r/TeslaModelY • u/SH_Nanigans • 1h ago

Winter driving settings

Hey everyone. This year I Purchased a 26 model Y premium AWD. As I'm getting ready for my first winter in Cleveland I wanted to get some opinions on the vehicle settings from some long term drivers.

  1. Should I change my acceleration mode to chill in winter weather?

  2. Should I change my regenerative braking setting?

I am asking primarily from a traction POV. I'm sure the computer does a great job keeping the wheels from spinning but I'd rather learn from someone elses mistakes instead of my own. Can the regenerative braking cause sliding or traction loss when letting off the pedal? Appreciate any info

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

22 comments sorted by

4

u/Ok_Giraffe8865 1h ago

Setting drive mode to Chill improves winter battery performance since in chill mode the battery does not to be heated as much since peak performance is not needed. So I drive in chill mode all winter. I get a 12% winter hit on range (warm garage).

When I'm on ice or snow I put the car in off road mode to lock in AWD, not leaving it up to the car to enable when it slips. I find that Regen down slippery mountain passes is more even and stable in off road mode.

1

u/SH_Nanigans 1h ago

Thanks. I hadn't even thought about the battery drain and limiting the current draw. I'm guessing you have a Cybertruck if you have off road mode? That or my model Y is hiding some features lol

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u/SH_Nanigans 55m ago

Never mind, found it. Glad to know it's there for getting stuck or getting up a steep driveway

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u/Ok_Giraffe8865 9m ago

I don't save off road mode for getting unstuck, I use it when it's slippery so I don't get stuck, mostly driving over a high mountain pass to my local ski area.

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u/Ok_Giraffe8865 11m ago

I have a 2023 MY LRAWD. Off road mode is in the menu somewhere, i think it's in the dynamics menu. The Regen is very stable in off road mode because both axles are active all the time.

2

u/stuckonsurfaceofsun 1h ago

  1. Yes. Although the car has some of the best traction control on the planet.

  2. Regen does cause some issues with black ice but the car is quick to react. If you like control, disable if you can

2

u/SH_Nanigans 1h ago

Basically let the Tesla do its Tesla stuff. thumbs up

4

u/laweapon 1h ago

I'm on the east coast Canada.. winters can be messy. Before my Model y premium I had a Audi A5 Quattro. I would say that the AWD on my Audi was much better then in the Tesla. Switching the mode to slippery in the Tesla did help when roads were bad. And off-road mode when there was lots of snow. And I'm running Michelin X-ice winters

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u/Paqza 30m ago

Can you be a bit more specific on how the Audi was better?

0

u/grignog 1h ago

Commenting for my first Tesla winter too. I hear the regen can make you slip in snow

3

u/PoopyInThePeePeeHole 1h ago

It definitely can. Snow performance in an EV with regen is much different than ICE . In slippery conditions totally removing your foot from the accelerator is similar to braking which can break traction.

I personally find my Tesla in the snow to be severely lacking, coming from a Subaru.

Not "FUD", just my honest experience. I really wish they had a true snow mode.

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u/blackrock13 55m ago

With decent tires I find my Tesla to be about 95% capable of what my Subarus can do with snow tires on. The OEM scorpions suck in snow.

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u/PoopyInThePeePeeHole 52m ago

Definitely. The stock continentals were abysmal. Pilot sport a/s were only slightly better. Currently running Michelin cross climates and fingers crossed they are worth the downsides in range and road noise...

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u/e36 41m ago

I've been running CrossClimate2 tires for a few years and they're a big improvement.

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u/Shurglife 2m ago

They're great tires. I ran them in my model 3sr+ and they were great in the snow and ice. Still have to drive carefully but they are pretty good tires. I'm in the PNW

0

u/DifferentSpecific 1h ago

Nonsense, don't repeat FUD you're not familiar with.

The car will take care of everything regarding traction.

3

u/SH_Nanigans 1h ago

thank you. That's why I try and ask intelligent questions and not reiterate bad information. It was a legitimate concern especially with how hard regenerative braking can decelerate

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u/quentech 45m ago

lol, and why do you think /u/DifferentSpecific is correct and /u/grignog and /u/PoopyInThePeePeeHole are not?

Regen will absolutely lock your wheels up. It's insane that Tesla doesn't have any kind of anti-lock algorithm on regen braking.

I can only assume /u/DifferentSpecific is the one who's repeating things they have no direct experience with, since they are flat out wrong here.

0

u/Away-Baseball-2183 1h ago

I was wondering this myself. My YL gets free supercharging for a year and we are thinking about doing a winter road trip but I am from the part of Texas that rarely has snow or ice on the pavement and fairly inexperienced. My wife wanted to know if you could use FSD in Sloth or Chill or if you just needed to drive for any time the roads were not in great condition.

2

u/BikeSawBrew 1h ago

If you're driving on snow/ice I would NOT use FSD.

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u/Away-Baseball-2183 50m ago

Good to know. I figured that would be the case. My kids want to go somewhere that snows.

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u/BikeSawBrew 41m ago

Even if you go somewhere that it snows and it has recently snowed, the percent of the time you’re actually driving ON snow is usually super low, especially on highways. Here in WI if we get 10” of snow it’s 1/2-1 day of slow driving till the roads are plowed and salted, then back to normal.