Real World X Power mi/kWh Thread.

[mbpits]

First long drive today and was surprised to get 3.5 after 150 miles with the majority on Motorways. This did go up a little in the last 7 miles as I got lost in Birmingham.

 

[jamherber]

First long drive today and was surprised to get 3.5 after 150 miles with the majority on Motorways. This did go up a little in the last 7 miles as I got lost in Birmingham.

Impressive. What sort of speed did you tend to stick to on the motorways and did you have climate control on?

 

[mbpits]

cruise control was set to 65 but would go over that when overtaking, there was a fair bit of traffic so I could not say if it was a consent 65. In terms of Climate Control, I only really had it on for the last 20ish mins when it started to get a bit colder.

I was not rushing so it was more a coasting comfortable drive, think it took about 3 hours from east London.

Impressive. What sort of speed did you tend to stick to on the motorways and did you have climate control on?

 

[HydraulicRam]

During the warmer weather we were getting about 4.5miles/kWHr, today's not so warm and we're hitting 3.8 on a local run (mostly 30 MPH roads and a couple of dual carriageways).
A significant improvement on the 2 - 3 in the colder months.

 

[DrJohn20]

How has the better weather affected everyone's miles per kWh? Over the winter mine was in the order of 3.5 (most of my driving is shorter journeys at <50mph, but since the weather has improved, all journeys are now in the range 4.5 to 5!

Experimenting with my driving over a week or so in my mg4 long range I have attained 319 miles from a full charge. It can be achieved by very careful driving

 

[DavecUK]

I can achieve 5, possibly even 5.3 or more in warmer weather without aircon and keeping speed at 60 or below. Using aircon will drop that slightly, of course you need to be setting the aircon at around 22 or 23C and not lower.

In winter around 3.8 with heating around 19C

I have had electric cars for just over 10 years now and how you drive makes a huge difference as does tyre pressures. Speeds above 60 suck the battery dry, 50 maxes your range because of drag. Never use "dumb" battery heating. In winter 50 is a more optimum speed, but balance that with heating requirements. Power delivery is not the same from the traction battery in cold weather.

In addition regenerative braking (1 pedal driving) is as always a cost of failure...sure it regenerates energy, but with losses. Minimising the requirement for regeneration by more anticipation when driving is more economical. Lastly EVs accelerate rapidly and effortlessly, which means people often accelerate much faster then they should or need to. Being more gentle on that right foot gives much bigger rewards than you think.

If you want/need to go as far as possible, then stick to 30-40 mph.

P.S. All this holds pretty true for many hybrids..I owned a Honda Insight for 10 years, the first ones with the wheel spats (basically prototypes sold as production cars). I could regularly get over 100 mpg around town and short journey driving. On a run around 130 mpg (the most I ever got was 138 mpg). These early Honda insights could enter a lean burn mode between 2000-2500 rpm, if you drove them correctly and managed power demand, of 25.8:1 This was a point where combustion was impossible in other cars, even the Toyota learn burn engines couldn't do more than 18:1 and I think even today the Honda Insight ratios cannot be achieved. It was actually a wonderful car to own and drive. not a single problem in 10 years. Mine was actually purchased back by Honda via my Hyundai Dealer.

 

[Allen1946]

How has the better weather affected everyone's miles per kWh? Over the winter mine was in the order of 3.5 (most of my driving is shorter journeys at <50mph, but since the weather has improved, all journeys are now in the range 4.5 to 5!

Definitely, mine was down to 2.3 mi/kWh in freezing conditions, now up to 3.9 mi/kWh (MG5).

 

[M101]

I drive mine like a normal car to the speed limits, i regularly do 70mph on my commute and i accelerate at a rate where I'm no bother to all other road users and i get 2.2-2.5 in winter and 3 - 4 in summer.

I really dont see the point in behaving like 40 ton truck being driven by a 90 year old to gain a few extra miles

 

[Archev]

I drive mine like a normal car to the speed limits, i regularly do 70mph on my commute and i accelerate at a rate where I'm no bother to all other road users and i get 2.2-2.5 in winter and 3 - 4 in summer.

I really dont see the point in behaving like 40 ton truck being driven by a 90 year old to gain a few extra miles

Calm down friend
A 40 tonner at 90 could be fun
If we get there ?

 

[M101]

Calm down friend
A 40 tonner at 90 could be fun
If we get there ?

Thats how most EV owners drive because they are obsessed with economy rather than real life usability.
Who cares if the car does 6m/kwh if it takes 14 hours to drive from Manchester to London.
To get my car to those figures, I would have to drive so dangerously slow that my car and I should not be anywhere near a public road.

 

[DavecUK]

Agreed which is why I stick to 60 or below, you get reasonable economy and OK journey times. I had a mate some 22 years ago who used to drive everywhere as fast as he could get away with so on Motorways and dual carriageways he always did 70 or even 80. Interestingly he had to have his brakes and disks changed at 17K miles and was complaining about it!

On one journey of around 105 miles each way (mostly motorway), he drove up like in his usual 70-80 mph and I timed how long it to to get there. On the way back he had agreed to drive at 60 mph. The end result, our journey back took around 7 minutes longer! It also used a lot less fuel and I'm pretty sure his brakes and disks would last twice as long. His driving habits radically changed after that!

In my experience, driving at the speed limit, vs driving at a max of 60 mph rarely gets you there more than a few minutes faster, especially in a morning commute. It's also very heavy on brakes, tyres and electricity cost, with an increased risk of not getting there. If it's a company car with charging at work...who cares. If it's a privately owned vehicle, these things matter.

In fact if we all drove at 60 max, we would all get there faster, as there would be many less traffic jam bounce waves (caused by over braking) travelling back down motorways, causing phantom traffic jams. It's partly why average speed cameras are increasingly being used. They learnt a lot from the M25.

 

[M101]

Agreed which is why I stick to 60 or below, you get reasonable economy and OK journey times. I had a mate some 22 years ago who used to drive everywhere as fast as he could get away with so on Motorways and dual carriageways he always did 70 or even 80. Interestingly he had to have his brakes and disks changed at 17K miles and was complaining about it!

On one journey of around 105 miles each way (mostly motorway), he drove up like in his usual 70-80 mph and I timed how long it to to get there. On the way back he had agreed to drive at 60 mph. The end result, our journey back took around 7 minutes longer! It also used a lot less fuel and I'm pretty sure his brakes and disks would last twice as long. His driving habits radically changed after that!

In my experience, driving at the speed limit, vs driving at a max of 60 mph rarely gets you there more than a few minutes faster, especially in a morning commute. It's also very heavy on brakes, tyres and electricity cost, with an increased risk of not getting there. If it's a company car with charging at work...who cares. If it's a privately owned vehicle, these things matter.

In fact if we all drove at 60 max, we would all get there faster, as there would be many less traffic jam bounce waves (caused by over braking) travelling back down motorways, causing phantom traffic jams. It's partly why average speed cameras are increasingly being used. They learnt a lot from the M25.

Your friend sounds like a tit and you sound quite old. My dad drives much slower now he is in his 70's and he says its just as quick and he saves money but in reality he does not have the same eyesight or reactions as he used to so he is gradually getting slower and justifying it by claiming the same crap.
I dont go through brakes and tyres quickly, my Mg has 12000 miles and nothing has been replaced or is getting worn out
There is a difference between driving normally and not being hated by all other road users and driving like you stole the car!

The reason most journeys take longer is that most people hog the middle lane on motorways rather than overtaking and moving left immediately, like the highway code states, and people driving way under the speed limit in any lane they choose, which turns the motorways into dual carriageways or bypasses

 

[Tuareg]

Your friend sounds like a tit and you sound quite old. My dad drives much slower now he is in his 70's and he says its just as quick and he saves money but in reality he does not have the same eyesight or reactions as he used to so he is gradually getting slower and justifying it by claiming the same crap.
I dont go through brakes and tyres quickly, my Mg has 12000 miles and nothing has been replaced or is getting worn out
There is a difference between driving normally and not being hated by all other road users and driving like you stole the car!

The reason most journeys take longer is that most people hog the middle lane on motorways rather than overtaking and moving left immediately, like the highway code states, and people driving way under the speed limit in any lane they choose, which turns the motorways into dual carriageways or bypasses

Well, speed limits are exactly that, 'limits'. It's perfectly acceptable and logical to drive within any 'limit' rather than try and stick to the maximum (or beyond) a posted limit. As the previous poster stated, driving at a perceived 10-15mph (or more) 'faster' than you think others are traveling will rarely buy you a few seconds or a couple of minutes at most as traffic lights, traffic congestion, roundabouts, etc ,etc can't be avoided.

 

[M101]

Well, speed limits are exactly that, 'limits'. It's perfectly acceptable and logical to drive within any 'limit' rather than try and stick to the maximum (or beyond) a posted limit. As the previous poster stated, driving at a perceived 10-15mph (or more) 'faster' than you think others are traveling will rarely buy you a few seconds or a couple of minutes at most as traffic lights, traffic congestion, roundabouts, etc ,etc can't be avoided.

Thats why the US has roads with minimum speed limits, it stop geriatrics from clogging up the roads. The UK needs to adopt this and start banning more people for having no regard for the highway code.
I dont speed in rural areas or on motorways but the majority of my journeys are delayed by slower drivers and my personal opinion is that EV's are making its worse because they seem toi drive even slower due to most EV's having a piss poor range which creates range anxiety and people who want m/kwh bragging rights.

The previous guy said, if everyone drove at 60 we would all get there quicker. Actually if everyone drove to the speed limit we would all get there quicker. What if everyone drove at 20mph, think of saving!! life would suck and it would be a huge step back but the old drivers would be much happier!
I dont understand why the world wants to slow down when cars are safer than ever and better able to handle motorway speeds than at any other time in history

 

[siteguru]

How many dashcam vids have we seen where the Audiot overtakes dangerously and speeds off into the distance ... only for the cammer to pull up behind them at the next lights?

As is often said ... they are limits not targets. (With the caveat that going too slow can be as dangerous - to others - as going too fast).

 

[Soultrappa]

How has the better weather affected everyone's miles per kWh? Over the winter mine was in the order of 3.5 (most of my driving is shorter journeys at <50mph, but since the weather has improved, all journeys are now in the range 4.5 to 5!

My partner can get over 5kWh hours on average since the temps gone up and was getting around 3.8 in winter. Her best has been 7.2kWh on a nice 23oC day. Me, my Summer is around 3 or less and winter never seems to go above 2.

 

[Tuareg]

oh dear ??

I guess most of you will be dead by the time i get rid of my MG

see ya ???

 

[tsedge]

I'm not a fan of people driving too slowly or excessively quickly.

I like 65mph on motorways simply because it is relaxing: fast enough to overtake lorries and slow enough to let those in a hurry pass easily. It works as a minimum stress approach and keeps me away from the extreme drivers who cause most of the problems.

For me it is nothing to do with the environment nor the capability of the car.

 

[DavecUK]

Your friend sounds like a tit and you sound quite old.

I don't think you are coming across very well on the forum, but then I'm new, perhaps this is normal and accepted behaviour. If it is, might be the wrong place for me to hang out or post.

The previous guy said, if everyone drove at 60 we would all get there quicker. Actually if everyone drove to the speed limit we would all get there quicker.

That's incorrect, presumably you have not seen any research on the subject. As traffic builds up speeds have to drop, at a certain density it then doesn't matter you can't prevent the shockwave jams. Plus a high proportion of people follow to close. At high speeds, these shockwaves come at much lower densities.

You don't get there very much faster, and you cause delays for everyone else. I have never had a situation where I can travel at a constant 70 on the motorway for more than a few minutes. Lane discipline is bad, drivers follow too close and pretty soon you will have to brake, then speed up again then brake, time and time again. this causes problems.

This is just one aspect of it and why we have variable speed limits on many motorways especially the M25 and now average speed cameras as well as the M25 idea first implemented made it worse as drivers slowed down under gantries and then speed up again, slowing down just before the next camera!

The physics of traffic

Drivers are only too familiar with phantom traffic jams: those occasions when you slow to a complete standstill, which frustratingly appear to have no concrete cause. In fact,…

www.here.com

You can see the shockwaves in simplified form here


If you add to the equation: more accidents, less safety safety, wear and tear, fuel economy, lane discipline, bad driving habits and lack of anticipation...shooting along at 70 in most instances is a mugs game. You may be a superior driver, but a high % of people are not.

Believe it or not I was a driving instructor for a period in London, covering from Hampstead to Putney. So I had to learn a bit of theory.

 

[siteguru]

Damn you and your science and evidence!