Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a34046953/tesla-range-strategy-details/?utm_campaign=socialflowTWCD&utm_medium=social-media&utm_source=twitter&src=socialflowTW Reducing waste in the powertrain increases range. The more efficient a motor, the more time an EV will stay on the road. Tesla told Car and Driver that the motor in the Model S has gone from 80 percent efficient to 90 percent, with peak efficiency at 94 percent during the EPA test cycles. According to Tesla, if you improve motor efficiency by 8 to 10 percent, the range will improve by 15 to 18 percent. Tesla also told us that its inverter (which takes DC energy and converts it to three-phase AC for the motor) is 96 to 97 percent efficient. At peak, the inverter is almost 99 percent efficient. Of course, there's still the matter of converting AC electricity to DC when plugged in to a Level 1 or 2 charger. Tesla didn't elaborate on that efficiency, which is also dependent on your local electrical infrastructure, but it's much less efficient than that. The use of an electric oil pump for the gearbox reduces energy usage by only spraying oil when needed. This is in addition to making the bearings and seals more efficient. A Tesla engineer told us that the company has spent the past 10 years building MATLAB models of where all the energy is flowing. From that, it's determined where the vehicles experience losses due to inefficiencies. The team then goes in and continually tweaks the hardware to increase efficiency. Additional secondary improvements can be pushed via over-the-air updates. Bob Wilson
