EV ranges

[scotview]

We have a VW ID3 life, with the smallest battery 45kWh. The quoted range is 217 miles.
In the warmer months we were realistically getting about 205 miles, with some air conditioning use.
Now in the colder months with heating and lights, we are getting less range.
I think that in the winter months the maximum range would be about 150/160 miles.

[Arborbridge]

2 semi random charging curves provided by Fastned. The cars aren't really comparable,or what you are looking for, but the curves are illustrative of my point.

You can see how the Audi can take a meaningful charge over a far wider range of charge states than the Ford despite having a lower max charge rate, while the Ford just brushes it's max rate once and then quickly drops below the Audi. This means you don't need to drain the Audi before charging to add meaningful mileage and you can be more flexible in selecting your charging stops. You might for instance decide to make 2 shorter stops to add 30% a time and hop a charging desert, rather than stopping once for a bigger charge, or find that you can get by on one earlier charge which would take too long with a car with a worse charge curve.

I see what you mean, but the 50kw line is more level for both, so does that mean for most ordinary public charge points, the charge state wouldn't be a factor anyway?

At 50kw the bottleneck isn't in the car so the difference would be markedly lower if say you couldn't charge at home and were using a supermarket charger or similar as a regular charge.

If you were planning a significant run which required a stop up on route such as going to Devon however I'm guessing unless there was an attraction at which you wanted to make a significant stop en route you'd be seeking out faster chargers and the difference would be night and day. Things will only get better, but its a reminder that there's a difference between sticker spec and real world performance (much like what a salesman will and won't say), and the utility of flexibility.

I found the chart for the e-Niro, and the charge rates drops rapidly after 70% charge to under 50kw.

[Arborbridge]

We have a VW ID3 life, with the smallest battery 45kWh. The quoted range is 217 miles.
In the warmer months we were realistically getting about 205 miles, with some air conditioning use.
Now in the colder months with heating and lights, we are getting less range.
I think that in the winter months the maximum range would be about 150/160 miles.

Thank you.

[BobbyD]

I see what you mean, but the 50kw line is more level for both, so does that mean for most ordinary public charge points, the charge state wouldn't be a factor anyway?

At 50kw the bottleneck isn't in the car so the difference would be markedly lower if say you couldn't charge at home and were using a supermarket charger or similar as a regular charge.

If you were planning a significant run which required a stop up on route such as going to Devon however I'm guessing unless there was an attraction at which you wanted to make a significant stop en route you'd be seeking out faster chargers and the difference would be night and day. Things will only get better, but its a reminder that there's a difference between sticker spec and real world performance (much like what a salesman will and won't say), and the utility of flexibility.

I found the chart for the e-Niro, and the charge rates drops rapidly after 70% charge to under 50kw.

I have seen route planners used which opted for fairly frequent but short stops, so the driver was always sipping at the most efficient rate. The e-niro does have a decent range (282miles for biggest pack according to car and driver) so charging from 10% to 40% would give you (crude estimate) 85 miles at it's best rate. Start with a full tank and that would give you 282 + 85 for about 360miles on one shortish stop or 430ish on two. Obviously adjust with whatever factor you are using for paper miles to real world miles...

If you want what should really be a worst case scenario for UK use Bjorn did a 300km trip in an e-niro at -23°c.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlucsA-ugqc

[AF62]

I suspect that some EV users will keep rugs in the car as used to happen before cars had heaters.. if others can remember that far back. Having been stuck on the M25 for 5 hours in warm weather it would be of interest to know how long I could keep two small children warm, when it is bitterly cold, in an EV in similar circumstances and then get to a charging point.

Likely far easier to stay warm in an EV when stuck than in a petrol/diesel.

I recall back a few years when there was a sudden snowfall and lots of cars got stuck on the nearby motorway overnight. Their problem was that the police and emergency services were going to each car suggesting that they didn't run the engines due to the risk of the still falling heavy snow blocking the exhaust pipe and the risk of engine fumes entering the car. Obviously this isn't an issue with an EV when you can simply sit there with the car turned on, the 'engine' running but using no energy other than that used by the heater.

As for 'how long' could you keep an EV warm. Using back for the cigarette packet maths, a fully charged 52kWh battery will take me around 200 miles at 50mph, so that is 4 hours driving including keeping me warm and as the heating system takes around 10% of the energy use that is about 1.25kWh an hour.

So getting stuck for 5 hours would hardly touch the battery charge unless you were 'running on fumes' but then the same would be true of a petrol/diesel car.

[Arborbridge]

If you want what should really be a worst case scenario for UK use Bjorn did a 300km trip in an e-niro at -23°c.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlucsA-ugqc

Thanks for that link - he's quite entertaining. Who'd've thought watching some chap driving for 300km could be called entertaining, but it was better than anything else on TV at the time

Quite comforting as far as the car's capabilites too. I discovered one slightly annoying thing last night: unless you go for the more expensive e-niro there is no dual zone air conditioning, whereas on the hybrid it is in the price. Came as a surprise that the two basic models would be different. Me and Mrs Arb are always arguing about temperature and wanted to go back to dual zone as we had on the Saab.


Arb.

[Midsmartin]

A fascinating thread. Thank you all.
We have two cars, and it seems we could swap one for an ev very easily, as nearly all our journeys are less than 25 miles each way, and many are less than a mile to the shops (sometimes we walk/cycle), and perfect for electric.
A few journeys are much longer- visiting family, collecting offspring from university etc, or holidays.

While I've been drawn by the gadgetry of a Tesla mark 3, a used ev with a 75 mile real range would cover 90%+ of our journeys (not miles though).

[scotview]

We have two cars, and it seems we could swap one for an ev very easily,

Our ID3 is being used mainly for running around the town, Tesco etc. My wife is the main driver and she absolutely loves the car. She can use our Zappi home charger no problem, setting charge limits etc. My next move is to get the connect app onto her phone so she can "preheat" the car in the cold winter days.

[BobbyD]

If you want what should really be a worst case scenario for UK use Bjorn did a 300km trip in an e-niro at -23°c.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlucsA-ugqc

Thanks for that link - he's quite entertaining. Who'd've thought watching some chap driving for 300km could be called entertaining, but it was better than anything else on TV at the time

Quite comforting as far as the car's capabilites too. I discovered one slightly annoying thing last night: unless you go for the more expensive e-niro there is no dual zone air conditioning, whereas on the hybrid it is in the price. Came as a surprise that the two basic models would be different. Me and Mrs Arb are always arguing about temperature and wanted to go back to dual zone as we had on the Saab.


Arb.

That's an expensive ac upgrade! I've heard some strange stories about speccing cars recently, I wonder if some of it is to do with simplification given supply chains and reduced production volume.