Stanton said:
LeaferSutherland said:
I will check out the speed charts. Unfortunately I can’t go any slower on this trip. Was already holding up traffic going 55-60 on back roads (which I was on in order to go slower- normally would take interstate the whole route). On interstate I was going 70-75 which is already 5-10 mph under the speed of traffic. Speed limit is 75 and traffic is usually about 5 over that. Was not worried about that speed in rain at all on interstate and it was only raining for a small part of the trip. Not a monsoon or anything. Pretty routine driving around here and we deal with much worse in winter.
You lost me at "Unfortunately I can’t go any slower on this trip". Throw in wind and rain, and any EV owner would know these are all negatives for miles/kWh. Not saying everyone should go as slow as I do on the highway (~60 mph), but you were at the extreme on many factors.
OK, I’ll rephrase it. I could go slower at the risk of my safety and adding even more time to a trip that I’ve already added a half hour of extra time to... But if I really need to make any more compromises beyond the many I already made, I would rather just pay the extra $15 and take my pickup truck. The trade off just isn’t there at that point. This isn’t my daily commute, it’s a few times a year. Also note I made it at the speed I was going without recharge so it was a success so no need to go any slower. The point is that the 150 mile range stated is extremely optimistic IMO because my range was 112 after making many adjustments already to increase it to that number, including driving slower, taking back roads that are slower, and using the heat sparingly. Coming up 25% short of EPA range after making all of those concessions on what is a very average typical weather situation tells me a lot of people will be disappointed in the range. I felt I came into this with eyes wide open. I expected that on this same trip at Christmas when it might be 10 degrees, windy and heavy snowfall I would fall short of the EPA range by about that much. With this new information I’m now wondering if I could even make it 50 miles in those conditions. Keep in mind I did a lot of reading and research first. Most people will not do that. The enthusiasts in this forum are far more educated on this subject than I am but I’m far more educated than average car consumer and I know more than any of the car sales reps that I spoke with on the subject. There is a real disconnect here.
And don’t get me wrong, still love the car. Wouldn’t trade it for anything. This trip is an anomaly for me but it was also arbitrary measuring stick for us before opting for EV. If it is not practical for this trip, I’m not going to lose any sleep. For now it works. Maybe as I learn how to save more energy I can offset future battery degradation too. If not, it’s not going to matter much to me.