# 15 degrees below zero



## RockDoc (Nov 9, 2021)

I have an MYLR scheduled for delivery this winter. I live in the state of Maine where, although not common, temperature can fall Well into the negative numbers. My question, to those with experience, is if the temperature is -15°F and I preheat the car, drive 50 miles, let the car sit for four hours, and then drive home -would I expect any difficulty other than perhaps low energy response on the return trip? 
ADVthanksANCE


----------



## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

As a to-be owner, you may not realize that range decreases significantly in cooler temperatures. Even below 50, you'll start seeing degradations 0f about 30%. At -15, you can probably expect up to about 50% range decrease. I'm in Georgia and over the next few months, I expect my LR to drop to about 200 miles range.

At -15, I hope that your car is plugged in and in a garage. If you can plug into 120V 15A, commonly used for block heaters while you are at your destination, life will be much better, as that's about what is needed to maintain the car. It's not going to charge, just maintain.

You should be able to do it with no problem with a LR, but it is very different from summer driving.

The good news is that when spring comes, you'll start to feel like you have a new car, because the range it going to be tremendous, compared to what you get in the winter. 

Also, ignore the range shown on the main screen. Use the energy graphs to get a better estimation of what your range looks like.


----------



## Bigriver (Jan 26, 2018)

@RockDoc welcome to the forum.

I would suggest to go to YouTube and search on "Bjorn Nyland Tesla cold" and you'll find about half a dozen videos on the topic. Bjorn is a longtime Tesla owner who lives in Norway and is not shy to push the car to the limits and share those results.

I only have personal experience down to about 0 F, but have not ever experienced any problems. I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "low energy response"…. As Ed noted, the car will not be as efficient. But in terms of running, absolutely no issues, unlike ICE vehicles that might not even turn over in the very cold temps.

BTW my experience with the cold weather hit is not as extreme as 30% below 50 F that Ed mentioned. Here is data from Teslafi, a 3rd party program, for my model 3 and my model X, neither which have a heat pump which is supposed to help with winter efficiency.


----------



## D. J. (Apr 11, 2016)

You’ll definitely get the “snowflake” indicator and will initially have reduced range and power until the battery warms up. But the car will be fine - it’s designed to drive in arctic conditions. You’ll also be limited in charge rate at superchargers with a cold soaked battery. Other than those limits, it has been a great cold weather car here in Colorado where some ski mornings are down around that -10F to -15F range.


----------



## TrevP (Oct 20, 2015)

@RockDoc I've owned 2 Teslas over the last 4 years and have lots of cold weather experience (Canada). The car will be just fine, don't overthink it however because the battery needs to be warm to deliver the optimum performance you will see on cold days that the power indicator will have dotted lines at the bottom (limited regen) and sometimes at the top (limited power). Once the battery warms up those dots will go away and things will be "normal" but given that the heat has to be artificially generated and the power comes from the battery you will lose up to 30-40% range below 0c so it pays to ensure you preheat the car while on "shore power" (ie: leave it plugged in)

That way the power loss is mitigated somewhat when it's cold outside. Before long trips, set the car to charge to 100% and use the scheduled departure feature to ensure the battery is fully charged and warmed up as that first 10% will come off very quickly because you have to heat the cabin etc..

The first 15-20 minutes of driving in the car when cold you will see the power consumption will be really high until temps come up and it can back off the heating, then things will gradually normalize.

Hope this helps but don't be afraid to reach out or use the search feature. We also have a large YouTube channel dealing with cold tips for the winter:

https://www.youtube.com/c/Model3OwnersClubDotCom/search?query=cold


----------



## MnLakeBum (Mar 17, 2021)

I have a 2015 MS85D and live in Minneapolis, which is about 8* colder during the winter than where you live in Maine. I figure around 50% of indicated range when it's -15* and maybe 60% at 10* above zero. My max full charge indicated range on my battery meter is 232 miles, so when it's below zero, I will make sure to know where a charger is if I need to travel more than about 120 miles. I did make it home with 9 miles remaining on the battery meter from our lake home 139 miles away a few years ago, where the temperature started at 0* from an unheated garage and finished at -6*. My biggest complaint is the older Teslas like mine lack a heated steering wheel and really don't heat well when you get down to 0*. I'll normally drive our Range Rover when the temps approach single digits.

Luckily I'll be in Naples, Florida, for about 65 of the next 130 days, so won't have to spend too many days in the bitter cold.


----------

