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P85D Range Records

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Cottonwood

Roadster#433, Model S#S37
Feb 27, 2009
5,089
184
Colorado
Did 302 Miles on a Charge Today in a P85D:

300-P85D.JPG


Started with a 99% charge. Mostly 63 mph max. 236 miles Silverthorne to Pagosa Springs, CO, then easy driving on last 60 miles to hit target.

This was done on .179 firmware with range mode on. Even without descent from Silverthorne to Pagosa, this would have been a 250 Wh/mi drive or a little better. Not too shabby...
 
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Where are you driving that produces those consistent 6 minute cycles from around 50 Wh/mile to 400 and back again? (on the left screen)
Walter

I finished the drive doing a 5.8 mile loop near a known, good 70A J1772 near some places to eat. Those are repeated cycles your see on the energy graph are me doing the 5.8 mile loop repeatedly, seeing if I could end with over 300 miles on a single charge.
 
This is encouraging

I have a 195 mile trip to make this summer and I'd love to do it without stopping. In the evening at 70mph almost all the way. Looks like it might be a comfortable target for the p85d!

Good to see the pd achieve mileage like this even at 55f / 12c which is cold.
 
This is encouraging

I have a 195 mile trip to make this summer and I'd love to do it without stopping. In the evening at 70mph almost all the way. Looks like it might be a comfortable target for the p85d!

Good to see the pd achieve mileage like this even at 55f / 12c which is cold.

Actually, 55˚F. with sun is a nearly perfect temperature for comfort and range. The solar gain on the car means that I needed climate control to keep cool, but with the interior set at 70˚F. and the exterior at 55˚F, the heat pump was very efficient and I had lots of fresh air.

Also, this day was very neutral for wind, light and variable. My new favorite wind and weather web page is Windyty; it won't run on the MS Browser, but runs great on an iPhone.
 
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Did 302 Miles on a Charge Today in a P85D:

Started with a 99% charge. Mostly 63 mph max. 236 miles Silverthorne to Pagosa Springs, CO, then easy driving on last 60 miles to hit target.

This was done on .179 firmware with range mode on. Even without descent from Silverthorne to Pagosa, this would have been a 250 Wh/mi drive or a little better. Not too shabby...

Driving from Boon, NC to North Wilkesboro, NC All downhill. Boone 3400 ft, home 1000. ft

Both significant downhill net elevation changes -- 1620 feet from Silverthorne to Pagosa Springs.
 
Both significant downhill net elevation changes -- 1620 feet from Silverthorne to Pagosa Springs.

True enough, but I also drove a 251.7 mile uphill leg in the P85D last month, at 277 Wh/mi, Blanding to Flagstaff: that leg features a nearly 1000' elevation gain, overall, and the average temperature was about 10-15° colder than it was for Cottonwood yesterday.
 
Both significant downhill net elevation changes -- 1620 feet from Silverthorne to Pagosa Springs.

The rule of thumb that I use is 6 rated miles per 1,000 feet. It is pretty close to the physics, if you do all the energy calculations. With that 1,620 feet potential energy is equal to about 10 rated miles. That is why I said that leaving 12 rated miles in the battery was pretty close to equaling the energy that I gained going down hill. That net 1,620 was from 16,539 feet of climbing and 14,918 feet of descent, so I think torque sleep worked at least some of the time in this hilly terrain. I did at least another 1,000 feet up and down and probably more like 2,000 feet to get the extra miles to hit the 300 target!

Please note that my 302 miles were actual miles driven in the car, not projected miles. I have see 999 mile projected plenty of times with an average usage of 0 Wh/mile over 30 miles from the Eisenhower Tunnel going east towards Golden. That's why 30 mile projections don't mean much in the Rockies.

Zero Wh-mi.JPG
 
True enough, but I also drove a 251.7 mile uphill leg in the P85D last month, at 277 Wh/mi, Blanding to Flagstaff: that leg features a nearly 1000' elevation gain, overall, and the average temperature was about 10-15° colder than it was for Cottonwood yesterday.

That was a great accomplishment by Stevezzzz after all of the range discussions!

Elevation is a factor at 6 rated miles per 1,000 feet, but on these long runs, wind and temperature can be bigger factors. I had light and variable winds and perfect temps, setting me up for great range with some modest hypermiling. When I arrived at the UPS store in Pagosa, having driven 236 miles with 63 rated miles left in the battery, I had to go for upping the ante!
 
Hey Cottonwood, do you think your range is better in CO in part due to the thinner air? I've been impressed by your range posts, and you're seeing range that I rarely get in my P85D (though range for me is MUCH better after torque sleep). The two reasons I can think of that your Wh/m would be in the 200s while mine are consistently in the mid 3s are driving speed and elevation. I'm curious if you or anyone else has ever considered the impact of elevation on range?
 
Elevation is a factor at 6 rated miles per 1,000 feet, but on these long runs, wind and temperature can be bigger factors. I had light and variable winds and perfect temps, setting me up for great range with some modest hypermiling. When I arrived at the UPS store in Pagosa, having driven 236 miles with 63 rated miles left in the battery, I had to go for upping the ante!

Glad you did! Well done!

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Hey Cottonwood, do you think your range is better in CO in part due to the thinner air? I've been impressed by your range posts, and you're seeing range that I rarely get in my P85D (though range for me is MUCH better after torque sleep). The two reasons I can think of that your Wh/m would be in the 200s while mine are consistently in the mid 3s are driving speed and elevation. I'm curious if you or anyone else has ever considered the impact of elevation on range?

Yes, this has been discussed before. It's being discussed here now: http://www.teslamotorsclub.com/showthread.php/43859-Torque-sleep-not-functioning-properly-on-some-cars/page7
 
The rule of thumb that I use is 6 rated miles per 1,000 feet. It is pretty close to the physics, if you do all the energy calculations. With that 1,620 feet potential energy is equal to about 10 rated miles. That is why I said that leaving 12 rated miles in the battery was pretty close to equaling the energy that I gained going down hill. That net 1,620 was from 16,539 feet of climbing and 14,918 feet of descent, so I think torque sleep worked at least some of the time in this hilly terrain. I did at least another 1,000 feet up and down and probably more like 2,000 feet to get the extra miles to hit the 300 target!

Please note that my 302 miles were actual miles driven in the car, not projected miles. I have see 999 mile projected plenty of times with an average usage of 0 Wh/mile over 30 miles from the Eisenhower Tunnel going east towards Golden. That's why 30 mile projections don't mean much in the Rockies.

I missed the part about the remaining miles -- sorry.

I didn't mean to demean your accomplishment at all, I just missed the part about the downgrade and thought you hadn't realized it was net downhill.
 
Hey Cottonwood, do you think your range is better in CO in part due to the thinner air? I've been impressed by your range posts, and you're seeing range that I rarely get in my P85D (though range for me is MUCH better after torque sleep). The two reasons I can think of that your Wh/m would be in the 200s while mine are consistently in the mid 3s are driving speed and elevation. I'm curious if you or anyone else has ever considered the impact of elevation on range?

Speed and elevation both count.

The aerodynamic component of energy use per mile goes up as the square of speed. Drive 10% faster and aerodynamic drag goes up 21%.

Aerodynamic drag is proportional to air density. At 5,000 feet, there is 18% less air and aerodynamic drag at the same speed. At 10,000 feet there is 30% less air and aerodynamic drag.

I don't always get great energy numbers. Tonight driving near sea level with speeds in the low 80's, I used 369 Wh/mi.
 
Speed and elevation both count.

The aerodynamic component of energy use per mile goes up as the square of speed. Drive 10% faster and aerodynamic drag goes up 21%.

Aerodynamic drag is proportional to air density. At 5,000 feet, there is 18% less air and aerodynamic drag at the same speed. At 10,000 feet there is 30% less air and aerodynamic drag.

I don't always get great energy numbers. Tonight driving near sea level with speeds in the low 80's, I used 369 Wh/mi.

At highway speeds, do you know what portion of energy use is attributable to air drag and what to mechanical?
Does rolling resistance increase linearly with velocity?
 
Cottonwood used only 71kWh and is down to 12 miles left. so at .237 kWh/mile that is another 3 kWh, or 74kWh usable capacity in total before the car is dead.

it is quite misleading to publish 85kWh when only 74 is available. Every manufacturer does that - expect I believe Kia Soul where they publish exactly what is available to drive.
 
More than 74 kWh is available. The system will shut down the drive unit when the battery reaches it's anti bricking limit of 3.9 kWh left. Before that, you'll be in the 5.1 kWh zero mile buffer. So in theory, you should be able to hit 76 kWh before it says 0 miles but then you should be able to go another 17 rated miles before the drive unit dies.