Cold Feet: Reassurance or Reality - Tesla MYLR as a Road Warrior Vehicle?

[gad1976]

My first EV, a Tesla MYLR 2023, is supposed to be delivered between June 17 & 25. This is a big switch for me.

I drive about 3,000 miles per month, averaging two long trips of approximately 300 miles each week. I live and work in Wisconsin and drive all over the state all year around. I've done a lot of reading about battery maintenance, charging stations, etc. and I've decided to take the leap of faith and give this a try. I will never be more than 150 miles away from a Tesla Charging station, and usually closer than that.

1. Am I crazy? There have to be other people on this forum that drive year around and put on miles like me. Is it working for you? Are my expectations reasonable?
2. My last three ICE cars have racked up between 275,000 and 375,000 miles. I'd love to think I can get close to 300,000 miles out of this MYLR. I'm assuming they haven't been out long enough, but is anyone out there up to 150,000 or more miles? Is this a reasonable expectation?

Am I about to make a big mistake, or is this workable?

Thanks in advance for sharing your reality or your reassurance.

 

[Johnny Vector]

I don't drive anywhere near that much, but this is almost certainly fine. For a 300 mile trip, if you charge to 90% before you start (with an L2 charger like in your garage), you can get most of the way to where you're going, and charge at the last Supercharger along your route for just long enough to use the facilities (like, 5 minutes or so). That'll get you back up around 40% and you can be on your way. Then L2 charge at the destination. You're never charging to a very high state of charge with the fast charging, so it will have very little effect on your battery life. I aim to get home with ~20% or so, and slow charge from there (also home electricity is cheaper than at a Supercharger).

You might think you should try to charge to 100% before you leave and make the whole trip without supercharging, but that would be more nerve-wracking to you and much worse for the battery.

On average the batteries seem to lose maybe 10% after 150,000 miles, but most of it is near the beginning. It varies quite a bit, but based on the graphs I've seen I wouldn't be surprised if you still have 85% of the original capacity at 300,000 miles.

If anyone here has actual experience with very high mileage, it would be great to hear that!

 

[reefkid]

I drive 3000+ a month and had a Model 3. I sold it at about 70k miles as I was moving to colder weather and was afraid of range loss in cold weather. That was a 2019 without the heat pump. Apparently range has gotten much better so I'm buying another Tesla (MYP on order but may get a M3P since the discounts). To me it was the perfect car for high mile drivers. Obviously low cost on gas/energy and maintenance was tires only. I just had a Subaru Outback Touring XT that was horrible on gas (22.7 MPG) and just overall annoyed me. If you get a good car (this can be a slight problem with Tesla), you've picked the perfect car. If you get a bad one, which I imagine are few and far between, they become a nightmare as service center appointments can be far off and wait times awful. I wouldn't be afraid at all. The car is awesome and a better drive than anything else out there.

 

[gad1976]

I don't drive anywhere near that much, but this is almost certainly fine. For a 300 mile trip, if you charge to 90% before you start (with an L2 charger like in your garage), you can get most of the way to where you're going, and charge at the last Supercharger along your route for just long enough to use the facilities (like, 5 minutes or so). That'll get you back up around 40% and you can be on your way. Then L2 charge at the destination. You're never charging to a very high state of charge with the fast charging, so it will have very little effect on your battery life. I aim to get home with ~20% or so, and slow charge from there (also home electricity is cheaper than at a Supercharger).

You might think you should try to charge to 100% before you leave and make the whole trip without supercharging, but that would be more nerve-wracking to you and much worse for the battery.

On average the batteries seem to lose maybe 10% after 150,000 miles, but most of it is near the beginning. It varies quite a bit, but based on the graphs I've seen I wouldn't be surprised if you still have 85% of the original capacity at 300,000 miles.

If anyone here has actual experience with very high mileage, it would be great to hear that!

Thanks, this is what I have been reading, but it's nice to hear someone who is actually experiencing this. Thanks!

 

[gad1976]

I drive 3000+ a month and had a Model 3. I sold it at about 70k miles as I was moving to colder weather and was afraid of range loss in cold weather. That was a 2019 without the heat pump. Apparently range has gotten much better so I'm buying another Tesla (MYP on order but may get a M3P since the discounts). To me it was the perfect car for high mile drivers. Obviously low cost on gas/energy and maintenance was tires only. I just had a Subaru Outback Touring XT that was horrible on gas (22.7 MPG) and just overall annoyed me. If you get a good car (this can be a slight problem with Tesla), you've picked the perfect car. If you get a bad one, which I imagine are few and far between, they become a nightmare as service center appointments can be far off and wait times awful. I wouldn't be afraid at all. The car is awesome and a better drive than anything else out there.

Thanks. Your experience helps. I too would love to hear from some real world long distance winter drivers.

 

[DanDi58]

My first EV, a Tesla MYLR 2023, is supposed to be delivered between June 17 & 25. This is a big switch for me.

I drive about 3,000 miles per month, averaging two long trips of approximately 300 miles each week. I live and work in Wisconsin and drive all over the state all year around. I've done a lot of reading about battery maintenance, charging stations, etc. and I've decided to take the leap of faith and give this a try. I will never be more than 150 miles away from a Tesla Charging station, and usually closer than that.

1. Am I crazy? There have to be other people on this forum that drive year around and put on miles like me. Is it working for you? Are my expectations reasonable?
2. My last three ICE cars have racked up between 275,000 and 375,000 miles. I'd love to think I can get close to 300,000 miles out of this MYLR. I'm assuming they haven't been out long enough, but is anyone out there up to 150,000 or more miles? Is this a reasonable expectation?

Am I about to make a big mistake, or is this workable?

Thanks in advance for sharing your reality or your reassurance.

Winter range is for sure less, but I would say that if - during summer - a typical trip might mean one SC stop, the same will be true in winter. You'll just need one stop for a 300 mile trip. The only thing I'd caution you on is if you are going to be doing a lot of supercharging, don't expect a massive savings over gas right now. When I got my MYLR in March of 2021, SC charging cost was mostly between $.28 and $.32 per kWh. Now it's typically $.40, so while I am still saving money vs gas, it's not as much as previously. For example, in the last 30 days, I charged 50% at home and 50% at Superchargers, and my savings were 50%. However, that's based on a gas price of $4.23 per gallon in Tesla's calculation. Gas locally is more like $3.55, so my savings are a lot less then 50%.

 

[Troy Schultz]

Go for it! The wife drives that many miles or more all over Minnesota . We just got our model Y a month ago and couldn't be happier !

Don't 2nd guess yourself, everything will work out better than expected. The gas savings will be huge .

 

[Wannabeskibum]

The number of miles doesn't concern me one bit. I would say that this would work with 95% confidence. Maybe higher after seeing how many superchargers are in WI. If you are similar to a claims adjuster that goes to nearly every town in WI, I could see some problems for a handful of days per year.

- Are your 300-mile trips to the same place (If so that makes it a lot easier, if a supercharger is on the way you are 100% golden)
- I assume you have a garage to charge
- In subzero degree day with snow on the road and a strong headwind, be conservative the first couple times.

Quality of life with EVs is great. Even little things like getting into a warm car in your garage is so good and I'm in NE so I assume my garage stays about 10 degrees warmer than yours.

 

[runningdenver]

Do it. You won't regret it. I'm in Colorado, and got the YLR on December 31st. Absolutely LOVE it. Will never go back to an ICE car. The responsiveness, pop, fun factor. I don't drive that far, although have done an 800 mile trip, and was fine. If you have super chargers on the route, you're golden. I got myself a CCS Combo 1 Adapter from tesla, so can charge at non-teslas too, which works in the mountains here. Do it !!

 

[gx9901]

In the winter you may need to do some planning before leaving the house if you have a 300+ mile day ahead of you. I've observed the consumption number (Wh/Mi) going up starting around 45F. In the single digit and negative temperatures here in MN, I've observed close to a 50% loss in range, so that's something to keep in mind if you do longer trips in the really cold days. But in general I feel like if you know what you're doing and paying attention to how the car is operating, there shouldn't be any issues. I think I've had more range anxiety in my previous ICE driving than in my MYP (basically none) because I'm so much more aware of its consumption and SOC in different conditions.

 

[gtae07]

Then L2 charge at the destination

Assuming that's available at the destination... which isn't always the case

 

[cusetownusa]

I don't drive anywhere near that much, but this is almost certainly fine. For a 300 mile trip, if you charge to 90% before you start (with an L2 charger like in your garage), you can get most of the way to where you're going, and charge at the last Supercharger along your route for just long enough to use the facilities (like, 5 minutes or so). That'll get you back up around 40% and you can be on your way. Then L2 charge at the destination. You're never charging to a very high state of charge with the fast charging, so it will have very little effect on your battery life. I aim to get home with ~20% or so, and slow charge from there (also home electricity is cheaper than at a Supercharger).

You might think you should try to charge to 100% before you leave and make the whole trip without supercharging, but that would be more nerve-wracking to you and much worse for the battery.

On average the batteries seem to lose maybe 10% after 150,000 miles, but most of it is near the beginning. It varies quite a bit, but based on the graphs I've seen I wouldn't be surprised if you still have 85% of the original capacity at 300,000 miles.

If anyone here has actual experience with very high mileage, it would be great to hear that!

This is good advice. Just to add, you seem to have a perfect use case for an EV (especially a tesla). With the assumption that either your destinations have L2 charging and/or there are superchargers on your route. As mentioned above, if a supercharger is needed it won't be for long, maybe 5 minutes or so, as you need just enough to make it home (with a small buffer).

If charging mostly at home you will save a ton of money on fuel and maintenance. I only drive about 1000 miles per month and compared to my previous car (jeep grand cherokee), I save well over $2000 per year on gas and maintenance. This completely depends on your home charging rates and what car you are comparing to. But still, you should see massive savings.

 

[YW555]

You are not going to save money on fuel compared to a Prius if you have to rely on Supercharging. If you want a travel beater then get a used Prius + Comma 3 (Autopilot) and it'll serve you well.

On average the batteries seem to lose maybe 10% after 150,000 miles, but most of it is near the beginning. It varies quite a bit, but based on the graphs I've seen I wouldn't be surprised if you still have 85% of the original capacity at 300,000 miles.

I drove a Model 3 Long Range loaner with 50K miles and it already had close to 15% degradation. Of course this is an extreme case since loaner gets abused but 10% after 150K is pretty optimistic.

 

[cusetownusa]

You are not going to save money on fuel compared to a Prius if you have to rely on Supercharging. If you want a travel beater then get a used Prius + Comma 3 (Autopilot) and it'll serve you well.

Sounds like he will be able to charge at home and possibly at his destinations. If so, supercharging would only be a small fraction of his electricity source and would see huge savings of his electricity rates are reasonable at home.

 

[Physicslawyer]

Last year, I had a 2022 MYP that I put 4k a month on. I took a 200 mile trip weekly to a vacation home. There were no issues. It cost $500/month Supercharging exclusively. I also took it on a 500 mile trip and no issues with that either. I have a different 2022 MYP, and have 26k combined miles on a MYP.

Now, we have chargers at both homes and the Supercharging has been under $40/month.

 

[Eto Demerzel]

As long as you are ok with frequent supercharging (meaning much longer stops compared to gas) it's ideal for your use case.
you will save much more $ on maintenance and fuel with such high mileage use compared to a gas vehicle.

 

[Physicslawyer]

But..tires.

 

[Eto Demerzel]

yes, all cars have tires.

 

[cusetownusa]

As long as you are ok with frequent supercharging (meaning much longer stops compared to gas) it's ideal for your use case.
you will save much more $ on maintenance and fuel with such high mileage use compared to a gas vehicle.

Why would it be much longer? Most charging will be at home with the occasional short supercharging stop to add a bit of range to make it home. No need to do a full charge at the supercharger in that situation.

 

[Eto Demerzel]

Why would it be much longer? Most charging will be at home with the occasional short supercharging stop to add a bit of range to make it home. No need to do a full charge at the supercharger in that situation.

weekly 300 mile trip.
gas fill is a few minutes and there are stations everywhere. charging takes quite a bit longer, even if it's 20-30min that's a long time in comparison.

Also, most ice would have no problem with AC or heat blasting and never needing to stop for 300miles.