u/Pomador_0418

Just returned from a three-day camping trip to Silverwood Lake in Southern California, and I continue to be impressed by the efficiency of my 2026 Model Y AWD Premium.
We packed the Y with everything needed for two nights of camping: tents, sleeping bags, pillows, cooking equipment, food, supplies, and plenty of other gear. The cargo area was packed to the brim. Add two adults and our 25-pound dog, and the Model Y was carrying quite a load!

Despite all that additional weight, here are the numbers from TeslaFi for the entire trip:

Total distance: 218.71 miles
Energy consumed: 42.45 kWh
Average efficiency: 194 Wh/mi
Rated efficiency: 114.23%
Average temperature: 75°F
Total driving time: 6 hours, 5 minutes
Number of drives: 9

The trip included freeway driving, surface streets, and significant elevation changes associated with driving into the San Bernardino Mountains to reach Silverwood Lake.
A few things about my driving style:
I drove at the posted speed limit on the freeway rather than speeding, which certainly helped with efficiency. I also made extensive use of my Enhance S3XY Commander and Buttons, which allow me to adjust regenerative braking in increments of 0%, 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.

I used these adjustments to maximize regenerative braking whenever possible, particularly on downhill stretches. Rather than wasting energy through friction braking, I tried to recover as much of it as possible and put it back into the battery.

Of course, regenerative braking cannot recover all the energy expended climbing hills, but being able to adjust its strength gives me more control over how the vehicle decelerates and recaptures energy.
What makes the results impressive?
Tesla uses approximately 236.7 Wh/mi as the rated consumption constant for my Model Y. My actual consumption of 194 Wh/mi was approximately 18% lower than that figure, despite carrying two adults, a dog, and a cargo area filled with camping equipment.

That translates to an impressive 5.15 miles per kWh for an AWD SUV loaded for a camping trip!
And this wasn’t a trip spent crawling along the freeway at artificially low speeds. I drove at the speed limit, anticipated traffic conditions, and made intelligent use of regenerative braking.

The Model Y continues to impress me with its combination of practicality, cargo capacity, comfort, and remarkable energy efficiency.
An AWD electric SUV averaging 194 Wh/mi over nearly 219 miles, including mountain driving, with two adults, a dog, and a full load of camping equipment? That’s remarkable efficiency in my book.

I love driving downhill especially now since I can adjust regen from 0>25%>50%>75%>100% and back again. I use a S3XY Commander with buttons on the back of the steering wheel to do it.

I wish I would have found a red one to buy used instead of silver.

I have a 2020 model 3P. I took it for inspection before the extended service agreement expires. The original warranty has already expired. The tech found a slight crack in the bushing of the lower control arm. I filed a service request to replace the control arm. Tesla wants to charge me $275 for doing it.

Is that normal with Tesla extended service agreement. How much would the cost be w/o one.

I got my camping fridge from CarFrozen. It is a $269 unit for the Model Y. It is in the car and plugged in. Set it to 37 F. Want to see how much it drains the battery on the car when it hits the desired temperature.

UPDATE: I ran the fridge for 14 hours and 41 minutes and the car only lost 4% of its charge. The fridge was at 82 degrees F when I plugged it in the rear 12 volt power source and went down to 30 F and then maintained at 35-37 F overnight.

I have the tent. I have the mattress for sleeping inside the rear of the Y. I have a cot for my partner. I have a sub trunk fridge on order. Soon we will go camping.

I took my 2026 Model Y Premium AWD up to the Lake Arrowhead area this past Saturday and thought the efficiency numbers were interesting enough to share, particularly the huge difference between climbing the mountain and coming back down.
A few details about how I drove the trip:

Entire trip:
7 drives
168.26 miles driven
177.77 rated miles used
39.05 kWh consumed
232 Wh/mi average
94.65% overall efficiency
3 hours 52 minutes driving
Average temperature: 91.4°F
The mountain portion really shows what elevation does to EV efficiency.

Going up the mountain:
71.17 miles
20.5 kWh
288 Wh/mi
93.45 rated miles used
76.2% efficiency
Average speed: 50 mph
Max speed: 67 mph
Elevation gain: approximately 5,700 ft
Outside temperature: 91.2°F

Coming back down:
81.75 miles
Only 12.5 kWh
154 Wh/mi
Only 57.29 rated miles used
142.7% efficiency
Average speed: 51 mph
Max speed: 67 mph
Elevation loss: approximately 5,118 ft
Outside temperature: 98.7°F
What impressed me most was the return trip. Despite driving almost 82 miles, the car used only 12.5 kWh. The long descent and regenerative braking dropped consumption to just 154 Wh/mi.

The uphill and downhill legs also make an interesting comparison because average speeds were virtually identical: 50 mph going up and 51 mph coming down. Yet consumption dropped from 288 Wh/mi uphill to 154 Wh/mi downhill — about a 47% reduction.

And when everything is combined—including roughly 15 miles of surface-street driving around Arrowhead—the Model Y averaged 232 Wh/mi over 168 miles.

I think the overall number is especially impressive considering this wasn’t an efficiency test where I crawled along with the climate control turned off. Freeway cruising was set at 65 mph on Autopilot, the A/C was running at 72–74°F, and outside temperatures averaged over 91°F.

For a relatively large AWD crossover making a round trip into the San Bernardino Mountains with more than 5,000 feet of elevation change, 232 Wh/mi over the entire 168-mile trip is pretty remarkable.

Hi,

I had a THSensormismatch error. I could not use the Climate keeper.

I noticed that after the recent Tesla summer update AND the Commander recent update.

So I removed the Commander from my 2026 early model Y AWD premium.

The error continued.

So I decided to reinstall the Tesla summer update and that fixed the problem.

I have two questions:

1. When I removed the Commander I noticed that there was a plug unplugged. See the picture. Is that supposed to be unplugged?

2. When I reinstalled the Commander and plugged that loose plug, the app communicated with the Commander and the buttons worked, but the GREEN LED was not lit or flickering like before.

Please help me with this. All the install information is for older Teslas or the newer M3 highland.

TIA.

The last update fixed the battery preheat on command from the S3xy buttons. Thanks 🙏

I have a two car garage for two Teslas. Would you allow FSD to park the Model Y on the right?

I would like to see what others are getting. My Tesla is a 2026 Model Y premium AWD.

Found this on the EPA fuel economy website. I also found the official EPA testing document that corresponds to it on the EPA website.

Last post I only debadged the Tesla. This time I debadged everything and add a carbon fiber look. The shop that added the wrap told that glossy black on the fake light bar will easily scratch, so it is better to go with something else. Bright carbon fiber was the choice.

Tomorrow I am going to a shop to get this look. What do you think? That panel will be glossy black and will just pop when the lights are on.