Heatpump model 3 performance winter efficiency in interstate travel?

Buying question

Considering buying a 22 or 23 model 3 performance. If I pull the trigger the first thing idI'be doing is buying a set of Martian wheels and wrap them in Michelin crossclimate 2s. Im a travel nurse and I need a car that can go through most driving conditions in varying climates. Sometimes i winter in warmer areas where snow isnt an issue and its 60 degrees and sunny or I might end up in north dakota in January and see -40 degree temps. And everything in between.

Now I know EVs take a massive hit in the winter and ive seen horror stories of people only getting 150 miles of range or less on their cars on the highway. But a lot of times those people seem to be driving at like 80 miles an hour and blasting the heat. Even in my ice car when going between locations I always drive 70mph. Often a little less if I can draft behind a semi. I am a hypermiler. My ice car that's rated for 34 hwy Ive managed to average over 40 mpg doing this. Its almost like a game to see how high i can go. And i enjoy it a lot. I enjoy being in the car driving. and i feel like that driving style really blends well with ev ownership.

In town range im not so concerned with. A perk of my job is that most of the hospitals ive worked at have had free ev charging somewhere in the parking lot. Which really is a massive incentive as I never have to pay for gas in my day to day life. Which is the majority of the time.

But when traveling between states, often my contracts are 1000 to 1500+ miles apart. And it would be an absolute pain in the ass to have to stop every hour and a half for a 25 minute charge on those long routes. My usual drive to stop ratio is around 3 to 3.5 hours per pit stop. Im willing to deviate from that a bit. I dont mind stopping every 2.5 to 3 hours. But much below that it disrupts my natural driving pattern and becomes a pain.

Ive done some research into road tripping with evs and my plan would be to precondition the car shortly before take off then stop at a supercharger to top off to 100% then leave with a preconditioned cabin and a warm battery. And this fits my driving style because always stop at a gas station before starting my trip to pick up snacks, drinks, and use the bathroom one last time.

I was wondering if i could get some input from fellow hypermilers or maybe even our canadian friends as that would represent a worst case scenario as only a handful of US states get that cold. Anyway thank you for your time.

Posted Aug 12, 2025, 5:30 PM UTC

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