Tesla Chronicles #14 – First 10,000+ Miles and Cold Weather

(Posted to Facebook 1/6/2022)

It has been awhile since I have posted a TC, so here goes. Over the holiday, we passed 10,000 on our Tesla Model Y...on pace for 20,000 in the first year. It has quickly become the ONLY car we drive when we hop in a car to go somewhere, because, well, it just makes sense. I love it and won't ever purchase an ICE. It looks like all the major car makers are getting on board... most recently, Chevy announced an EV Silverado (very sweet looking), and Toyota and Mazda who continue to resist, are waking up.

Maintenance - washer fluid.... that's it. I am not including winter tires, because that would be required for any car you buy that comes with summer performance tires. This is actually the one mistake I made ordering my MY. If I would have just ordered the standard wheels, they would probably have been All Season tires. I just ordered wipers to have on hand. at 10k, they are starting to wear a little, but still working pretty well.

I wanted to talk a little about EVs and cold weather. With the recent incident on I-95, and posts on social media about that, it is clear that the number of people ill informed about how EVs work in cold weather is just crazy.... so here goes:

1) EVs don't work when it gets really cold - NOT TRUE. a) "They won't start" - The Auto industry has adopted a 12V electrical system architecture, and an EV is no different. As such, EV's have 12V batteries that are susceptible to cold weather just like any other car. These batteries run the computers, locks, interior lights, etc. If the crap out in cold weather, any car won't open or even start. b) "The batteries freeze" - I suppose in VERY cold weather, this is possible, but wouldn't most ICE vehicle have trouble starting in sub-zero weather?.... In this case, as a consumer, you need to know what you are buying when you get and EV. Tesla vehicles have active battery temperature management. They work to keep the batteries warm or cool for optimal performance. Some EV makers don't do this (Chevy Bolt for example), so the consumer just needs to be educated and act accordingly. This makes Teslas more expensive, but in mild climates or individuals that have a garage, that expense might not be necessary.

2) EVs are trouble if you get stranded on the HW - NOT TRUE. This is just anti-EV garbage.... do the math.... Trust my source, but an ICE consumes 0.15 gallons of gas/hour of Idle for every Liter of displacement... a 4.0L engine will consume 0.6 gallons/hour... 24 hours of operations would require nearly 15 gallons... Way more than a half tank for many vehicles. This is going to depend on the EV design, but the newer Teslas have a very efficient heat pump for cabin and battery temp management. When sitting idle, and EV ONLY needs to maintain the cabin temps. Tesla calls this mode "Camp Mode", and it uses somewhere between 0.5% to 1.5% of the battery for every hour.... that is a maximum of 36% of the battery in a 24 hour period.... much like a gas vehicle, you just fill up before you go out driving in bad weather just to be ready for this sort of issue.

3) EVs are terrible in the SNOW. NOT TRUE. The real issue here seems to be that people just don't understand TIRES. Many EVs come with performance and/or low resistance tires, and these are usually SUMMER tires. Once equipped with good winter or all weather tires, EVs, because of their weight, are generally great vehicles to drive in the snow, not to mention most of them have AWD too. My first experience on snowy roads last week... I couldn't make my Tesla slide... it was like there wasn't even snow on the road.

At the end of the day, if EVs don't work in Cold weather, then ask yourself why one of the coldest countries in the world, Sweden, is seeing EVs making up over 54% of new auto sales.

Benefits of owning a Tesla in the winter - other car companies will get there, but right now, I think Tesla is the only one where you can manage your daily departure times, in the car or through their app. When doing so, my car is clear of frost and light snow, and is warm and cozy every morning when I leave. This uses about 1-3% of the battery every morning to get up to 68 depending upon how cold it is, but it is awesome. Game changer.

The one major downside is that cold weather impacts range. Because the HVAC draws directly from the battery, that means you have less battery capacity for driving, and thus you can't drive as far as you could in warmer weather. This has impacted me on 3 different trips so far. A round trip in a day from Harrisburg to Greensburg... I wasn't sure I would have enough to go the full distance each way, so I stopped for 10 minutes each direction to add a little charge. Same thing for a trip to Harrisonburg, VA... A trip that should be doable with two quick stops, but due to the consumptions, the stops were closer to 15 minutes rather than 5-10 minutes.... and finally, a round trip to Harrisburg and back in a day.... this would generally be 80-85%, but in cold weather, it is 95-100%... even with adding 10% while loading the car in Harrisburg, I just didn't feel comfortable that I would have enough, so I stopped on the way out.... I also stopped longer than I needed because Tesla was giving out free charging that morning...free is free!

We love our Tesla so much, we actually convinced Emily to get one as well. She ordered a Model 3 Long Range and hope to get it by March or so. Almost every Tesla has a 6-12 month backorder period right now, but the Model 3 LR is the one that doesn't. I think most people looking at the Model 3 are either looking at the cheapest model, or the most expensive performance model, and the one in the middle doesn't have a huge demand.