Full charge mileage displayed isn't 238

[michael]

No SOC % on the Bolt?? Geez, what does it have? Charge bars? ;-(

It has estimated range, which is probably more useful to most people than a percentage of battery capacity.

Lack of SOC info is a glaring omission if it's really the case. Hopefully it's there somewhere

Is there an ICE car made that has no fuel gauge even if it has a Distance to empty display?

 

[phil0909]

Lack of SOC info is a glaring omission if it's really the case. Hopefully it's there somewhere

Is there an ICE car made that has no fuel gauge even if it has a Distance to empty display?

Of course it shows SOC, but the dashboard display is graphical, not numerical. Twenty bars, so each bar represents 5% SOC. Very much the same as a typical ICE gas gauge.

I'd rather have a numerical display, showing percent of capacity. But I only find that level of detail on the android app. Of course, I've never seen an ICE car that could tell me the tank was 38% full. :lol:

 

[like2bike]

Sorry for the misinformation. I did read the manual which never actually says the 20 bars are the SOC. But looking at it again, I realize it should have been obvious, since the 20 bars are in 4 groups to make it like a fuel gauge.

 

[drdiesel1]

The mileage rating is based off of the last drive usage. It has nothing to do with SOC.
If you drive the car hard, the ESTIMATED RANGE METER will show less than if you were
able to drive it and get 4 miles per kilowatt. As your kilowatt rating drops, so will the estimated
range on a full charge. I find the range est. to be very accurate because I drive it the same
way all the time. I did notice when I charged it for the first time, the range est. was only 229 miles,
but the second time was right at 238 miles.

I drove from Monterey to UCSF Medical Center with a detour to Tommy's joint for lunch and back. 226 miles with 28 left.
I have been able to beat the EPA's est. range by 16 miles so far. It's been cold and raining for the last 2 weeks here.
The Est. range is very accurate and it's based on your driving habits. Not everyone will achieve the 238 and some will beat it.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Seat of the pants, I'd estimate that the heater saps about ten percent of the battery power. Of course it also loves local driving. Do a lot of that and the range predictions will increase.

I don't think climate control as a percent of battery power is useful without defining some parameters. It takes a lot more energy to heat a cold-soaked car than to maintain temperate on a warm car. So does that 10% estimate just account for maintaining temperature? That is probably about right.

Ironically, if you run a lot of short trips, the energy used for heat increases dramatically. This is due to the fact that between trips, the car cools off. You then have to warm up a cold car again. For this reason, I often end up getting less than 2 miles/kWh in sub-zero temps in my Leaf. I do a lot of short trips, but I have kids in the back (so heated seats are useless).

The mileage rating is based off of the last drive usage. It has nothing to do with SOC.

Nonsense. The mileage rating has to do with both. It is the remaining SOC multiplied by the expected efficiency. The efficiency is, in turn, based off recent driving usage.

 

[roundpeg]

I don't think climate control as a percent of battery power is useful without defining some parameters. It takes a lot more energy to heat a cold-soaked car than to maintain temperate on a warm car. So does that 10% estimate just account for maintaining temperature? That is probably about right.

Ironically, if you run a lot of short trips, the energy used for heat increases dramatically. This is due to the fact that between trips, the car cools off. You then have to warm up a cold car again. For this reason, I often end up getting less than 2 miles/kWh in sub-zero temps in my Leaf. I do a lot of short trips, but I have kids in the back (so heated seats are useless).

I expect you are right, I was just trying to come up with some rough numbers. Somebody threw out 10% a few months back and it seemed to be not far from the mark, based on my limited experience. I've actually had almost no experience driving the car without the climate control since it's been cold and rainy all month in California with the exception of only a couple of days. Of course we don't have the frigid weather you are describing but any day when the temperature doesn't reach 65 is considered cold in these parts. I've tried preheating it in the garage but I am not certain if it helps the energy consumption noticeably during the drive.

Will be most interested in the penalty for air conditioning, since that's generally our real need here.

 

[michael]

I can give some very rough examples based on my experience with my Focus Electric.

The air conditioning, on a Southern California summer day might use about 1500 W. The inefficient resistive heater in the winter uses about 6 kW when running full blast. The "typical" power will be lower, depending on how hard the heater needs to work to maintain the desired temp. In So Cal, maybe 3 kW as a guess.

A 60 mile trip at 60 mph would take an hour and might use 15 kWh without either heating or cooling (assume 250 +/- kWh/mile)

So in the summer, the same trip would need an extra 1.5/15 = 10% energy
In the winter, 3/15 = 20%
If running full blast for that whole hour 6/15 = 40%

Winter is bad for EVs
Resistive heaters are a poor choice for EVs. but many manufacturers use them anyway.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Winter is bad for EVs

Minor correction - Winter is bad for EVs' range.

There are reasons why winter is "good" for EVs. They provide instant heat. And you can pre-heat them in your garage. They provide full performance (in sub-zero temps, an ICE has to warm up before you get anywhere near full power from the engine).

The numbers are a little old now (and may be negated with lower gas prices), but there was a study that showed EVs actually save you more fuel money in the winter. I cannot find it now, I forget where I read it. But the numbers made sense at the time.

Plus, batteries degrade slower in the cold.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Winter is bad for all car's range.

 

[roundpeg]

I am noticing that EV drivers are a lot more interested in energy efficiency than ICE car drivers, for some pretty obvious reasons.

 

[samiam95124]

189 is average on full charge, and that is based on my driving for only a few days.

The real issue is that the GOM is *** ALL *** you are given. As a 3 year Leaf driver, I can tell you that you learn rapidly to look at the percentage of charge as indicated by the bar graph.

Which would be nice on the Bolt, if only IT HAD ONE!

Even the Mylink android app will tell you this! Ridiculous.

 

[roundpeg]

It has a bar graph. Two in fact. One to the left of the speedometer and another on the energy consumption diagram.

 

[gpsman]

I've never owned an EV and my ordered Bolt will be here soon.

What happens when you hit zero miles to go?
Does the car come to a dead stop or gradually slow down so you can limp along to a safe place?

 

[LeftieBiker]

I've never owned an EV and my ordered Bolt will be here soon.

What happens when you hit zero miles to go?
Does the car come to a dead stop or gradually slow down so you can limp along to a safe place?

The Leaf has gradual power reduction and then Turtle Mode, which you want to avoid. Total limp range is only a few miles. I don't know what the Bolt does, but I doubt it stops abruptly.

 

[Anonymous]

I've never owned an EV and my ordered Bolt will be here soon.

What happens when you hit zero miles to go?
Does the car come to a dead stop or gradually slow down so you can limp along to a safe place?

My experience with the Volt (with no gas remaining) was that in the last 20 miles or so, it would not let you drive especially fast highway speeds but at 0 it stopped dead, to my great surprise! I had to call AAA to get some gas! hahaha

I expect the same with the Bolt, but no help from the AAA or gas! That is why I carry the 110/220 AV TurboCord and some 220V outlet adapters I purchased from my days leasing a Volt.

My Bolt EV currently has 253 miles on the gauge; it was 264 previously.

When making long distance drives that will test my capacity I keep an eye on three separate gauges:

Miles Remaining

Energy Used; and

The miles to my destination on the Apple CarPlay destination routing

I find the most reliable gauge is the Energy Used, as this one most accurately accounts for regeneration. The Miles Remaining easily goes out of whack with regeneration, adding too many miles for severe downhill regeneration situations.

So I subtract the Energy Used from 60 and remember that I average about 73 miles for each 20KW and 36 miles for each 10Kw and 18 miles for each 5 Kw (depending upon terrain, speed, etc.) and drive accordingly based upon how many miles I have remaining to my destination and where the closest DC Fast Charger is located.

 

[Posatronic]

I am noticing that EV drivers are a lot more interested in energy efficiency than ICE car drivers, for some pretty obvious reasons.





I have recorded gas mileage since I bought my first car. Gas mileage can tell you a lot about what's happening inside your engine. As much as your spark plugs. But your right a ton of people just don't pay attention. Even looking at miles between full ups would help.

 

[gpsman]

"I find the most reliable gauge is the Energy Used, as this one most accurately accounts for regeneration. The Miles Remaining easily goes out of whack with regeneration, adding too many miles for severe downhill regeneration situations."

Today I went up a very steep (18%) road for about a mile and a half. 3 miles deducted from my range which is understandable.
Then I made a U turn and went down the same road. My range went up by 3 miles.
So I did it again.
On the second trip up, 3 miles came off my range.
On the second trip down, 3 miles went went back in.

Chevy has found the key to perpetual motion: LiIon batteries and steep hills.

 

[drdiesel1]

"I find the most reliable gauge is the Energy Used, as this one most accurately accounts for regeneration. The Miles Remaining easily goes out of whack with regeneration, adding too many miles for severe downhill regeneration situations."

Today I went up a very steep (18%) road for about a mile and a half. 3 miles deducted from my range which is understandable.
Then I made a U turn and went down the same road. My range went up by 3 miles.
So I did it again.
On the second trip up, 3 miles came off my range.
On the second trip down, 3 miles went went back in.

Chevy has found the key to perpetual motion: LiIon batteries and steep hills.

Yes! I noticed the charger peaks at 60Kwh and the regen peaks at 70Kwh :mrgreen:

Here's my charge info. LOL!

 

[Anonymous]

Doing some 65MPH driving on the freeways has brought me down to 231.

Next week is my 335 mile drive up to Santa Cruz!

 

[bobtarlau]

The outside temperature seems to be the main variable. I am in the Los Angeles area... and in owning the Bolt for a month I've found the fully-charged indication has varied from 185 to 224 miles. It's low on the cold days... and higher on the warmer ones. Obviously driving habits also play a role here... but the outside temp seems paramount. Once we reach summer I expect to be seeing a full charge indication closer to the EPA's 238.