Hey
@vhillmd. Is the Air GT your first EV? Do you have a home charging station?
I found these general tips from Tesla to be quite useful for EV owners overall:
Your Tesla vehicle continuously monitors its energy level and proximity to known charging locations to provide range assurance. To maximize efficiency, it is important to know the factors that impact range and the recommended ways to reduce energy consumption.
www.tesla.com
Your Driving Style and Environment
Your driving behaviors and environment play a big role in achievable range. Frequent stop-and-go driving, inclement weather and uphill driving put a natural strain on the battery. To maximize range, it’s important to watch your driving speed and keep regenerative braking in its ‘Standard’ setting, if selectable regenerative braking is equipped on your vehicle.
As you drive, be mindful of common reasons your range may decrease more rapidly:
- High driving speeds
- Stop-and-go driving
- Short trips
- Uphill driving
- Inclement weather such as rain, snow and headwinds
Cold Weather
When temperature drops, range can decrease due to extra energy demands on the battery. Cold batteries use more energy to maintain optimal operating temperature. Cold weather also limits regenerative braking capability. Though some range effects aren’t completely avoidable in cold temperatures, there are some ways to mitigate them.
- Keep your Tesla plugged in whenever possible. This will help the battery retain some heat. The onboard computer will automatically prevent over-charging.
- Precondition the battery before turning on your Tesla. When possible, plug in and charge while you precondition.
- Limit high use of heat and air conditioning. Instead, use seat heaters to keep cabin climate at optimal temperature.
If you expect to drive in low temperatures,
follow these winter driving tips.
Your Charging Habits
Charging Routine
- Maintain a regular, every-day charging routine using a low-voltage charger (i.e. Wall Connector at your home). Avoid allowing the battery to get too low in charge.
- Only use DC Fast Charging (i.e. Supercharging) when necessary, such as during long road trips.
- Charge the battery to the appropriate charge limit for your vehicle based on the installed battery. To adjust the charge limit for your vehicle, open the Charging screen on your touchscreen and then touch ‘Set Limit’ or open the Charging screen in your mobile app and drag the slider.
- For Rear-Wheel Drive vehicles,
If the image of the battery displays ‘50%’ and ‘100%’: Tesla recommends that you keep your charge limit to 100%, even for daily use, and that you also regularly charge your vehicle to 100% . If your vehicle has been parked for longer than a week, Tesla recommends driving your vehicle as you normally would and charge to 100% at your earliest convenience.
If the image of the Battery displays ‘Daily’ and ‘Trip’: keep the full charge limit of the battery to under 90% for daily use by using the mobile app or vehicle’s touchscreen to set charge limit within the ‘Daily’ range. If you need the full range (i.e. 100%) of your battery for a long-distance trip, you can increase the limit to the ‘Trip’ range (>90%) as necessary.
- For All-Wheel Drive vehicles, keep the full charge limit of the battery to under 90% for daily use by using the mobile app or vehicle’s touchscreen to set charge limit within the ‘Daily’ range. If you need the full range (i.e. 100%) of your battery for a long-distance trip, you can increase the limit to the ‘Trip’ range (>90%) as necessary.
Additional Range Tips
In addition to what’s been covered, here are a few extra ways to drive more efficiently and conserve range.
- Maintain your vehicle's tire pressures. Inflation recommendations are listed inside the drivers-side door jamb.
- Remove unnecessary cargo to lighten your load – more weight requires more energy to move the vehicle.
- Remove roof racks or rear racks when they are not in use.
- Reduce aerodynamic drag. Close all windows and change air suspension (if equipped) to ‘Low’ or ‘Very Low’ when driving at highway speeds. For Model 3 cars with aero wheels, install aero wheel covers.
