Electric car anyone?
76 watchers
Apr 2024
11:17am, 15 Apr 2024
16,861 posts
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jda
Oh that's just the range estimation being a bit variable. I think it tries to give an estimate based on your recent driving performance, so 100% battery may give a range estimate of over 300 miles in the summer, but only 250 or less in the winter. Even if the battery is still storing exactly the same 70kWh. It will go up as the weather warms and you use the heater less. Using electric seats (if you have them) rather than heating the cabin space also helps as it's much more efficient IME.
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Apr 2024
11:43am, 15 Apr 2024
23,754 posts
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larkim
It's one of the biggest (and easiest to fix) bugbears about current generation EVs is that each manufacturer appears to have their own approach to what is jokingly referred to as the "GOM" or "guessometer" - i.e the range prediction in the car. Some simply use default values (optimistic ones), some use very recent experience, some try to accumulate more experience of typical driving range, some use data from the trip meter (until it is reset). jda will have far better model concepts than I would I think, but for me I would be perfectly happy if I could program the car to say "guess the range left in the battery by extrapolating this based on the most recent 25 miles of driving". But the software designers for the cars either try to overcomplicate things, or don't understand real world use. Or just don't pay it any attention. From a marketing perspective, i can see why a car advertised with a range of 320 miles doesn't want to have its display on the dashboard showing 220 when charged to 100%. But if that's the case, allow users to toggle between "WLTP" range (i.e. industry standard figures to all comparison when buying) and "real" range based on how the car is being driven. My e208 guessed range in a way which was heavily influenced by the fact that the last 2 miles of my home journey is uphill. My MG4 uses WLTP guesses when the main trip meter is reset, but then gradually blends WLTP with "experience" (as far as I can tell), but builds up that experience over about 250 miles. So at the moment I am getting in the car with a display that is showing unbelievable range because I reset the trip meter recently (I do it every 1000 miles). It's OK for me as I can just ignore it as I almost never need to use full range, though for next weekend I'll be driving to London so I'm trying out using ABRP combined with a ODBII adaptor which will communicate battery level to my phone; testing it out this morning it had a pretty good go at estimating the battery level when I got to my destination, and I think ABRP builds up that "experience" too if you use it that way. |
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Apr 2024
12:09pm, 15 Apr 2024
16,862 posts
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jda
There's no one-size-fits-all measure, and it's obvious that the range you achieve when you get in the car will actually depend far more heavily on the nature of your upcoming journey rather than your last one(s). Of course the same is true for petrol but until recently most cars didn't even have a range estimate and petrol stations are usually close enough that it's not a problem (though in some parts of the country that's not entirely true). I've finished long trips at well under 10% a couple of times and found it quite stressful especially during the motorway section when the estimated range was plummeting rather quicker than the remaining distance but I did have a few bail-out options close to home. For the last few miles (after leaving motorway) I could also see remaining distance was decreasing more rapidly than estimated range, so I did have some confidence of making it. I'm not sure what the behaviour is like when you get really low though, and it would be very awkward if the car just conked out on a country lane. |
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Apr 2024
12:18pm, 15 Apr 2024
23,756 posts
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larkim
I used to think that the absence of having a %age battery figure in my e208 was no big deal, as I could impute the battery level from the "fill bar" on the dash. I have to say though now with having %age level displayed on the dash I do prefer that and can do calcs as I go along in my head as each single percentage point drops. As you say, it's a predictive tool so it will never be right for everyone all of the time. It would be nice to have some control over it - to be able to choose the GOM approach maybe? e.g. select history range - 25 miles, 50 miles, 200 miles. Or select WLTP, or simply set to a user defined "miles per kwh" figure. That last one would probably be my preferred to be honest, and it's what I can work in my head or by using google assistant to calculate whilst I'm driving if necessary. |
Apr 2024
1:15pm, 15 Apr 2024
3,381 posts
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Big_G
It is one of the frustrating things about petrol/diesel cars as well. Their MPG figures always seem laughably optimistic. Whether there’s any truth behind this but I’ve always assumed ‘they’re all the same, so I’m assuming I’m comparing like with like’ in terms of MPG comparison. But, and I haven’t looked into it, maybe that thought doesn’t translate to EV. Is there an opportunity, I wonder, to have a summer and winter figure published by the manufacturer (do some do this already? I don’t know)? Or would that add more confusion? I think, as someone without an EV, I’d like to see that rather than relying on reviews from elsewhere about differences between summer and winter figures. |
Apr 2024
1:18pm, 15 Apr 2024
49,823 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Big_G, that EV database linked in the sidebar, that larkim also linked to does give motorway v. city and winter v. summer, which shows a big variation, which might be useful? ev-database.uk |
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Apr 2024
1:19pm, 15 Apr 2024
3,382 posts
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Big_G
Ok, thanks. I’ll have a look.
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Apr 2024
1:19pm, 15 Apr 2024
49,824 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
When I got my first diesel BMW 1 series, it was meant to be 50mpg. I drove very carefully from dealer home and got 50.1mpg. Never saw that again in "normal" driving. 35mpg max! (For me and my heavy right foot!)  G
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Apr 2024
2:30pm, 15 Apr 2024
16,863 posts
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jda
FWIW I have always comfortably beaten the official figures for fuel efficiency. But I have only owned 2 cars and two vans (the latter being one model). I’ve never used the brake pedal much and until now never had a vehicle with any performance to enjoy Actually now I think about it, “comfortably” would be an exaggeration for the EV. I easily beat it through the first few (summer) months of ownership but winter was another story. I expect the annual average to be close. |
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Apr 2024
2:37pm, 15 Apr 2024
16,864 posts
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jda
Based on that database you’ll see a really big drop in range if you do a lot of motorway miles at 70 or more.
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