AVERAGE Range on a Full Charge

[Dag]

Today was the first day I couldn't make it to work on a full charge. It was the coldest day of the year so far. I did precondition with a go time, but still I was a couple miles short of EV. I was playing with the climate control to see if I could get more miles by venting but it got cold inside.

 

Other than e cold the only other difference was the heat versus ac.

I had my phone plugged in and charging.

 

Does the heat draw more than the ac?

[murphy]

I think I remember seeing them both go to 5 KW.

With a preheated cabin it would be best to have the heat on when you leave. 

It takes less energy to maintain the cabin at a set temperature than it does to heat it back up from cold after letting it cool off.

[larryh]

The maximum amount of power used by either the heater or the AC is 5 kW.  To minimize energy usage, set the temperature around 80 or higher for air conditioning and to around 62 or less for heating.  The temperature setting has a big impact on the amount of energy used. 

 

Yesterday, it was in the mid 20's.  I preheated the cabin to 72 degrees before my commute to work (that required about 0.9 kWh of electricity).  I turned on the windshield, panel, and floor vents on the MyFord Touch climate screen.  It set the temperature to 62 degrees with a low fan and used the seat warmers.  For the return trip home, I am unable to plug the car in and precondition the cabin.  I was just able to make the 16 mile round trip commute entirely in EV mode.  For most of the trip, the power usage for the heater was around 1.25 kW.  With AC this past summer, power usage was about half that.

 

Note that cold weather reduces the EV range of the car regardless of climate control.  The battery simply cannot provide as much energy in colder weather.

Edited October 23, 2013 at 08:51 AM by larryh

[Russael]

It was 32 this morning when I left my house.  I let my go-time warm the car to 72 and just left climate there on my way to work.  Estimated range was 16 miles total (which still fits in my commute), but I can't plug in here at work, so I'm interested to know what's going to happen once it starts being freezing during the day.  It's supposed to get up to 47 which is quasi warm enough to roll home without climate since I dress warmly and make judicious use of the heated seats.

 

I tried setting a go time temperature of 85 but the car seems to ignore that and still only warms up to 72.

 

People in Florida, I don't CARE about your 88 degree day that's predicted. :)

[Kiros]

I'm wondering if setting the heated seat to medium and temperature to low 60s might be more efficient during winter months. When I turned on my heated seat the other day the energy consumption definitely looked significantly less than using normal car heat. 

[cuznvin]

i charge my battery with the L1 charger and the dashboard battery indicator usually shows 26 or 27 miles after fully charging.. what causes the battery to charge to different capacities? my friend says his battery is only charging to about 15 "miles" and he has been using an L2 charger since day 1. so why would mine charge to 27 and his only 15? he is getting crappy gas mileage too since he " hit the brakes really hard" one day and get some message on the screen saying something like ECHO???

[murphy]

The battery miles indicator is an educated guess based on how the car has been driven previously.  If you do some hard accelerations or turn the heat or A/C on maximum the estimate will drop significantly.  If you ignore the number and just watch the HVB fill level it shows how much energy is left in the battery.

[tseibel76]

It's been in the 20s here (ND) most mornings and w/o heat, I still can get 27+ out of the battery. Turn heat on to 60 and you shave off about 5 miles from that range. I'm just resigned to the lower range come real cold weather (below 0), since that is every day here from Dec to Mar. I also expect the ICE to come on just to keep the battery warm whether I use heat or not.

 

I'm curious if others in cold climates have any tips. I can see the benefit of the heated seats, and I'll do that. I also can live w/o heat most days. However, I'm guessing that ICE will come on when it is below zero to heat the battery.

[frbill]

Here is my personal best showing at the end of a charge. Not sure if I will get that much but I will get pretty close.

 

 

Peace,

 

Father Bill

[frbill]

I actually got close to 32 miles on the last charge, go figure. I guess driving like and octogenarian has it advantages ;) !

[frbill]

Here is my latest mileage estimate

 

 

Driving conditions as follows

 

temp mid 50's

Rainy

 

I am incredibly pleased with the range I can squeeze out of the EV mode. It seems like the weather so far has not adversely effected the range.

 

Peace,

 

Father Bill

[Russael]

With temps being around freezing for me, my estimated range has sunk to around 26 without climate and 16 with heat (after preconditioning too).  Can't wait to see what happens when we start dipping in to single digit temps.

[tseibel76]

Russael, I've had a similar experience. Heat is a major draw on the HVB. It seems the HVB takes a hit on estimated range between 50 degrees and 30 degrees. I also am very curious to see what happens when it actually gets cold. I can work around a shorter range (my commute is under 10 miles round trip), but I'm worried the ICE will come on to warm up the HVB, regardless of how much charge I have left. We'll see.

[frbill]

I too have seen a dip when temps went into the 50's. I have yet to turn on my heater but I have needed defrost a couple of times. This really seemed to suck miles out of the HVB. I have been investigating with other members of the forum ways to defrost without using defrost. My average miles have dropped from the low 30's to the high 20's (26-28). It will be interesting to see if I can keep up my EV ratio (98%) with the onset of winter.

[Russael]

Considering the batteries do not perform as well in cold weather, I did expect a hit in range.  Since this is my first winter with the car (I took delivery in late May), I've only seen summertime ranges and I'm someone who avoids the climate controls.  When I did use A/C, the estimated range dropped to the low to mid 20's.  With cold batteries and an equivalent HVAC draw on the battery (between 500 and 1,000 watts), 16 seems about right.  I expect it to drop a little further the colder it gets.  There are several threads on the Hybrid forum of substantially reduced fuel economy, and that seems to be the norm whenever it starts getting cold.

 

I did read a little on the C-MAX Energi forum and some said that even with a full charge while not plugged in, as soon as you turn the car on, the engine would come on regardless.  I forgot where they were at geographically though, but I think it was Canada.  Have to wait and see.

 

Either way, having gone 2 seasons so far without using a drop of gas is more than enough to make me grin from ear to ear.  Using a little gas, maybe on the way home from work since I can't plug in there, is of little consequence.

[Griff]

The method I employ to defog the windshield is by opening the moonroof (if you have one) with the angle setting and then opening the back window 1/4". Keep in mind, this is not too pleasant if its too cold and your' re not dressed for the weather. I have not had to deal with actual frost on my windshield, yet. I precondition in the mornings. So, if there was frost, it is gone by the time I go out to the car.

[montelena]

Don't know if this helps but I average 1050 miles per tank. I drive 100 miles per day and have 17000 miles on my 2013 Energi in five months. The difference I see with the windows down is minimal versus using A/C. The drag, vibration and the noise with the windows down is not worth the hassle.

 

I might be late in the thread, but how do you achieve the 1050 per tank when you drive 100 miles per day? 

My commute is about 70 miles total (granted, I have two large hills to climb) and I can't get over about 650-700 miles per tank. I'm curious how you do it! 

[FusionEnergi]

I go about 27 miles on the battery without turning on the Engine, and still driving in EV.

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2013 at 01:59 AM by FusionEnergi

[Russael]

I have a new low for estimated range due to the cold.  With climate, it gave me 14. :)  Without was about 22. 

[frbill]

I have a new low for estimated range due to the cold.  With climate, it gave me 14. :)  Without was about 22. 

 

I'm gonna catch you yet on MFM stats, my average is still around 27, and I can ironman my way without climate (for now ;)). I am Stig on MFM.

Edited November 16, 2013 at 02:51 PM by frbill

[Russael]

Heh.  I just need to figure out who this "Imaginaria's Fusion" is who has a 99 on Renaissance Man.  That person is the highest nationally in that category.  I'm trying to GET to 99 but I always wind up having a ride or two a week that has a score below 99.  :)  I was alone for EV Ratio for a bit but 2 new cars just showed up.  They probably won't be there for long. :D

[tseibel76]

Let me reveal myself. I am Fungi in Region 3. Imaginaria's Fusion is not in my region, but I am tied with him/her nationally. Russael, if you find out who they are, encourage them to step on the gas and kick the heat on ;). Oh, and accelerate to lights and then slam on the brakes. C'mon, that's how everyone else drives ;).

[Griff]

The only way to get 1050 miles per tank is to charge frequently between trips.

[Russael]

Let me reveal myself. I am Fungi in Region 3. Imaginaria's Fusion is not in my region, but I am tied with him/her nationally. Russael, if you find out who they are, encourage them to step on the gas and kick the heat on ;). Oh, and accelerate to lights and then slam on the brakes. C'mon, that's how everyone else drives ;).

 

You must've just gotten there as when I checked a couple days ago, you were still 98. :)  Regardless, nice work reaching that lofty height.  Too bad Ford doesn't have some sort of 'give back' for even being in the top 10.  It'd be fun if Ford did some of those goofy videos when they first rolled out the 2013 Fusion, such as having a private auto show on a guy's front lawn, or having a surprise car wash out of nowhere, etc.

 

I'll be rolling to the parent's house for the bi-weekly visit over there today, and that usually results in a 97 score for both directions.  Too much traffic out to go under the 45mph speed limit.

 

BTW, using heat or using gas won't impact the Renaissance Man category.  Acceleration, braking, and cruising do.  If you notice, Imaginaria's Fusion isn't anywhere on the EV Ratio rank, which says that person drives until the battery is depleted and then rolls on gas the rest of the time.  Still, that's extremely impressive for that person to do that. :salute:

 

And yeah, most people here in MI drive with lead in their shoes.  There are some who will stay behind me and putz, but more often than not, they go flying around me, only to slam on the brakes at the red light I was slowing down for.  I bet they bark the loudest when gas goes to 4 dollars a gallon too.

Edited November 17, 2013 at 03:29 PM by Russael

[tseibel76]

Thanks Russael. I took my brother out in the car yesterday to show it to him for the first time. He's an electrical engineer and thinks the car is unbelievable. He wanted to see it at highway speeds, so we went out at 60. Drive score was 97. So higher speeds seem to negatively impact scores. That doesn't seem fair. If you drive smart, you should get a good score, regardless of speed. My typical commute stays at 35 MPH or less.

 

Has anyone figured out the braking and gas sipper categories? I have no idea how those are figured.