3 ms·

I suspect it makes a big difference in range at higher speeds that Germans and Americans drive at on the highway. One of the most disappointing things about th

I suspect it makes a big difference in range at higher speeds that Germans and Americans drive at on the highway. One of the most disappointing things about the Model3 is how quickly the range starts to dip at left lane traffic speeds here in the Northeast. There’s large stretches of the drive between NYC and Boston that have middle and left lane traffic moving at 80 MPH and what’s an easy task for a gas car means adding a recharge stop for anything except the Model3 Long Range.

kcexn 4y ago
Constant speeds on the highway should be the most efficient forms of driving. The only force the motors need to generate is the force required to overcome air resistance, this is going to be true of both ICE and electric. The range dip may instead be because of lower battery temperatures (from all of the wind). Better battery thermal management at high speeds might help. Higher energy density batteries will also comfortably overcome this problem. In the future I can see EV's that advertise fixed ranges, so that you don't get arbitrary range dips. They'll do this by over dimensioning the batteries and using better battery management software to make sure that more than 95-99% of your drives will be able to go at least the advertised range
- quintushoratius 4y ago
  To the contrary, the dip in range highlights that, as you increase speed, air resistance rises as a square. Our Leaf could probably go almost 50% farther on a charge if we never exceeded 30 mph. 30-40 mph has a small penalty; freeway speeds exact a much larger penalty.
  - kcexn 4y ago
    It increases as the square of air resistance compared to traveling at low but constant speeds. But I find that when I'm driving at lower speeds I'm constantly stopping and starting for traffic. Around where I live there are many roads posted at 80km/h (50mph) with traffic lights every km or so. So it's accelerate to 80 for a couple minutes, then come to a complete stop, then accelerate back to 80. That's clearly what swallows up most of the range.
- zibby8 4y ago
  Wind resistance increases with the square of speed so going faster than “normal” speed, i.e. the speed they use when calculating range, leads to dramatically less range.

kcexn 4y ago

Constant speeds on the highway should be the most efficient forms of driving. The only force the motors need to generate is the force required to overcome air resistance, this is going to be true of both ICE and electric. The range dip may instead be because of lower battery temperatures (from all of the wind). Better battery thermal management at high speeds might help. Higher energy density batteries will also comfortably overcome this problem. In the future I can see EV's that advertise fixed ranges, so that you don't get arbitrary range dips. They'll do this by over dimensioning the batteries and using better battery management software to make sure that more than 95-99% of your drives will be able to go at least the advertised range

quintushoratius 4y ago
To the contrary, the dip in range highlights that, as you increase speed, air resistance rises as a square. Our Leaf could probably go almost 50% farther on a charge if we never exceeded 30 mph. 30-40 mph has a small penalty; freeway speeds exact a much larger penalty.
- kcexn 4y ago
  It increases as the square of air resistance compared to traveling at low but constant speeds. But I find that when I'm driving at lower speeds I'm constantly stopping and starting for traffic. Around where I live there are many roads posted at 80km/h (50mph) with traffic lights every km or so. So it's accelerate to 80 for a couple minutes, then come to a complete stop, then accelerate back to 80. That's clearly what swallows up most of the range.
zibby8 4y ago
Wind resistance increases with the square of speed so going faster than “normal” speed, i.e. the speed they use when calculating range, leads to dramatically less range.