived at the Gilroy supercharger once with only 6 miles on the battery. (Not something to be proud of, but wasn't too stressed either.)
 
Yea, I've been disappointed in actual range. I thought with the "300 mile" battery, as it was original advertised and then 265 EPA, I'd have a huge cushion for 200 mile trips in the very temperate state of Oregon. The reality seems to be 200 miles is pushing it at normal freeway speeds. I'm rather surprised the new EPA rating is still so far away from reality.
 
So what I have gathered from this so far is that I need to drive at somewhere between 55 and 65 mph on the 70 mph speed-limit freeway with my heater and a/c off to reliably make it past 200 miles using my car with an EPA of 265.
 
So what I have gathered from this so far is that I need to drive at somewhere between 55 and 65 mph on the 70 mph speed-limit freeway with my heater and a/c off to reliably make it past 200 miles using my car with an EPA of 265.

Pretty much. The EPA rating is a standardized mixture of highway and city driving with controlled climate control settings, mostly at around 60-65 mph highway speeds. With climate control and 70 mph highway speeds, I generally count on 210-220 miles with a full range charge.
 
Yea, I've been disappointed in actual range. I thought with the "300 mile" battery, as it was original advertised and then 265 EPA, I'd have a huge cushion for 200 mile trips in the very temperate state of Oregon. The reality seems to be 200 miles is pushing it at normal freeway speeds. I'm rather surprised the new EPA rating is still so far away from reality.
Speed kills a lot of range. 300 mile is at 55mph steady speed. From the Tesla chart you lose 20% if you go 70mph.

The new tougher US06 highway cycle averages 48.37mph. The peak is 80mph, but the speeds are rarely at 70mph or above, it's mostly 60 something:
emission-reference-guide-sftpus06.jpg

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/standards/light-duty/sc06-sftp.htm

The old EPA test is even more mild, peaking at 60mph, although the average is still 48.3mph.
hwfetdds.gif

http://www.epa.gov/nvfel/testing/dynamometer.htm
 
The report doesn't say what the outside temperatures have been. I suppose at 8 am it was around 35 degrees, and that it got up to about 56 degrees at 4 pm (those will be the temperatures Monday Feb 11th at Harris Ranch according to Harris Ranch CA Hourly Weather Forecast - Find Local Hourly Weather).

That's a factor, of course.

EDIT: In fact, combining the speed graph (which says about 25 miles less at 70 mph compared to 65 mph) and otherwise using the range calculator on Tesla's website, with those outside temps, would result in about 210 miles. This doesn't yet take the elevation changes into account, for example. You've probably gotten a better mileage than to be expected on that basis. (Referring to your return trip at 70 mph.)
 
Last edited:
So what I have gathered from this so far is that I need to drive at somewhere between 55 and 65 mph on the 70 mph speed-limit freeway with my heater and a/c off to reliably make it past 200 miles using my car with an EPA of 265.
With the winter temps around here just using cruise control at 65 and heat around 70 has worked fine for me getting roughly 230 on a range charge, but I prefer to take longer trips starting just after lunch. Raise the speed to 75 and I don't think I'd make 200 miles on a range charge. Nighttime and early morning, with lower temps, makes the range go further down.
 
Last edited:
Ya batteries have a long way to go. I'm happy enough as I purchased with the idea I was getting the best city/metro car available. To be our everything car would require the ability to drive 80 mph for 10 hours and be recharged by morning. (or have a range of >350miles @80mph and recharge in <10 min)

And don't say I'm being to hard on it. I have friends who are just getting started at 10 hrs! :)
 
So what I have gathered from this so far is that I need to drive at somewhere between 55 and 65 mph on the 70 mph speed-limit freeway with my heater and a/c off to reliably make it past 200 miles using my car with an EPA of 265.
On Dec 27th I drove from Napa to Harris Ranch (209 miles) starting with a "range" charge of 269 miles rated. I drove consistently at 5 mph under the speed limit and made it with 45 miles to spare. I found no problem doing 65 on I-5 as the trucks are theoretically limited at 55mph. My biggest concern was Alta Mont pass, but the up was pretty much paid for with the down. And I used the "Range" setting for the cabin. Also, used CC 99% of the time. That really helped.
 
Hey Bruce,

One other option for your trip would have been to add a few miles onto it (40 miles) and stop first at the Gilroy Superchargers. This would trade a little time and miles for the ability to have the heat where you want it, and drive at a quicker pace. (And there is an In-N-Out there....)

Peter
 
Last edited:
Check your tire pressure cold with an accurate tire gauge before heading out on a long distance trip. That advice includes checking with your own gauge even after Tesla has serviced the car; my tires are habitually 2-3 pounds under-inflated from the recommendation on the door post (42psi vs 45psi). You would be surprised what adding a few pounds can do to increasing your range over the stretch of 200 miles.
 
Hey Bruce,

One other option for your trip would have been to add a few miles onto it (40) and stop first at the Gilroy Superchargers. This would trade a little time and miles for the ability to have the heat where you want it, and drive at a quicker pace. (And there is an In-N-Out there....)

Peter

Gilroy would be way out of the way for someone traveling from Davis to LA.

Will be nice once there are more superchargers out there.

We need one on I80 and a series going north into Oregon on I5.