New Battery! Tesla Model 3 Standard Plus with 60kwh LFP. Range, efficiency and charging review. Sr+

#LFP #SR+ #Model3

The Tesla Model 3 SR+ has received a significant update and is now fitted with a different battery pack.

The new “LFP” (Lithium-Iron-Phosphate) battery is cheaper, easier and more ethical to mine but less dense compared to Nickel-Cobalt-Aluminium.
So the pack size has increased to c.60kWh to compensate.

Also a fundamental difference is that the cars can be charged to 100% daily and not capped to 90%.

So why does all this mean for real world range, efficiency and charging capability?

These cars have a heat pump as standard plus double laminated front windows which should also help in this cold weather.

I’m very impressed!

What other changes are there? Heated rear seats and steering wheel too?

Thanks for watching!

Follow daily story board posts on our Instagram and Facebook pages

[tomyeates]

This is top-tier. Clear, concise, informative. A great blend of the subjective and objective, backed by credibility built on knowledge of and familiarity with these vehicles. This channel is now becoming a public service. I have a 2019 Model 3 performance - the best and most enjoyable car I have ever owned, in my opinion - and, as I look to the future of my, hopefully, continued use of Tesla cars, this channel will be my main source of information and informed opinion on the matter. Thank you.

[rogerstarkey]

You know you're an EV Nerd when you can convert Wh/mile to Miles/ kWh in your head, while driving.

[Arpedk]

Wow! It is official, the new SR Model 3 have longer range that our LR from 2019 (without heatpump). Just amazing how far Tesla have got in just 2 years. Well done!

[jaskirat]

“6°C so fairly cold today”, then there’s me watching from Edmonton, Canada driving my model 3 with -40° outside.

[davidelliott]

LFP means Lithium-Iron-Phosphate.
There is NO precious metal
There is NO unsustainable elements like cobalt.
There are NO toxic elements.
It’s also MUCH safer in a crash and can be used every day from 100% to zero%, if that’s your wish, with no battery degradation.

[YumeFox]

I'm still on the fence between ordering a 'standard' Model 3 and opting for the long range. But honestly, based on the results I see here, it looks like the standard car is already very suitable for longer drives. A half-an-hour stop after 190 miles of driving sounds very reasonable to me. Especially since it's still a 9000 euros price difference I'm looking at here.

[jjackson]

About bloody time. I built my first LFP vehicle in 2006. Converted a Gary Fisher mountain bike to electric using two Dewalt 36 volt LFP battery packs. We used to call them LiFePO4 but I guess everyone got tired of the long form. Anyway, I put about 4000 miles on those two batteries two years before I quit using them on the bike. Now 15 years later I still have those packs and they still work in my drill. They were cylindrical A123 cells rather than the prismatics that Tesla uses.

[simontebbutt]

We picked up the same car a couple of weeks ago here in the UK and have been getting the same insane numbers. Our Audi Q4 e-tron, well not so good, struggling to get above 2.5 m/kw in the cold. You’re so right on the handles, ours is black and at night the phone torch has to come out to get in 🤣

[typhoons]

You can see why the sr is such a good value proposition. 40 odd thousand. They could easily charge a few thousand more and people would still pay. Sr+ is the best all round model 3

[jonathansmith]

Possible 290 miles and in winter? On the standard? That’s incredible! I’m so impressed with the model 3. Always have been but they just seem to get better. Thanks again

[ksmith]

I have a SR+ (LFP) car (since Oct-21) and it has averaged 252w/mile. If I include all losses by taking all the energy sent to charge the car its been running at 305w/mile! All losses included preconditioning, waiting time, charging losses, etc, etc. That means it's cost £40.92 to drive 2, 677.15 miles, using Octopus GO. This car must be one of the cheapest cars to drive at the moment whilst being one of the fastest and with good handling...

[jockmoron]

Thanks for an informative video. A bit more about LiFe(PO4) batteries would be worth explaining. It doesn't use any "precious" metals at all so problems with supply/mining are alleviated. The Model 3 you are driving is made in China, I don't think you said this - some folk are claiming its assembly is rather better quality than those from the USA. It uses the LiFe battery made by CATL, a huge company which makes gigawatt hours of such batteries for buses etc. LiFe batteries have been mostly ignored in regard to BEVs up to now, as the Li-ion battery is more energy dense and has a higher voltage. However, I believe LiFe batteries have so many advantages, particularly in cheaper BEVs, they will ultimately be the norm. Cheaper BEVs manage on 50-60kWh, so they can still be fitted to the smaller cars. That's still a range of around 190-225 miles at 3.7 miles/kWh (300-360 kms at 6 km/kWh - that's what my Leaf gets, and many other BEVs are much the same) which is more than adequate for most purposes. The Tesla is super efficient as you note - rather more so than its rivals. 

LiFe batteries can be happily charged to 100%, a great boon, countering their nominal lesser storage capacity, they are more robust and won't go on fire, but their massive advantage is they can be recharged several thousand times, twice or three times that of Li-ion, equivalent to a million miles of motoring or more. The car will fail long before the batteries. Concerns with battery degradation are almost totally absent. They don't tolerate cold so much, reducing power and recharging, OTOH they tolerate heat much better. 

The major problem with the Tesla you don't mention is that it is not a hatchback. It easily could be but for some reason Tesla/Musk haven't designed it so. It would be easy to retool its assembly to make saloon and hatchback versions. I hope they do, competition might make this a necessity. A hatchback Model 3 with LiFe batteries would be the perfect BEV. The Model Y will be considerably more expensive, and it's much larger, the Model 3 is already pretty large for UK motoring needs. .

[wakeywarrior]

This has got to be now the Best Buy in the EV market. I’d never have got a SR before but now I think I’d get this one over the Long Range as it’s enough for me. I’ve had 198 on my Model S 75D is summer in busy motorway driving, but this is v impressive for winter.

[mrlimey]

I've come from a 2019 SR+ (early 52kwh NCA) to this new 2021 S+ (60kwh LFP). I can tell the weight and power curve difference, but the build quality, sound deadening, winter efficiency, heated wheel, matrix lights, high % charge speed, and battery size is a huge improvement and a much, much better car

It's gonna hit 300 miles in summer and out range the early LRs.

[sievans]

We've had our M3 LR since March 2021, done 11500 miles in it and loved it. Though today we've just ordered a Standard range. Gone for 18" wheels, rather than 19's we have on long range. When you take that & ability to charge to 100% into account we aren't going to loose that much effective range. Plus found charging curve on our LG battery wasn't great on road trips, though 95% of time charge at home. We are holding out for Model Y with mythical 4860, though wouldn't be disappointed to keep a model 3. Hatch just more practical. Traffic light Olympics maybe a tab more boring. 😄

[tomattime]

One of the best EV reviews to date, , from any channel. Apart from the water torture as you filmed the charging section! That was just cruel! 😁

[daviddenley]

Well, that was a bloody good review, thanks for making it for us. Somethings that I do appreciate Tesla fitting is the front and rear heated seats and the heated steering wheel, I think that ought to be a standard fitting on all vehicles these days.

[rogerstarkey]

The "German" Y with the castings and Structural Pack is going to be scary.
Less weight, better pack, better charging curve.

[pakaran]

I have had mine for a month. About 1300 miles done so far Motorway and City combined, averaging at 240wh per mile. Amazing car. Love it!

[charliehope]

Ordered mine now! Can’t wait to get it!! Standard range with this new LFP battery. Great video 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻