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Comment by cevn | Hacker News Reader

It really does not learn. I have driven the same route to and from Richmond, VA as a range test over and over again since 2018.

My range is approx. 180 miles, in favorable conditions (summer, AC off). If it was actually accurate, as soon as you hit 70-80mph you would see your range half. Clearly that doesn't happen, so the estimator is off by ~40% for highway conditions, i.e. complete bullshit.

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Yeah I think that Tesla of all the EV makers uses the most optimistic EPA range for ads and display.

I got 260mi range max on my 310mi rated car. If it was winter or a road trip in which I could truly go fast, it easily got below 200mi.

For a 310mi car, going to visit my parents or in-laws only 75mi away for Christmas should not have made me worry about making the round trip on one charge, but it frequently drained the battery below 20 or even 10%.

Are you talking about the battery meter? That is just EPA range * battery percentage.

The precise estimate is in the navigation system, when you navigate to a destination and it says you will arrive with X% left. This takes into account speed, traffic, elevation, temperature, wind, etc. and is usually pretty accurate for me.

Ah I see. I will check on that but you would think that as soon as you get on the highway that estimator would change. It is also the first place someone would look for range, not inside navigation so I would call that false advertising…

I leave the battery meter set to percentage, the “miles” option is really just percentage dumbly mapped to miles.

The golden number in a Tesla Is absolutely the navigation route estimate. While navigating you can open the Energy app as well to see more detail, how you are doing compared to the estimate, and specific factors affecting consumption.

I also use percentage. It's not something that I usually think about. I just know that my "real range" is 180 miles at highway speeds. That's not something they tell you when you buy a Tesla.

I also just don't use navigation if I've been somewhere more than once. Just navigate with my head..

Tesla advertises EPA range which is a mix of city and highway driving with an average speed way below normal interstate highway speeds.

I use the navigation all the time, even when I know the way, because it knows about traffic jams and so I can get a good range estimate for longer trips. It even gives you a round-trip estimate back to your starting point.

Percentage seems to be the general consensus amongst Tesla owners. The real numbers are in the navigation. We've been looking at percentage based range on gas cars forever. I would argue that gas cars with "mile" range estimates are not that accurate either. At least, that's my experience.

>This takes into account speed, traffic, elevation, temperature, wind, etc

Can you expand on this? You say etc, what else is included? Where is it documented that this calculation is actually happening, versus something far simpler?

“The calculation that predicts how much energy you will use is an estimate based on driving style (predicted speed, etc.) and environmental factors (elevation changes, wind speed and direction, ambient and forecasted temperatures, air density and humidity, etc.). As you drive, Model 3 continuously learns how much energy it uses, resulting in improved accuracy over time. It is important to note that Model 3 predicts energy usage based on the driving style of the individual vehicle. For example, if you drive aggressively for a period of time, future range predictions will assume higher consumption.”

https://www.tesla.com/ownersmanual/model3/en_gb/GUID-01F1A58...

Also if you open the Energy app in the car it will show you which of these factor(s) are contributing to higher or lower consumption than the navigation’s estimated range as you go.

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