Car not charging to 21mi

[mets67]

Have had my Clipper Creek installed and using it for over a week now. Only once did I get a full charge to 21mi. The rest of the charges have been to 19 and 17miles. Is there a reason it won't charge until 21mi?

[jeff_h]

Do you have your HVAC left on when you shut the car off, and thus still turned on when you restart the car, and thus the lower estimated charge level?

 

I say that as just last week my wife had a full charge and turned on the AC and watch the level go from '23' down to '18' (I think she said), and turning the AC off raised it back up.  So with that said, if you had the AC turned on when the car is started, maybe you see that lower number right away?

[mets67]

Do you have your HVAC left on when you shut the car off, and thus still turned on when you restart the car, and thus the lower estimated charge level?

 

I say that as just last week my wife had a full charge and turned on the AC and watch the level go from '23' down to '18' (I think she said), and turning the AC off raised it back up.  So with that said, if you had the AC turned on when the car is started, maybe you see that lower number right away?

 

I do have the HVAC left on when I turn it off, but would that affect it charging all the way back up to what it should be? Right now its charging and it just completed at 17mi! Thanks for the help!

Edited June 9, 2013 at 11:39 PM by mets67

[murphy]

The charge mileage is an estimate based on how you drive the car.  Mine started at 21 and is now at 28.  It is also affected by the heater and the A/C.  Turn off the climate system to get a mileage reading based on driving only.  The charger puts a fixed amount of energy into the battery.  The car doesn't know how you are going to use it.  Thus it creates an estimate based on past history.  Things like hard acceleration and braking will reduce the mileage considerably.  What is your brake score?  It needs to be 95% or higher.  It takes a lot of practice to learn how to use regen braking without activating the friction brakes.  For example waiting until almost at a red light before hitting the brakes will cause the score to be low.

[mets67]

The charge mileage is an estimate based on how you drive the car.  Mine started at 21 and is now at 28.  It is also affected by the heater and the A/C.  Turn off the climate system to get a mileage reading based on driving only.  The charger puts a fixed amount of energy into the battery.  The car doesn't know how you are going to use it.  Thus it creates an estimate based on past history.  Things like hard acceleration and braking will reduce the mileage considerably.  What is your brake score?  It needs to be 95% or higher.  It takes a lot of practice to learn how to use regen braking without activating the friction brakes.  For example waiting until almost at a red light before hitting the brakes will cause the score to be low.

 

This is a huge help...and I am so not surprised by the maximum charge then! I do have to improve my brake score and try and go easier on the highway where I do most of my driving. 

[Russael]

Ahhh... highway.... the battery killer.  I don't know how long your trip is, but if you're able to make your destination and return home on pure electric power, then I wouldn't worry about it too much.  However, if you find yourself draining the battery and reverting to hybrid mode a lot after your expressway travel, then I'd suggest running in EV Later while on the expressway and let the gas engine do the work.  Your average MPGe will go down, however, your estimated battery range should increase, if you switch back to EV now once you're back on surface streets.  The electric motor is happiest around 40MPH speeds and keeping it fairly constant and the gas motor would be happiest around 60 - 65MPH.

 

As far as improving your brake score, if you have a repetitive route, learn to anticipate what the traffic signals are going to do.  If you know one is going to turn red before you get to it, just coast until it does and then regen brake to a stop.  I've learned my route quite well, and I know that when the pedestrian signals start flashing, the light is going to begin to change within 5 seconds (yeah, that's my area for ya), so I can make a decision on letting off the gas, or keep going, knowing I'm going to make it.

 

My current lifetime brake score is currently 98%.... only reduced from 99% by a couple hard stops I had to make at intersections that I don't normally pass through (I went to Schoolcraft College for an EV show... one other person there had a ruby red Fusion Energi, but I didn't get a chance to talk to him.  There were 2 C-MAX Energi's there too).  I'm sure I'll recover it.  My current estimated battery mileage seems to fluctuate between 29 and 32 miles.  However, 90% of my trip up and back to work is at 40MPH.

[joeblow231]

The Settings screen of the of the EV view (where you can set Go Times and Value Charging) will show you the battery status as a percentage not miles. The estimated miles will vary based on recent driving habits and current power demand (HVAC, etc).

[Energized]

What you're reading is not a battery charge gauge, it's a "predicted range" gauge, like a distance to empty gauge in a normal gas car.  

 

The predicted range is based on the current battery level, how you're driving (speed, acceleration, regen braking), how you've been driving historically, temperature, and what power demands are currently on i.e A/C, Heater, lights etc

 

The battery graphic behind the range meter shows a graphical representation of the battery level but the numerical level read out is under the road/leaf menu.  If it says 100% then you have a full charge.