Range shot after tire change?

[Teslaeata]

I love my MachE, and was quite proud to get ~310-320 range overall for last 4 years. (in Summer, it may even go up to 340+). All those Tesla folk used to envy it.
As this is a AWD, I decided to venture in to snow. Since the tires were original, decided to put new ones. I did, and the ride has been quite good, and the car handled the snow, sleet, ice everything so well in Tahoe hills.
Problem is with the range shown. right after the tire change, it showed ~220 on 90% charge (as opposed to 290 before). I thought it might be just reset, and could come up. Then went on highway, and cold Tahoe area. All my range calculation was off, and had to go with whatever the car was saying as its range. So ended up charging at multiple super chargers in the trip. While coming back, last charging, it even showed 99 miles at 80% (
I went ahead and 'reset' the range manually for now, and it went back to around 220.

Question to the experts here or whoever has experienced this: is this expected after the tire change? Or is it just trifecta effect of tire, temp and highway driving, and the range will get adjusted back to 'normal'?

No!

That sort of reduction due to tyre change is unrealistic, impossible in fact, in my view.

Also in my view is that if OP thought he was “getting” 310 to 320 and up to 340 range he is entirely mistaken on an AWD in any conditions anywhere on earth.

My experience of a RWD ER in the middle of the Uk where temperatures are neither excessively high or low in that range is between 230 in winter and 310 tops in summer.

Tyre change made no measurable difference.

My conclusion: The OP’s indicated starting ranges are incorrect.

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[rhougey]

To top it off, the windshield was completed fogged, and I was using my cap to wipe the windshield to drive in that snow/ice. (any pointers on how to take care of windshield fogging -without using climate control -would be highly appreciated)

Kylo, glad you finished your trip. Here are some observations and tips.
#1 Rain-x makes an anti-fog glass cleaner that helps.
#2 Eliminate sources of moisture inside the car as much as possible - wet clothing, wet boots, people and pets exhaling. The wet clothing can be put in the frunk.
#3 Warm air has more capacity to hold moisture than colder air, and the fogging is the cold surface temperature of the window glass drawing the moisture out of the warm air. The greater the differential in temperature between the air and the glass, the more you will likely struggle to prevent fogging.
#4 In order to draw the condensating moisture back off of the glass, you will need moving air that is somewhat warmer than the inside temperature of the car, directed across the interior glass surface (set to defrost vents only), but you may not need more than fan speed 1 or 2. Using your recirculating setting loads the air with moisture, so avoid it.
#5 This is what I do to save battery energy in winter (25-40F) driving when I am alone. Use anti fog glass cleaner. Precondition the battery before unplugging. Bundle up with dry clothing so that I can stay warm with minimal heat. Make sure recirc is off and heat is on. Set the vents so heated air is only directed at glass. Set climate control so “auto” is not on, and set the temp setting to 60. Manually adjust as necessary the fan speed between off, 1, or 2, only as much as needed to keep the glass clear. Use seat heat or steering wheel heat as needed. My guess is that I wind up maintaining the interior of the car at approximately 45-50F.

This works for me, but my wife does not do this. If she’s along, we take the truck with 4WD and plenty of heat. It does allow me to often get from our house in Concord to our cabin north of Lake Shasta without stopping to charge in winter (230 miles, usually 3.5 hours). I leave at 4AM to arrive before 8AM. Others may have their own strategy.

 

[RickMachE]

Thanks for all the inputs. I am back home now, and relieved of the anxiety.
99m@80% did it for me, and I dont think I will take this for longer drives -especially in winter. When the GOM was showing single digits, and I knew the charger distance was more than that, some of the confidence does start shaking -especially when the car keeps screaming that I can not reach any charger with the power I have.
To top it off, the windshield was completed fogged, and I was using my cap to wipe the windshield to drive in that snow/ice. (any pointers on how to take care of windshield fogging -without using climate control -would be highly appreciated)

In any case, it was most likely effect of driving conditions, cold, and the new tires (GOM did get reset when the new tires were put). Tires are not top end, but the drive and snow handling was quite satisfactory.

Hats off to many of you guys who live in cold country with snow/ice and constant highway driving. I am not comfortable with any EV with <300 range.

PS: Some addl stress was from learning that some of the older Tesla superchargers are not compatible! So best way to find the right charger is from the app -looking for public charger.

What miles per kWh were you getting?

Hit the max defrost button...

 

[KyloRen]

My conclusion: The OP’s indicated starting ranges are incorrect.

I am stating what GOM says to me for last 3 years, and its been quite close to Google miles. Where I drive, I dont think AWD was active as such (I dont know if/how I can enable AWD in the car).

 

[KyloRen]

Kylo, glad you finished your trip. Here are some observations and tips.
#1 Rain-x makes an anti-fog glass cleaner that helps.
#2 Eliminate sources of moisture inside the car as much as possible - wet clothing, wet boots, people and pets exhaling. The wet clothing can be put in the frunk.
#3 Warm air has more capacity to hold moisture than colder air, and the fogging is the cold surface temperature of the window glass drawing the moisture out of the warm air. The greater the differential in temperature between the air and the glass, the more you will likely struggle to prevent fogging.
#4 In order to draw the condensating moisture back off of the glass, you will need moving air that is somewhat warmer than the inside temperature of the car, directed across the interior glass surface (set to defrost vents only), but you may not need more than fan speed 1 or 2. Using your recirculating setting loads the air with moisture, so avoid it.
#5 This is what I do to save battery energy in winter (25-40F) driving when I am alone. Use anti fog glass cleaner. Precondition the battery before unplugging. Bundle up with dry clothing so that I can stay warm with minimal heat. Make sure recirc is off and heat is on. Set the vents so heated air is only directed at glass. Set climate control so “auto” is not on, and set the temp setting to 60. Manually adjust as necessary the fan speed between off, 1, or 2, only as much as needed to keep the glass clear. Use seat heat or steering wheel heat as needed. My guess is that I wind up maintaining the interior of the car at approximately 45-50F.

This works for me, but my wife does not do this. If she’s along, we take the truck with 4WD and plenty of heat. It does allow me to often get from our house in Concord to our cabin north of Lake Shasta without stopping to charge in winter (230 miles, usually 3.5 hours). I leave at 4AM to arrive before 8AM. Others may have their own strategy.

Thank you for detailed inputs. I am going to try the anti-fog glass cleaner again; last time it just dimmed the glass

As we were just driving back after a whole day of rigorous snowboarding, and quite limited patience, it was hard to control other things -especially when the GOM states 8miles, and nearest charger was 14miles away! I bet on physics to stay positive (down slope

Anyway, many lessons learnt. Will try to have enough prep-time along with charge time included in planning.

Thanks again, and happy new year!

 

[KyloRen]

What miles per kWh were you getting?

Hit the max defrost button...

around 3.6 - before resetting.

Yeah, max defrost was always my go to but not when the battery has tanked and car is screaming to turn off everything, and saying I dont have a way to get any charger in this condition

 

[Tosh]

If I may - I've had bad experience with Rain-X antifog treatment. I wouldn't recommend it. For me, it didn't work, but it sure made my windshield super slimy on the inside!

There's no option to disable AWD in my Rally, and I suspect that's true for all MachE AWD models.

I've had plenty of times when my auto glass was fogging up bad (not in the MME) with 4 people in the vehicle who had all been out skiing and no one shed snow gear before hand. Now it's mandatory that folks dust off, stow boots and other items in the trunk/frunk/boot/froot/whathaveyou.

And no open containers! NONE! No Exceptions!! No food either!!!!

NO CHEWING GUM!!!!!!

I'm a really popular guy ;-}

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