My best real range in my EV Tesla 3LR is 550km and my lowest real range is 340km. My average is ~460km.
The figure is simply how far I traveled by the odometer divided by what percentage of my battery I used, expressed as km/100%.
The lowest real range I have had was uphill during freezing weather in June. I left Gundagai elevation 232m in 8 degrees C, with 80% and travelled 174km uphill at 110km/hr to Goulburn, elevation 642m arriving in 6 degrees C with 29%. (Preconditioning started about 80km out). That 174km used 51% battery, or 34km per 10%, which is equivalent to 340km per 100% of battery. For the trip overall, from Melbourne to Sydney, I left from Yea, elevation 172m and made 3 stops on my 808km trip to Sydney, elevation 98m, travelling in 0 to 8 degrees C at 110km/h average 37.8km per 10% of battery, or equivalent to 378km for 100% of battery.
The highest real range I’ve had has been in warm weather from Bathurst to Sydney, I left Bathurst at 650m elevation with 90% charge and I arrived in Sydney at 98m elevation, with 56% charge left. Thats 34% over 186km or 55km per 10% of battery used, equivalent to 550km for 100% of battery.
Longest gap between chargers
The longest legs I have driven without a charger enroute has been the 300km between Dubbo and Cobar and the 320km return trip Cobar to Bourke. Neither trip had charging available other than at Dubbo and Cobar, when I did them.
Longest drive without charging
The longest I have driven without charging has been 367km between Melbourne and Orbost, which used 80% of my battery. There were chargers enroute if needed, but I didn’t use them.
This shows the energy used in driving, plus the other energy used. It used 79.6% of battery in total on that 367.4km trip.
Type of EV
My EV is a 2021 Tesla 3LR which has now travelled 56,327 km over past 2.2 years. Both trips used as examples above, were in Standard acceleration mode. Tesla recommend driving in Chill acceleration mode during cold weather, if you want to have the most range, but my trips are all in Standard acceleration mode, which uses more energy.
Change in EV Battery Capacity Over Time
In October 2021 the EPA range figure on my 3LR car touchscreen said 86% would take me 463 km. That’s 538km for 100%.
In Oct 2023, 2 years and 55,383km later, my 3LR car touchscreen, checked at 80%, said 80% will give me 405km, That’s 506km for 100%.
So if that is a sign of battery capacity, it means a 5.9% reduction over that 55,383km 2yr period in my Tesla 3LR EV.
Tesla says it’s normal for estimated range to decrease slightly over the first few months before leveling off. Over time, you may see a gradual, but natural, decrease in range at full charge – this depends on factors such as the mileage and age of the Battery.
Tesla says that average capacity reduction is 12% after 320,000 kms (200,000 miles).
WLTP, EPA and ADR EV range figures
My WLTP figure advertised by Tesla when I bought my Tesla 3LR was 580km.
The km figure displayed on my 3LR car touchscreen is not the WLTP figure, it’s the USA EPA test rating and when new at 100% was about 538km and now about 506km (5.9% battery capacity drop after 55,338 km).
After 55,338km, my real world average on the freeway at 80-110km/hr was actually 46km for each 10% of battery I use, or 460km for 100%, which is ~20% below WLTP.
The WLTP and EPA test ranges are just test protocols for comparisons between cars only, not real range. The WLTP test is a 30 minute lab test with average speed of 53.5km/hr.
The driving range displayed on the car touchscreen and app doesn’t use WLTP, it is based on EPA-rated consumption in the United States, which deviates from tests advertised and performed in other jurisdictions.
An Australian ADR 81/02 is used on the windshield sticker in Australia. In Australia the ADR 81/02 government mandated fuel consumption stickers on cars do not reflect real range. A photo of the sticker from a 2021 Tesla 3LR, shows an implausible range of 657km, 77km more than the WLTP figure advertised by Tesla for that model of 580km. The test protocol would require me to travel at no more than average speeds of 19-63km/hr to reproduce that range. This is because the Australian ADR 81/02 fuel consumption sticker gives a range based on a test protocol with a test phase average speed of 19km/hr in stop start traffic and long periods of idling. There is also a second phase with average speed of 63km/hr. There is no testing included in the sticker figures for long periods of highway, freeway or country road driving.
