Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

The quest for the ultimate efficiency.

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
I have been trying to see what I can do to improve efficiency with my 2022 Model 3 Performance. I changed from the 20” Uberheavy wheels to 18” wheels with Michelin PS4S tires and that helped efficiency significantly. It was an almost 6% improvement in efficiency over stock @ 60 mph average speed.

However, I really wanted to recover the range I had lost from degradation. My Teslogic app is showing 12.3% degradation when reading the Canbus data.

Therefore, I switched to 235/45/18 Hankook iON EVO AS tires and that gave me almost 10% more gain in efficiency over the stock 20” wheels and tires in my controlled testing. However, that was with brand spanking new tires and full tread depth.

I have been able to break the tires in now and finally on my daily commute this morning I hit basically the best efficiency I think I will ever get.

Temperatures have warmed up and the battery was at the ideal 72.5 degrees F when I started. Temperatures outside have warmed up quickly so my tire pressures were a little high at 34 psi cold and 36 psi warm. There was no wind at all.

I achieved 130 wh/mi in a Model 3 Performance for 12 miles in 13 minutes. I always record my GPS average speed and it was 54.2 mph because of construction on the highway.

This is definitely the most efficient I have ever been and probably ever will achieve. The efficiency has definitely improved as these tires have worn down slightly. I will try to do my controlled testing with it again to see if I can beat the 202 wh/mi I originally got with the new tires @ 60 mph average GPS speed in my controlled testing.

We have much slower speed limits on highways in my area so that really allows the efficiency improvements of different tires to shine. The lower the speeds the bigger the rolling resistance impact is. At higher speeds rolling resistance still matters some but not nearly as much as drag coefficient does then.

I know these aren’t realistic numbers for most people that have much higher speed limits but it is interesting to see that I have pretty much negated the effects of degradation just by swapping the wheels and tires out.

I can easily average 220 wh/mi or less each month now. That should allow me well over 300 miles of range in a Model 3 Performance even with the degradation.

Ironically, I still drag race often with these All Season tires and my times are less than .1 seconds slower than they were with the lighter Michelin PS4S tires.

I even won $1,000 for winning my category at the last event so that paid for the tires.😉

We officially got 0.0 inches of snow this year so I can’t comment on their winter handling but they were great even in the chilly rains that we got. Much better than the summer only tires would have been.

If anyone can get better efficiency than this with a Model 3 Performance then definitely let us know what you did to achieve that.

IMG_4467.jpeg
IMG_4465.png
IMG_4478.png
IMG_3696.jpeg

IMG_3673.jpeg

IMG_4463.png

IMG_4480.jpeg
 
I have been trying to see what I can do to improve efficiency with my 2022 Model 3 Performance. I changed from the 20” Uberheavy wheels to 18” wheels with Michelin PS4S tires and that helped efficiency significantly. It was an almost 6% improvement in efficiency over stock @ 60 mph average speed.

However, I really wanted to recover the range I had lost from degradation. My Teslogic app is showing 12.3% degradation when reading the Canbus data.

Therefore, I switched to 235/45/18 Hankook iON EVO AS tires and that gave me almost 10% more gain in efficiency over the stock 20” wheels and tires in my controlled testing. However, that was with brand spanking new tires and full tread depth.

I have been able to break the tires in now and finally on my daily commute this morning I hit basically the best efficiency I think I will ever get.

Temperatures have warmed up and the battery was at the ideal 72.5 degrees F when I started. Temperatures outside have warmed up quickly so my tire pressures were a little high at 34 psi cold and 36 psi warm. There was no wind at all.

I achieved 130 wh/mi in a Model 3 Performance for 12 miles in 13 minutes. I always record my GPS average speed and it was 54.2 mph because of construction on the highway.

This is definitely the most efficient I have ever been and probably ever will achieve. The efficiency has definitely improved as these tires have worn down slightly. I will try to do my controlled testing with it again to see if I can beat the 202 wh/mi I originally got with the new tires @ 60 mph average GPS speed in my controlled testing.

We have much slower speed limits on highways in my area so that really allows the efficiency improvements of different tires to shine. The lower the speeds the bigger the rolling resistance impact is. At higher speeds rolling resistance still matters some but not nearly as much as drag coefficient does then.

I know these aren’t realistic numbers for most people that have much higher speed limits but it is interesting to see that I have pretty much negated the effects of degradation just by swapping the wheels and tires out.

I can easily average 220 wh/mi or less each month now. That should allow me well over 300 miles of range in a Model 3 Performance even with the degradation.

Ironically, I still drag race often with these All Season tires and my times are less than .1 seconds slower than they were with the lighter Michelin PS4S tires.

I even won $1,000 for winning my category at the last event so that paid for the tires.😉

We officially got 0.0 inches of snow this year so I can’t comment on their winter handling but they were great even in the chilly rains that we got. Much better than the summer only tires would have been.

If anyone can get better efficiency than this with a Model 3 Performance then definitely let us know what you did to achieve that.

View attachment 1034619View attachment 1034620View attachment 1034621View attachment 1034623
View attachment 1034624
View attachment 1034626
View attachment 1034627
What was your best time on the 1/4 mile?
 
I stumbled upon this side mirror delete mod. Says 4% less drag. I'm interested in this mod because I think it would really help the efficiency in my road trips where I occasionally hit 90+ mph.

 
I stumbled upon this side mirror delete mod. Says 4% less drag. I'm interested in this mod because I think it would really help the efficiency in my road trips where I occasionally hit 90+ mph.

Police won’t pull you over for not having side mirrors?
 
I have done testing down to about 40 psi and all the way up to 50 psi. Once you are past 46 psi it doesn’t make much of a difference for efficiency. Less than 1%. It just makes the car feel twitchy.

40% psi will hurt your range much more than 46+ psi will help.
Can you post your data for your testing between 40psi and 50psi?

I am curious. I used 42psi with the MXM4s and noted that the ride got very rough at higher cold pressures.

With my new Goodyears, 42psi seemed very plush. But even with an alignment, I'm still wearing the inside of the fronts (and noted MORE tread depth in the center... so under inflated at 42psi???).

So I have been using 46psi cold (to maybe get more wear into the center of the tire) and the ride feels similar to the MXM4s at 42psi, as best I can remember.

Now that the tires are getting worn down (16k miles), my efficiency is looking pretty good. But I really don't know if the 46psi is a factor.

I've been tracking my inner/middle/outer wear when I rotate tires. I hope my next rotation I have slowed the front inner wear a little and evened out the wear in the middle. Would love to get these babies to 40k miles.
 
Can you post your data for your testing between 40psi and 50psi?

I am curious. I used 42psi with the MXM4s and noted that the ride got very rough at higher cold pressures.

With my new Goodyears, 42psi seemed very plush. But even with an alignment, I'm still wearing the inside of the fronts (and noted MORE tread depth in the center... so under inflated at 42psi???).

So I have been using 46psi cold (to maybe get more wear into the center of the tire) and the ride feels similar to the MXM4s at 42psi, as best I can remember.

Now that the tires are getting worn down (16k miles), my efficiency is looking pretty good. But I really don't know if the 46psi is a factor.

I've been tracking my inner/middle/outer wear when I rotate tires. I hope my next rotation I have slowed the front inner wear a little and evened out the wear in the middle. Would love to get these babies to 40k miles.
Can you post your data for your testing between 40psi and 50psi?

I am curious. I used 42psi with the MXM4s and noted that the ride got very rough at higher cold pressures.

With my new Goodyears, 42psi seemed very plush. But even with an alignment, I'm still wearing the inside of the fronts (and noted MORE tread depth in the center... so under inflated at 42psi???).

So I have been using 46psi cold (to maybe get more wear into the center of the tire) and the ride feels similar to the MXM4s at 42psi, as best I can remember.

Now that the tires are getting worn down (16k miles), my efficiency is looking pretty good. But I really don't know if the 46psi is a factor.

I've been tracking my inner/middle/outer wear when I rotate tires. I hope my next rotation I have slowed the front inner wear a little and evened out the wear in the middle. Would love to get these babies to 40k miles.
Tire pressure is basically irrelevant for efficiency unless your tires are really under inflated. I couldn’t locate all of my data immediately but I think this subset is compelling enough.

IMG_4677.png
IMG_4678.png
IMG_4676.png
 
I've been tracking my inner/middle/outer wear when I rotate tires. I hope my next rotation I have slowed the front inner wear a little and evened out the wear in the middle. Would love to get these babies to 40k miles.
I have a similar problem that my outer is wearing much faster than the middle. Did a rotate and balance at Tesla and now upped to 45psi to hopefully slow the middle wear a bit. Still 5.5mm in the middle and 3.2 on the outer at 22k mi on my pirelli p zeros (20”).

Running at 46 has increased efficiency a fair bit, I didn’t record the numbers but I recently did a 190mi drive with large elevation change that I normally can’t do without a charging stop (or arriving home with very low charge) and I arrived home quite comfortably at 22%. I’m sure there were other factors too like tailwind and higher temps but I was quite impressed.

The ride is noticeably harder though.
 
I just got a set of these ION EVO AS 235/45-18 tires installed about 250 miles ago, was running Primacy MXM4’s prior.

The Hankooks are quieter and much more comfortable than the worn Michelins, but I can’t say if they’re better than those Michelins were when they were new.

Handling is actually feeling quite a bit worse with the Hankooks. They feel like they’re WAY too soft or something. Squirmy under cornering load and I haven’t taken them anywhere near the grip limit. They just don’t inspire confidence at all on a curvy road. There is also ZERO steering feedback with them, and I had just replaced my front lower bushings with MPP bearings recently, which gave me all the steering feel I wanted with the Michelins.

So far they’re not showing me any reduction in energy usage with the same driving pattern, although it’s only been a week so this is far from definite.

I’m seriously considering taking advantage of Hankook’s 30-day trial guarantee and see if I can replace them with something else. If I could go back and redo this purchase, I’d probably try out those new Pirelli Elect tires.
 
I just got a set of these ION EVO AS 235/45-18 tires installed about 250 miles ago, was running Primacy MXM4’s prior.

The Hankooks are quieter and much more comfortable than the worn Michelins, but I can’t say if they’re better than those Michelins were when they were new.

Handling is actually feeling quite a bit worse with the Hankooks. They feel like they’re WAY too soft or something. Squirmy under cornering load and I haven’t taken them anywhere near the grip limit. They just don’t inspire confidence at all on a curvy road. There is also ZERO steering feedback with them, and I had just replaced my front lower bushings with MPP bearings recently, which gave me all the steering feel I wanted with the Michelins.

So far they’re not showing me any reduction in energy usage with the same driving pattern, although it’s only been a week so this is far from definite.

I’m seriously considering taking advantage of Hankook’s 30-day trial guarantee and see if I can replace them with something else. If I could go back and redo this purchase, I’d probably try out those new Pirelli Elect tires.
What tire pressures are you running? Have you double checked that those tires pressures are where you want them? Nobody has claimed that the Hankook AS tires are going to handle as well or better than anything else. If you do controlled testing you will see they are more efficient but the AS version would not be my first choice if handling was my most important priority.
 
What tire pressures are you running? Have you double checked that those tires pressures are where you want them? Nobody has claimed that the Hankook AS tires are going to handle as well or better than anything else. If you do controlled testing you will see they are more efficient but the AS version would not be my first choice if handling was my most important priority.
Currently running 41 cold, same as I was running with the Michelins. I did set that myself when I got home from discount tire. I haven't tried experimenting, too lazy.

Just sharing my experience, really. I’m not terribly concerned about either range or handling, but I did love the steering feedback I had before. (But hated the sharpness in the bumps from those worn Michelins, which seemed to come in as they wore)
 
  • Like
Reactions: mpgxsvcd
Currently running 41 cold, same as I was running with the Michelins. I did set that myself when I got home from discount tire. I haven't tried experimenting, too lazy.

Just sharing my experience, really. I’m not terribly concerned about either range or handling, but I did love the steering feedback I had before. (But hated the sharpness in the bumps from those worn Michelins, which seemed to come in as they wore)
Seems like the Hankook iON EVO summer tires would have been a better option for you then. However, I honestly would have just gone with PS4S tires instead or even Pirelli PZ4 non Tesla Specific tires if you want a cheap summer tire. Hankook puts a huge emphasis on efficiency with their iON EVO tire brand and Performance will almost certainly suffer to some degree.
 
I will have to replace my Pirelli P zero's in about 5-10k mi (won't take long as I drive a lot). Any recommendations for a new tire? No need for winter tires here, summer all year around.

I need 235/35 R20 92Y. Thought about the PS4's but I would actually like something with more mileage and efficiency as I commute 120 mi per day quite often. I will be sticking with the 20" as I just love the look of them :)

Maybe the Hankook iON EVO?
 
I will have to replace my Pirelli P zero's in about 5-10k mi (won't take long as I drive a lot). Any recommendations for a new tire? No need for winter tires here, summer all year around.

I need 235/35 R20 92Y. Thought about the PS4's but I would actually like something with more mileage and efficiency as I commute 120 mi per day quite often. I will be sticking with the 20" as I just love the look of them :)

Maybe the Hankook iON EVO?
Hankook iON EVO Summer version would be your best choice for efficiency still with some Performance. If you want pure efficiency and longevity get the all season version of that tire.