mackinaw Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Henry Payne, automotive writer for the Detroit News, has a Tesla Model 3. He gives periodic updates on the car's ownership experience. This is from a recent trip he took to northern Michigan. For some mysterious reason, his car was "drinking electrons" when it encountered heavy rain. I've long felt that BEV's are not yet ready for prime time, but this is something brand new. Nobody can offer an explanation: "Mother Nature would throw us another curve ball on the way home. After topping up to 312 miles in Gaylord for an easy trip home in 65-degree weather, the Model 3 mapped the 214 miles home to Oakland County with arrival by 11.12 PM. Driving in downpour south on I-75, the Tesla began to drink electrons. After 44 miles, the battery had lost 72 miles of charge, a staggering 40% degradation of range. More range degradation than I had experienced even in sub-30 degree weather. Because the electric motor was working hard to push rain out from the tires? Because of energy loss from windshield wipers and climate defrost? Engineers I've talked to have been mystified (Tesla couldn't be reached for comment)." https://www.detroitnews.com/story/opinion/columnists/henry-payne/2019/10/22/tesla-road-trips-can-challenge-ev-charging-ownership/4061947002/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Sounds like a short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 2 hours ago, mackinaw said: Henry Payne, automotive writer for the Detroit News, has a Tesla Model 3. He gives periodic updates on the car's ownership experience. This is from a recent trip he took to northern Michigan. For some mysterious reason, his car was "drinking electrons" when it encountered heavy rain. I've long felt that BEV's are not yet ready for prime time, but this is something brand new. Nobody can offer an explanation: Sounds like a engineering issue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotRunrGuy Posted October 24, 2019 Share Posted October 24, 2019 Am I the only one concerned that he's taking pictures of the screen while driving 70+ mph? HRG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blwnsmoke Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 5 hours ago, HotRunrGuy said: Am I the only one concerned that he's taking pictures of the screen while driving 70+ mph? HRG Better than autopilot and sleeping... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twintornados Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Man, that electric wiper motor sure does drain the battery....? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy62 Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 Water is not compressible. The tires have to move the water out of the way. It takes energy to do that. The deeper the water is the higher the energy required. This affects all cars, not just electric cars. When the water doesn't move out of the way fast enough the tire starts hydroplaning. Hydroplaning means there is no friction between the tire and the road. That usually does not end well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted October 25, 2019 Share Posted October 25, 2019 35 minutes ago, murphy62 said: Water is not compressible. The tires have to move the water out of the way. It takes energy to do that. The deeper the water is the higher the energy required. This affects all cars, not just electric cars. When the water doesn't move out of the way fast enough the tire starts hydroplaning. Hydroplaning means there is no friction between the tire and the road. That usually does not end well. I did some light googling on the subject and it seems like it should be about a 5-10% loss (this with hybrid or just a gas engine-which can be affected by more variables like humidity in the air affecting compression, etc then an electric car)....so a 40% is pretty steep even considering it might be running the AC to dehumidify the cabin and running the wipers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted October 25, 2019 Author Share Posted October 25, 2019 5 hours ago, silvrsvt said: I did some light googling on the subject and it seems like it should be about a 5-10% loss (this with hybrid or just a gas engine-which can be affected by more variables like humidity in the air affecting compression, etc then an electric car)....so a 40% is pretty steep even considering it might be running the AC to dehumidify the cabin and running the wipers. I wonder if all BEV's do this, or if it's specific to his particular car. I email him later on and ask for an update. Maybe some EV engineer has gotten in touch with him the past few days with an explanation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tsekc Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blwnsmoke Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 1 hour ago, tsekc said: Hmmm. Was this necessary? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probowler Posted December 5, 2019 Share Posted December 5, 2019 (edited) Even though I kind of agree with the "electric vehicles aren't ready" mindset, this has got to be a problem with his car... I'm sure if there was some water-related design flaw, then it would have been caught in testing by now, or at least by other drivers. I'm sure tesla has driven these things in the rain before... Very strange issue. Edited December 5, 2019 by probowler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackinaw Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 We'll never know what the issue was with Henry Payne's Model 3. He recently traded it in for a new dual-motor Model 3. We'll see how that performs in heavy rain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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