Full charge mileage displayed isn't 238

[gpsman]

I started with just about 238 on the way home from the dealer. Rode it down to 89% per iPhone app.
Charged up overnight via the 120 volt cord.
Had 234 back on the odo.

Rode it down to 87% the second day.
Charged it back up overnight with the 120 volt cord.
Had 228 back on the odo.

Rode it down to 77% on the third and fourth day.
(Did not charge on the third night.)
Charged it with the 120 volt cord the fouth night.
Had 238 back on the odo.

Went without charging the 5th, 6th, 7th days. Rode it down to 35%. Put it on the 120 volt charger and it went up to 58% and 138 miles on the odo.

Seems very consistent to me.
4% of my power went to heater.
96% went to driving.
0% went to battery conditioning.
San Francisco / Bay Area driving conditions.

 

[sgt1372]

The computer definitely re-calibrates the range estimate on the "fly."

Was at 220 mid range estimate (fully charged) at the end of week after the drive home from the dealer (60 miles away) and some limited local driving.

Then I went on a sedate 118 mile "test drive" staying w/in the speed limit and seldom accelerating quickly. The estimated range after the drive was 102 -- 118 + 102 =220, exactly the same as the initial mid range estimate.

The next day I took it out for a short 30 mile jaunt. It was fully charged and I just put my foot into it. Way more fun but doing that just sucked the power out of it. After another full recharge, max range dropped to 193 -- 27 miles and 12.3% less than the day before.

The next day, I took the car on another short "test drive" -- just 14 miles and drove like I was taking the DMV drive test again. Estimated mid range only dropped 4 miles to 189.

Not sure where the extra 10 miles came from but I apparently increased my range by that amount just by driving better. Going to try doing that again today to see how much more mileage I can recoup after my driving binge the other day.

BTW, before anyone scolds me, I am NOT going to fully recharge the car each day anymore. Was doing that only to test how the range varied w/the way I drive.

I have activated the Hilltop Reserve and from now on I am only going to fully recharge on those days when I need the max range for 160-180 mile RTs that I occasionally take into San Francisco.

Update: Drove an additional 13 miles today. Mid range estimate dropped from 189 to 186, which means that I "gained' an additional 10 miles driving "well" today. Total miles traveled 27+186 estimated miles remaining=213 estimated mileage range vs 193 2 days earlier after a full recharge. So, the car is almost back up to the 220 mile range that I had during the weekend. So, good driving can overcome bad in maximizing driving range.

 

[gpsman]

Yes, sgt1372 I agree.

Turning on the heat will drop your range instantly. Turning off the heat bumps it up almost instantly.

It is a Guess-o-Meter.

 

[Anonymous]

You are expecting too much precision from that gauge at low distance driving...

 

[phil0909]

I quickly learned to ignore the car's range estimates. They are more annoying than informative, and I'd turn them off completely, if I could.

Instead, I just figure on 200 miles of range for a full battery, or exactly 10 miles per bar on the dashboard bar graph. Works great, since I live in a warm climate and do not drive up giant hills in the Bolt. YMMV...

 

[sgt1372]

You are expecting too much precision from that gauge at low distance driving...

I am actually finding the range estimator extremely accurate but I don't intend to obsess about the mileage range forever.

It's a learning process.

I'm just trying to get a handle on how much range I can expect from the car based on different ways of driving it and once I've got this info locked in, I won't focus on it as much but I doubt that I'd ever totally ignore it. The penalty for doing so would be to deplete the battery and end up dead on the road.

 

[Anonymous]

It is accurate if you recreate your driving patterns of the last few days. So of course for commuters, their driving patterns will repeat and the gauge will be accurate.

If a commuter suddenly decides to then make a trip up into the mountains, the gauge at the beginning of the trip, will not be as accurate. It will, of course, correct for the new driving pattern.

I continue to watch the Energy Used vs. Miles Remaining most closely and calculate in my head on the fly! Hopefully my experience will show that the gauge will track this calculation as well!

 

[phil0909]

I won't focus on it as much but I doubt that I'd ever totally ignore it. The penalty for doing so would be to deplete the battery and end up dead on the road.

Not at all. You'd just use the graphical fuel gauge, just like drivers have been doing for a century. Nobody needs a numerical range estimator. The only penalty for ignoring it is a reduction in confusion/irritation.

BTW, it is exactly a century this year - Happy Birthday, fuel gauge!

 

[drdiesel1]

The range meter is an estimated number based on your last driving proficiency or lack of :shock:
It's very accurate of you drive the same way. I drive the same 2 routes everyday. It's spot on and
reflects my long term driving habits. All range meters are estimates. Nothing new there

 

[GetOffYourGas]

BTW, it is exactly a century this year - Happy Birthday, fuel gauge!

So the first fuel gauge wasn't invented until after cars were on the roads for a couple of decades? Talk about range anxiety! :shock:

 

[sgt1372]

So the first fuel gauge wasn't invented until after cars were on the roads for a couple of decades? Talk about range anxiety! :shock:

Those were the days when you had to LOOK in the tank to see how much gas you had left, just like motorcyclists still do now.

It fine as long as you don't do it w/a match. LOL!

 

[phil0909]

BTW, it is exactly a century this year - Happy Birthday, fuel gauge!

So the first fuel gauge wasn't invented until after cars were on the roads for a couple of decades? Talk about range anxiety! :shock:

Yes, but I expect range anxiety did not even make the list of the Top Ten Driving Anxieties in the early days. Topping the list were things like spontaneous human melting and uterus fly-out:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/67806/early-trains-were-thought-make-womens-uteruses-fly-out

Range anxiety was the least of their concerns.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

So the first fuel gauge wasn't invented until after cars were on the roads for a couple of decades? Talk about range anxiety! :shock:

Those were the days when you had to LOOK in the tank to see how much gas you had left, just like motorcyclists still do now.

It fine as long as you don't do it w/a match. LOL!

At least with any motorcycle I have owned, there are two outputs from the tank - one a little above the bottom of the tank, and a "reserve" at the very bottom. So when you run the tank dry, you still have a little fuel left to (hopefully) get you to the nearest gas station. I learned to simply reset the odometer whenever I fill out, and go by miles driven. My MPG were pretty consistent.

 

[SeanNelson]

BTW, it is exactly a century this year - Happy Birthday, fuel gauge!

So the first fuel gauge wasn't invented until after cars were on the roads for a couple of decades? Talk about range anxiety! :shock:

I remember when VW Beetles had an "auxillary tank" and no gas gauge. When the engine started to sputter you'd switch to the auxiliary tank and that's how you'd know when to go to a service station and fill up.

 

[SparkEVPilot]

Go to YouTube and search for CHEVROLET BOLT EV MILEAGE REPORT. There are three videos that are very informative regarding charging, GOM and range. The author documents how he got 300 miles from a full charge; very informative and answers a number of questions you might have.

 

[Anonymous]

These videos confirm what I have been reporting earlier on my results, but he went through his 58 KWh to complete his conclusions. It is also starting to give me more confidence in the Mileage Remaining gauge as well as my relying more on the Energy Used one.

It is not clear from videos if EVGo stopped him after 30 minutes as myself and others have reported. I posted that question.

 

[Anonymous]

UPDATE: He acknowledged that EVGo did indeed stop after 30 minutes and he had to manually restart the charger for another session

 

[Anonymous]

I've had a Leaf for over a year and now my Bolt for a week. In the three times I've charged the Bolt using either trickle 120 or 240, it has said "completely charged" with resulting ranges of 193, 221 and 206 (note that both the Hilltop Reserve and the HVAC were off; either pulls down the max charge mileage).

This surprised me as my experience with the Leaf was that full charge was almost always near the max at the beginning, although the post charge utilization was not linear as described above, and the max charge and mileage declined over time.

If I continue to get low max charge mileage, I will go back to the dealership for a test if possible to make sure one of the battery cells is not damaged or otherwise underperforming.

Other advice/feedback welcome.

 

[SparkE]

Other advice/feedback welcome.

My advice/feedback is to read this entire thread from the beginning before going to the dealer.

 

[Posatronic]

I've had a Leaf for over a year and now my Bolt for a week. In the three times I've charged the Bolt using either trickle 120 or 240, it has said "completely charged" with resulting ranges of 193, 221 and 206 (note that both the Hilltop Reserve and the HVAC were off; either pulls down the max charge mileage).

This surprised me as my experience with the Leaf was that full charge was almost always near the max at the beginning, although the post charge utilization was not linear as described above, and the max charge and mileage declined over time.

I believe the Bolt has tried to not have the mileage vary drastically. So it used the last charge and last "way" it was driven to give a very accurate mileage outlook.

If it is cold(like 20 degrees) and I drive with heat on and drive with a lead foot I get 150-180 miles and the car is very accurate that way. It got really warm last two weeks, in the 70's for 3 or 4 days in a row. Got 196,206 then 218. And since I drive 130-150 miles a day it was very very accurate. And when I drive it takes a while for it to adjust with the way I am driving.

I find this to be way better than always starting at the same mileage every time just to find the car is eating up 2-4 miles of estimated mileage for every mile.

Hope that helps.