2018 Clarity EV Range Degredation @ 1k miles?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by Thomas Mitchell, Dec 20, 2018.

  1. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell Active Member

    I am wondering what is going on with my new Clarity. It used to show 47 miles EV range after a charge. Now it is down below 40. Car is charged overnight in the garage and garage temp is 45 degrees. I know IMG_0190.jpg cold affects the range, but shouldn’t the car indicate full 47 mile range after a fresh charge?


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  2. mpeters42

    mpeters42 Member

    The estimated EV range is based on recent usage. If your previous drive was with cabin heat on, then it will estimate your range as if that usage continues.

    We're seeing 35 - 38 estimated EV range in the winter. In summer, we were seeing 50 - 60 estimated.
     
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  3. Ghaleon

    Ghaleon New Member

    The range estimate is based on recent performance, ambient temperature is a factor, but larger is the use of the heater. My car sits outside here in NJ and I've been getting between 38 and 42 as an estimate each morning after my 45~ish mile round trip commute each day.
     
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  4. stacey burke

    stacey burke Active Member

    I have a heated garage but my numbers have gone down. In summer I had 70mpg now it is 40mpg. Nothing has changed except the weather.
     
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  5. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell Active Member

    Thanks, everyone. Looks like nothing to be concerned about.
     
  6. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    All EV forums:
    Fall/Winter: Where did my range go? It was getting more miles last month?!?
    Winter: hey look, I can wear this electric blanket with my seat heaters on and turn my main heater off and get some of my range back.
    Spring/Summer: My range is magically back, I got 70 miles last charge, and so on :)

    It takes time for people to learn how the cars are different.
     
  7. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell Active Member

    And it really takes time to get used to the SWAG range estimation! I get that EV range varies by how the car is driven, climate, accessory use etc but the variations are far more extreme than a straight ICE car. I hadn't realized the range estimation was "smart" and figured previous use. Even in HV mode, it is not very reliable. We purchased our car in Salt Lake City and the range indicated we had plenty of gas to make the trip home to Fruita, CO with our battery empty at 2 bars. We drove in HV all the way. Just before the UT/CO border on I70, the the range estimation started dropping about 5 miles for every 2 or 3 driven and we finally drove about 5 miles on zero to the next gas station that was still almost 10 miles from home. Not very confidence inspiring! I know to play it more safe in the future.
     
  8. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    FYI there is a service bulletin on the HV range estimation as it is a huge safety issue. Make sure that is done. It used to figure based on gas/electric mix, and not correct quick enough. If you see crazy HV range estimates over around 400 miles take the car to dealer and tell them the HV range is reading incorrectly.

    It sounds like yours might not have the update.

    No worries, we have all had to work through this, plug in hybrids are great for easing the transition :)
     
  9. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell Active Member

    Thank you, I had just read up on the HV range estimation issue today and will be sure to get it updated next service. Will be keeping an eye on the oil change indicator too, as that is also apparently whack.
     
  10. MPower

    MPower Well-Known Member

    This week, over 3 days, I drove from VT to KS. When I left with a full battery, the EV estimate was 29 miles. (It was really cold.) The next morning after charging at my cousin's in central PA, it estimated 35 miles of EV. After I arrived and charged in KS, I was told that the full charge would take me 38.9 miles. We will see what happens when I do some local KS driving in all EV.
     
  11. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    I'm not sure about that range variation for ICE cars being so predictable. Our 2005 4Runner can get 20 mpg (ever so rarely) on the highway at 60 mph, flat and straight road. But average around town is only 13 mpg. As I watch the instantaneous mpg it drops into the single digits when easily accelerating in town. It's all over the place. The only thing that flattens the numbers out and has it averaging 13 mpg is the 20+ gallon gas tank.

    With the Clarity I can beat the EV Range estimate by 10-20% most of the time, but turn the climate system on and I can only match it. It's best around town on 35 mph streets. It's hitting the freeway for about 7 miles of our 25 mile morning trip that brings the average down.
     
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  12. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I think it's a lot of fun trying to out-guess the Clarity's guess-o-meter, especially when the penalty of coming up short means I'll have to use up a few ounces of gasoline using the engine to get home. The penalty is not completely pain-free because I suffer from engine-anxiety, but my engine-anxiety is certainly less stressful than the range-anxiety BEV drivers experience when challenging their guess-o-meters. Is AAA yet offering roadside assistance to BEVs with dead batteries?
     
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  13. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    Obviously this is completely a rhetorical question for me, but it got me thinking. What do these guys do when they misjudge the range and find themselves stranded? I have run out of gas exactly once in my life, and it wasn't so bad to get to the nearest station and bring some back to pour into the empty tank. What would I have done if it had been an empty battery instead of an empty gas tank?
     
  14. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    A Tesla owner I was talking to who previously owned a leaf, said he misjudged his range in the Leaf and got stranded a few times. Called the tow truck. Expensive way to get stranded ;) I think now days AAA (at least in EV prone areas) has mobile charge units they can bring out to give you a boost, but that is slow.
     
  15. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I like your phrase "EV prone areas"--I believe I live in one. I always congratulate myself for being such a good person when I drive past the ground-floor EV-charging spaces in the parking structure, leaving them available for mono-powered BEVs.

    I found AAA does provide roadside assistance for BEV drivers whose range anxiety wasn't strong enough to save them. Does AAA put their most conversationalist drivers on this beat to help pass the charging time with the hapless, chargeless driver?

    upload_2018-12-21_15-26-42.png
    What are these people talking about to pass the time?
     
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  16. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    LOL, prone was probably a poor word choice :)

    Yes, would be pretty boring without some sort of fast charger. L2 might be an hour to get where you needed to go.
     
  17. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell Active Member

    Driving about 700 miles from Fruita, CO to Green Valley, AZ today I think I did find one way to extend range by switching from HV to EV when descending mountain grades. It’s pretty easy to regen a few miles on a descent without using any gas, especially using the paddles to control rate. I switch back to HV as soon as the grade levels out or rises again. It seemed like the engine would keep running otherwise. Averaging 45.3 mpg for the trip at mile 620. (Riding shotgun at the moment!)


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  18. Thomas Mitchell

    Thomas Mitchell Active Member

    You make a good point, it is probably the limited tank size combined with limited battery capacity that makes the range estimation so fraught with variance. It’s just a learning curve in the end.


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  19. MNSteve

    MNSteve Well-Known Member

    I noticed that the engine turned off while on HV yesterday. The engine icon went off on the panel, and the EV light came on. It didn't stay that way for long, but i was surprised.
     
  20. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    On mine, I don’t have to switch off the HV on downhills. It automatically stops the ICE every time it regens. I just wish it would renter Engine Drive Mode quicker after the regen is over.
     

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