Electric cars break 300 mile highway range with Tesla Model S's new front end - Polidicks

[thumb]https://www.teslamotors.com/tesla_theme/assets/img/models/section-initial.jpg?20160411[/thumb] [QUOTE]When Tesla unveiled the refreshed Model S, aside from the new looks, what really caught our attention was the significantly improved range figures for the freshened Model S 90D. But it wasn’t until we accessed the EPA’s secret vault of detailed ratings that we came across the real headline grabber…The refreshed Tesla Model S 90D goes 303.2 miles on the highway on a single charge, a remarkable achievement that’s largely due to its aerodynamics. The new 90D was listed by Tesla at 294 miles of range, versus the old 270-mile EPA rating and Tesla’s previous 288-mile estimate. Meanwhile, the P90D version of the refreshed Model S was listed at 270 miles, versus the old 253-mile EPA rating, which was consistent with Tesla’s earlier estimate. [/QUOTE] [URL="http://insideevs.com/official-epa-ratings-for-refreshed-tesla-model-s-90d-range-is-303-2-miles-highway/"]Source[/URL]

So it should realistically get 320 miles if the EPA is always about 20 under The model S is the best electric car out there I guess

[QUOTE=Sableye;50188451]if the EPA is always about 20 under[/QUOTE] isn't it usually an overestimate though? where did you hear this

[QUOTE=Sableye;50188451]So it should realistically get 320 miles if the EPA is always about 20 under The model S is the best electric car out there I guess[/QUOTE] Not sure where you got that from. The only way I could see you exceeding it would be if you drafted behind a semi or had a tail wind.

I'd really love a Tesla, but I'm not sure how well it would fare where I live. - Temperature ranges from cold to very cold (this means using heater is necessary) - We don't have highways at all, just swirly roads with lots of elevation change.

[QUOTE=paul simon;50190617]I'd really love a Tesla, but I'm not sure how well it would fare where I live. - Temperature ranges from cold to very cold (this means using heater is necessary) - We don't have highways at all, just swirly roads with lots of elevation change.[/QUOTE] The Model S is the/one of the best selling cars in Norway. It should be fine unless you live waaaaay up north. There's sure to be plenty of reviews for them in Norway. Check out this popular Tesla enthusiast: [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/bjornnyland[/url]

[QUOTE=OvB;50190642]The Model S is the/one of the best selling cars in Norway. [B]It should be fine unless you live waaaaay up north[/B]. There's sure to be plenty of reviews for them in Norway. Check out this popular Tesla enthusiast: [url]https://www.youtube.com/user/bjornnyland[/url][/QUOTE] I live waaaaay up north [editline]24th April 2016[/editline] I'm more wondering how big you can expect the impact on mileage to be.

[QUOTE=paul simon;50190648]I live waaaaay up north [editline]24th April 2016[/editline] I'm more wondering how big you can expect the impact on mileage to be.[/QUOTE] Bjorn gets a 20% reduction in the dead of winter in Oslo. Not sure what it would be like up north. Can't imagine much worse.

Do electrics even work in winter? Even our ICE vehicles are real stubborn to start up in when it gets to freezing.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;50190903]Do electrics even work in winter? Even our ICE vehicles are real stubborn to start up in when it gets to freezing.[/QUOTE] That would honestly be a really simple solve TBH, you don't need any moving parts in an electric to create heat in critical areas that might be vulnerable to extreme cold, the biggest thing there would be creating the sensor system to make sure that critical parts were in the correct temperature range before allowing the vehicle to power the motors. And that's assuming that they're vulnerable to those kinds of temperature drops in the first place, I'd think the lithium battery cells would be the most vulnerable, however the battery compartment might be designed to keep itself within safe operating temperatures if it's been an issue for them. Creating that heat would be a drain on the battery, though.

[QUOTE=OvB;50190663]Bjorn gets a 20% reduction in the dead of winter in Oslo. Not sure what it would be like up north. Can't imagine much worse.[/QUOTE] Let's be fair The dead of winter in Oslo is 20 degrees warmer than the dead of winter in the middle of Canada. Their [i]record[/i] winter lows of all time are 10 degrees warmer than our [i]average[/i] winter low.

Some guy with 6 Roadsters and 4 Model S lived in Narvik which is in the Arctic circle. [video]https://youtu.be/BgG-gc01ENQ[/video] The worst thing for range in the cold on an electric car is heating the battery in the first few mins. Bjorn left his outside unplugged, unprotected in -15c for two weeks and it worked fine. With the ability to preheat / cool the car before you get into it I imagine that's pretty useful up there. Best way to mitigate against range loss from heating is to either time the charge to end right as you would be about ready to leave, or preheat the car.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;50190903]Do electrics even work in winter? Even our ICE vehicles are real stubborn to start up in when it gets to freezing.[/QUOTE] There's reduced regen while the car warms up the battery pack

[QUOTE=winsanity;50191343]There's reduced regen while the car warms up the battery pack[/QUOTE] Reduced acceleration as well as regen being completely disabled if the pack is really cold. You can see that here: [video]https://youtu.be/nNqShkjg6nU[/video]

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;50190903]Do electrics even work in winter? Even our ICE vehicles are real stubborn to start up in when it gets to freezing.[/QUOTE] The motors work perfectly fine. The batteries discharge much faster in extreme cold*, but a lot of that is mitigated by heating the pack. You suffer a range hit, and to a lesser extent a performance hit, but the Model S is actually a pretty solid winter car. Having near instant throttle response helps with that a lot as well because the traction control is incredibly responsive, so spinning out doesn't really happen. You can also preheat the car before you leave while it's still hooked up to charge, and garages in general aren't as ridiculously frigid as it can get outside. *To be more technically accurate, the batteries have decreased capacity when cold. 10% of a 90kwh battery pack when it's really cold could be more like 50kwh. So instead of traveling 50 miles using whatever percentage, that same percentage would get you less than 25.

[QUOTE=Zephyrs;50191440]The motors work perfectly fine. The batteries discharge much faster in extreme cold*, but a lot of that is mitigated by heating the pack. You suffer a range hit, and to a lesser extent a performance hit, but the Model S is actually a pretty solid winter car. Having near instant throttle response helps with that a lot as well because the traction control is incredibly responsive, so spinning out doesn't really happen. You can also preheat the car before you leave while it's still hooked up to charge, and garages in general aren't as ridiculously frigid as it can get outside. *To be more technically accurate, the batteries have decreased capacity when cold. 10% of a 90kwh battery pack when it's really cold could be more like 50kwh. So instead of traveling 50 miles using whatever percentage, that same percentage would get you less than 25.[/QUOTE] If you like AWD then EVs are even better as well. It's more efficient and will increase range rather than decrease fuel economy like an ICE, and the front and rear wheels aren't physically linked. So the front and rear wheels can operate complwetely independently at the millisecond level to maintain traction.

Provided the car is built from the ground up to be electric. Stuff like the spark is still using the traditional style drive train, and hybrids obviously have to. You still need limited slip differentials, or 4 motors, to get serious AWD, but dual motors is still an improvement, and it adds (relatively) little additional weight over just being RWD.

[QUOTE=Sam Za Nemesis;50194687]I lived very close to you and 90% of the roads were coastside with little to no elevation :V[/QUOTE] That's until you want to drive anywhere useful