Ideal range mode

Some changes have been made to firmwares but I think new cars are showing 300mi in Ideal range display setting

my 12/2012 car was at 315 ideal when I got it ( 277-8 rated)

firmware has definitely been changed so that new cars don't show that high of either # (unless someone w/a newer car can say differently)

...lots of threads with some info about this but...soo many threads

LinHof said:

Hello everyone,

I don't know if this should be a new thread, but since I have not found the answer anywhere else I figured I would ask here.

This is a simple question: We received our Tesla s 85 in 12/2012. At that time if we switched the view to IDEAL range - with a MAX charge it would show 300 miles. Has that changed with firmware update?

Thank you for your help.

Click to expand...

Hi Lin,

I believe that the newer firmware upgrades attempt to more accurately projected range.

However, setting the car for Ideal Range may not provide you useful range numbers if you don't drive at 55 mph with the Air Conditioning off. I find that when I am most interested in accurate range estimates is when I am taking road trips where I'm always driving faster than 55 mph and in Florida I rarely if ever turn off the Air Conditioning. So for me it makes more sense to set the car for Rated Range.

Larry

Ideal range is still 300 miles, but as Larry says, most folks use rated range because it gives a more conservative number.

And in Florida, I can tell you that my average consumption in reasonable temps (65-80F) and with A/C on (of course) is roughly the following:

- 370 Wh/mile overall, because I do lots of city driving and short trips and I believe the accelerator needs regular exercise

- 330 Wh/mile at "limit + 5" on major highways using cruise control (steady 65-70 mph)

- 390 Wh/mile if I'm really trying to get somewhere on a major highway (80 mph or so, with frequent accel/decel)

Rated range appears to be projected using 280 Wh/mile, so even my "steady 70" is 20% more energy consumption than rated, while 390 Wh/mile represents a 40% premium. Ideally, I'd like to tell the car to project my range based on 370 Wh/mile since that's more realistic to my needs. But until and unless I can project range differently, "rated range" is a far more realistic metric than "ideal range" IMHO.