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Things like this are measured in miles per killowatt-hour, with 3.5-4.0 mile/kWh being about average, 4.0-5.0 being really good, and 5.0 and above being damn near miraculous. Weight CAN affect this, but speed and temps affect it more.
For example, my wife is good at getting 4.6-4.8 miles/kWh in our Bolt in the spring through fall, which multiplied by it's 66kWh battery gives an effective range of ~310+ miles at an average4 of 60-65 mph. I tend to drive it harder and get about 3.8 miles/kWh in the same seasons, which is about 250 miles of range. In the winter, the best I can do with the heat running and all is about 3.3 or less, which is equal to 220 miles of range.
Look at that number for the efficiency of any EV. A larger battery can go longer distance even with a lower efficiency, just because of the added capacity.
I have driven my Model S for about 4 years, I average around 200 wh/mi during the shoulder seasons, 250 wh/mi in the dead of summer and around 350 wh/mi in the winter on long trips. Wintertime consumption can exceed 500 wh/mi for the first 10 mins or so. I have also had long trips in the winter use 400 wh/mi if it's very cold and the roads are wet. I drive at 74mph on long trips; I can get better range if I'm driving in traffic or stuck on 60mph roads.
On my 70kwh battery, this yields a range of 350 miles in the shoulder seasons, 280 miles in the dead of summer, and 200 miles in the winter. Those crazy high consumption days of 400 wh/mi give me only 175 miles of range.
Note mine is a 2015, around 8 years old, so the newer Tesla's do much better than mine (especially with the heat pump heaters).
Things like this are measured in miles per killowatt-hour, with 3.5-4.0 mile/kWh being about average, 4.0-5.0 being really good, and 5.0 and above being damn near miraculous. Weight CAN affect this, but speed and temps affect it more.
For example, my wife is good at getting 4.6-4.8 miles/kWh in our Bolt in the spring through fall, which multiplied by it's 66kWh battery gives an effective range of ~310+ miles at an average4 of 60-65 mph. I tend to drive it harder and get about 3.8 miles/kWh in the same seasons, which is about 250 miles of range. In the winter, the best I can do with the heat running and all is about 3.3 or less, which is equal to 220 miles of range.
Look at that number for the efficiency of any EV. A larger battery can go longer distance even with a lower efficiency, just because of the added capacity.
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Originally Posted by NYCresident2014
I have driven my Model S for about 4 years, I average around 200 wh/mi during the shoulder seasons, 250 wh/mi in the dead of summer and around 350 wh/mi in the winter on long trips. Wintertime consumption can exceed 500 wh/mi for the first 10 mins or so. I have also had long trips in the winter use 400 wh/mi if it's very cold and the roads are wet. I drive at 74mph on long trips; I can get better range if I'm driving in traffic or stuck on 60mph roads.
On my 70kwh battery, this yields a range of 350 miles in the shoulder seasons, 280 miles in the dead of summer, and 200 miles in the winter. Those crazy high consumption days of 400 wh/mi give me only 175 miles of range.
Note mine is a 2015, around 8 years old, so the newer Tesla's do much better than mine (especially with the heat pump heaters).
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Originally Posted by Airborneguy
I drive a 2020 Model 3 Performance. I drive it as you’d expect a person who buys a performance model would.
My average over nearly 25,000 miles this past year has been close to 290 wh/m.
I don’t recall the exact number but during the single digit week we recently had my average shot up to around 400.
All very useful.
I'm also trying to get a feel of the mindset of EV owners, and even prospective EV owners, with consideration of what would be acceptable, and how important extra range is, or even not needing to plug in on a long journey.
One simple question; Would you consider towing a trailer? Now, I know for those with the performance cars, it's out of the question, (or is it?), but I do have other thoughts.
There's a reason I asked about speeds, and that is that here in the UK, a 100 mile journey can easily take 4 hours, now, in some ways that could be good, but looking at your figures, the colder seasons would be very expensive in power.
Would you consider throwing a cover over your EV to be a hassle, or having a roof rack?
I'm also trying to get a feel of the mindset of EV owners, and even prospective EV owners, with consideration of what would be acceptable, and how important extra range is, or even not needing to plug in on a long journey.
One simple question; Would you consider towing a trailer? Now, I know for those with the performance cars, it's out of the question, (or is it?), but I do have other thoughts.
There's a reason I asked about speeds, and that is that here in the UK, a 100 mile journey can easily take 4 hours, now, in some ways that could be good, but looking at your figures, the colder seasons would be very expensive in power.
Would you consider throwing a cover over your EV to be a hassle, or having a roof rack?
So many questions, but it's good to have an idea.
Can an EV be charged on the go, or could it?
Do you normally drive in daylight hours?
Sorry if I'm coming over all ADHD.
We have a Tesla Model Y long range which is rated for 326 miles of range but that's under ideal conditions that almost never occur. In general, I would be reluctant to add anything that would make it less aerodynamic or add significant weight as those things really affect range.
Charging on the go is fine with a Tesla but we found that it cost us about 1 hour per day extra if driving on a long trip.
Not sure what your electricity is but I pay about 10c/KWH here so if I completely drained the battery to zero and charged it up completely, it would cost about $7. My friend that lives in Cornwall pays much more for his electricity so it would seem to cost considerably more for someone in the UK.
According to my app, I'm at 332 wh/mi going back to September (287-371 range). Which is pretty **** poor. But most of my driving is also on an interstate where the average speed is probably 80mph.
Distance: 2756
Energy Used: 916kWh
Cost: $91.59
Total drives: 209
I tow with my Model 3 Performance. It’s only a jetski, but it’s a big one. The trailer and ski combined I believe coming in around 1600lbs.
Why would it take 4 hours to drive 100 miles? Even on rural rounds it shouldn’t take so long. That part confused me.
I agree about being reluctant to make the car less aerodynamic. I considered roof rails so I could mount the tray I have for long trips, but because of my dog we cannot use the Model 3 for family trips anyway.
I tow with my Model 3 Performance. It’s only a jetski, but it’s a big one. The trailer and ski combined I believe coming in around 1600lbs.
Why would it take 4 hours to drive 100 miles? Even on rural rounds it shouldn’t take so long. That part confused me.
I agree about being reluctant to make the car less aerodynamic. I considered roof rails so I could mount the tray I have for long trips, but because of my dog we cannot use the Model 3 for family trips anyway.
We have many roads with variable speed limits, and speed camera enforcement, plus only three lanes, sometimes two. These roads never run well, even though the supposed reason for the speed cameras is safety, they actually cause a sort of wave effect in the traffic, which leads to stationary traffic, and often accidents. An example of this is the M25, which if you are not off by 4pm, you will likely be on until at least 7pm, depending obviously on how far you need to go. (I've personally taken 5 hours to do 70 miles on a Friday evening, between 4pm and 9pm, but that was the M25 and the M4.) It's not just me, I know lorry drivers that have said the same, and they should know, it can cost them their licences to be driving too long.
Rural roads, probably wouldn't be considered roads by many, more like single tracks, winding, and often unmaintained.
All very useful.
I'm also trying to get a feel of the mindset of EV owners, and even prospective EV owners, with consideration of what would be acceptable, and how important extra range is, or even not needing to plug in on a long journey.
I started out with the Chevy Volt (Vauxhall Ampera) that had a 45 mile EV range and covered 70% of my driving (the gas engine covered the rest). It was kind of like an EV with training wheels... lol! When looking for a replacement, I realized that simply doubling the range would be enough for 90% of my driving at that time. Then the Bolt came out with 238 miles of range and I decided to go with that. By the time I was ready to buy, the Bolt had had it's range increased to 259 miles. What I've found is that, with the state of charging in the US, even that range was sufficient to make it every place I'd want to drive, even 350-450 miles away with ease. No need to carry a bigger, heavier, more expensive battery pack for longer distances between charges, when road trips like that are once a month, if that (most people don't go that far more than 3-4 times a year).
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One simple question; Would you consider towing a trailer? Now, I know for those with the performance cars, it's out of the question, (or is it?), but I do have other thoughts.
I wouldn't. I have a vehicle for that job (but my trailer is a 9000lb, 35 footer). But I know of a lot of EV car owners that tow small utility trailers and pop up camp trailers.
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There's a reason I asked about speeds, and that is that here in the UK, a 100 mile journey can easily take 4 hours, now, in some ways that could be good, but looking at your figures, the colder seasons would be very expensive in power.
Not an issue. 100 miles is 100 miles. If you have a 250-300 mile range car, it's simply not an issue. And often traffic ADDS range as you regen power every time you slow down. Stop and go traffic is an EV's friend. Remember, when an EV is at "idle" it's not actually running, in so far as a gas engine that is constantly using fuel just to sit stationary in traffic. And gas engines don't recover energy as you slow down in stop and go traffic, so they get WORSE mileage and range then.
Once you get the cockpit up to temp, it only takes about 1 kW to keep the heater going, and less if you are using heated seats and steering wheel, so your range is still almost identical in traffic as it is without traffic in the winter (and if you're not moving, that heater can last days before it hurts your range to where you might not get home). So no, traffic in the cold is not that expensive in power. Yes, you have LESS range in cold temps, but unless you have a car like a MINI Cooper SE, that 100 mile trip, even in traffic, will be a big fat nothingburger (that is, it's still easily doable). I came home from eastern CT to Baltimore, a 350 mile trip one way, in sub-freezing weather and even the section through NY City in heavy traffic was easily covered (it's 180 miles from my son's house in Connecticut to the charger in northern New Jersey and I made it with range to spare even after the side trip through downtown Manhattan).
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Would you consider throwing a cover over your EV to be a hassle, or having a roof rack?
I've never used either on any car I've ever had, so no, I wouldn't do it on my EV. But it can be done.
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Can an EV be charged on the go, or could it?
You mean while moving? Not currently. If you mean while on a road trip, most definitely. My wife is on a trip down to Tennessee with ours right now. 460 miles one way. January temps (again, sub-freezing) 3 30 minute stops along the way to charge up
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Do you normally drive in daylight hours?
I drive any hours. The trip back from Connecticut was in the dark for the last half of the trip (the stop in Manhattan was to go to the 9/11 Museum which took about 3 hours to go through). So was my wife's trip down to Tennessee. Lights use very little power. Remember, there's also a 12V battery like a normal car that most things get powered from and charges up when you charge the car.
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