By: Otaiba Ahsan

If you’re a Tesla owner, you’ve surely used their built-in navigation system. When you’re routed to go somewhere, you might notice that it displays an estimated battery percentage upon arrival. Something I’ve always been curious about is how they predict this number. In some cases, it’s extremely accurate, however there have been many instances where it’s far off the estimate. So, how does Tesla predict battery life? Continue reading for more.

Predicting Energy Usage

When navigating to a destination, your Tesla will help anticipate any charging needs by calculating the amount of energy that remains when you reach the destination. When going somewhere, the map displays this calculation next to the Battery icon on the turn-by-turn direction list.

The calculation predicts how much energy you’ll use based on driving style, such as predicted speed, and environmental factors like elevation changes, wind speed, air density, forecasted temperatures, and more. As you drive your Tesla, the car will continuously learn how much energy it uses, resulting in improved accuracy over time.

Your vehicle predicts energy usage based on your driving style. For example, if you drive aggressively for some time, future range predictions will assume higher consumption.

NOTE: If you purchase a used Tesla vehicle, it’s recommended that you perform a factory reset, which can be accomplished by going to Controls > Service > Factory Reset. This ensures the predicted energy is as accurate as possible.

Warnings for Your Battery

Throughout the route, your Tesla monitors energy usage and updates the estimate of energy remaining at the end of your trip. A popup warning displayed on the turn-by-turn direction list will appear in one of the two following situations:

1. Yellow Warning: Appears when you have very little energy remaining to reach your destination, requiring you to drive slowly to conserve energy.
2. Red Warning: A red warning will display when you must charge to reach your destination.

NOTE: Some factors that contribute to predicted energy, such as forecasted temperatures and wind speed, are available only when your Tesla has Wi-Fi. Therefore, you’ll need Premium Connectivity if you want those features at all times.

The Bottom Line

So, how does a Tesla predict battery life? It studies your driving style, and uses external factors such as temperature, wind speed, elevation, and more, to calculate and provide an estimate of what it’ll be when you reach your destination. This is a useful feature that’ll help you plan any drive, whether it’s a simple trip to the grocery store, or a long journey to somewhere far away.