Range Testing

[David Towle]

Looks like I can no longer track the battery amp degradation of my 2018 with 118k miles. On May 8 it was at 42.76 amps, but since I brought the car in for replacing the coolants 3000 miles ago it was reset and has not budged from 54.98 amps reading. (It doesn't seem worth hassling with the dealer to try and figure out what is wrong I doubt they could determine anything)
So the only way I see to track future battery degradation is by monitoring maximum range. I just did a 100% to 0% battery test with my normal around town driving (mostly 35-50 mph), no AC/windows open, using my best technique, and was at 59.6 miles when the engine came on. The GOM initially read 75.2 miles. For hahas I repeated the test using AC the whole time and got only 31.4 miles! Looks like I'll continue to minimize the AC use except on highways where its pretty much a necessity.

 

[Robert_Alabama]

Run the battery all the way to zero (until the gas engine kicks on). Then plug it in to charge. The number of kWh needed to fully recharge the battery will give you a good measurement of the Ah. I think you can assume about 14.65 kWh to fully recharge the battery when new at 55 Ah. So, for example, if you need 11.2 kWh to fully recharge, then 11.2/14.65 x 55 = 42.05 Ah. This should be pretty accurate.

 

[Conelite]

Didn't think the AC used that much power. That's wild. I'm at 125k miles and on average I get 35-40miles from 100-0%.

My car usually reads around 44-46ah. Max. The most power I have been able to charge into the battery was around 10kwh. Average is 9-9.5kwh

 

[David Towle]

Run the battery all the way to zero (until the gas engine kicks on). Then plug it in to charge. The number of kWh needed to fully recharge the battery will give you a good measurement of the Ah. I think you can assume about 14.65 kWh to fully recharge the battery when new at 55 Ah. So, for example, if you need 11.2 kWh to fully recharge, then 11.2/14.65 x 55 = 42.05 Ah. This should be pretty accurate.

Why didn't I think of that, sheesh. Will try soon. Thanks!

 

[David Towle]

Didn't think the AC used that much power. That's wild. I'm at 125k miles and on average I get 35-40miles from 100-0%.

My car usually reads around 44-46ah. Max. The most power I have been able to charge into the battery was around 10kwh. Average is 9-9.5kwh

Realize how slow I'm going, with lights and stop signs probably an average of 25 mph, so almost 1.5 hours of AC. Versus on the highway using up the battery in 35 miles or less than a half an hour, so I'm using the AC 3 times as long as I would on the highway. That's why the difference is so big.

 

[Jim1960]

My 2018 Clarity has 80K on it, and on some summer days, when I have done no highway driving, the GOM has reached 60.1 miles. That is, of course not real, but I have seen very little degradation on the highest GOM numbers. I'm not enough of an engineer to know if this is actually a sign of a robust battery.

 

[Landshark]

For those who may have forgotten, the EV Range Estimate has been dubbed the Guess-O-Meter (GOM) for good reason. It is a spectacularly useless number for determining anything other than how far the car might travel in EV Mode if it is driven similarly to how it was previously driven. Other than that it does seem to generate a fair amount of drivel on this forum.

 

[Conelite]

Just did a test this morning on my 4am commute to work to see how much Air conditioning effects range.

Typical condition:
AC on entire time set to LOW, Fan speed 2
All highway 60-65mph entire way (no Traffic)
37-40miles of range in the trip meter @ Zero on GOM

This morning:
No AC at all
All highway 60-65mph entire way (no Traffic)
47.9 miles of range in the trip meter @ Zero on the GOM

Around 10miles extra range not using the AC. Impressive. I knew the heater is the worse consumer of electrons, but that AC is pretty bad too. I don't have LRR tires (cheap China tires) and have 125k miles on the car.

I'm going to test my commute home with no AC. I usually get 30-35mile range on the way home, but AC is CRANKIN! I'll suffer a bit for scientific purposes.