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Tesla's Supercharger Team was recently laid off. We discuss what this means for the company on today's TMC Podcast streaming live at 1PM PDT. You can watch on X or on YouTube where you can participate in the live chat.
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- Thread starter 100d
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Tam
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@100d - see my comment about miles vs. percent in your Mileage differences post. This is a dead horse that's been well beaten over and over and over .... Decide which works best for you. There is not right, wrong, or best choice.
Percentages all the way. My reasons:
1) Easy to gauge the 20% to 80% charging limits for battery longevity
2) For me, percentages somehow diminish the range anxiety associated with EVs. Not so much now, but certainly at the beginning of my EVs ownership
3) I think the Miles are a bit inaccurate and depend on driving habits and actual route
The vast majority of my driving is my commute. Much easier for me to gauge the charging needs figuring I get 5-6% each way to work and back. Easy peasy numbers 20-80
1) Easy to gauge the 20% to 80% charging limits for battery longevity
2) For me, percentages somehow diminish the range anxiety associated with EVs. Not so much now, but certainly at the beginning of my EVs ownership
3) I think the Miles are a bit inaccurate and depend on driving habits and actual route
The vast majority of my driving is my commute. Much easier for me to gauge the charging needs figuring I get 5-6% each way to work and back. Easy peasy numbers 20-80
My 2012 Chevy volt showed me both. I'm sure I've seen others say this on here but I'll say it again. Why on earth can we not just have both. Put the percentage in the battery and leave miles where it is. That's how it was done in the Volt.
I use miles as that feels like it's doing a better job with a guess based on some math than I will with it set to percentage.
I use miles as that feels like it's doing a better job with a guess based on some math than I will with it set to percentage.
Personal preference but rated miles is not super accurate as we all know. Your mobile phone doesn't list minutes of battery left. It's either a gauge or a percent.
People should be using the Nav anyway when they travel so it really doesn't matter. Just pay attention to the buffer you have left to your destination and react accordingly.
People should be using the Nav anyway when they travel so it really doesn't matter. Just pay attention to the buffer you have left to your destination and react accordingly.
Miles - hands down for me. Most my driving destinations are listed in miles to, not percent to, so I find miles more useful...but I tend to mentally subtract 20% due to the difference between rated range and my worst-case of inefficiency. I've got an old S85 with only 232 miles of range. If I had a newer 100kWh pack I'd be fine with leaving it on percent. I don't really like having to use the Nav to make sure I can make it to all my stops and destination but it nice to get an estimated ETA and arrival %SOC.
I make sure to consult the Energy app (Trip) with the projected miles while on a roadtrip to make sure I'm getting to the furthest Supercharger site with a SOC of 8% +/- 2%. Running it down that low makes keeping an eye on the miles left a little more relevant than percent. Again, if I had a 100kWh pack I wouldn't care as much, but our S85 charging curve tapers so early and I don't want to waste time.
I make sure to consult the Energy app (Trip) with the projected miles while on a roadtrip to make sure I'm getting to the furthest Supercharger site with a SOC of 8% +/- 2%. Running it down that low makes keeping an eye on the miles left a little more relevant than percent. Again, if I had a 100kWh pack I wouldn't care as much, but our S85 charging curve tapers so early and I don't want to waste time.
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You say "but I tend to mentally subtract 20%" not X miles so you're in percent already. Miles would be super useful if it represented actual mileage you can drive but we all know it varies greatly on many factors (speed, weather...etc). But miles is just a representation of the battery pack's energy if driven in lab conditions over the exact same 5 cycle test done in the lab. Nor real world conditions. The NAV is the best tool to make sure you don't run out. You're right, we don't think in percent from a destination but we know driving 70+ mph like some do is not going to get the exact EPA mileage anyway.
You also say
which again is in percentage of battery pack.
Also, if your destination is 10 miles away and you have 200+ or over 70% SOC, you're not running out ever. If it's 180 miles away you definitely want to use your NAV and rethink if you can make it anyway. Miles or percent displayed won't matter. I suggest percentage to new people as they get upset when they have 50 miles to go and 60 miles on the display but driving 75mph they run out on the side of the road. Using NAV (miles or percent) would have told them they weren't going to make it.
Ultimately it doesn't matter if whatever the person is doing keeps them from running out.
Upon thinking it further, our usage of "range miles remaining" is useful for how we use the car. We typically keep the car charged between 30-70% and might not drive the car for days. We live in Orange County but do a lot of activity in Los Angeles and San Diego, so it's pretty rare that we drive the car to destinations less than 50 miles away. We prefer to drive our Fiat 500e for local outings since it can fit in tight spaces like a golf cart (literally many folks in our town prefer to drive golf carts around Balboa Island and the peninsula).
Today for instance, my wife drove the Fiat to workout this morning then we drove it to grab some coffee and donuts (you know, to counteract the workout
), charged the Tesla to 90%, did some work, drove to the Disney Concert Hall, visited a friend across town, then got back with 75 miles remaining (33%). Nav confirmed we had plenty to make it roundtrip heading out and we must have driven by 16 Supercharger sites in the event we had a change in plans and needed to charge. I know not everybody uses their Tesla like we do, not everybody has the same robust charging infrastructure that we enjoy, and at this point not everyone has the limited range that we do too.Ok, I’m only a few months into Model S ownership, so I may be out of the know here. In my Model 3, all you had to do was tap the battery on the screen to switch from miles to percent and vice versa. One finger, easy. On the Model S, the battery gauge is on the dash in front of me, and not on the big screen. You can’t press on it to change it. You have to go to menu, then click on Display, then switch the battery setting. Or, am I missing something?
That said, why doesn’t Tesla just display both? Seems like it should be easy enough.
If you think of it, doing what you do with display in percentage works the same. You'd use your NAV on 50+ mile trips and it'd say "you're starting with 65%, will get there with 45% and get back with 25%" for example. You could determine if that was enough. So personal preference.Upon thinking it further, our usage of "range miles remaining" is useful for how we use the car. We typically keep the car charged between 30-70% and might not drive the car for days. We live in Orange County but do a lot of activity in Los Angeles and San Diego, so it's pretty rare that we drive the car to destinations less than 50 miles away. We prefer to drive our Fiat 500e for local outings since it can fit in tight spaces like a golf cart (literally many folks in our town prefer to drive golf carts around Balboa Island and the peninsula).
Today for instance, my wife drove the Fiat to workout this morning then we drove it to grab some coffee and donuts (you know, to counteract the workout
I used miles for about 5 years before realizing it wasn't close to realistic and the NAV is so good now if you leave a decent buffer, you're unlikely to run out.
I use miles because the battery degradation is factored in. I don't actually expect to get the number of miles listed. I basically see the number as a more granular percentage.
In any case he must not own an S/X since it's not just a tap to change the display on those cars.
It's not worth arguing with him. Take a look at his post history. There isn't a single one where he isn't being snarky. Must be real pleasant to be around.
In any case he must not own an S/X since it's not just a tap to change the display on those cars.
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