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Consumer Reports - Winter chills limit range of the Tesla Model S electric car

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I was a little disappointed that they said the car only did 17X miles when the EPA says 265 at the end of the article. They didn't fully charge the battery and still got 17X miles.
I suppose they could have been clearer by stating the 265 EPA range is based on a "range charge" and they were doing a standard charge. But I think there was enough info in the article. You could perhaps add that clarification in the comments.
 
a high portion of freeway driving, which minimizes the opportunity for regenerative braking, are the most adverse conditions for any electric vehicle.

Jesus ****ing Christ. This guy is the Senior Auto Test Engineer and he doesn't even understand the basic physics involved in cars. A lack of regenerative breaking isn't what reduces highway range. The substantially higher aerodynamic drag, which increases as a square of speed, is what decreases highway range.
 
Someone should also pass-on Alex's comment above.
A lack of regenerative breaking isn't what reduces highway range. The substantially higher aerodynamic drag, which increases as a square of speed, is what decreases highway range.
with a mention of the math in dramatic drag increase above 50.
 
Jesus ****ing Christ. This guy is the Senior Auto Test Engineer and he doesn't even understand the basic physics involved in cars. A lack of regenerative breaking isn't what reduces highway range. The substantially higher aerodynamic drag, which increases as a square of speed, is what decreases highway range.
Ack!

How do people keep thinking that? Regen and accelerate again gains you range? Like energy magically goes into your car?
 
This test isn't too bad.

It states that around 20 rated miles were lost on the trip from the test track (due to driving at more than 55 mph for extended periods and using the heat, no doubt), and one can assume the return trip also lost 20 rated miles. That means the trip consumed around 216 rated miles, so with a remainder of 3 miles the overnight storage consumed the remaining 21 rated miles, or around 6.4 kWh. It will be interesting to see how much of that can be eliminated with an improved sleep mode.

Update: Oops, the rated range remainder was approximately -3 on the first trip, not +3 miles. That means the overnight storage consumed 27 rated miles/8.2 kWh.
 
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I tried to register on Consumer News so I could post the following, but the confirmation email never got through to my inbox. I went through the process twice and tried two different email addresses: no dice. So if someone who has registered successfully wants to post my comments (or your version of them), feel free...

"Those of us who have been driving a Model S through the winter (I live in Colorado) applaud you for ‘telling it like it is’ without undue drama. Winter driving takes a toll on range for all vehicles, a toll that we often overlook when driving gas-powered cars with their imprecise, analog fuel gauges (and with a gas station on every corner).

A couple of observations: almost all of the loss of range at highway speeds is due to increased aerodynamic resistance, which increases as the square of velocity. Regenerative braking has nothing to do with it, as you implied in the article; in fact, hypermilers go out of their way to avoid regenerative braking because all regen can do is recapture a portion of the car’s kinetic energy, energy that was expended from the battery to get up to speed in the first place. Regen braking is a good thing, because otherwise you’d be throwing away all that energy in the form of heat generated by using the normal friction brakes, instead of putting some of it back in the battery pack; but it’s no perpetual motion machine."
 
Jesus ****ing Christ. This guy is the Senior Auto Test Engineer and he doesn't even understand the basic physics involved in cars. A lack of regenerative breaking isn't what reduces highway range. The substantially higher aerodynamic drag, which increases as a square of speed, is what decreases highway range.

Yes, pretty bad. And because the drag increases as speed squared, the power needed to overcome the drag increases as speed cubed. Doubling your speed increases the energy (per unit time) needed to overcome drag by a factor of eight.
 
These are good!


I also tried to sign up but apparently am not worthy.

I would combine these two.

I tried to register on Consumer News so I could post the following, but the confirmation email never got through to my inbox. I went through the process twice and tried two different email addresses: no dice. So if someone who has registered successfully wants to post my comments (or your version of them), feel free...

"Those of us who have been driving a Model S through the winter (I live in Colorado) applaud you for ‘telling it like it is’ without undue drama. Winter driving takes a toll on range for all vehicles, a toll that we often overlook when driving gas-powered cars with their imprecise, analog fuel gauges (and with a gas station on every corner).

A couple of observations: almost all of the loss of range at highway speeds is due to increased aerodynamic resistance, which increases as the square of velocity. Regenerative braking has nothing to do with it, as you implied in the article; in fact, hypermilers go out of their way to avoid regenerative braking because all regen can do is recapture a portion of the car’s kinetic energy, energy that was expended from the battery to get up to speed in the first place. Regen braking is a good thing, because otherwise you’d be throwing away all that energy in the form of heat generated by using the normal friction brakes, instead of putting some of it back in the battery pack; but it’s no perpetual motion machine."

Jeff Miller
And because the drag increases as speed squared, the power needed to overcome the drag increases as speed cubed. Doubling your speed increases the energy (per unit time) needed to overcome drag by a factor of eight.


And throw in the word "coast" or "coasting" in there.