Impact of A/C on EV range, MPG?

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Pete H.

New Member
Does anybody have a estimate of the impact running the A/C has? Where I live, the A/C will be used full blast for at least 9 months out of the year.

In an ICE vehicle, there is a modest but discernible hit on the mpg from using the A/C. There has to be some similar hit on EV range/HV mpg.

Looking forward to January when I can try to ferret this out. Until then I'll just keep cool.
 
Pete H. said:
Does anybody have a estimate of the impact running the A/C has? Where I live, the A/C will be used full blast for at least 9 months out of the year.

In an ICE vehicle, there is a modest but discernible hit on the mpg from using the A/C. There has to be some similar hit on EV range/HV mpg.

Looking forward to January when I can try to ferret this out. Until then I'll just keep cool.
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The closer to the equator the more sense solar makes. It would be a better fit that the easy bake panoramic glass up top. I wouldn't worry about AC hit on effecency but rather does it have cooled seats and whether a heat pump is more efficient at making cool are than a standard EV's AC. You have the right approach though, live with it like you have to and manage the details looking forward to possible better solutions.
 
Pete H. said:
Does anybody have a estimate of the impact running the A/C has? Where I live, the A/C will be used full blast for at least 9 months out of the year.

In an ICE vehicle, there is a modest but discernible hit on the mpg from using the A/C. There has to be some similar hit on EV range/HV mpg.

Looking forward to January when I can try to ferret this out. Until then I'll just keep cool.
Click to expand...
There are days in Michigan where we can avoid running AC. Those days we will get around 55 EV miles. If we have to run AC we will get around 50.
 
Danks said:
Those days we will get around 55 EV miles. If we have to run AC we will get around 50
Click to expand...

My eperience matches this... Approx a 5 mile EV range impact when running the AC.
In the winter the impact of the heater is worse (at least 10 miles on a cold day).
 
I notice far less impact running the A/C than I do running the heat. A/C pretty much 9 months of the year here in Okla. Still averaging around 50 miles per charge on my '18 Clarity Base. Definitely my next vehicle will have both heated and ventilated seats.
 
Well, I live in Arizona and when I get into a very hot car and the AC is blasting the car is using around 2.2KW of power. That lasts for a little and then it uses around 1.7KW until it cools the car and stabilizes at around 1.3KW. If I turn off the AC the car uses around 0.7KW (car electronics and battery cooling I guess). This means you should expect around 1KW an hour of battery power to go to AC. That will use up around 3 to 4 miles of range.

How do I know these numbers? Well by measuring it using the Car Scanner app which hooks to your ODB port and records car parameters. It is pretty cool. AC numbers are not as fascinating as measuring exactly how much power the car used, how much engine vs battery power was supplied, how much regen I am getting and etc... Here are some pictures.

Measuring power by the Hybrid Battery
upload_2021-9-13_22-4-46.webp
This is Power Usage vs State of Charge vs Speed
upload_2021-9-13_22-5-40.webp
This measures your temperature:
upload_2021-9-13_22-6-10.webp
This is Temp in the Car vs Outside for the trip:
upload_2021-9-13_22-6-47.webp
 
Since I moved to central Florida last December I think I've only seen 1 other Clarity on the road. Which is crazy since conditions here are perfect for these cars: I only run AC in summer when on the highway (less than 10% of my driving), almost never need heat in the winter, and electricity is cheap.
 
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