180 Mile Real World Winter Range - Lariat ER

[MillieChliette]

I don't really understand how it would be possible to get better efficiency with studded snow tires. Not necessarily denying it happened to you before, but my best guess would be a good chunk of your efficiency loss is from those tires.

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[Nate977p]

You, too! Thanks for the real world numbers.

What did the energy screen breakdown show between Propulsion/Climate/Temperature, etc.?

Ugh no I forgot to grab that screen!

 

[Nate977p]

I don't really understand how it would be possible to get better efficiency with studded snow tires. Not necessarily denying it happened to you before, but my best guess would be a good chunk of your efficiency loss is from those tires.

I mean I was running 20mm wider PSS summer tires; which killed inefficiency So to start already on horribly efficient tires lol.

 

[rdr854]

Wow that's great efficiency! My lifetime average over 6.5k is 2.1; about what I hoped for! I was regularly seeing 1.7 to 1.8 as things were getting colder. Not too bad!

I have 4200 miles and my average power usage from time of delivery at the end of July until now is 2.7 miles per kilowatt hour. I don’t drive the truck like I stole it. I try to stick to 55 mph on the highway. In the Summer, I set the HVAC temp as high as possible to minimize the AC. In winter, even at 10 degrees like we have now, I rely on the heated seats and steering wheel. Because of the cold, I do expect a drop in the overall number perhaps to 2.3 before Spring When hopefully the range will recover.

 

[It's Just Me]

Well, since the cold descended on us yesterday, (New Hampshire) I left my house with a 90% charge Friday afternoon. Drove about 32 miles to work. About 85% of that was back/main roads. Then another 37 miles all highway to my girlfriend's house this morning. Another 37 miles back to work this afternoon.

Started with about 247 miles of range, and I now have 91 miles left to get me back home tomorrow morning.

Plugged the charger on 110v into the wall this morning for about 6 hours of charging.

Running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5s on the truck. Hit some snow and ice at 4 freaking degrees this morning on the highway at 65 and the truck was glued to the road.

I am quite surprised at the effect cold has had on the range really. My first EV.

I run basically with the heated seat and steering wheel. Heater is run on level 1 or 2 as needed to keep the windows from fogging.

The OPs statements are spot on. No need for the hostility.

 

[F150LER]

A 90% charge is 175 miles for me.

 

[It's Just Me]

A 90% charge is 175 miles for me.

Fair. I reset the range setting before I left the house. I know it sounds like I'm changing my story.

 

[Nate977p]

I have 4200 miles and my average power usage from time of delivery at the end of July until now is 2.7 miles per kilowatt hour. I don’t drive the truck like I stole it. I try to stick to 55 mph on the highway. In the Summer, I set the HVAC temp as high as possible to minimize the AC. In winter, even at 10 degrees like we have now, I rely on the heated seats and steering wheel. Because of the cold, I do expect a drop in the overall number perhaps to 2.3 before Spring When hopefully the range will recover.

Those sound like incredible efficiency numbers and awesome for you; getting a ton of range and saving $$$! Looks like we both have a decent set of miles and got trucks at the same time. 2.1 vs 2.7 is a big difference and I bet that attributes to the driving style you have.

We always treat our EVs like any other car - we are not extreme climate users, but set what is comfortable (usually 68-70 in summer and 64 w/heated seats in winter). We also drive the flow of traffic and many trips have us on higher speed highways than around Boston (65-70). Besides learning it right when we got the truck, we are not flooring it all the time or being aggressive - it's a big heavy truck for safety sake. Those differences probably account for our variety.

That being said, even with your driving style, based on what I've seen and past experiences, I think you may want to be more cautious than 2.3.

 

[Nate977p]

Well, since the cold descended on us yesterday, (New Hampshire) I left my house with a 90% charge Friday afternoon. Drove about 32 miles to work. About 85% of that was back/main roads. Then another 37 miles all highway to my girlfriend's house this morning. Another 37 miles back to work this afternoon.

Started with about 247 miles of range, and I now have 91 miles left to get me back home tomorrow morning.

Plugged the charger on 110v into the wall this morning for about 6 hours of charging.

Running Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5s on the truck. Hit some snow and ice at 4 freaking degrees this morning on the highway at 65 and the truck was glued to the road.

I am quite surprised at the effect cold has had on the range really. My first EV.

I run basically with the heated seat and steering wheel. Heater is run on level 1 or 2 as needed to keep the windows from fogging.

The OPs statements are spot on. No need for the hostility.

Thanks for the data point. This is why I posted; I think many new EV drivers are going to be surprised, especially if driven like they drove their gas vehicle. The range loss can be stark, and seemingly small differences make a hug eimpact (65 vs 70 mph, 10 vs 25 degrees, etc).

My hope is sharing some real world data can help others.

 

[Nate977p]

So we just got home and here is return data - very similar results.

Variables:
-Set cruise for 65-70 whole way home, except for 55 on 55mph highways (~15 miles). Never over 70 except maybe a quick pass.
-Winds were very calm (look to be under 10mph max on route).
-Elevation change was ~ negative 450 feet.
-Start temp: 11 degrees. End: 13 degrees (went south).
-Battery: 79%-->7%
-Miles: 135.1
-Driving: 90% highway, 10% local highway/local roads.
-5 minute detour stop (3 minutes idling w/heat).

So the way home was a bit more efficient (after a mess of over 2 hours trying to charge at EA....).

The truck said both 1.5 and 1.6 mi/kWh (oddly the trip data on dashboard was different than the Media display). My calculated efficiency was 1.43 mi/kWh. Formula: 135.1 miles/(72% * 131 kWh battery). So based on this trip, I am getting a 100% charge range of ~187 miles.

Based on my data today, moderately cold (for NE) weather and mostly highway speed driving will net 180-190 miles max (57-59% of rated). This is much lower than expected; factoring in battery degradation of 12%, our 2018 Model 3 sees about 60% - 65% of rated in similar conditions. I was hopeful the truck would be better, but now I have some data.

Again, this is not a complete picture, is just one data point to use, and is not meant to be negative, but rather sharing an experience. That being said, going forward, I will be using an assumption of about 1.8 miles of range per % in winter.

I hope this helps others, especially those new to EVs. Everyone tells new EV drivers to factor in winter loss, but it can be very severe and everyone needs to have their own way to calculate winter into their trips (we will use 1.8 miles/% going forward).

We had a ~270 drive today and I can see a new driver thinking they can make that fine in a truck rated for 320, with plenty of buffer (50 mile buffer). That being said, the reality is very different based on today's trip, and requires a pretty substantial charge stop (~50% of charging).

Have a wonderful Holiday all and safe travels!

 

[Nate977p]

Data:

 

[bewbie]

Great post! I haven't tested it myself yet but you gave great insight for what to expect, thank you!

 

[MichaelCA]

totally not jealous of cold weather. yikes

 

[luebri]

I am seeing about 50% range at or below zero (F) 65% around 20 to 30 degrees (F). Worst it got was Friday morning it was -10. Mostly county highway and city driving. Slick roads and very windy are not helping. That said this thing does not get blown around at all from a side wind, my 2017 Nissan titan was not bad at all but this is a whole different level regarding side wind

 

[TaxmanHog]

Great report, very helpful to many of us newbies who are also carefully and responsibly plotting out our trip plans and sharing the real world experiences.

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