Out of juice - battery issue, UI issue, or user mistake?

[EVenthusiast]

One way the Nissan LEAF deals with this is by showing 3 blinking dashes instead of remaining range once you trigger the 2nd 'low battery' alarm (around 7% SoC iirc).

There's usually still a couple of miles left, but because you can't see the exact value without additional equipment, it's enough to convince most people to find a spot right away.

 

[Oba]

I've done multiple trips to single-digit rated miles remaining and have not (yet) been stranded. However, each time I did I always started out from 100% charge. This helps the car with knowing how much power is available and tunes the rated miles display.

I've also hit single digits several times without surprise. Actually, my goal is to hit a sngle digit rated range at whatever the next Supercharger I'm going to in SoCal (where there are oodles of charging options if I come up short). A low charge state is how the car can pull 370 amps, at least for a short while (almost 120kW).

One point that you made that seems to be largely overlooked is starting from 100% charge. For cars that are never fully charge, or fully depleted, the software might have a little difficulty in estimating the actual energy stored at the bottom of the charge. At least enough to make some potentially significant errors at a low energy state, although not 60 miles off.

The other issue that I haven't seen mentioned is a possible out of whack cell (that drops voltage much quicker than the rest at low energy states) which would trigger a car shutoff when the car still showed some rated miles.

Both the top of the charge, and bottom, are limited to voltage. The top is relatively easy, because most cells will react predictably at 3.5 to 4.2 volts. Below 3.5 to 2.5 volts is where they do not.

 

[Spyder14]

I am bit surprised & confused--no one has commented on the fact that the ranger call cost $3 per mile? I get the flatbed cost somewhat but when did the ranger costs go from $100 to $3 per mile? I am meeting with the team in Jacksonville later today & will certainly ask the question. I asked this question on my first test drive in Savannah last month & the Tesla rep said no--ranger is $100 if needed. My home is 270 miles from the nearest SC in Atlanta unless they build one in Jacksonville. This may be a deal killer...

 

[Rocky_H]

I am bit surprised & confused--no one has commented on the fact that the ranger call cost $3 per mile? I get the flatbed cost somewhat but when did the ranger costs go from $100 to $3 per mile? I am meeting with the team in Jacksonville later today & will certainly ask the question. I asked this question on my first test drive in Savannah last month & the Tesla rep said no--ranger is $100 if needed. My home is 270 miles from the nearest SC in Atlanta unless they build one in Jacksonville. This may be a deal killer...

That was at least a few months ago that this change was made. Here is a thread from the forum at Tesla’s site on it:
https://my.teslamotors.com/forum/forums/3-mile-ranger-fee-be-informed-you-buy

Check this page on Tesla’s website about service plans:
https://www.teslamotors.com/support/service-plans

It says this now about the cost for a Service Ranger visit:
“Tesla Ranger service may be available in your area. Service begins at $100 per visit and increases based on your distance from the nearest Tesla service center.”

It does not spell out that the cost is $3 per mile, but that is the case. The “per mile” part, though, is calculated just on a one way distance, not on a round trip.

I live 340 miles from the nearest service center, so it would be $1,020 for a Service Ranger visit, but here is how this is being handled in my area and many others. If you call and demand that they come right now just to fix your issue, they probably will charge you that fee. But if you call and say there is something you want fixed and get put on their schedule, they are sending a Service Ranger up here about once every month or so, and they will take care of a few service calls without charging anyone. I think that is a pretty decent balance of our costs and theirs if you can wait a few weeks to get it taken care of free of charge. So I recommend calling and talking with the service center near you and see how they are handling service in your city.

 

[Shaggy]

It's too bad we do not have the equivalent of a 'gas can' so she could have gone to Santee for a fill up supplement to get her the last two miles. Frankly, we do need such a solution, don't we?

You mean something like this?
AAA Introduces Roadside Emergency Charging for Electric Cars | PluginCars.com

 

[Shaggy]

How about this as a compromise:

At 25 miles and less, they add '~' in front of the number.
At 10 miles and less, they change the ~ to '<'.

This will then emphasize the estimate and lower precision of that estimate as the range drops into Magic 8 ball range.