Pure range: what you need to know about your Tesla battery

The battery is the heart of your Tesla and there is a lot to know about it. What influences the range? How do you conserve the battery? And what is recuperation all about

The answers to these and other questions are clearly summarized here.

Tesla range

Whether Tesla Model Y or Tesla Model S: range is the most important keyword in connection with the battery. It indicates the maximum distance you can drive before the next charging stop is due. This is always an estimate, as the actual range depends on many factors.

Do you drive sportily or cautiously, do you have the large performance rims or the aerodynamically favorable aero rims, is the car heavily loaded or almost empty - all of this plays a role.

The weather also has a major influence: In winter, the battery suffers from the cold temperatures; on hot summer days, the air conditioning needs a lot of energy. You can save a lot of battery power with the right sun protection.

Important: The displayed range or The battery charge level actually represents the maximum, unlike the combustion engine, there is no "tank reserve". Therefore, find a charging station at the latest when the battery is at 10% and always plan with a range of around 50 kilometers less than indicated to be on the safe side.

Tesla consumption per 100 km

All this sounds as if the fuel consumption of electric cars is not particularly convincing. But not at all: Even the large, heavy Tesla Model X Maximum Range only consumes between 20 and 25 kWh/100 km, which corresponds to between 3 and 5 liters of gasoline, depending on the engine used for comparison.

The fuel consumption of all Tesla models is given by the car manufacturer with the following average values:

• Consumption Tesla Model S: 19 kWh/100 km
• Consumption Tesla Model 3 basic version: 14.9 kWh/100 km
• Consumption Tesla Model X: 22.6 kWh/100 km
• Consumption Tesla Model Y:  16.9 kWh/100 km

Under Vehicle -> Trips you can display your current consumption.

Tesla-Rekuperation

However, there is also a way to "regain" range. The so-called recuperation transforms the electric motor of your Tesla into a generator to feed energy back into the battery when braking and driving downhill - a clear efficiency advantage over combustion engines. 

Tesla-Batterie schonen

Another special feature of electric cars: the battery capacity decreases over the years for chemical reasons. So in order to be able to continue after 100.000 kilometers as much range as possible, you should conserve your battery. To this end, it is advisable to keep the battery level between 20 and 80 % whenever possible (i.e. not to charge it completely) and to prefer the wallbox at home to fast charging stations.

Exception are the LFP batteries recently installed in the Tesla Model 3 with the shortest range, which can also be regularly charged up to 100 %.

Source contribution image: Jeffrey Correa via Unsplash