Some longer term X battery usage update after 2,000 miles:
- the wh usage display on the dash is understated by about 6% (there are many theories about this ranging from brake regen charging loss to not counting usage when idle and some phantom loss)
- as such, to match the 295 EPA range, the display needs to indicate 310 wh/m usage (officially the car is rated 340 wh/m but calculations using real 98kwh usable capacity says the rating is 330 wh/m to get 295 miles range,Tesla reserves 4kwh not to brick the battery out of the 102kwh battery)
- my displayed usage is 390wh/m after 2,400 miles (this includes a lot of daily commutes that are around 350wh/m when driving on autopilot mostly, and a lot of very heavy city traffic which kills the average), this reflect my normal no compromise driving style, flooring it for proper testing, driving up to 76mph when possible, radio, AC as needed, the RRS is getting 16mpg in the same conditions, the Cayenne TTS was 13mpg and the Macan turbo 20mpg
- I have managed to get below 300wh/h on some long stretches (>20 miles) of highway when speed was in the 45-65mph range due to traffic, so I have no doubt you can get over 300 miles of real range in these exact circumstances
- I have managed to get 330wh/m for my long daily commute that includes city, highway and suburban driving, as long as you don’t floor it and use autopilot, very close to the EPA rating of 310
- if you start driving aggressively or above 70mph battery usage goes up a lot, driving like a proper sport car will literally kill the range which does not bode well for the Taycan if used in the way it is marketed as, people will see <100miles range fairly quickly, that’s probably why the Tesla roadster is designed to have a 200kwh battery
- my confortable 10-90% average usage range is around 195 miles with these spring mild temperatures, from a 295 mikes EPA rating. For the ETron if you correct for the higher reserve built in and the same 10% cushion, you get 74kwh available and if you apply the 25% reduction due to my driving style vs EPA rating of the X (to be nice let’s only use 20%), you get 145 miles instead of the 195 with the X. I could not live with this low range since at times it would force me to top off the battery during the day which defeats the purpose of the EV saving you time. Plus in the winter, this number will be much lower on the coldest days, I should make it with the X but might need the extra 10%. And then for trips, I can charge the X to 100% and get an extra 20 miles
- $ savings: on top of having service only every 2 years and less mechanical parts to replace and much longer life of the brakes, the higher resale value, for the 20,000 miles a year I drive, vs the RRS I will save $5,000 a year just in fuel since I do not pay for electric (I would save $3,200 if I paid for electric)
- time saving: between the fast lanes and not having to go to the gas station, I will save 30 hours a year
Conclusion on the battery usage part: I could not live with a car with less than 280 miles of EPA range, Tesla EPA numbers can be matched in real life on long stretches, real life usage will be significantly less than EPA ratings especially if driving sporty. No regrets on the extra 10% efficiency of the new X since it would not really change my pattern, only when combined with a 120+ kWh battery will it make a difference (ie two days of commuting possible vs one)