Best Settings for Maximum Range

[Ed C]

Thank you for all who responded to my post regarding battery degradation. I learned alot.

Now my next question is how to increase range. As I said before, I drive 100 miles daily. Perhaps I didn't know before, but It appears Los Angeles is at a higher elevation than San Bernardino. Travelling from Los Angeles to San Bernardino gives a slightly better range at 3.8-4.0 miles/kWh. Coming back from San Bernardino gives a range of 2.8-3.0 miles/kWh. If you average that for a round trip, it comes out to 3.3 to 3.5 miles/kWh, which I think is very good. I drive that 100 miles exclusively on the freeway.

Usually on a 60-70 degree day, I only use 40% of battery capacity. On a colder day like when it rains, it uses 50% of battery capacity. I tried various regen settings, having A/C on or off, having cruise control on and off; but I still get various results but can't seem to break the 4.0 miles/kWh.

Any suggestions?

I found out active LKA eats up alot of battery while cruise control. And cruise control does not really help make the drive any more efficient. Regen zero actually has a poorer range than at least having some regen on.

 

[ericy]

Any suggestions?

I found out active LKA eats up alot of battery while cruise control. And cruise control does not really help make the drive any more efficient. Regen zero actually has a poorer range than at least having some regen on.

It surprises me that LKA makes much of a difference.

The #1 thing that matters is how fast you are driving. If you hold your speed down, the efficiency goes up.

 

[Esprit1st]

Check your tire pressure. I had 32psi at first then 40 psi. It does make some difference. On a drive like yours it probably does too.

 

[Fastnf]

For me Speed and climate settings, Temperature, and elevation change are the biggest factors in range. I am about 60 miles north of Los Angles. With the temps in the 60-70's I get in around 4.2 m/kwh at 65 if I turn off heat and keep my speed below 50 mph I can hit 5.2 m/kwh. On the other hand I loose about 10 miles per 1000 feet of climbing. If the temp drops below 50 degrees my range will drop in to the 3's

 

[FloridaSun]

Wind also makes a huge difference. Drove 430 miles on a road trip yesterday and before yesterday. Elevation difference was only like 80 ft between each location, so it was not a major factor. Had gusty tail wind on my way to my destination. Drove mostly at the speed limit at 65 mph except for a few towns that had 45 to 55 mph speed limits and a couple of lights.
Averaged 4.5 miles per kwh on the way there with mostly tail wind. Arrived with 29% remaining charge.... On the way back, I had mostly strong head wind and I only averaged 3.8 mi/kwh and arrived with only 11% remaining charge.
So, my average for the 430 miles trip was a little over 4.1 mi/kwh. On the way back I would have likely run out of charge if I would have driven 5 mph over at 70 mph.. No charging stops except for my destination where I charged to 100% at my Hotel.
Based on my experience my 100% range is around 330 to 340 miles around town at 35 to 55 mph.
At 60 mph, I get about 300 mile range. At 65 mph, I get 270 to 275 miles range, at 70 mph, I get about 250 mile range and at 75 mph about 210 mile range. All those numbers for flat roads and no wind. Wind and elevation changes as also AC or heater use will change those numbers. Open windows will also hurt efficiency.
My 100% range was 339 miles when I left for my trip.. Now it would probably be 270 miles.
My settings are ECO mode with REGEN set to 3, Climate Control off and windows closed.

 

[KiwiME]

Regen zero actually has a poorer range than at least having some regen on.

The theoretical advantage of the zero setting is that it avoids invoking regen inadvertently everytime you adjust or relax your foot on the accelerator pedal. Regen can be thought of as losing merely 25% of your kinetic energy to heat rather than 100% as in an ICE car, better but still wasteful.
Other than that I doubt driving mode, regen settings and use of the brake pedal have nearly as much effect as altitude changes, speed, wind and rain, adding use of the PTC heater in the US market. I would just use whatever settings you prefer or best suit the road conditions and focus on lower speeds if better efficiency is your goal.

 

[Bill Nguyen]

Wind also makes a huge difference. Drove 430 miles on a road trip yesterday and before yesterday. Elevation difference was only like 80 ft between each location, so it was not a major factor. Had gusty tail wind on my way to my destination. Drove mostly at the speed limit at 65 mph except for a few towns that had 45 to 55 mph speed limits and a couple of lights.
Averaged 4.5 miles per kwh on the way there with mostly tail wind. Arrived with 29% remaining charge.... On the way back, I had mostly strong head wind and I only averaged 3.8 mi/kwh and arrived with only 11% remaining charge.
So, my average for the 430 miles trip was a little over 4.1 mi/kwh. On the way back I would have likely run out of charge if I would have driven 5 mph over at 70 mph.. No charging stops except for my destination where I charged to 100% at my Hotel.
Based on my experience my 100% range is around 330 to 340 miles around town at 35 to 55 mph.
At 60 mph, I get about 300 mile range. At 65 mph, I get 270 to 275 miles range, at 70 mph, I get about 250 mile range and at 75 mph about 210 mile range. All those numbers for flat roads and no wind. Wind and elevation changes as also AC or heater use will change those numbers. Open windows will also hurt efficiency.
My 100% range was 339 miles when I left for my trip.. Now it would probably be 270 miles.
My settings are ECO mode with REGEN set to 3, Climate Control off and windows closed.

View attachment 7505

Where are you located?
How you get that screen!
What is the app?

 

[ericy]

How you get that screen!
What is the app?

That's BlueLink from Hyundai. Should be available for both Apple and Android. Your car needs to be registered in their system before you can use this however, but the dealer should have done this for you.

 

[FloridaSun]

That's BlueLink from Hyundai. Should be available for both Apple and Android. Your car needs to be registered in their system before you can use this however, but the dealer should have done this for you.

Not sure if Bluelink is the same in Canada.. In the US, you can also go to myhyundai.com amd lognin. If you don't have a login, you can sign up and get one. However, not sure if this works with a Canadian VIN.

 

[Gsbrryprk8]

I agree with comments above. You can’t do anything about elevation, temp, wind, or rain. Among the factors you can control, those having the greatest impact on mileage (highway driving) are speed, tire pressure, and climate control. Add regen level to that list for city driving.

If you can , drive a little slower and keep the tires full. Heating the cabin consumes a lot of energy, but heated seats are pretty good and have negligible effect. I haven’t gone through a summer yet so I can’t comment on AC but expect similar energy use.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs

 

[SkookumPete]

I agree with comments above. You can’t do anything about elevation, temp, wind, or rain. Among the factors you can control, those having the greatest impact on mileage (highway driving) are speed, tire pressure, and climate control. Add regen level to that list for city driving.

At the risk of starting a flame war, regen level has very little effect on economy. Because the friction brakes are seldom used except at the end of a full stop, you recapture the same energy regardless of how quickly you decelerate. You may find yourself driving more efficiently with your favourite setting, but no level is inherently better than another.

 

[FloridaSun]

At the risk of starting a flame war, regen level has very little effect on economy. Because the friction brakes are seldom used except at the end of a full stop, you recapture the same energy regardless of how quickly you decelerate. You may find yourself driving more efficiently with your favourite setting, but no level is inherently better than another.

I agree. It comes down to driving syle. I think that Level 3 encourages defensive driving and using the REGEN to do most of the braking. Level 0 is just as efficient if you never brake hard. However, if you brake harder than the REGEN can brake the car, you will waste more energy. Regen Level 3 will give you the maximum deceleration possible without the use of friction brake. It all comes down to how hard you step on the brake. Regen can only hand a certain deceleration and everything more than that will be wasted energy on the friction brakes. So, someone who never brakes harder than what REGEN can handle will be exactly as efficient on REGEN 0 as those driving on REGEN 3. I use level 3 for that reason.. It causes me to drive more defensive and let REGEN brake the car whenever possible, so I know that I never exceed the REGEN capabilities and switch to friction brake except for stopping completely.

 

[SkookumPete]

Kind of a tangent here, but I got to thinking about the Youtube experts some of whom teach that Level 3 recaptures more energy than Level 1. And that got me thinking about the precious bit of info I found on a site offering an introduction to EVs. According to the anonymous author, electricity is regenerated using heat captured from the friction brakes!

 

[R P]

I drive ECO with regen L3 because I am too lazy to use the brake peddle any more than I have to. My wife loves it too. Just a matter of time before they eliminate it,... just like they did with the clutch peddle.

 

[apu]

I found out active LKA eats up alot of battery while cruise control.

Interesting I use this combo alot and I have not noticed any appreciable negative effect on efficiency.

 

[FloridaSun]

I drive ECO with regen L3 because I am too lazy to use the brake peddle any more than I have to. My wife loves it too. Just a matter of time before they eliminate it,... just like they did with the clutch peddle.

My wife hates regen above level 1.. If she drives the car, she sets it to "normal" mode with REGEN 1.. That's the only way she would drive it.. One Pedal driving is not for her.. I do like REGEN level 3 for the simple reason that it increases your reaction time in case of a situation where you have to brake fast.. The moment you go off the gas, it already applies moderate brake force which could be a life safer in a situation where you have little time to react.

 

[R P]

My wife hates regen above level 1.. If she drives the car, she sets it to "normal" mode with REGEN 1.. That's the only way she would drive it.. One Pedal driving is not for her.. I do like REGEN level 3 for the simple reason that it increases your reaction time in case of a situation where you have to brake fast.. The moment you go off the gas, it already applies moderate brake force which could be a life safer in a situation where you have little time to react.

What's weird now is when we drive our other car and have to use the brakes all the time. It doesn't want to stop, and just wants to coast and coast...

 

[FloridaSun]

What's weird now is when we drive our other car and have to use the brakes all the time. It doesn't want to stop, and just wants to coast and coast...

If I don't drive our other cars for a while, it feels weird that I have to step on the brake, especially when stopped at a light.. I'm so used to AUTO HOLD too..
Very soon, I'll replace my wife's car with a BMW i3. I tried to talk her out of it due to the short range but she wants a BMW... I've been looking at 2017 DEKA i3 with 32k miles for $16999 at a dealer in West Palm Beach (150 miles or so from me)..
https://www.offleaseonly.com/used-car/bmw-i3-deka-electric-hatchback-rwd-wby1z6c38hv548408.htm

Not sure if I should pull the trigger now or if I should wait.. Maybe I can still convince her to go with a Bolt which has twice the I3's range for only $2k or so more $$.
I also wonder if the low gas prices will bring used electric car prices down??

 

[R P]

If I don't drive our other cars for a while, it feels weird that I have to step on the brake, especially when stopped at a light.. I'm so used to AUTO HOLD too..
Very soon, I'll replace my wife's car with a BMW i3. I tried to talk her out of it due to the short range but she wants a BMW... I've been looking at 2017 DEKA i3 with 32k miles for $16999 at a dealer in West Palm Beach (150 miles or so from me)..
https://www.offleaseonly.com/used-car/bmw-i3-deka-electric-hatchback-rwd-wby1z6c38hv548408.htm

Not sure if I should pull the trigger now or if I should wait.. Maybe I can still convince her to go with a Bolt which has twice the I3's range for only $2k or so more $$.
I also wonder if the low gas prices will bring used electric car prices down??

I think prices are going to be much, much better shortly. This virus hit on the economy is still being greatly underestimated. And the recovery will not be as fast as some are predicting/hoping.

 

[FloridaSun]

I think prices are going to be much, much better shortly. This virus hit on the economy is still being greatly underestimated. And the recovery will not be as fast as some are predicting/hoping.

So, I'm going to hold off for a little.. Even though I have the cash, I would rather finance if car rates drop. Car rates are still at pre FED rate cut levels.. 3.25% is the best I could find for used cars..
Waiting for mid 2% levels..