How many kwhrs does it take you guys to go from 2 bars to full?

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Geor99

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I recently purchased one of those remote meters. I purchased the SwitchBot Smart Plug Mini W1901401. It can basically turn on/off any appliance that you want, and it tells you how many watts an appliances uses in real time and its history.

I have never had much luck turning the charging on and off with the Honda app, but this little device has worked well for me.

Initially, I was not believing what it was telling me as far as how much juice it was taking me to go from 2 bars of battery all the way to full. I then tried it with a kilowat meter, and I got the same amount.

Using different meters, it is taking around 9.75 kwHrs to go from 0.0 ev miles (2 bars,) to full such that the car will not take any more juice. This is when it says 100% on the Honda app. My car sucks an average of 1284 watts when charging via 120V. i only charge via 120V.

With a 14 kwHr battery, perhaps they are using a 15% cushion on the low side and the high side as far as battery capacity and how much they let you charge the car.

Has anyone else tested to see how many kwhrs their car is taking to fully charge? I am charging in 60-75F weather, day or night.

Side note: I did a search on the forum and I ran across one of my old posts from 2019. "According to my kilowatt meter on a 120V outlet with a 50' cord that is 12 gauge, I used 14.3kW hrs to charge my car on Friday (the only time that I measured it.) It seemed a little high even on 120V."

14.3 in 2019 and 9.75 now in 2023???
I am going to have to get another meter to make sure that I am measuring correctly. Although, like I said, I did run 2 meters independent of each other and I got the same 9.75kwHr number on 2 different days going from 2 bars of 0.0 ev miles to full.
 
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Fastermac said:
My Clarity has taken a max of 14.2 kWh to go from 2 bars to full. I use a Juicebox 40 at 240 volts and a max of 32 amps. Takes just over 2 hours.
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I must have a meter issue on my 2 meters. I am getting 38 miles of ev on the car screen when its charged, pretty much like always. And I generally get close to that in actual mileage. Tomorrow, I will actually read the number on the power meter on the street and try to not run much off of the grid. (I have an off-grid system, and this will give me a good excuse to run everything from it tomorrow instead of the grid which will only be running the car charger.)
 
In warm weather I typically get around 55 miles of actual EV range. A few times I got close to 60. If it is cold (below freezing) the range has been as low as 35 miles. This is always on a full charge.
 
I have monitored every charge cycle since getting the car in November 2018.
I now have around 750 charges (not all of them full of course).

When new, a 'full' charge (from 2 bars, 0 EV range) to 100% took about 14.5 kWh,
Now, (with ~38K miles, and 750 charge 'cycles') it takes around 12.5 kWh.

All this has been collected with a JuiceBox 32 Pro (Level 2). A while back, I confirmed the accuracy of the JuiceBox by comparing it's reading to our residential power meter and it was remarkably accurate.

Note: Please be careful with that Switchbot Mini... The EVSE is a heavy load, and although it seems OK for a temporary test like this, I would be uncomfortable making it a permanent part of a charging setup. It introduces extra electrical interfaces which are prone to degradation and overheating. Check it while in operation to be sure it is not getting hot. It is not an industrial grade unit.
 
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MrFixit said:
I have monitored every charge cycle since getting the car in November 2018.
I now have around 750 charges (not all of them full of course).

When new, a 'full' charge (from 2 bars, 0 EV range) to 100% took about 14.5 kWh,
Now, (with ~38K miles, and 750 charge 'cycles') it takes around 12.5 kWh.

All this has been collected with a JuiceBox 32 Pro (Level 2). A while back, I confirmed the accuracy of the JuiceBox by comparing it's reading to our residential power meter and it was remarkably accurate.

Note: Please be careful with that Switchbot Mini... The EVSE is a heavy load, and although it seems OK for a temporary test like this, I would be uncomfortable making it a permanent part of a charging setup. It introduces extra electrical interfaces which are prone to degradation and overheating. Check it while in operation to be sure it is not getting hot. It is not an industrial grade unit.
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I had the same worry, so I improved its design

It is rated for 1850 watts. I also have it mounted via thermal adhesive to a passive heatpipe based heatsink. I'm a thermal engineer and had some parts around my house. I also have wireless thermal sensors on the meter and both ends of the power plug.
 
Geor99 said:
I must have a meter issue on my 2 meters. I am getting 38 miles of ev on the car screen when its charged, pretty much like always. And I generally get close to that in actual mileage.
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Two meters that produce the same result would typically indicate that the results are accurate. If your 3rd measurement produces a significantly different result, it would be necessary to take a 4th or 5th measurement using different devices. The goal being to get 3 out of 4, or 5, to be the same.

Measuring the energy consumed while charging is a reasonable method for determining the capacity of a battery. Yours may be nearing the warranty threshold. It is essentially the opposite of load testing. Also, getting ~38 miles of EV range from ~10kWh’s of capacity is certainly within the realm of possibility with a Clarity. Have you always gotten ~38 miles, under the same conditions, since the car was new?

The plug meters could be tested for accuracy by connecting a known load for a specific period of time. Say, a 250w lightbulb for 8 hours. If such a test adds up for both meters, then it might be reasonable to conclude that the meters are accurately measuring energy consumption.

Look forward to your off grid results.
 
I charge at home with the cord/plug that came with the car (2018 Touring). This is plugged into an electricity monitor (PN2000) which is then plugged into a dedicated 120v outlet. The most kWh I have seen is just over 14.
 
I take about 13.6, per the meters at work. A bit more if I use the preheating, but that's not going into the battery. Mine's a 2018 with ~30k miles and a full charge cycle every commuting day (~3x a week).

Even in the winter I can get close to 50 miles range if I don't use the heat, preheat the car before I leave (and heated garage on the other end) and hit some traffic so I can't do 70. I lose a few miles of range if there's no traffic.
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
I take about 13.6, per the meters at work. A bit more if I use the preheating, but that's not going into the battery. Mine's a 2018 with ~30k miles and a full charge cycle every commuting day (~3x a week).

Even in the winter I can get close to 50 miles range if I don't use the heat, preheat the car before I leave (and heated garage on the other end) and hit some traffic so I can't do 70. I lose a few miles of range if there's no traffic.
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90% of my driving is on the freeway, and I time my driving around traffic, so I can go 70mph most of the time. I am also driving on pretty much flat land in very moderate temperatures which never get below 50F. I have been getting 38-42 miles per charge since I bought the car in late 2018. It doesn't seem to have gone down yet after 4.5 years.

These stories of 50 miles of range- I wonder if any of these people mainly drive at freeway speeds like I do.

A few years ago, a policeman was shot on the freeway, so it took me 5 hours to do my 40 mile commute. At those speeds, I remember getting somewhere around 55 miles for that charge (taking the remaining charge and extrapolating it at the same rate of my long commute.) This was a mix of idling and going 20 mph most of the way without needing air conditioning that day.
 
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Geor99 said:
These stories of 50 miles of range- I wonder if any of these people mainly drive at freeway speeds like I do.
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Of course they/we don’t. The car won’t get 50 miles of EV range at 70mph, unless you’re descending Haleakala.

For the first year or so of ownership, I wasted far too much time tracking data on a freaking car. In LA traffic, I regularly drove 45-46 miles in EV, with 7-10 miles to spare. On at least a half dozen occasions the car actually traveled more than 60 miles on batteries alone. The highest was 67 or 68 actual miles traveled.

On the few occasions where there was an opportunity to drive 40ish miles at 70mph or better, the car would go 35-40 miles on batteries. However, I rarely exhausted EV range in such a manner, as that drive was usually one leg of a round trip commute. I’d use HV for most of the high speed driving and utilize EV for lower speed driving on either end of both legs. The idea being to arrive home with close to 0 EV miles remaining.

The 50 mile stories are true and it isn’t a mystery as to why.
 
Sorry Guys. I figured out my issue. I charge when I get home until the next morning to go to work. My meters were giving out the daily readings. So my 9.75kwhr readings were from midnight until 8am ish, not from when I began the charge.

It looks like it actually takes me around 12.75kwhr to charge.
 
Geor99 said:
My meters were giving out the daily readings. So my 9.75kwhr readings were from midnight until 8am ish, not from when I began the charge.
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That explains it.

I recently installed a Sense home energy monitor. Primarily to monitor the current HVAC system as were shopping for a new system. Once it’s done “learning” it should be able to provide information on vehicle charging and quite possibly distinguish between the two PHEV’s which share the same L2 EVSE.
 
Landshark said:
That explains it.

I recently installed a Sense home energy monitor. Primarily to monitor the current HVAC system as we’re shopping for a new system. Once it’s done “learning” it should be able to provide information on vehicle charging and quite possibly distinguish between the two PHEV’s which share the same L2 EVSE.
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I have had my Sense since 2018. It never did detect the clarity on 120. I did give intermittent detection on level 2. It did ok catching most of the charging sessions for Kia Soul EV and some for the Niro EV but it is not completely reliable for that or for detecting anything 100% of the time.
It is extremely accurate to gather data on all of your usage and all of your solar production. It is very good at giving you a general idea of the most of your device usage and if you get specific Kasa smart plugs, you can start calling out more and more individual items. I still highly recommend the unit, but having correct expectations will go along way making you a happy customer. I would like to see sense release of panel like Span with per circuit level intelligence. I think them listening to each breaker, will reduce the noise and allow for better detection of devices.
 
Fastermac said:
My Clarity has taken a max of 14.2 kWh to go from 2 bars to full. I use a Juicebox 40 at 240 volts and a max of 32 amps. Takes just over 2 hours.
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Another Juicebox user here :) I recently used up battery all the way (actually 10%) so the engine kicked in. Drove in HV mode for another 20 miles, then charged at 12A rate. I got full after 13.1 kWh.

I usually maintain battery level between 30%-80%. Battery Capacity reports 53.58 Ah for my 32000 miles 2019 car.
When I'm not in a rush, I keep charge rate at 16A. Only when I know I need to charge quick I set it to 32A.

To get the maximum range, you need to keep the heater off. Or if you have to use AC, keeping it at lowest LO setting will have a big impact on battery usage. The resistive heater uses up so much energy even if you set the temperature to something like 60F. When you set 60F, it'll actually run the heater to warm up the air conditioned cold air to get it back to 60F.
Highway will definitely reduce range as the sweet spot for EV is between 35-45mph.

Few days ago when I used up all my charge arriving at work, I purposely used HV mode to burn some gas on my way home. Even in HV mode, about 12 miles distance, gas mileage was 44.3 mpg. I think it's really efficient even if you use it as a hybrid card, although many won't like the engine noise that doesn't match with actual traveling speed (in city driving).
 
LegoZ said:
It is extremely accurate to gather data on all of your usage and all of your solar production. It is very good at giving you a general idea of the most of your device usage and if you get specific Kasa smart plugs, you can start calling out more and more individual items.
Click to expand...

Thanks. It’s already detected the heat pump and air handler, so I’ve been able to observe power consumption for those devices under a variety of conditions. That’s really all I was looking to accomplish. Now it will be possible to do a before and after comparison.

We have solar monitoring through the OpticsRE website. It doesn’t provide device specific data, although, by monitoring the load when a device comes on, it is easy enough to determine the draw for that device.

Coincidentally, we woke up to a power outage this morning. Went out about 11pm. Both cars were charged by 7pm. The house batteries are powering the essential loads. I got a fire going in the fireplace. Solar production will be limited by clouds and rain. The power company is on site and expects to have power restored in a few hours.
 
most recent charges using Sema connect charger level 2 at my apartment complex. 11.56 kWh and 11.8 kWh to charge from 2 bars to full. 2018 clarity touring, about 33k miles, most are electric miles.
 
The very first time in 2008, when it came off the ship from dealer and then home, the car took in a whopping 15.4kwh. I am not sure about the state of the battery but I think Honda link reported something like 3% and it had only one bar.

Do note honda link numbers are more accurate on what % is left. 2 bars usually means 8-13%.
for most of 2017, on an average 14.4 KWH from 2 bars to full. The average I could do in 2022 is 13.86 for the same conditions. There are occasional 14.1KWH but it is not common. I think in these instances car starting battery level is more like 6-7%

All observation are with 5.8kwh level 2 charger.
 
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