boba
Well-known member
A ton of wood pellets arrived yesterday and just for the fun of it
I put 480 pounds in my 2015 leaf and drove 38.2 miles over familiar
mostly secondary roads on a windless day. Driving speed was done
mostly at a little over 45 mph except for 15 or 20 minutes at bit over 55.
The temperature was 64F. At this time of year that trip usually gives
a range of 100 miles plus or minus about 2. I was very surprised
that the power dropped 38% which is a range of about 100.
We all know that ICE cars use more fuel as weight goes up. More mass
results in the need for more enerrgy going up hill and none of that is
returned on the downhill with an ICE. Since downhill energy collection is not
perfect in an EV I conclude that adding passengers must cut range but at a rate
that is not significant.
Sidebar: No wind was particularly important for a test like this. Last Sunday
my wife and I traveled 30 miles with a fairly strong tail wind to a favorite
restaurant. The range was obviously above 100. The ride home was with
a headwind resulting in a range of 85 miles! With wind force being proportional
to the cube of its velocity it gets rather important above a certain point.
I put 480 pounds in my 2015 leaf and drove 38.2 miles over familiar
mostly secondary roads on a windless day. Driving speed was done
mostly at a little over 45 mph except for 15 or 20 minutes at bit over 55.
The temperature was 64F. At this time of year that trip usually gives
a range of 100 miles plus or minus about 2. I was very surprised
that the power dropped 38% which is a range of about 100.
We all know that ICE cars use more fuel as weight goes up. More mass
results in the need for more enerrgy going up hill and none of that is
returned on the downhill with an ICE. Since downhill energy collection is not
perfect in an EV I conclude that adding passengers must cut range but at a rate
that is not significant.
Sidebar: No wind was particularly important for a test like this. Last Sunday
my wife and I traveled 30 miles with a fairly strong tail wind to a favorite
restaurant. The range was obviously above 100. The ride home was with
a headwind resulting in a range of 85 miles! With wind force being proportional
to the cube of its velocity it gets rather important above a certain point.
