FOMO of not going long range

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Hello! I had an 2021 Model 3 SR+ LFP and I changed the car to a new Model Y AWD Premium in December. So 4 years and about 90 000 km of driving the Model 3 in northern Europe. What comes to range I think you will not need to fear any fomo. The benefit of being able to charge the car weekly to 100% SOC is a great aspect of LFP battery. You don't have to think it too much and you always have the full capacity of the battery when needed. With NMC and 80% charging suggestion you have "only" 80% of usable battery capacity. I think that the possible fomo comes from other factors than range. Do you value the better audio system and the AWD so much that you're willing to spend the extra money for it? AWD might come handy in snow, but I didn't have any problems with RWD in snow. I was very pleased with the LFP 3 we had and we did yearly 1000 km trips to Lapland with it with skiracks and roofbox or 3 mtb bikes attached to the car without any problems. I suggest you to test drive both of them but I would say that the LFP offers you better value for your money than the NMC. And small Edit: we here don't have Autobahns as the highway speed is limited to 100/120 km/h so the speed is a big factor that eats SOC. When going over 100-110 km/h the consumption grows rapidly. Speed + cold & wet drains the battery quite fast but this is the same with both batteries.

I had the same doubt when I was about to buy my M3. This helped me to take the decision: https://www.reddit.com/r/electricvehicles/s/si6b82bl2U If you check the 1000kms table, you will see that the difference in total time between the Standard Range and the LR is about 20 mins… I’d say that if your long trips only happen once or twice a year, it’s not worth going for the LR. LFP batteries are generally less prone to degradation, so that’s also something to consider if you’re planning to keep the car for a long time.

If AWD was available for SR models, I'd get SR. Much longer battery life, the drawbacks are the lower trim levels (and Tesla doesn't allow you to put options back in, you select one variant, done). I'm also based on Germany...

Thanks for your input. I think there would be some fomo either way. If i go for the long range i probably miss the sturdiness of the lfp battery. I‘ve only driven the long range awd so far. While it was fun to drive it was way more power than i‘d ever need in my daily driving. I think the lfp is the 100% rational choice for me.

This! This is great advice! Also good to check YouTube and Bjørn Nyland's videos about Model 3 and possibly the 1000 km challenges and other "tests" if you haven't yet. Bjørn is the King of EV's!

Yes it probably is but buying cars without feelings affecting to the decision making is really hard! 😂 I know as I stumbled in ordering a new car as I was intended to just order new winter tyres. 🤣🤣

I have a standard range and it does fine, even on road trips. However it never really gets below 2C-3C at night with the days reliably being about 10C at their coldest a handful of times. I would expect winters are more severe in Germany and so range degredation in cold climates might push me to a long range.

I've got the RWD/LFP Model and that thing serves me well on 800+mi/~1300+km round trips... in the US. Since you live in a civilized country, the charging infrastructure is probably better by a significant margin.

We’ve faced the same choice, but coming from a 2019 m3 LR. The range was not really a deciding factor for me since the 100% charging combined with the amazing efficiency does not really make a big difference in day to day use. For me, the deciding factor was the sound system and power combined with AWD. In another note, we’ve also tried different cars and the BMW I4 M50 would have been our choice if we’ve lived in Germany. It’s an amazing car for autobahn driving so might be worth checking out before you make a decision.

The current standard range has more range than older long ranges. You can always charge if you need more range so it's not a big deal.

The part of germany where i live isn’t that cold fortunately. Even during this rather cold winter we didn’t have a lot of nights with temperatures below 0C.

Supercharger network is pretty good from what i‘ve seen. For L2 chargers it depends on your location but since i can charge at home i don’t really need those.

Then you should be fine with the Standard Range. Remember that the LFP batteries ask to be charged to 100% regularly, normal Tesla batteries should only be charged to 80% regularly so that negates some of the advantages of a long range.

SR is plenty for you. In my country, the LR is also AWD, and has a much better audio system with a sub-woofer. Possibly important for you if you drive in snow, or just get off on a lot of bass?

Nope, really glad I chose the LFP. What made my mind up in the Tesla store was the employee explaining that in normal daily usage, the "long range" version would actually have significantly lower range, since you shouldn't charge it above 80% unless you definitely need it. The car charges more than fast enough at super chargers the rare time I use one, and I find myself with zero range anxiety. My usage is very similar to yours. It's really less of a "long range" version, and more that they need to provide a bigger battery for the non-LFP chemistry to get a similar range in daily usage charging to 80%. I think it's more that LFP is less suited to the power output required for the dual-motor models. Since the LFP has four times the cycle lifespan and is generally more durable, the additional potential range of the "long range" model will be eliminated anyway after a few years, leaving the LFP models with more total range. Since I plan to keep the car for a long time, LFP wins again. My priority was safety, and I weighed the minor safety improvement of slightly better traction in some situations with AWD vs the significant safety improvement of my family not burning to death if we did get in an accident. Videos of Tesla's excellent traction control on RWD and a spate of Tesla fire fatalities made up my mind. If I were buying a USED car, I would absolutely only buy LFP - if the previous owner always charged the car to 100%, a non-LFP could be significantly degraded and I don't know if there's a way to reliably tell. The previous owner also clearly prioritized performance and may have pushed the car harder, adding additional wear and tear. Someone like me who leaves the acceleration profile on "chill" to minimize wear and tear (and for comfort) is who I would want to buy a used EV from.

The bmw is a nice car and i‘m a fan of bmw but it‘s also more expensive. Plus i‘m pretty much sold on getting a tesla already. I like their approach to software updates and maintenance schedules. German manufacturers are too old fashioned in those regards for my taste.

We don’t get a lot of snow where i live. Better audio is of course nice to have but not worth the hefty premium for me. Is the difference extremely significant?

So the query I have on the BMW recommendation is the lack of Tesla charging network and also lower cost of charging. Having driven a hybrid and then a Tesla round France, Belgium, Switzerland and Germany, the Tesla charging was so fabulous. I dabbled with a non Tesla charger for an experiment and reminded myself how frustrating it was.

Your experience may be a little outdated, since all EV’s with CCS can use the Tesla charging network. There are a few locations which are not open to other EV’s, but nearly all of them are. That’s why there is not much difference charging wise in my opinion.

I think the LFP can’t offer enough power for two motors simultaneously but not exactly sure on that.

I get you, that was the reason we went for our first Tesla a few years ago. I’m a tech nerd by heart so I loved the technological stand they took developing this car. Sadly some decisions Tesla made contrary to most legacy manufacturers are really annoying. No stalks for one, we’re getting the turn stalk retrofitted. Second is the autopilot not allowing lane changes. It turns off every time you change lanes and you have to manually engage it again. You can partly fix this with the commander from Enhanced (definitely recommend if you end up with a Tesla!). The annoying beeps every time you turn on or off autopilot/cruise control. No touch steering wheel for recognizing your hands are on the wheel. On Tesla you have to put some turning force for it to recognize you have your hands on the wheel. Just some things that really annoy us and nearly made us purchase a legacy brand EV. Price wise here it was around 45k for a 2022 i4 M50 with around 60k km’s or 50k for a new Model 3 LR AWD (5000 trade in credit made it the same price as the BMW).

S3xy commander and probably knob are already on my shopping list. If the missing stalks get to annoying i also might get their stalks

I do, like 25% regret, same profile as yours, 55kwh sr+… but just because I do, twice a year, a 1500 km/way trip to other countries. However I am aware that I would only miss one stop every three charging stops. And this is why I don’t regret so much.

Same doubts, I ended up with a Performance. An SR+ would have been fine, but I drove a long range and was instantly in love with the acceleration and sound system.. but then I found a good deal on the performance. What I try to say, it’s totally valid to go with a LR if you only do it for the extra’s and not for the range imo.

Hello there! im trying to clarify the exact differences between a Model 3 RWD Long Range Premium and a RWD Standard Range “Premium” listed in Tesla’s used inventory (EU market). Aside from battery size and drivetrain, do they actually share the same premium interior hardware? Specifically: Does the Standard Range “Premium” include the same 17-speaker audio system (with amplifier and subwoofer) as the Long Range Premium? Or are there still hardware differences between the two, even if both are labeled “Premium”? Do you know the main differences between the two models? Thanks in advance for any technical clarification.

If that once per month trip can be done in one go then go for LFP without fear. On longer trips you need to stop anyway - it’s really only from start till first stop distance that is different. Once monthly if I would be alone I wouldn’t mind a supercharger stop. With kids I mind a supercharger stop as they most of the time will wake up if the car stops. So I took a LR

I’m in Spain and I have the standard range with the LFP battery. The infrastructure here makes driving long distance easy. I’ll have driven 2k km this week long distance and I’ve come to enjoy the stops for a little break. The software is fantastic at getting you point to point fast.

No the standard range does have a worse audio systems. I haven’t compared in person so i don’t know how significant the difference is.

It's not a perfect 1:1 comparison, but my wife and I have a 2025 Y and 3. My 3 is AWD (so upgraded sound), her Y is RWD (so without it - she felt like the AWD was a lot of car so got the rear drive instead). I am not an audiophile, but I don't really notice a substantial difference and I will happily drive either car.

Tbf 80% on LR is still same or more range than 100% on LFP

Day to day you get the same range since you charge the LR to 80% and the standard LFP to 100%. Road trips will be a bit faster in a LR but saving 30mins twice a year isn’t worth the additional cost. I don’t regret saving 6-7k by getting the standard range

Contrary to popular belief, charging LFP batteries to 100% is more detrimental to battery health than NMC, and should only be done periodically to recalibrate the BMS.  For LFP, only plug in your car when you need to, and keep it at a lower state of charge: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w1zKfIQUQ-s Yes, science contradicts Tesla’s owners manual.

Yeah there seem to be a lot of misconceptions regarding LFP batteries. Just because you have to charge to 100% regularly for BMS calibration doesn’t mean you should do so every single day

When an older or lower trim fits your profile it becomes a matter of preference and budget. Preference because being happy is important; if you’re not you’ll have an itch to buy again. Budget is important bc if you go too high you strain or ruin your current living state, you setback your future, and your happiness takes a worse hit.

We got lucky, on our demo car the retrofit is free. It even includes a new steering wheel according to our estimate. https://preview.redd.it/az3jd1bv4gmg1.jpeg?width=1320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fa6b611fe0b6306e6df66cbac6620bc279f930ae

Hmmm it does look like that with current offerings. I thought in the past it was 480km for the long range, but I could be wrong.

I have the Long Range RWD and regret not choosing the Long Range AWD if that helps... My reasoning is the AWD wasn't much more expensive and now that I have a better feel for real world usage, the theoretical range difference wouldn't bother me. My usage and charging stops would be near-identical and I'd have a slightly quicker car with better traction and more speakers. So I have two conclusions. 1. Above a certain threshold range isn't such a big factor. Use case and access to charging infrastructure are what matters. 2. You will probably be fine with the Standard Range but will regret not getting the Long Range.

I also have a short commute. No charging at home or work. Went with a standard range, 2 months in, no regrets and I'm in Canada so its cold and it kills your range. Aggressive All weather tires probably arnt helping me out range wise either.

Regarding conclusion 1 i have the privilege to be able to charge at home and supercharger infrastructure on german autobahn is pretty good. So range, as you said, shouldn't be an issue. Regarding 2 i might only regret missing out on the faster acceleration of the long range. That's something i don't "need" in my daily driving. In the end we always want the next best thing but at a certain point we should be rational. I mean who guarantees me that when i get a LR AWD i don't regret not getting a performance.

Yeah my wife has a MY SR from 23 and I got myself a M3 LR AWD 21 as a certified pre-owned. I got the LR because the difference to the LFP model was only 2 K€. The range is really very comparable in my opinion since the AWD does consume more always and when I plan with the app for family trips the difference is always super narrow. There is no difference in the trims for those years so the interior is the same. That being said I love the drive feeling in snow and also the acceleration of my M3, it even makes me overlook the fact that it's the Intel atom model compared to my wife's ryzen. In today's models I would make that decision based on trim level and not range, since the AWD question is about power/fun not range or efficiency. Wir sind in Norddeutschland btw :-)

I definitely notice the audio - it's a big upgrade - especially the bass. You'd pay thousands to get this installed as an add-on by a third party. I also note most Tesla's a RWD where I live, not many LR AWD in the secondhand market. I think It will be easier to sell when the time comes, not that resale value on a Tesla is significant anyway

That's a great video! I watched the whole thing, skimmed the papers it cites, and read through the comments. YouTube battery tech superstar Will Prowse actually gets into the comments, and from his comments and the video I see the opposite - both of them say that LFP is significantly more resistant to degradation, and that it makes sense for most people to follow the directions of the car manufacturers. Yes the most degradation is in the 75%-100% charge state, absolutely that is clear. But the overall point made in this video and Will's comment is that it's still so low for LFP that the benefits of worrying about it don't outweigh the negatives. That being said, I may actually adjust the way I charge my car after what I've learned. Generally I charge with a 120v outlet, and I'd like to see if there is greater protection from charging slowly (charge and discharge rate affect battery degradation), or if I would do better to charge a little faster with a level 2 at home and keep my battery at a lower state of charge for longer until just before I drive. Either way my battery should last for 2M kms before it gets to 80% capacity based on standard LFP lifespan expectations.

OP see my comment above and carefully watch the video and read Will's comments before being swayed. I very much disagree that this says LFP is more sensitive to 100% charging than NMC. LFP is also affected by high states of charge, but overall is just so much more durable that it's far less of a concern - hence the manufacturer directions

I totally agree with you. All those charging limits and stuff are just optimizations with lfp batteries. Even if you ignore all that stuff and abuse the battery it will most likely outlive the rest of the car. But as long as i don’t need the extra range limiting my charge won’t hurt either as long as i charge to 100% here and there to calibrate.

Well it's about 50% in UK so far, plus non Tesla EV charges are higher. Also Tesla navigates to the Tesla network and pre-conditions battery. [https://www.tesla.com/en\_gb/findus?bounds=51.007151239873686%2C-2.5495479980468727%2C50.37818837126353%2C-4.474902001953122&location=29267&functionType=party](https://www.tesla.com/en_gb/findus?bounds=51.007151239873686%2C-2.5495479980468727%2C50.37818837126353%2C-4.474902001953122&location=29267&functionType=party)

For LFP it's feasible and desirable to treat charging like filling fuel in an ICE car. Charge it to 100% occasionally but then run it down to 15-20% before recharging in normal use. This way the time spent at 100% is not that high.

In mainland Europa, it’s nearly every charger that’s open. Secondly, Ionity is often cheaper then Tesla Superchargers. Lastly, Tesla only navigates to Tesla Superchargers. BMW navigation uses all Fast chargers so the nav has more options to route you efficiently.

OP check out this thread of non-LFP battery degradation https://www.reddit.com/r/ModelY/s/489BCLtXyq