Not since before the pandemic had I spent a work week commuting round-trip 70 miles to the Cars.com offices in downtown Chicago, and I definitely hadn’t done so in our 2021 Tesla Model Y long-term test car. After spending four consecutive days commuting to the city in the Model Y, I was reminded of the dreary slog in Chicago bumper-to-bumper traffic, but I was also excited to extract detailed driving and charging data to determine how efficient the Model Y was in this driving style and how much it cost to commute. But there were other takeaways from the experience that also could be helpful for those looking to spend a lot of miles — and minutes — commuting in a Model Y.
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Driving Efficiency
The Model Y’s efficiency was impressive, returning an overall average of 227 watt-hours per mile, or 4.4 miles per kilowatt-hour, after the 305 miles of commuting. This represents 95% range efficiency versus its 326-mile EPA rating, according to our TeslaFi data logger, which compares actual miles traveled to the rated range used. A couple commutes even returned range efficiency greater than 100%, exceeding the Model Y’s EPA-rated range estimates.
The predicted range displayed on the home screen of the Model Y’s touchscreen uses a fixed EPA consumption figure that doesn’t account for real-time factors such as temperature, speed or driving mode that would raise or lower the range prediction. The Model Y provides another range number on a different screen that factors in observed efficiency, but that value actually wasn’t too different in my testing because my driving was close to rated figures.
Because I was prioritizing efficiency, however, the way I was driving may not work for everyone. I did this not to make the Model Y look good, but because if I had to make this commute daily, it’s how I would choose to drive my personal car to be cautious and preserve range.
Ambient temperatures averaged 46 degrees Fahrenheit during the week, and I preconditioned the Model Y while plugged into my Level 2 home charger before leaving to get the cabin and battery up to temperature using energy from my house instead of draining the car’s battery. Since owning our Tesla, we’ve unlocked the Model Y’s optional Acceleration Boost, which gives two drive modes of Chill and Sport, and I kept the Model Y in Chill mode during commuting. While on the road, I kept the energy-sapping cabin heat to a minimum and used the toasty heated seats and heated steering wheel to keep me comfortable — another way to keep things efficient.
Did I need to drive like this in order to get home with a safe amount of range? Not at all, considering the observed consumption, the estimated 309-mile maximum range of our Model Y after 22,000 miles of use (according to TeslaFi) and overnight charging access at home, but these are simply good practices for maximizing range, and they proved very manageable and comfortable driving solo to and from the city.
The most efficient one-way commute consumed 201 Wh/mile, or 4.98 miles per kWh, with a range efficiency of 107.3%, meaning I drove more miles than rated range lost — 33.9 actual miles versus 31.6 miles of estimated range. The least efficient one-way commute was 250 Wh/mile, or 4 miles/kWh, with a range efficiency of 86.5%; I drove 33.5 actual miles and used 38.8 miles of estimated range.
Why the difference? Two variables that can greatly affect electric car efficiency are ambient temperature and vehicle speed. The more efficient route had a significantly lower average speed of 31 mph versus 47 mph and took 65 minutes instead of 43 minutes. Also, the temperature was warmer during the efficient route, with an outside temperature of 47.5 degrees versus 37.1 degrees during the least efficient route.
Home and Public Charging Costs
How much did it cost to commute in the Model Y? The short answer: not much at all using overnight home charging, though I did plug into a public charger in the parking garage to get a sense of how much it cost to charge while I worked. The 305 miles of commuting in the Model Y cost a total of $19.52; that includes $7.32 for home charging that added an estimated 222 miles of range and $12.20 at a Level 2 charger in our building’s parking garage that added 93 miles of estimated range. The 13 cents per mile of rated range added on a Level 2 pay-for-use public charger is over four times more expensive than home charging’s 3 cents per mile, and not as much of a cost savings versus a gasoline-only car compared to home charging. A similarly sized luxury SUV like the 2024 BMW X4 xDrive30i has an estimated combined fuel economy rating of 24 mpg, which the EPA estimates costs 18 cents per mile to drive at current prices using BMW-recommended premium fuel.
Back in the early days of mass-market electric cars, when we owned a 2011 Nissan Leaf and 2011 Chevrolet Volt, we parked in this same garage and the charging station dished out free energy, but that’s no longer the case. This charger’s fee was set by the parking garage at $1 per hour for the first three hours then $3 per hour thereafter; this charge lasted 6 hours and 4 minutes.
Most days, however, I drove home and plugged into a Level 2 40-amp home charger that charged the Model Y to an 80%-90% charge at a rate of 11 cents per kilowatt-hour, adding an average of 21.7 kWh per day. Charging to 80%-90% netted an estimated range of roughly 260-275 miles at the start of the day, according to the Tesla’s main range estimator.
Model Y Commuting Annoyances
Until now, the Model Y has made a compelling case as a commuter vehicle because of its efficiency and low cost to drive. Plus, it’s a space-efficient SUV with loads of storage and a heaping dose of semi-autonomous driving features. Ah, yes, those: Autopilot and Full Self-Driving. We enabled FSD on our Model Y, which remains a hands-on semi-autonomous driving assist, and at the time of testing, we were on version 11.4.9 (not the current FSD 12 that claims to have made improvements to operation).
When engaged, FSD can change lanes, make turns and follow on- and off-ramps to reach a destination entered into the car’s navigation system. I’ve had some good experiences with FSD in lighter traffic, but this wasn’t one of them. In bumper-to-bumper traffic, FSD was erratic and unsettling, often wanting to change lanes to find a faster lane of traffic, misjudging the gap of the car approaching from behind and jerking back into its lane; the aggressiveness of the system is adjustable, though I didn’t feel more comfortable in less aggressive settings.
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My preferred setup for commuting included turning off any feature that self-navigates. I drove only with Autosteer and Traffic-Aware Cruise Control enabled, which are essentially lane-centering steering and adaptive cruise control, respectively, working to center the Model Y in its lane while maintaining a set following distance. These two features work as good or better than almost any semi-autonomous driving system out there, even reacting quickly when other cars try to merge into the tiniest gap in front of you; they’re also included with the purchase of the car and not part of the optional $8,000 Full Self-Driving feature.
A hindrance to using the semi-autonomous driving features was that commuting in the early hours during sunrise often blinded the Model Y’s cameras, temporarily restricting Autopilot features that require the camera’s view to be clear.
The final observation isn’t as temporary, because after 22,000 miles, our Model Y’s ride quality has gone from passably stiff to annoyingly harsh, which grew tiresome driving day-after-day on Chicago’s rough roads. Sometime around the 2022 model year, however, Model Ys received revised suspension tuning, though we haven’t sampled one to determine if it’s noticeably easier on the lower back. What I have sampled, however, is the updated 2024 Model 3, which might be the more appealing choice for commuters right now because of its more livable ride quality, quieter cabin and improved efficiency versus the Model Y.
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