Range: Tesla Model Y Long Range vs Mach-E

[eleven24]

Currently driving a 2021 Tesla Model YLR, and one great thing about Tesla is the 3rd party apps that you can connect to your Tesla account and record real world driving & charging stats. Teslafi and Tezlab are two I'm going to miss when my Mach-e comes in.

That said, one huge data point people look at when buying an EV is range, and Elon will tell the world his Model Y gets 330 miles range. This is completely true... if driving downhill on a 75 degree day. Real world, not so much. In the 15 months I've had the Model Y I've put 28k miles on it. The average across those 28k miles, ranging in temps from 19-95 degrees F ends up at 3.7 miles per kW. With a 75 kWh battery, that's a 278 mile range. Yeah, not exactly 330 like Elon wants people to believe.

Cool part, is I can pull data based on temperature. When I do, it's clear to see Tesla is overstating their range:
30 degrees - 2.9 miles / kW (217 mile range)
50 degrees - 3.2 miles / kW (240 mile range)
70 degrees - 3.8 miles / kW (285 mile range)
90 degrees - 3.6 miles / kW (270 mile range)

Keep in mind, these are all AVERAGES of a mix of highway/city driving of which I'd estimate are a 60/40 split between the two. I live in Northeast PA near Philly, so I do get a range of temps.

I bought the Model Y because of that 330 range, even though I liked the looks of the Mach-e far better because when transitioning from an ICE vehicle to EV range is king. Had I had this kind of info when shopping for an EV I probably would've gone with the Mach-e. Now, with knowledge and experience in owning an EV under my belt, I have the car I wanted from the start on order.

Hopefully this information helps someone else who might be in the position I was in 2 years ago.

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[ab13]

Probably been posted before, but Edmunds tests show Tesla always getting below the stated range while almost everyone else is close or above. Tesla uses the EPA optimistic rating since it looks better when trying to sell to people.

https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/electric-car-range-and-consumption-epa-vs-edmunds.html

 

[voxel]

Having owned a bunch of Ys and Mach-Es... I can say the range of the Model Y LR and Mach-E Premium AWD ER are almost exactly the same. Around 270-280 miles at highway speeds and I measured my MYLR efficiency and range religiously with TeslaFI. Tesla definitely padded their EPA numbers for sure.

If you want over 300 miles of range you need to buy a sedan-shaped car. My BMW i4 (RWD) is definitely over 300 because I drove 240+ highway miles to an event and still had 20% SoC left.

 

[eleven24]

On highways I rarely go over 72mph - specifically because of the dramatic drop in range as 70 seems to be the magic number. I have actual hard stats on that as well. Yes, temperature, speed, incline & decline absolutely have an impact but also consider that even if I drive to a place that is a 500 feet incline, I still have to drive back home and will have 500 feet of decent. So it all evens out. For the most part.

Charge level? Has nothing to do with range. Charging curve, total time from point a to point b? Absolutely. Doesn't matter if I'm at 15% or 80%, I'll still get the same miles per kW range.

 

[eleven24]

Having owned a bunch of Ys and Mach-Es... I can say the range of the Model Y LR and Mach-E Premium AWD ER are almost exactly the same. Around 270-280 miles at highway speeds and I measured my MYLR efficiency and range religiously with TeslaFI. Tesla definitely padded their EPA numbers for sure.

If you want over 300 miles of range you need to buy a sedan-shaped car. My BMW i4 (RWD) is definitely over 300 because I drove 240+ highway miles to an event and still had 20% SoC left.

This is the overall point to my post. The reason I chose the MYLR was the increased range over the MME, but reality as shown through a very large sample size of nearly 30k miles has my range on the Tesla at or below that of the MME. Based on what I've seen from real world driving, if anything Ford under estimates their range a bit.

 

[eleven24]

All correct, and yes there is some confusion here. I'm referring not necessarily to how far a vehicle will go on a full charge but rather what the stated range from the manufacturer is versus real world driving.

Since the Tesla Model Y has a 75 kWh battery pack and they're claiming 330 miles of range that would equal 4.4 miles per kW. On the MME GT, which is what I have on order, Ford is claiming 260 miles of range on a 91 kWh pack, or 2.9 mi/kW.

I already know that my real world numbers put the Model Y at a 3.7 mi/kW average over 28k miles under all driving conditions. From anecdotal evidence I can gather from forums like this as well as YouTube videos, it sure seems that MME drivers are achieving close to or better than the miles per kW that Ford claims. That Tesla promotes a very optimistic best case scenario range whereas Ford seems to be closer to reality is really the issue here.

What absolutely needs to be done is for a Federal standard in testing for EV range. Right now Ford and Tesla are permitted by the EPA to use two totally different, yet permissible, manners of testing. This creates an apples to oranges comparison for consumers - and they have no idea all things aren't equal.

Had I known this when buying my first EV, I would've certainly opted for the Mach-e as I liked it much better. I didn't, bought the Model Y out of range anxiety, and after some experience now have a MME GT on order.

 

[timbop]

All correct, and yes there is some confusion here. I'm referring not necessarily to how far a vehicle will go on a full charge but rather what the stated range from the manufacturer is versus real world driving.

Since the Tesla Model Y has a 75 kWh battery pack and they're claiming 330 miles of range that would equal 4.4 miles per kW. On the MME GT, which is what I have on order, Ford is claiming 260 miles of range on a 91 kWh pack, or 2.9 mi/kW.

I already know that my real world numbers put the Model Y at a 3.7 mi/kW average over 28k miles under all driving conditions. From anecdotal evidence I can gather from forums like this as well as YouTube videos, it sure seems that MME drivers are achieving close to or better than the miles per kW that Ford claims. That Tesla promotes a very optimistic best case scenario range whereas Ford seems to be closer to reality is really the issue here.

What absolutely needs to be done is for a Federal standard in testing for EV range. Right now Ford and Tesla are permitted by the EPA to use two totally different, yet permissible, manners of testing. This creates an apples to oranges comparison for consumers - and they have no idea all things aren't equal.

Had I known this when buying my first EV, I would've certainly opted for the Mach-e as I liked it much better. I didn't, bought the Model Y out of range anxiety, and after some experience now have a MME GT on order.

Yes, the 2 cycle test Ford and everyone else uses gives more conservative results than the optimistic 5 cycle test Tesla uses. Since Ford et al could also run the 5 cycle test, they could make the tests come out higher than the Tesla.

I understand what you're saying about everyone running one test, but since they've allowed the 2 and 5 cycle test varieties for over a decade I don't know how they change it. Doing so would cause confusion over why the new cars have such different mileage than the old

 

[voxel]

Since the Tesla Model Y has a 75 kWh battery pack and they're claiming 330 miles of range that would equal 4.4 miles per kW. On the MME GT, which is what I have on order, Ford is claiming 260 miles of range on a 91 kWh pack, or 2.9 mi/kW.

Ford's GT numbers are a giant lie - almost as big as Teslas. My GTPE... never got over 2.6 mi/kWh efficiency. I'm in warm, flat Florida.

My current Premium AWD ER exceeds 3.3 mi/kWh... sometimes as high as 3.6 mi/kWh and low as 3.0mi/kWh. I drove both the same way... 70% highways. The Model Ys I've owned were 3.6-3.8 mi/kWh efficiency and of course with a smaller battery pack the range is about the same as the Premium.

The two major strikes against my GTPE were the range/efficiency and shoddy track mode. I personally would not touch the GT or GTPE until Ford moves to a 800V architecture.

 

[eleven24]

I understand what you're saying about everyone running one test, but since they've allowed the 2 and 5 cycle test varieties for over a decade I don't know how they change it. Doing so would cause confusion over why the new cars have such different mileage than the old

Very true regarding having done it for over a decade; but with such a Federal push toward EV's now would be the time to develop one standard way of testing because adoption of EV's is directly tied to education of consumers.

Perhaps even allow manufacturers a transition period where they may list the "old" scores on a window sticker, but not market their vehicles using the old test methods.

 

[Toy_collector]

Just be aware that in the winter the Mach-E loses A LOT more range than the Tesla. I can easily estimate my range on my Tesla by multiplying the current usage rate by 75KWH winter or summer. In the Mach E the battery capacity drops significantly so you can't do that same calculation. 91KWH battery becomes 75KWH battery in the winter.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I have ~13k miles on my Mustang CA Route 1 AWD ER. Almost all of those miles are highway miles with a climb ranging between 5,000 feet and 7,000 feet elevation gain depending on the destination. Note that yes, I have to go downhill first, but the drop downhill doesn't save as much energy as the climb back up hill requires.

My average efficiency is 3.1 miles/kWh. When we stay home for a month, the overall average efficiency climbs up to about 3.5-4.1 miles/kWh, though that will eventually not be true as we accumulate the lower efficiency highway miles. Based on the 3.1 miles/kWh efficiency, our range is about 280 miles. The EPA-rated range is 312 miles. When we shift to mostly or all around-town for a particular charge cycle, we can easily get 320 miles to 370 miles (for only low speeds) range.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

This is the overall point to my post. The reason I chose the MYLR was the increased range over the MME, but reality as shown through a very large sample size of nearly 30k miles has my range on the Tesla at or below that of the MME. Based on what I've seen from real world driving, if anything Ford under estimates their range a bit.

Been posting this for like 2+ years. Edmunds EV range test is a pretty good real world 60/40 city/hwy loop and Teslas never hit their EPA ranges. Almost every other maker exceeds their EPA numbers. More smoke and mirrors BS from Elon and Co.

 

[Arsenic17]

Keep in mind that your usable battery capacity will decrease as temperature decreases, not just the efficiency from running the heater etc. That is, as it gets cold, your capacity of 75 kWh will decrease. Down to something like 55kWh with temperatures way below freezing. So your range calculation of multiplying efficient by 75 is the highest end range. It would be lower.

EDIT: With that said, it's common knowledge (here at least)that Tesla releases the absolute best case scenario range values where most people can never attain. On the other hand, Ford is fairly conservative and more realistic, with people in warmer climates exceeding the rated range, sometimes by as much as 10%. The actual range of the MachE ER and Model Y LR is almost identical. There's no questioning MY is more efficient though. MME is a tank.

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