How does the EPA determine range and MPGe??

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FloridaSun

FloridaSun

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I wonder if the EPA includes AC and heater use in their test cycle? I don't see how the Kona would "only" get 258 miles of range and 120 MPGe. I've owned many ICE vehicles and even when driving very conservative without a heavy foot, it was a challenge to even reach the EPA's numbers. For example, I used to own a brand new 2012 Hyundai Elantra with 40 mpg highway rating (later adjusted to 38 mpg). The best mpg I ever got on a tank of gas was about 44 mpg (hypermiling) and I averaged about 39 mpg on the car (and I took the car out of gear (6-speed) and let it roll downhill and also shut off the engine at longer stops at lights to get that fuel efficiency). Now, on the Kona, If I try to take it easy and minimize AC use, I get between 5.8 and 6.0 miles/kwh. That is 195 - 202 MPGe, over 70 MPGe better than the EPA rating. Even with AC use on most trips and normal driving (but staying at the speed limit at 70 mph in Florida), I get at least 4.5 miles/kwh (= 151.65 mpge) which is still way above the EPA rating. If I would have driven my Elantra like that, I would have averaged about 5 mpg below the EPA rating at about 33 mpg, yet, with the same driving style, I'm getting still way above the EPA rating for the Elantra. The only way for me to explain this would be that part of the EPA testing cycle is heater and AC use. Does anyone know? There seems to be a huge difference in the way ICE cars and EV's are rated.. Another note. My daily commute is actually more ICE friendly than EV friendly as I have no city driving.. I have no traffic lights to get to the Interstate and 1 traffic light when I get off it to get to my office.. On my way home, I have 3 traffic lights to get home. The rest is highway. (commute is a total of 23 miles each way)
 
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One huge difference between ICE and BEV is the effects of ambient temperature on the battery and range. Dunno what ambient the EPA uses, but everybody knows to reduce their estimate by 40- 50% when it gets really cold (30 below). So maybe the EPA's test reflect cooler temperatures than summer.
 
When i had the Ioniq PHEV, i was told it was based on California weather with a temperature of 22c.
I dont get how different countries, the range is all over the place with EPA. In Canada, the range is 415km.
 
XtsKonaTrooper said:
When i had the Ioniq PHEV, i was told it was based on California weather with a temperature of 22c.
I dont get how different countries, the range is all over the place with EPA. In Canada, the range is 415km.
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Those 415 km pretty much match the 258 mile range in the US. If they really tested this in California, I would believe that they tested without heat or AC and the range should have been close to 300 and the MPGe closer to 4.5 mi/kwh.. Strange.. When it comes to gasoline cars, the fuel efficiency seems to be exaggerated by the EPA and on EV's it seems to be deflated.
 
BlueKonaEV said:
Those 415 km pretty much match the 258 mile range in the US. If they really tested this in California, I would believe that they tested without heat or AC and the range should have been close to 300 and the MPGe closer to 4.5 mi/kwh.. Strange.. When it comes to gasoline cars, the fuel efficiency seems to be exaggerated by the EPA and on EV's it seems to be deflated.
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Does the EPA actually do the testing, or does the manufacturer have to test it to the EPA test protocol and submit results? If the latter, maybe Hyundai was just being conservative given this is a brand new battery and power train.

And interesting that Canada comes up with the exact same range. Doesn't sound to me like there was a separate set of tests run.
 
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I believe average outside temperatures, are gonna play a big role in those figures. Because in my area, since overnight temperatures have gotten warmer, my range has increased.
Also driving speeds to, as i mostly drive highway and hardly drive at city speeds, so my brake regen production is not as high.
 
R P said:
Does the EPA actually do the testing, or does the manufacturer have to test it to the EPA test protocol and submit results? If the latter, maybe Hyundai was just being conservative given this is a brand new battery and power train.

And interesting that Canada comes up with the exact same range. Doesn't sound to me like there was a separate set of tests run.
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I believe that the manufacturer has to test based on EPA specs. Hyundai has gotten in trouble with the Elantra before when they overestimated it's efficiency by 2 mpg. Maybe they wanted to be cautious.
 
My local testing on rural highways returns 300 km over 72% SoC, extrapolated to 100% that's 417 km. Ambient is 8-15°C. GoM is 465 winter/515 summer.
 
KiwiME said:
My local testing on rural highways returns 300 km over 72% SoC, extrapolated to 100% that's 417 km. Ambient is 8-15°C. GoM is 465 winter/515 summer.
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That sounds pretty close to what I have seen so far. Van isle (Nanaimo) did have a cold snap when I picked up the car in Feb, went down to 0 and peaked at 2 ( average 5), probably close to the same weather you get in N.Z.
 
BlueKonaEV said:
I wonder if the EPA includes AC and heater use in their test cycle? I don't see how the Kona would "only" get 258 miles of range and 120 MPGe. I've owned many ICE vehicles and even when driving very conservative without a heavy foot, it was a challenge to even reach the EPA's numbers. For example, I used to own a brand new 2012 Hyundai Elantra with 40 mpg highway rating (later adjusted to 38 mpg). The best mpg I ever got on a tank of gas was about 44 mpg (hypermiling) and I averaged about 39 mpg on the car (and I took the car out of gear (6-speed) and let it roll downhill and also shut off the engine at longer stops at lights to get that fuel efficiency). Now, on the Kona, If I try to take it easy and minimize AC use, I get between 5.8 and 6.0 miles/kwh. That is 195 - 202 MPGe, over 70 MPGe better than the EPA rating. Even with AC use on most trips and normal driving (but staying at the speed limit at 70 mph in Florida), I get at least 4.5 miles/kwh (= 151.65 mpge) which is still way above the EPA rating. If I would have driven my Elantra like that, I would have averaged about 5 mpg below the EPA rating at about 33 mpg, yet, with the same driving style, I'm getting still way above the EPA rating for the Elantra. The only way for me to explain this would be that part of the EPA testing cycle is heater and AC use. Does anyone know? There seems to be a huge difference in the way ICE cars and EV's are rated.. Another note. My daily commute is actually more ICE friendly than EV friendly as I have no city driving.. I have no traffic lights to get to the Interstate and 1 traffic light when I get off it to get to my office.. On my way home, I have 3 traffic lights to get home. The rest is highway. (commute is a total of 23 miles each way)
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According to this article EPA uses a Muti Cycle City/ Hwy Test Procedure then multiplies the preliminary range (measured on the dyno) and efficiency #s by .7
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/08/18/how-does-epa-calculate-electric-car-range/
mileage may vary depending on conditions.
 
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I strongly suspect Hyundai intentionally did something to make the EPA range lower, as no one will complain when their vehicle gets almost 50 miles more to a charge than the EPA estimates, but almost everyone would complain if it got say 50 miles less than the EPA estimates. It's too bad other EV makers haven't followed suit.
 
cmwade77 said:
I strongly suspect Hyundai intentionally did something to make the EPA range lower, as no one will complain when their vehicle gets almost 50 miles more to a charge than the EPA estimates, but almost everyone would complain if it got say 50 miles less than the EPA estimates. It's too bad other EV makers haven't followed suit.
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I'm sure that they still remember the Elantra fiasco.. I had a new 2012 Elantra and they paid me a few hundred dollars until I sold it at 100k miles..
 
cmwade77 said:
Umm, honestly, I am not sure what you are referring to, what happened?
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Hyundai had the Elantra rated at 40 mpg Highway... The EPA determined that the car only got 38 mpg, 2 mpg short of the 40 mpg that Hyundai rated it. Hyundai was forced to reimburse Elantra buyers of those years for the difference based on the miles driven..

The Elantra was a great car.. 100k miles in 3 years .. All I did was oil changes.. No issues..
 
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BlueKonaEV said:
Hyundai had the Elantra rated at 40 mpg Highway... The EPA determined that the car only got 38 mpg, 2 mpg short of the 40 mpg that Hyundai rated it. Hyundai was forced to reimburse Elantra buyers of those years for the difference based on the miles driven..

The Elantra was a great car.. 100k miles in 3 years .. All I did was oil changes.. No issues..
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I see, well several car companies have gotten into trouble for such things, it's one of the reasons we have Electrify America stations popping up all over.
 
R P said:
interesting that Canada comes up with the exact same range
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"It is said that one gallon of gasoline has the energy equivalent of 33.7 kWh of electricity. So, if an EV uses 33.7 kWh to drive 100 miles, its mpg equivalent would be 100 mpg."

Compare that figure to a garden variety Canadian citizen:
image.thumb.png.d065eb41126520949bf053a89af68b0f.png

Driving an EV makes more sense. :D
 
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