We left for our cabin in northern Wisconsin yesterday - 150 miles, about 2:45 minutes, 80% SOC. In the summertime I can make the trip using almost exactly 50% battery.
After entering the destination in the nav system it suggested I stop and charge for 20 minutes on the way. A bit odd - the weather wasn’t that cold or windy to cut the efficiency that much, but ok. We had decided to stop for dinner on the way so I entered the restaurant as a stop on the trip. The nav system recalculated and took out the charging stop. The restaurant is only a few blocks off of the route, so it was odd that the charging stop would have changed but I wasn’t necessarily expecting to charge so I wan’t too concerned.
I looked at the estimated battery remaining and it said 24%. The restaurant is only 20 miles/30 minutes from our cabin, so 24% should have been fine. As we turn off of I35 and head east into Wisconsin I see the battery estimate slowly start to decrease and it gets down to 18%, estimating 3% when we get to our cabin. Northern Wisconsin is a EV charging desert so now I’m starting to get worried.
After checking Plugshare we made the decision to turn around and head to the nearest supercharger, arriving with 4% charge. Disaster averted, but it added 1.5 hours to our trip and could have ended much worse.
This is the second time Tesla’s nav system has nearly left me stranded by overestimating the range and I’m getting to the point that I don’t trust it. Despite what Elon and many people here say, Range anxiety is a thing and until charging options become as common as gas stations you need to be cognizant of your battery level. Without accurate data from the car, it’s impossible, meaning I can’t trust my car outside of the city.
Have others had this problem? The only thing I can figure in this case is that Tesla was assuming I would charge at the restaurant - a pretty stupid assumption given the paucity of chargers. The nav system also doesn’t bother to ask, meaning adding a stop on your trip is a potentially dangerous proposition.
After entering the destination in the nav system it suggested I stop and charge for 20 minutes on the way. A bit odd - the weather wasn’t that cold or windy to cut the efficiency that much, but ok. We had decided to stop for dinner on the way so I entered the restaurant as a stop on the trip. The nav system recalculated and took out the charging stop. The restaurant is only a few blocks off of the route, so it was odd that the charging stop would have changed but I wasn’t necessarily expecting to charge so I wan’t too concerned.
I looked at the estimated battery remaining and it said 24%. The restaurant is only 20 miles/30 minutes from our cabin, so 24% should have been fine. As we turn off of I35 and head east into Wisconsin I see the battery estimate slowly start to decrease and it gets down to 18%, estimating 3% when we get to our cabin. Northern Wisconsin is a EV charging desert so now I’m starting to get worried.
After checking Plugshare we made the decision to turn around and head to the nearest supercharger, arriving with 4% charge. Disaster averted, but it added 1.5 hours to our trip and could have ended much worse.
This is the second time Tesla’s nav system has nearly left me stranded by overestimating the range and I’m getting to the point that I don’t trust it. Despite what Elon and many people here say, Range anxiety is a thing and until charging options become as common as gas stations you need to be cognizant of your battery level. Without accurate data from the car, it’s impossible, meaning I can’t trust my car outside of the city.
Have others had this problem? The only thing I can figure in this case is that Tesla was assuming I would charge at the restaurant - a pretty stupid assumption given the paucity of chargers. The nav system also doesn’t bother to ask, meaning adding a stop on your trip is a potentially dangerous proposition.