Tesla Model 3 real work efficiency for school run

[page3]

AVB said:

True. I didn’t appreciate that the RWD only had a 50kWh battery. Personally, considering the relatively small difference in price between the two, especially on lease/company car deals I think the LR makes more sense. Four wheel drive plus the extra range. I found the 200 mile range of my MX more inconvenient than I thought it would be when I got it.

Price was £8500 difference when I purchased. I preferred the LFP being able to charge to 100% too, that combined with the supercharger network made the SR+ a better fit for me.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

SWoll said:

CharlieAlphaMike said:

Mmmm. But I am getting 270 miles in winter.

Charged to 100% with temperature of 0C

429km = 268miles

Edited by CharlieAlphaMike on Wednesday 1st March 18:22

IME that's just the car giving you an estimate, which was never born out in reality when we had our Model 3 P. What is your actual km/kWh figure?

It's not something I check but last year I had a figure of 140Wh/km (summer months on 19" wheels and summer tryes) and a couple of months ago (on 18" wheels fitted with winter tyres) I remember seeing 132Wh/km. Correct me if I'm wrong but Tesla quote the LFP battery capacity as 60kWh but I think the 'usable' capacity is closer to 58kWh.

So charged to 100% and using the 58kWh figure, I'm getting between 258 and 274miles of range. If you use the 60kWh figure, the range will obviously be more. Most of my journeys are quite short (approx 10 to 50 miles) with only occasional motorway driving so I get a lot of benefit from regenerative braking.

[CharlieAlphaMike]

AVB said:

True. I didn’t appreciate that the RWD only had a 50kWh battery. Personally, considering the relatively small difference in price between the two, especially on lease/company car deals I think the LR makes more sense. Four wheel drive plus the extra range. I found the 200 mile range of my MX more inconvenient than I thought it would be when I got it.

According to Tesla, the latest Model 3 RWD have a 60kWh LFP battery and they recommend you regularly charge to 100%. I think they were fitted from late 2021 onwards. I bought mine last July 2022 (ordered last March 2022) and I know mine has the bigger battery.

[AVB]

There is no problem in charging a non-LFP battery to 100% but recommended to drive it soon afterwards and not leave it sitting at 100% for days on end. I charge mine to 90% on a regular basis and if I know I am going on a long trip and need the extra range set it to 100% and schedule the charge to finish at my scheduled departure time. It’s all very easy.

[annodomini2]

CharlieAlphaMike said:

AVB said:

True. I didn’t appreciate that the RWD only had a 50kWh battery. Personally, considering the relatively small difference in price between the two, especially on lease/company car deals I think the LR makes more sense. Four wheel drive plus the extra range. I found the 200 mile range of my MX more inconvenient than I thought it would be when I got it.

According to Tesla, the latest Model 3 RWD have a 60kWh LFP battery and they recommend you regularly charge to 100%. I think they were fitted from late 2021 onwards. I bought mine last July 2022 (ordered last March 2022) and I know mine has the bigger battery.

There are 3 gens of battery in the rwd models

19-aug 20 50kwh NCM
Sept 20-dec 21 53kwh LFP
Jan 22 - current 60kwh LFP

[page3]

Also worth noting Tesla changed the rear motor in the SR+ around early 2022. There may also have been a different one used around 2019.

Rear motor used to be the performance one (3D1) but is now the LR one (3D5)
Maximum net power => Reduced from 239kw to 208kw
Maximum 30min power => Reduced from 100kw to 88kw
0-60 increased from 5.1 to 5.6, although unlikely to matter on the school run.

Edited by page3 on Friday 3rd March 18:31

[SDK]

I drive a Polestar 2, which is less efficient than a Tesla M3 and I do the school run every day, morning & afternoon. It's 2.12 miles each way, so about 8.5 miles total, split between two trips.

In the Winter economy is really bad on these short trips - probably only getting about 1.8 miles per kWh, meaning a full charge is around 135 miles.

On long trips in the summer I easily get 240 miles with some % remaining, so about half doing the school run.