Winter Is Coming - Buy a Tesla To Handle It

With winter just around the corner, now is the perfect time to buy a Tesla to handle it.

Winter Is Coming - Buy a Tesla

I experienced my first winter last year with my 2022 Tesla Model 3 RWD. I wondered how it would perform, how much range I would get, and how much my tires would deflate. Have no fear, I'll answer all these questions for you and share why I think owning a Tesla for the winter is a smart choice.

For most people, you will park your Tesla in your garage where it won't get that cold. This will ensure the battery is relatively warm as you prepare to go drive outside in the cold. If you do have a cold car, or it is parked outside, it's very simple to start heating it up with the climate controls in the Tesla app. The car will literally defrost itself even if it is iced over.

There is NO waiting for an engine to heat up. You simply go and start driving your Tesla as you would in warm weather. At home, you can plug your car in at night for cheap electricity for fuel, and you don't have to brave the cold elements and snow to get gas. You won't slip on the ice getting out of a Tesla in your garage, and it's a few seconds each to plug it in and unplug it.

The nice thing is that when you warm up your car in the winter, it only takes a couple of minutes. I've had my car covered in snow and ice and in a few minutes, all that was gone, and I was driving.

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Tesla Performance In the Winter

How does a Tesla perform in the winter? If you have an NMC battery vehicle (Nickel-Manganese-Cobalt), then those vehicles won't face too much range loss in the winter. As the weather gets colder, however, any battery will perform worse than when it is warm.

I have an LFP battery in my car because it's a standard range vehicle. The Model 3 and Model Y standard range vehicles both have this. LFP means Lithium-iron-phosphate. Iron makes up more of the battery chemistry and these batteries are cheaper for Tesla to get and use, and in a standard range car it makes sense.

During the cold weather, I've noticed my range drop anywhere from 10% to 30% and even a bit higher if I'm running the heat at full blast. Unfortunately, an LFP battery doesn't perform as well in the cold as an NMC battery. Still, I'm very happy with my Tesla and I generally don't run the hot air in my car during the winter - I just wear a sweatshirt or coat. That means my range loss is in the 10% to 20% range in most cases.

How does a Tesla perform on the ice? Due to having a heavy battery pack at the bottom of the car, that gives the car a nice center of gravity that is spread out. The car is almost impossible to flip, and I've had a couple cases where I slipped on the ice and the car quickly corrected itself. I trust my Tesla much more than my past car, a Honda Fit, for driving on the ice.

I'd sum up saying a Tesla is a much better car to own in the winter than a gas vehicle. A gas vehicle is still affected by the cold weather, and you'll never have to walk in the snow or slip on the ice to put gas in your car.

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Will you get a Tesla for the winter?

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Jeremy Johnson is a Tesla investor and supporter. He first invested in Tesla in 2017 after years of following Elon Musk and admiring his work ethic and intelligence. Since then, he's become a Tesla bull, covering anything about Tesla he can find, while also dabbling in other electric vehicle companies. Jeremy covers Tesla developments at Torque News. You can follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn to stay in touch and follow his Tesla news coverage on Torque News. Image Credit, Tesla, Screenshot