This American man took a Tesla Model Y Long Range and Model 3 Performance out for drives when their batteries were at 0 percent, just to see how far they could run on empty.
Plenty of people have ‘range anxiety’ when it comes to EVs.
There’s a worry that if their EV hits zero percent, they’ll be left stranded on the road.
This YouTuber hoped his experiment would allay those concerns.
Have range anxiety when it comes to your EVs? This experiment is for you
Range anxiety is commonly cited as a main reason for why drivers don’t want to make the switch to driving EVs.
Anton, the channel’s host, had a simple experiment experiment in mind – he wanted to test how far the Model Y and the Model 3 Performance could go after they reached ‘zero percent battery’.
Most would assume that meant the car would stop dead in its tracks, but this wasn’t the case.
After the battery display of ‘0% State of Charge’ appears on the screen, the cars still had a little bit of juice left over.
How did the Model Y fare at zero percent?
For the Model Y, the Battery Management System data showed there was 3.4 kWh buffer, equivalent to around 4.5 percent of SoC (State of Charge).
Did that pan out when the host took the Model Y out for a drive?
Well, he managed to secure an extra 15 miles of distance over a driving time of 52 minutes.
Around 12 miles in, a low-power warning flashed up, and a shutdown warning followed soon after.
Enhance/YouTube
Eventually, the car began shaking rapidly and the driver was forced to pull into a charger.
Still, not too shabby.
Now it was time to see how the Model 3 Performance compared.
Did the Model 3 Performance do any better?
By comparison, the Model 3 Performance managed 48 extra driving minutes and covered an extra distance of 10.8 miles.
Not too bad, but certainly less than what the Model Y had managed.
Considering its age and modifications, the Model 3 gave a solid performance.
Enhance/YouTube
“It’s extremely impressive how both vehicles were able to drive this extra distance when they both hit the zero mark,” Anton said.
“So, everybody who is afraid that whenever your car hits the zero mark, the car is going to be dead, you have plenty of juice still left inside your car.”
“So you can be brave, drive without any concerns, because your car can handle a lot more range than you think.”
“The performance surprised us a lot,” Anton told Supercar Blondie.
“We knew we would likely be able to drive around 12–15 km with the Model Y after the car reached 0% state of charge, but the Juniper managed 25 km, which was a pleasant surprise.
“The main reasons were its efficiency and strong regenerative braking system, which was able to recover an additional 1.6 kWh of energy during normal driving.
“On the older model, the range was much lower. This was most likely due to its less efficient drag coefficiency score, the absence of a heat pump, and probably the age of the battery.”
SB Media/Google Gemini
History of the Tesla Model 3
2016: The Model 3 was unveiled at an event in Hawthorne, California, with reservations opening that same day. 180,000 were placed within 24 hours.
2016 – 2017: Development and production ramped up.
July 2017: The first Model 3 ‘production unit’ rolled off the line, and the first 30 customers received their cars.
Late 2017: Output remained low as supply chain issues were resolved.
2018: The Model 3 becomes more widely accessible as production accelerated.
