Disappointed with range

[jelloslug]

I was getting less than 65 miles range.

The car has since been at the dealers where I m told they changed the KLE. The range did seem a little better but I’m still monitoring. Still struggling to get 75 miles range in eco pro with the ambient temp around 8 to 10 degs. Put it on charge last night and indicated range in comfort is now only 62!! (Please no responses about driving style and temp as I have read them all! I typically get efficiency in excess of 80% and my average mils/kwh shows 4.3!)

So I remain disappointed with the cars actual range. Now seems like I either have to take it back to the dealer again or wait for spring and hope for some improvement. Seems strange to blame the weather so much considering how relatively mild it is in UK. Also frustrating when others ‘claim’ they are getting in excess of 75 miles in similar conditions.

Also notice that if I do a number of very short trips that i ‘lose’ lots of range. That is I can get in the car with an indicated range of say 50miles, drive for a mile, stop and when I get back in the car the range has dropped to 46. Drive another mile, stop, get back in 15 mins later and ind range now shows 42! After that, even if I take a long gentle drive the ‘lost’ range is never regained!!!

It sounds like there is something wrong there. I have no problems getting my i3 to go 80 miles or more even in temperatures close to freezing. I did 97 miles yesterday and the average temp was just a few degrees above freezing for the entire trip. The one thing that does eat the range is the HVAC system and not using the preconditioning while plugged in.

 

[Boatguy]

It sounds like there is something wrong there. I have no problems getting my i3 to go 80 miles or more even in temperatures close to freezing. I did 97 miles yesterday and the average temp was just a few degrees above freezing for the entire trip. The one thing that does eat the range is the HVAC system and not using the preconditioning while plugged in.

I just drove home 6 miles at 40F and my consumption was 3.4 mi/kWh which is about 64mi of range. I was in Comfort, no pre-conditioning, HVAC at 72F and one seat heater on, at night (ie, headlights on). That is a little worse than I expected, but nowhere near 97 which would be 5.1 mi/kWh. The U.S. community average is 4.0 which is about 76mi of range . You are clearly in the top 1% of range, what are you doing differently than the rest of us?

 

[jelloslug]

It sounds like there is something wrong there. I have no problems getting my i3 to go 80 miles or more even in temperatures close to freezing. I did 97 miles yesterday and the average temp was just a few degrees above freezing for the entire trip. The one thing that does eat the range is the HVAC system and not using the preconditioning while plugged in.

I just drove home 6 miles at 40F and my consumption was 3.4 mi/kWh which is about 64mi of range. I was in Comfort, no pre-conditioning, HVAC at 72F and one seat heater on, at night (ie, headlights on). That is a little worse than I expected, but nowhere near 97 which would be 5.1 mi/kWh. The U.S. community average is 4.0 which is about 76mi of range . You are clearly in the top 1% of range, what are you doing differently than the rest of us?

Pre-condition and frugal use of the HVAC system (I usually just use the heated seats) if I taking a longer trip. On "normal" days I'm usually hitting 4.0 to 4.3 mi/kWh.

 

[TheCyclist]

I reset my energy/ distance record in the recent cold weather & it's increased by about 25% - which is the same as the drop in predicted mileage.

 

[i3MK]

I reset my energy/ distance record in the recent cold weather & it's increased by about 25% - which is the same as the drop in predicted mileage.

Please outline steps taken

 

[TheCyclist]

I'm a little confused by the request. The two states are average air temp about 17C & then about 7C. My experiment with resetting the energy consumption seems to confirm there isn't a software issue, although it's possible I have a subtle issue with the energy management system. I am trying to precondition every time I leave home, but I do quite a lot of short journeys with gaps during which the car cools & increasingly I run with the cabin heating at it's lowest setting & use the seat heater. I don't have a regular life with commuting at a predictable time & I suppose these issues may magnify the change.

Is that the detail you need?

 

[jelloslug]

I'm a little confused by the request. The two states are average air temp about 17C & then about 7C. My experiment with resetting the energy consumption seems to confirm there isn't a software issue, although it's possible I have a subtle issue with the energy management system. I am trying to precondition every time I leave home, but I do quite a lot of short journeys with gaps during which the car cools & increasingly I run with the cabin heating at it's lowest setting & use the seat heater. I don't have a regular life with commuting at a predictable time & I suppose these issues may magnify the change.

Is that the detail you need?

You may have answered this before but are you using the pre-programmable times for your preconditioning or the phone app?

 

[TheCyclist]

My life is insufficiently regular for the pre-set times to be very useful & the iPhone app does not always connect effectively to the car, so I am losing some advantaged, but it is also real life.

 

[I3inHI]

Despite this my best range so far is 59 miles from a full charge and my average is 54 miles!

Are these numbers actuals (you've run the battery down from a full charge and drove those miles) or based on the range meter? The range meter, otherwise known as the "guess-o-meter" or GOM, is often reported to be very inaccurate. Mine rarely shows more than ~65 miles at a full charge, even after several charges and driving in EcoPro+ mode and driving very conservatively. The longest distance I've gotten out of a charge is now 104 miles and still had 4% state of charge (SOC) according to the mobile app. After charging to 100% that day, the GOM only said 68 miles. I've learned to ignore it and just assume each of the four charge indicator bars will give me 25 miles if I drive like my mom, 20 miles with normal-ish driving, and 15 with fast accelerations and/or high freeway speeds.

This is very encouraging as I am a bit bummed by the range indicated on the GOM. Is your car a REX or are you driving on batteries only?

 

[MikeS]

Despite this my best range so far is 59 miles from a full charge and my average is 54 miles!

Are these numbers actuals (you've run the battery down from a full charge and drove those miles) or based on the range meter? The range meter, otherwise known as the "guess-o-meter" or GOM, is often reported to be very inaccurate. Mine rarely shows more than ~65 miles at a full charge, even after several charges and driving in EcoPro+ mode and driving very conservatively. The longest distance I've gotten out of a charge is now 104 miles and still had 4% state of charge (SOC) according to the mobile app. After charging to 100% that day, the GOM only said 68 miles. I've learned to ignore it and just assume each of the four charge indicator bars will give me 25 miles if I drive like my mom, 20 miles with normal-ish driving, and 15 with fast accelerations and/or high freeway speeds.

This is very encouraging as I am a bit bummed by the range indicated on the GOM. Is your car a REX or are you driving on batteries only?

I have a REX and find the GOM to be fairly accurate and its figures tie in well with the SOC. With the temp around 5 degrees C the last few days, drinking with the heater off in comfort and being especially careful of my driving style I still only achieved 64 miles.

 

[TheCyclist]

Yep I got about that range in similar conditions with my REX.

 

[noakey]

Yep I got about that range in similar conditions with my REX.

Ditto... Getting about 70 miles with eco-pro modest heating during the cold snap (0 - 3 Celsius), no air-con, and got 80 miles the other day on eco-pro+ with no heating (but with gloves on).

 

[juniorbeep]

yep same here in sussex when cold 70 miles and minimal heating on... 80-90 in nice warm weather with minimal air con. Best was a 93

 

[Tim]

I bought a REX on the basis of at least 80 miles. Even when pre conditioned the max range is shown as 72 miles. Hoping it improves when the weather improves. A little disappointed really.

Take car Tim

 

[Jeffj]

We get quite large temp swings in CO, sometimes as much as 40F degrees in a single day. I've noticed that when its cold (e.g. < 35 F), the highest economy I can achieve is 3.7 or 3.8 mi/kWh during a trip. The last couple of days its been nearly 70F and my economy has been registering at 4.8-6.0 when I've driven during the day. Haven't measured range, since I rarely use more than 1/3 of the battery in a day, but if the economy is going up like that with the temps, it bodes well for much greater range in the summer.

 

[SuperM]

We get quite large temp swings in CO, sometimes as much as 40F degrees in a single day. I've noticed that when its cold (e.g. < 35 F), the highest economy I can achieve is 3.7 or 3.8 mi/kWh during a trip. The last couple of days its been nearly 70F and my economy has been registering at 4.8-6.0 when I've driven during the day. Haven't measured range, since I rarely use more than 1/3 of the battery in a day, but if the economy is going up like that with the temps, it bodes well for much greater range in the summer.

I think there is an optimum, when it gets too hot autonomy decreases again (ad not alone because you will want to use the AC) . Or I'm I wrong?

 

[Jeffj]

If it gets too hot, then the batteries need to be cooled down. But cooling takes far less power than heating. Not sure of the actual ratio, but I'd guess heating takes on the order of 3-4x the power of cooling.

 

[I33t]

If it gets too hot, then the batteries need to be cooled down. But cooling takes far less power than heating. Not sure of the actual ratio, but I'd guess heating takes on the order of 3-4x the power of cooling.

Interesting. why does cooling take less power than heating?

 

[jadnashuanh]

Cooling/heating all depends on several things: do you have the (optional in some markets) heat pump for heating, or do you have a REx, where that's not an option; how hot or cold it is? The heat pump is pretty efficient until the outside temps get pretty cold, but in milder temperatures, it's about the same efficiency as cooling. On the REx, heating is via resistance heat, and one watt heat takes one watt of power. The heat pump can get 2-4W heat from one watt of power, depending on the outside temperature. Then, it's the delta T, the difference between the outside and what you're asking it to be inside - the bigger that is, the more power it takes.

 

[alohart]

I have read battery pack heating is by resistance and, therefore, doesn't use the heat pump heater if one's i3 has one. Whereas battery cooling uses the heat pump. Is this correct?