Model 3 Highland 318 vs 344miles

[Drew57]

My experience with both 19"(Model 3) and 20"(Model Y) has been that alloy aerodynamics might have much greater impact at higher speeds with the larger diameters but when driving on mostly local roads both cars were achieving far closer to the smaller alloy EPA ratings, especially as those include the Aero covers.

As a case in point, an almost 300 mile journey in December around 6ºC with very heavy traffic, roadworks and delays finished with 12% SOC remaining. No charging or other stops were involved but speed averaged only 44mph so overall range was very close to the smaller 19" EPA.

 

[Adopado]

While I’m awaiting my Model 3 Highland delivery I have probably watched every video on YouTube regarding the car. One thing that I find really strange is that every video I’ve watched except one has said that the RWD has 318 mile range.

When you go to the Tesla website it defaults to show 318 miles and it’s only when you scroll down to the wheels that it says with the 18’ wheels you get 344 miles and with the 19’ wheels you get 318.

A couple of things that has been bugging me is why don’t they show 344 miles range on the website as default when that it the model that is selected by default? And why have I only seen one YouTuber that has quoted the 344 mile range?

Am I missing something?

The biggest thing you are missing is that you will never be driving from 100% to 0% … so none of those numbers will mean much in the real world! They just give you a way of comparing cars.

 

[debrooker]

The biggest thing you are missing is that you will never be driving from 100% to 0% … so none of those numbers will mean much in the real world! They just give you a way of comparing cars.

This, the max i've ever used was 90% (100% -> ~10%) but i'm risk adverse .

Unless you know there is a charger at your destination, you'd be brave dipping below 10%, IMO

 

[Oxid8ter]

The biggest thing you are missing is that you will never be driving from 100% to 0% … so none of those numbers will mean much in the real world! They just give you a way of comparing cars.

It's worth noting as well that in reality, the "real world" range tests follow the same ethos. Very few reviewers will drive a car from 100->0%, they'll drive around a bit, get the wH/mile and then calculate by size of the battery. They're more accurate, but they still are not a true 100%->0% test.

 

[Mark89052]

The biggest thing you are missing is that you will never be driving from 100% to 0% … so none of those numbers will mean much in the real world! They just give you a way of comparing cars.

I think that’s what the op was doing, comparing the difference between same model with 18 and 19 wheels

Appreciate that ideally you don’t want to go down to 0% but having some real world information on the 100% range can’t hurt and can then work back from that to how far you can roughly go before stopping to charge with x amount of miles/% left

 

[Adopado]

I think that’s what the op was doing, comparing the difference between same model with 18 and 19 wheels

Appreciate that ideally you don’t want to go down to 0% but having some real world information on the 100% range can’t hurt and can then work back from that to how far you can roughly go before stopping to charge with x amount of miles/% left

Completely agree. However it's always worth introducing some caution... newer owners commonly go through this phase of expectation and subsequently come back with posts about how their car does do what was "advertised".

 

[WannabeOwner]

Unless you know there is a charger at your destination, you'd be brave dipping below 10%, IMO

I have got home with 1% ... a frequently travelled route, not in a hurry, set off with enough (same-as-usual) but had torrential thunderstorms and wet road all the way. Back in those days there were no charging opportunities on that route ... hence why I set off totally (over!) confident that it would be fine

Very few reviewers will drive a car from 100->0%, they'll drive around a bit, get the wH/mile and then calculate by size of the battery

Bjorn does a 1,000km "challenge" on most cars he tests (I appreciate that is indeed "very few reviewers" ). That is whatever the weather / traffic is (although he usually does it at night to avoid traffic issues), and is thus real-world in terms of where chargers might be, what problems the car might have with chargers (was it he who discovered RapidGate on Nissan?), and any other "long journey" snags

He has a spreadsheet of results, so make car-comparison possible - although some test are Winter and some are Summer

 

[Mark89052]

Completely agree. However it's always worth introducing some caution... newer owners commonly go through this phase of expectation and subsequently come back with posts about how their car does do what was "advertised".

Yes agree you see 100s of those sort of posts on Facebook even now lots about Highland, this will be my first EV and when comparing I always try and find a good real world figure (plenty sources supplied on this forum) then deduct 50 miles to give a safe buffer

 

[Adopado]

Yes agree you see 100s of those sort of posts on Facebook even now lots about Highland, this will be my first EV and when comparing I always try and find a good real world figure (plenty sources supplied on this forum) then deduct 50 miles to give a safe buffer

Just to complicate things… there is no fixed figure. (Obvious when you think about it as there are multiple variables.)

In some special circumstances, at the other end of the scale, you can even end up exceeding the WLTP! After driving the car for a while you start to gauge it… but there are excellent energy consumption tools as part of the car’s software. In fact all you have to do is put your destination in the nav and it will give you a pretty good estimate of percentage battery when you reach your destination. It tries to take account of road types, temperature, wind direction, precipitation, gradients, speeds…