Cold Weather Road Trip

[morningstar]

I need to go on a road trip this weekend. It's only 116 miles. In warmer weather I wouldn't even think twice, but in this cold weather I'm wondering if I can make it there. I drive an SR+ (so supposedly 240 mile range). I can fully charge at home before leaving and there is a super charger 5 miles from my destination. But temps will be in the 30's during the day and in the 20's at night. I plan to drive over in the morning with time to stop and charge at the super charger before going to my destination. I will be leaving to return home at night. If there is some power drain, which I expect in the cold temps, I can stop at that super charger again before getting on the road just to bump it back up to 100%.

Normally this would be no problem. But temps are really low and my car does not get nearly as much range as it otherwise would and I'll be driving at highway speeds for most of the trip. There's also a construction zone to go through. So I'm wondering how likely it is that I'll even make it to the supercharger near my destination. Do I even try?

Plugshare shows a Chevy dealership with a charger partway through my trip, but I have to be at my destination at a specific time so I really won't have time to make an unexpected stop and charge up to a reasonable amount at a charging station that isn't a supercharger.

Who's traveled longer distances in the cold at highway speeds? What are your experiences? And more important to my immediate needs, will my SR+ make it? LOL

 

[Rocky_H]

This is absolutely zero problem at all, and you should not be worried about it. I thought you were going to be asking about trying to do this round trip: 116 miles times 2 on one charge, with no recharging opportunities. I saw someone asking a question like that a few weeks ago, and that would certainly be difficult. But you said it's only 116 miles one way, and you have a Supercharger there within 5 miles of your destination, so you can easily refill some before heading back home and have lots of margin in both directions. Don't worry about it.

I do see where your worry comes from, though. You have been driving short trips around town, and you are seeing outrageous energy usage and getting only half of rated miles. That is because it's short trips, though. When you first start going, it is trying to heat up a cold cabin and cold battery. That settles down by quite a lot on longer trips, once you drive for 20-30 minutes, and it's not nearly that bad.

I plan to drive over in the morning with time to stop and charge at the super charger before going to my destination.

You may find that unpleasantly slow. I would suggest if you can at all fit it in your schedule to just head straight to the Supercharger when you are getting into that city and recharge it while your battery is still warm from the drive. It will go a lot faster. If you do your plan, letting it sit out overnight getting frozen, and then get up in the morning and drive just a few miles to the Supercharger, it may be sucking energy from the Supercharger for 15-30 minutes just warming up the battery before it will begin charging, and that will still be pretty slow and irritating.

I did this last year on a 5,000+ mile trip in February with my Model S, and I would always head straight to the Supercharger first while the battery was hot and fill most of the way, up to about 70-80% because it could do it quickly before heading over to my AirBNB to go to sleep.

 

[bedoig]

You'll be fine. Enjoy the trip.

 

[duanra]

On a road trip in cold temp, you could expect to lose between 20 to 30 percent of range.
To have accurate number, put your trip in abetterouteplanner. It will give you fairly accurate number, and more importantly...enjoy your trip !

 

[Rockster]

Point of reference, for what it's worth:

Monday evening I drove my Model 3 from the Dallas area to east Texas, where the car sat in the parking lot during a 90 minute meeting, and then I drove back to the Tyler, TX Supercharger. The total distance I drove before reaching the Supercharger was 200 miles.

Average speed: 75 mph
Air temp: 38-45F
Conditions: 75% drizzle/raining

I charged close to 100% before leaving the house (to 300 miles of range), drove the 200 miles, and had about 15 miles of range when I reached the Supercharger.

This calculates out to about 70% efficiency driving under the conditions listed above.

 

[Blucenturion]

Point of reference, for what it's worth:

Monday evening I drove my Model 3 from the Dallas area to east Texas, where the car sat in the parking lot during a 90 minute meeting, and then I drove back to the Tyler, TX Supercharger. The total distance I drove before reaching the Supercharger was 200 miles.

Average speed: 75 mph
Air temp: 38-45F
Conditions: 75% drizzle/raining

I charged close to 100% before leaving the house (to 300 miles of range), drove the 200 miles, and had about 15 miles of range when I reached the Supercharger.

This calculates out to about 70% efficiency driving under the conditions listed above.

What is the calculation necessary to arrive at this figure? Thanks.

 

[doghousePVD]

Make sure you preheat the car before you unplug in the morning.

For real time energy monitoring, use the autopilot. It will forecast how much energy (set it to percent) you will arrive with. As you drive, the arrival percent will usually change. I drive carefully, so the arrival percent climbs, which means I will have no problems. If the arrival percent drops, you may or may not have a challenge.

Reduce speed, charge sooner, reduce cabin heat, etc. If it looks like the percent is dropping too fast, use Teslawinds.com to see if you are fighting a serious head wind. A few months ago in the Smoky Mountain my energy seemed to drop too quickly. Teslawinds showed I was bucking a 22-26 mph headwind, which meant the car was effectively driving at 95-99 mph. That really kills the range! I slowed down until the wind changed.

Wind resistance is huge. Changing the speed by 20% (say 50 mph to 60 mph) increases the wind resistance by about 70%. The formula is a cube function, so 1.2*1.2*1.2 = 1.7.

This weekend I started a 200+ mile trip with an estimated arrival energy of 5%. By the time I got home, it said 18%. YMMV.

tl;dr: You shouldn't have a problem, but keep an eye on your energy.

 

[Rocky_H]

What is the calculation necessary to arrive at this figure? Thanks.

(to 300 miles of range), drove the 200 miles, and had about 15 miles of range when I reached the Supercharger.

He's saying he used up from 300 down to 15, so 285 rated miles used to go 200 real miles. 200/285 = 70%

 

[Rockster]

He's saying he used up from 300 down to 15, so 285 rated miles used to go 200 real miles. 200/285 = 70%

Thanks for clarifying!

 

[BZM3]

I need to go on a road trip this weekend. It's only 116 miles. In warmer weather I wouldn't even think twice, but in this cold weather I'm wondering if I can make it there. I drive an SR+ (so supposedly 240 mile range). I can fully charge at home before leaving and there is a super charger 5 miles from my destination. But temps will be in the 30's during the day and in the 20's at night. I plan to drive over in the morning with time to stop and charge at the super charger before going to my destination. I will be leaving to return home at night. If there is some power drain, which I expect in the cold temps, I can stop at that super charger again before getting on the road just to bump it back up to 100%.

Normally this would be no problem. But temps are really low and my car does not get nearly as much range as it otherwise would and I'll be driving at highway speeds for most of the trip. There's also a construction zone to go through. So I'm wondering how likely it is that I'll even make it to the supercharger near my destination. Do I even try?

Plugshare shows a Chevy dealership with a charger partway through my trip, but I have to be at my destination at a specific time so I really won't have time to make an unexpected stop and charge up to a reasonable amount at a charging station that isn't a supercharger.

Who's traveled longer distances in the cold at highway speeds? What are your experiences? And more important to my immediate needs, will my SR+ make it? LOL

no problem.. you'll make it there with range to spare, then hit the supercharger for 20 mins on the way back.. whats the concern?

 

[KenC]

I need to go on a road trip this weekend. It's only 116 miles. In warmer weather I wouldn't even think twice, but in this cold weather I'm wondering if I can make it there. I drive an SR+ (so supposedly 240 mile range). I can fully charge at home before leaving and there is a super charger 5 miles from my destination. But temps will be in the 30's during the day and in the 20's at night. I plan to drive over in the morning with time to stop and charge at the super charger before going to my destination. I will be leaving to return home at night. If there is some power drain, which I expect in the cold temps, I can stop at that super charger again before getting on the road just to bump it back up to 100%.

Normally this would be no problem. But temps are really low and my car does not get nearly as much range as it otherwise would and I'll be driving at highway speeds for most of the trip. There's also a construction zone to go through. So I'm wondering how likely it is that I'll even make it to the supercharger near my destination. Do I even try?

Plugshare shows a Chevy dealership with a charger partway through my trip, but I have to be at my destination at a specific time so I really won't have time to make an unexpected stop and charge up to a reasonable amount at a charging station that isn't a supercharger.

Who's traveled longer distances in the cold at highway speeds? What are your experiences? And more important to my immediate needs, will my SR+ make it? LOL

My experience is that I lose 20% of my range at 20F compared to 70F. So, you should be fine, but keep an eye on your battery using the energy chart and trip nav. If you are using more than expected, slow down. Here's my Stats chart showing how temps affect my efficiency:

 

[BEPA400]

Wind resistance is huge. Changing the speed by 20% (say 50 mph to 60 mph) increases the wind resistance by about 70%. The formula is a cube function, so 1.2*1.2*1.2 = 1.7.

Your wind resistance recollection is wrong. It’s squared. But it’s still huge.
1.2*1.2=1.44x

 

[doghousePVD]

Your wind resistance recollection is wrong. It’s squared. But it’s still huge.
1.2*1.2=1.44x

You are right. The cubed law is wind energy for a wind turbine; the squared law is wind resistance. I thought it would be the same formula, but apparently I’m wrong.

Thanks for the educational moment.

 

[Rocky_H]

Your wind resistance recollection is wrong. It’s squared. But it’s still huge.
1.2*1.2=1.44x

You are right. The cubed law is wind energy for a wind turbine; the squared law is wind resistance. I thought it would be the same formula, but apparently I’m wrong.

Thanks for the educational moment.

This is something I just learned about maybe last year, where it's confusing because there are elements of both being true.
The force from the wind resistance is a squared thing, but the power needed from the car to overcome it is a cubed thing.

 

[gecko10x]

My experience is that I lose 20% of my range at 20F compared to 70F. So, you should be fine, but keep an eye on your battery using the energy chart and trip nav. If you are using more than expected, slow down. Here's my Stats chart showing how temps affect my efficiency:
View attachment 476639

Wow, your numbers are crazy good. Do you never use the heat? lol

 

[BEPA400]

This is something I just learned about maybe last year, where it's confusing because there are elements of both being true.
The force from the wind resistance is a squared thing, but the power needed from the car to overcome it is a cubed thing.

Huh I never thought of that.. I’d like to see the equations pieced together.. I know the two main parts but not sure which velocity is being used, whether it’s the same or how gearing affects it..
Fwind(v)=c.a.v^2
Pmotor(same v??) =(sum of all F’s)*(same v??)
I’m not sure how it could be cubed because consider this scenario:
What happens when wind goes faster but car/motor continues at same speed? Ie bigger Fwind... P=Fv must be v(motor rotational speed) not wind speed. So P would go up to compensate for more wind but since motor speed is unchanged the v’s in those two equations can’t be the same and I would think thus the square in the wind eq’n wouldn’t simply be cubed in the end.

fun.. I miss school..

 

[BEPA400]

Oh wow, I got pretty off topic there.

 

[KenC]

Wow, your numbers are crazy good. Do you never use the heat? lol

LOL, my commute is short, I pre-condition and heat the cabin. I use the seat heater, and the cabin stays warm long enough that I usually don't turn it on.

I mean, I have to go out in the cold to the carport, so I'm fully dressed for the cold. It seems weird to have to take all of that off, to drive the car, and then put it all back on to get out. So, I keep my cold weather gear on, and drive in a cabin I preheated to 65F. Works for me.

 

[Chisale]

You'll be fine. Don't worry about the damn wind and enjoy the trip. I take very similar and even longer trips and have never bothered to look which way the wind is blowing. Just pull up your energy graphs and keep an eye on it as the trip progresses. Maybe wear a fleece and keep the cabin temp lowered a bit or use the seat heaters instead.
As far as a potential stop into the Chevy dealership. I would have be very desperate to attempt that. Maybe if that was the absolute only way to avoid a dead battery tow and even then maybe not. For one thing it's likely to be a very low wattage charger. Second, if it is a cold day your car will charge even slower. And third you'll be sitting in a Tesla in a Chevy dealership. Embarrassing to say the least.

 

[Chisale]

LOL, my commute is short, I pre-condition and heat the cabin. I use the seat heater, and the cabin stays warm long enough that I usually don't turn it on.

I mean, I have to go out in the cold to the carport, so I'm fully dressed for the cold. It seems weird to have to take all of that off, to drive the car, and then put it all back on to get out. So, I keep my cold weather gear on, and drive in a cabin I preheated to 65F. Works for me.

Same here. Mostly keep it at 65F. Enough to keep fog off windows and then when you get out it's not such a shock. Plus any warmer and I get sleepy. Especially with NoA going. Don't want to end up on any of those sleeping drivers videos. LOL