There’s no shortage of debate, complaints, and even lawsuits about Tesla cars’ range. Many factors affect an EV’s range, even more-so that an ICE car. YMMV has never been a truer statement. Even how much power is used for climate control is debated (US News vs. Tesla claim).
I did a brief trial trip with my 2023 Tesla Model 3 Performance, with conditions noted below:
- Miles on car: ~1k
- Highway: 70mph 2/3 of trip
- Town: 40mph 1/3 of trip
- Temp outside: 101 (ouch!)
- AC set: 73, no passengers
- No preconditioning of inside temp
- Distance traveled: 15mi
- Non aggressive driving
- Regenerative braking
- Reflective roof liner, no side tint
Calculations (82kWh battery pack, 315mi rated range)
14.8% (0.8/5.4) was consumed on AC
Including power consumed by AC: 4.428kW used in 15mi = 277mi
Excluding power consumed by AC: 3.772kW used in 15mi = 326mi
Observations
AC has a big impact on range. As owners know, the front climate control is dual zone and in my case with no passenger, only the driver zone was actively cooling. With a passenger, the impact of AC would have been more.
While driving in such heat, external/battery fans are engaged. It’s not clear how much energy that uses, or where it’s accounted for in the usage breakdown.
Highway speeds (like 70+mph) increase rate of energy consumption, though the M3P is quite aerodynamic. My last ICE car (Mazda 6) began to noticeably suffer on fuel economy around 80mph.
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Yes!! We had to keep the car out for long and even the interior temp control system took more than 40% of range. They do sell roof covers for Tesla, though, I hate to loose glass look.