Real world range test

[TonyWilliams]

Tony, has the weather not been cooperating so that you can't do your standard range test, or have you just been busy?

Been busy. I Do not expect any surprises.

Economy at 62mph ground speed will be better than the RAV4 EV @3.4 miles per kWh, and worse than Nissan LEAF at 4.0.

Let's say 3.7?

3.7 * 28 = 103.6 miles

3.7 * 31 = 114.7 miles

3.7 * 33 = 122.1 miles

 

[sendler2112]

The Mercedes uses a heat pump.

The cabin heater is a 6kW PTC element high voltage electric. The AC compressor is an HV 5kW electric and is used for cooling the car and can be used for cooling the battery through a dedicated chiller in the HV coolant circuit. There is also a heater in the HV battery coolant circuit but I don't have any specifics on that.

 

[TonyWilliams]

The Mercedes uses a heat pump.

The cabin heater is a 6kW PTC element high voltage electric. The AC compressor is an HV 5kW electric and is used for cooling the car and can be used for cooling the battery through a dedicated chiller in the HV coolant circuit. There is also a heater in the HV battery coolant circuit but I don't have any specifics on that.

Interesting. I made an assumption (by not seeing a resistance heater) that it was a heat pump.

This is exactly how RAV4 EV is set up, with its own battery heater of a different manufacturer (separate from the Denso 6kW cabin heater).

 

[TonyWilliams]

Tony, has the weather not been cooperating so that you can't do your standard range test, or have you just been busy?

Been busy. I Do not expect any surprises.

Economy at 62mph ground speed will be better than the RAV4 EV @3.4 miles per kWh, and worse than Nissan LEAF at 4.0.

I drove 101 miles today, ending with 4 on the GOM, 5% on the battery, and 3.0 miles per kWh INDICATED at 64mph indicated. Temperature about 75F - 80F. There were several "around town miles", so not a conclusive test, but...

My revised "best guess" is using a correction factor of 1.2 on the consumption rate:


(3.0 * 1.2) * 28kWh = 100.8 miles

(3.0 * 1.2) * 31.5kWh = 113.4 miles


At 13%, the "Battery Reserve Level" warning comes on
At 5%, the power is reduced
At 0%, it stops

The battery % stayed at 100% until about 10 miles were driven, which is about right for 28kWh useable remaining. 31.5 - 28 = 2.5kWh * (3.0 * 1.2) = 9 miles

GOM at start - 94
Default economy - 2.5

Using 83.77% charger efficiency (94 / 2.5 = 37.6), then 37.6 / 31.5 = 1.1936 correction

The first 43 miles were driven with (2.7 * 1.2) 3.24 miles per kWh consumption, burning a calculated 13.89 kWh.

That should leave (31.5 - 13.89) 17.61kWh remaining

I forgot to reset the meter, but I should I have gotten (3.3 * 1.2) 3.96 miles per kWh on the way home with detours, and drove a total of 58 miles on the return, so that (58 / 3.96 = 14.65kWh were burnt.

13.89 + 14.65 = 28.53kWh burnt

31.5 - 28.53 = 2 kWh usable remaining

5% of 28kWh = 1.4kWh usable remaining

Error from calculations: 2 - 1.4 = 0.6kWh

Actual calculated range remaining:

(1.4 * 3.6) 5 miles

(2 * 3.6) 7.2 miles

The GOM showed 4 miles

 

[sendler2112]

I drove 101 miles today, ending with 4 on the GOM, 5% on the battery, and 3.0 miles per kWh INDICATED at 64mph indicated. Temperature about 75F - 80F. There were several "around town miles", so not a conclusive test, but...

My revised "best guess" is using a correction factor of 1.2 on the consumption rate:


(3.0 * 1.2) * 28kWh = 100.8 miles

(3.0 * 1.2) * 31.5kWh = 113.4 miles


At 13%, the "Battery Reserve Level" warning comes on
At 5%, the power is reduced
At 0%, it stops

The battery % stayed at 100% until about 10 miles were driven, which is about right for 28kWh useable remaining. 31.5 - 28 = 2.5kWh * (3.0 * 1.2) = 9 miles

Good information. Was this a standard charge? It is interesting that you got 9 miles covered before the battery percentage moved from 100%.
.
Did the E-Cell gauge dip down at the end of the run?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Good information. Was this a standard charge? It is interesting that you got 9 miles covered before the battery percentage moved from 100%.
.
Did the E-Cell gauge dip down at the end of the run?

The 9 miles "thing" is a standard scam, whereby the car shows 100% with a "normal" charge, and the full "extended range" charge is still 100%. You never have any clue, except maybe the GOM, if the car has 28kWh or 31.5kWh available. Dumb.

Toyota does this, too. As a matter of fact, the two Tesla conversions are far more similar than different. Even the Tesla "gateway / communication" module is in exactly the same spot as the RAV4 EV.

Both cars use 2900ma Panasonic 18650 cells.

-------------------- RAV4 ----------- B-Class

Capacity ---------47.0kWh(est)---- 35.9kWh
Extended ---------41.8kWh -------- 31.5kWh
Normal -----------35.0kWh --------- 28.0kWh

Cells ----------------4800(est)------ 3696
Modules ------------- 12 ------------- 12
Cells per module ---- 400(est) ------ 308
Max cell volt -------- 4.2v --------- 4.2v(est)
Resting max cell --- 4.15v -------- 4.15v(est)
Resting pack max--- 382v ---------- 382v(est)
Minimum cell ------- 2.5v ----------- 2.5v

Range max/ 65mph - 142 ---------- 113
Consumption --------- 3.4 ---------- 3.6 (with 1.2 correction factor, 3.0 on dash)


The E-Cell gauge never moved. I suspect it only moves for too hot or cold, or for degradation.

 

[sendler2112]

So this range test was done on an extended range charge? Then I could understand the 9 miles while still reading 100%.

The E-Cell gauge never moved. I suspect it only moves for too hot or cold, or for degradation.

Did you ever really hit a turtle mode? I would expect the E-Cell gauge to show a minimum if the car was in turtle mode.

 

[TonyWilliams]

So this range test was done on an extended range charge? Then I could understand the 9 miles while still reading 100%.

The E-Cell gauge never moved. I suspect it only moves for too hot or cold, or for degradation.

Did you ever really hit a turtle mode? I would expect the E-Cell gauge to show a minimum if the car was in turtle mode.

Yes, fully charged battery, which is 31.5kWh usable

The lower charged threshold is 28.0kWh.

I only went to "reduced power" at 5%.

There is no mention of a "turtle mode", like Japanese and Korean cars. Like a Tesla, 0% is "lights out".

 

[BCKator]

Tony:
Shouldn't this be
31.5 - 28.53 = 3 kWh usable remaining
?

 

[TonyWilliams]

Tony:
Shouldn't this be
31.5 - 28.53 = 3 kWh usable remaining
?

Yes, the math error was caught up-thread.

 

[Comanchepilot]

We picked up a standard 2014 yesterday.

We drove it 68 miles back from the dealer to the house. Mostly 70mph plus NO stop and go at all - it was virtually all high speed freeway with the last 25 miles being all uphill in a constant slight grade. Upon arriving at the house - at night - with lights on, ac on, and the usual hotel load, the GOM showed 12 miles left - and the charge indicator revealed 14% left.

The efficiency was abysmal - only 2.844 mi/Kwh - but at constant speeds in excess of 65mph - and uphill for 28 of those 68 miles - I guess it was not bad . . . .

Wife does not like D-Auto - so she spent most of it in D or D-.

We have a Voltec charger so it takes a while to charge @ 3.3Kwh . . .

 

[ClassESage]

The efficiency was abysmal - only 2.844 mi/Kwh - but at constant speeds in excess of 65mph - and uphill for 28 of those 68 miles - I guess it was not bad . . . .

2.8 seems rather typical for BE. What was the temp?

 

[TonyWilliams]

k
The efficiency was abysmal - only 2.844 mi/Kwh - but at constant speeds in excess of 65mph - and uphill for 28 of those 68 miles - I guess it was not bad . . . .

2.8 seems rather typical for BE. What was the temp?

Yes, 2.8 is very typical. To compare to other cars, however, you need to multiply that value by 1.2, so that 2.8 is actually 3.36 miles per kWh.

Also, make sure you reset the meter prior to each trip to get accurate info for that trip.

 

[wtzouris]

The worst you are going to do over a 25-30 mile segment is 1.8 - 2.0 mpkWh overall. That's using some heat, below freezing temps, wipers, wet roads, etc. On extended charge that's about 75 miles range (2.0 x 1.2 x 31.5) and on standard charge it's 67 miles. When you start a trip in the cold, the computer will say 1.2 mpkWh but that averages out much higher after 20-25 miles driven.

I typically see overall mpkWh of 2.5-2.8 on 50-60 mile segments and moderate weather. (95-105 miles) and if it is a perfect day, 3.2 mpkWh (105-115 miles)

So the actual range of the vehicle is 68-105 miles, standard 28kW charge

 

[JeffRay]

CP, I will defer to the pros who have responded already. On a separate vein, if this is your first electric car, at some point, the car will break in the driver. By that I mean we all have learned how to drive the car more efficiently over time. For me, I loved the get up and go initially but now that I am over that I try to eek out the best range for fun by coasting and keeping the meter on the right of the dashboard within the first bar above mid-line. Per wtzouris' prior post, try D- in traffic and D or D+ on the highway. Great that you have bypass D-Auto already.

 

[padamson1]

Just did my own real world range test. Trip to Oregon wine country from our house.

- Used range extender button to charge past normal. This added 8mi on the GOM (Guess-O-Meter) and left house with 81mi on the GOM.
- Drove with 2 passengers to three different wineries, varying speeds mostly 60mph but some 70mph, lots of elevation changes, not much stop and go. We added 4-1/2 cases of wine worth of weight.
- Used the A/C for most of the trip since it was 85 outside.
- Drove 108mi and GOM read 23mi and 3.9mi/kWhr when stopped at store on way home. This was without pressing the emergency range extender button while driving.
- Pressed range extender button during final leg home and GOM bumped up to 29mi (from 22), drove 20 more miles including a 700' climb final part back to my house and GOM read 4mi when I arrived home.

So I drove a total of 128mi with A/C for 118mi, and I still had probably 7mi left (figuring the GOM underestimated with big climb before I got back to my house). So I think the max range is currently ~125mi after 6mos. & 5900 miles on the odometer. Not bad and certainly a whole lot better than I expected.

 

[tom]

Just did my own real world range test. Trip to Oregon wine country from our house.

- Used range extender button to charge past normal. This added 8mi on the GOM (Guess-O-Meter) and left house with 81mi on the GOM.
- Drove with 2 passengers to three different wineries, varying speeds mostly 60mph but some 70mph, lots of elevation changes, not much stop and go. We added 4-1/2 cases of wine worth of weight.
- Used the A/C for most of the trip since it was 85 outside.
- Drove 108mi and GOM read 23mi and 3.9mi/kWhr when stopped at store on way home. This was without pressing the emergency range extender button while driving.
- Pressed range extender button during final leg home and GOM bumped up to 29mi (from 22), drove 20 more miles including a 700' climb final part back to my house and GOM read 4mi when I arrived home.

So I drove a total of 128mi with A/C for 118mi, and I still had probably 7mi left (figuring the GOM underestimated with big climb before I got back to my house). So I think the max range is currently ~135mi after 6mos. & 5900 miles on the odometer. Not bad and certainly a whole lot better than I expected.

I am currently looking to lease this car, so I'm really happy to see your post above!

 

[padamson1]

J...big snip...
So I drove a total of 128mi with A/C for 118mi, and I still had probably 7mi left (figuring the GOM underestimated with big climb before I got back to my house). So I think the max range is currently ~125mi after 6mos. & 5900 miles on the odometer. Not bad and certainly a whole lot better than I expected.

I am currently looking to lease this car, so I'm really happy to see your post above!

Just noticed typo in my range summary, which I have corrected above. It is ~125mi, not 135mi

 

[leousa]

We have 2014 Model without range extender (standard 28kWt battery) and without recuperation adjustment (no pedal shifters). Was able to squeeze 107 miles with 3 people inside, hilly terrain, aggressive driving, headlights and climate control on. Car had only 1200 on the odometer when we did this test.

 

[wtzouris]

Once the colder weather sets in you will be shocked at the 35% range decrease. Cabin heating and battery heating is the biggest energy consumer but in general you can't do anything about it . You will get nowhere near 100 miles range per day, more like 65-85 miles.