Efficiency Help

[Dukhudo]

To answer some of the questions above:

- I’ll try car scanner. I have it set up with instant efficiency, but used ABRP this time. Actually use it on the main screen via binize android box which is neat
- this drive was flat without any real hills
- brake coach was 100%, but didn’t use brakes at all during the trips
- have not checked alignment, but will make an appointment to check it
- didn’t check where did my energy go, but it was nice out without the need for ac or heat. While I pointed out this one trip, this is around what I generally experience for all my highway driving.

Appreciate the suggestions, love the truck but the efficiency on the highway is killing me. One thing I forgot to mention was that I have max tow, could that make any difference?

Sponsored

 

[Heliian]

Hankook AT2 tires (44psi cold)

That pressure seems high, try the door sticker pressure cold.

But yes, the tires are energy suckers.
Are they oem rims?

 

[Dukhudo]

That pressure seems high, try the door sticker pressure cold.

But yes, the tires are energy suckers.
Are they oem rims?

OEM rims. Everything is stock from the factory except for the tonneau cover.

I’ve tried the psi on the door (36psi cold). Seems to make things a touch worse, so I’ve kept them higher to gain the little efficiency I can.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

What's your efficiency at lower speeds? Around town?
What kind of acceleration/decelerations do you do?


If you put the truck a shallow slope and put it in neutral, will it roll down that slope without resistance? What do your brake rotors look like? Any excessive wear on one rotor compared with the others?

 

[RickLightning]

Comparing efficiency is a losing proposition. Besides driving style, speed, wind, weather, there is a huge difference in topography.

My Mach-E gets 2.9 to 3.0 on the highway in warm weather at 73mph. HOWEVER, when we're in Florida, on flat highways, that increases noticeably (as does mpg in gas vehicles).

You can't compare a driver in California, with one in Montana, with one in Tennessee, with one in Florida. It's all different driving.

Tires should be inflated to the recommended level. 44 cold for a 36psi recommendation is 22% too high. AT tires from the factory are 36. Non-AT are 42.

Don't bother checking alignment, you would notice any issue that has a significant efficiency impact.

 

[TaxmanHog]

One thing I forgot to mention was that I have max tow, could that make any difference?

Negligible increase in vehicle weight, many of us have it and given the operating conditions you describe, max tow should have no impact.

 

[Dukhudo]

Efficiency around town seems fine. I drive about 12 mi to work each day (max 38mph with flat terrain) and I get 3.3 mi/kwh. I've been trying to be as efficient as possible, so light acceleration and 100% brake coach are constantly on my mind.

Haven't tried the hill and neutral, I'll try to find a spot for that this week.

Just went out and checked the brakes/rotors. Everything looks fine on that end without taking the wheels off. Also checked tire wear, they all look good without any weird wear patterns.

I understand different areas have different conditions. But I don't think it should be anywhere near the difference that I'm seeing. It's 70 degrees outside and I'm driving 68 mph. This is the basic use case of most of the owners.

I have been using this truck on road trips and it's costing me more time and money. With the poor infrastructure in Manitoba, Canada it just makes trips much longer/expensive and adds to range anxiety.

Once again, I do appreciate all the comments and feedback. If this is the truck, I'll have to accept it, but I can't see it due based on other posts. So I'd like to exhaust all options so I can road trip and make proper use of this vehicle.

 

[Heliian]

My at tires hit the efficiency so I'm at 33kwh/100km in the last 1000kms, mostly in town and 90kmh zones. I'll be switching to my as tires next week and I'll check the gains.

 

[Sneakypetie78]

What's your lifetime average? I.e. I've never reset trip 1, and my lifetime average is 2.1 mi/kwh. after 9147 miles. I have a lot of city driving though. My road trips are minimal.

 

[spadesaspade]

My efficiency numbers at 70F+ are always much better than when running at temps below 70. Just finished a 750 mile trip running mostly in low 60s to low 70s. Low 70's yielded an efficiency of 2.3mi/kWh. Low 60's was 2.0mi/kWh. Same route, same speed of 70mph in both directions, hardly any wind. Lots of uphill/downhill driving in the Appalachian ranges. I'm running 18 inch Michelin AT tires at 42 PSI.

 

[Zprime29]

Your around town efficiency seems fine, which makes me think there's nothing wrong with your setup. You aren't too far off from nominal (2.1 mpk at 70mph). Couple times I've slowed down to 65mph and followed behind Semi's when I get 10mph or more headwind and my efficiency dropped to 1.6 mpk. The only thing I find odd, is that when I was driving with a tail wind, I was able to go 75mph and still get 2.1-2.2 mpk where as your gain was not as great.

Best guess is that your truck setup is fine and that there is some external factor on your highway sapping ~10% efficiency. Rough roads maybe?

 

[MrH42]

There's literally a screen that shows you where your energy is going. That will tell you way more than a bunch of people on the forum guessing. If it tells you all the energy is going towards driving itself, it comes down to tires, the speed you're going, how you drive, and headwinds.

 

[Dukhudo]

A mix of concrete and asphalt roads here, so maybe (?) it is rougher roads.

Did the neutral hill test, the truck didn't hold on a slight decline and proceeded to move. So I don't think it's the brakes grabbing.

I just did a loop with car scanner on a flat area. The test was to wait for energy use to stabilize after reaching speed, set cruise, and then allow for another 5 seconds of cruise before taking the readings. Readings were taken for 30 seconds and averaged.

Slight headwind (5-7kph/3.1-6.2mph):
90kph/55.92mph = 28.40 kWh/100km or 2.19 mi/kWh
100kph/62.13mph = 30.99 kWh/100km or 2.00 mi/kWh
110kph/68.35mph = 35.27 kWh/100km or 1.76 mi/kWh

Return, slight tailwind (5-7kph/3.1-6.2mph):
90kph/55.92mph = 24.40 kWh/100km or 2.55 mi/kWh
100kph/62.13mph = 28.58 kWh/100km or 2.17 mi/kWh
110kph/68.35mph = 34.06 kWh/100km or 1.82 mi/kWh

Average:
90kph/55.92mph = 26.40 kWh/100km or 2.34 mi/kWh
100kph/62.13mph = 29.79 kWh/100km or 2.09 mi/kWh
110kph/68.35mph = 34.67 kWh/100km or 1.79 mi/kWh

Coolant heater at 0.75-1.6kW during the trip

Yesterday temp warmer 21C degrees (70f) when I drove, while this morning 12C degrees (54f). It was a bit windier yesterday (20-25kph/12.42-15.53mph) vs today (5-7kph/3.1-6.2mph).

 

[TaxmanHog]

Trips screen

 

[Dukhudo]

Trips screen

I'll do that this weekend when I have another 45-minute highway drive and post it.

Sponsored