100% Charge Range Drop

[Aragorn]

I drive my EV the same way i drive my ICE. The range it gets is the range it gets.

These posts suggesting "your driving it wrong" always puzzle me. Its obvious that if you drive faster, accellerate harder etc, then you will use more energy and thus have less range. But that also applied to your petrol car you had before, so why change your driving style? The fuel savings from driving an ICE more gently would be huge compared to the savings you'd make doing the same on an EV, and yet you didnt bother before.

I did 1000miles in the Enyaq last week for my summer holiday, the average was in the low 3-3.2 range. Some parts of the trip i saw 2.4! (Carlisle to Abington, must be the terrain as i've seen the same from my old LEAF there too). But that was motorway driving at the speed limit, and i had a roof box on.

[Goaty]

/\ the question from ‘Fatman’ asked how to increase the amount of miles per kw/h

The tips given therefore do, rightly, suggest driving style changes. If you want to maximise efficiency, drive slower and accelerate more gently. If you want to drive as you would any other car, go for it When I knew I’d be able to get ‘there and back’ within a cheap home charge rate, I’d drive the Enyaq like I’d drive anything else. If I was on a longer journey which would require a top up, then I’d probably drive more gently just to minimise the amount of rip-off cost per kw/h I’d have to pay; the further I could get from my home charge, the better.

You’re right that no one really thinks about the increased efficiency they can get in an ICE vehicle by driving it more gently, but there’s an obvious reason for that: convenience and abundance of petrol stations.

[Aragorn]

But its interesting you'd try to avoid charging the EV (becuase it costs money) but would happily burn more expensive petrol without a thought

The EV is already significantly cheaper to run than an ICE, in some cases by as much as 10x, so why do people care more about it in an EV when its already so cheap...

I think its related to the smaller range and more accurate metering meaning people can more clearly see the immediate difference. When the diesel in your tank lasts 500miles, and you have a vague needle showing how much is left, you dont actaully notice what happens when you floor it or when you drive economically, as its averaged out over a much longer period.

[Walter Eagle]

I drive my EV the same way i drive my ICE. The range it gets is the range it gets.

These posts suggesting "your driving it wrong" always puzzle me. Its obvious that if you drive faster, accellerate harder etc, then you will use more energy and thus have less range. But that also applied to your petrol car you had before, so why change your driving style? The fuel savings from driving an ICE more gently would be huge compared to the savings you'd make doing the same on an EV, and yet you didnt bother before.

On a completely informal survey (i.e. talking to friends) I find that most, if not all, who have transitioned from ICE to EV have indeed changed their driving style. They now use a more relaxed, less extreme (accelerating and braking) approach.
Sticking with your previous driving style is absolutely fine, but I don't feel it's as common among my tiny sample.

One factor that I guess may be involved is the precision of measurement in an EV? You get energy remaining data in individual percentages. In an ICE you possibly get the fuel tank calibrated in E - ¼ - ½ - ¾ - F. The energy deficit of, say, high speed driving won't be so evident in an ICE, hence the incentive to improve isn't as strong. In an EV you are aware of every energy drain - aircon, seat-heating etc

[Aragorn]

Indeed, i just find it weird, and it gives a poor image to prospective buyers... "buy an EV but you have to drive slower or it uses all the battery up too fast"

I've noticed a consistent deviation since my first EV 7+ years ago, where i never get anywhere near the range that others get from the same car. At first i did the usual "is my car broken" type stuff, eventually i just accepted its down to driving style, and the roads driven. It does make me very wary when folk are claiming to prospective owners that they're going to achieve XYZ miles in the car though... Since my first EV, i've always used 3mi/kwh as a decent reference figure. It'll be a little better on the best summer days, and a little worse on the worst winter days. You often see folks claiming 4+ though, which for me is completely unrealistic.

And i'm not saying your cant achieve 4, but when it actually matters is a longer motorway trip and no car i've owned will achieve 4mi/kwh at 70mph.

[ChangoMutney]

Indeed, i just find it weird, and it gives a poor image to prospective buyers... "buy an EV but you have to drive slower or it uses all the battery up too fast"

I've noticed a consistent deviation since my first EV 7+ years ago, where i never get anywhere near the range that others get from the same car. At first i did the usual "is my car broken" type stuff, eventually i just accepted its down to driving style, and the roads driven. It does make me very wary when folk are claiming to prospective owners that they're going to achieve XYZ miles in the car though... Since my first EV, i've always used 3mi/kwh as a decent reference figure. It'll be a little better on the best summer days, and a little worse on the worst winter days. You often see folks claiming 4+ though, which for me is completely unrealistic.

And i'm not saying your cant achieve 4, but when it actually matters is a longer motorway trip and no car i've owned will achieve 4mi/kwh at 70mph.

I see what you're saying, but money is not necessarily the driving factor for wanting to avoid charging. Yes EV's are 10x cheaper to charge, but only at home. On the motorway you are paying petrol prices. However you now pay with your time irrespective of how much you paid for you car or how rich you are. Everyone now pays with something we value more than money. I think that in combination with potential queuing at chargers or chargers that don't work (neither of which I've experienced), shorter range and fewer chargers than petrol stations, makes people more bothered about it, and therefore more aware of how they drive. It's not a bad thing for people to make better use of their electricity, in fact I think it's a step in the right direction.

[ricky10]

I drive my EV the same way i drive my ICE. The range it gets is the range it gets.

These posts suggesting "your driving it wrong" always puzzle me. Its obvious that if you drive faster, accellerate harder etc, then you will use more energy and thus have less range. But that also applied to your petrol car you had before, so why change your driving style? The fuel savings from driving an ICE more gently would be huge compared to the savings you'd make doing the same on an EV, and yet you didnt bother before.

On a completely informal survey (i.e. talking to friends) I find that most, if not all, who have transitioned from ICE to EV have indeed changed their driving style. They now use a more relaxed, less extreme (accelerating and braking) approach.
Sticking with your previous driving style is absolutely fine, but I don't feel it's as common among my tiny sample.

One factor that I guess may be involved is the precision of measurement in an EV? You get energy remaining data in individual percentages. In an ICE you possibly get the fuel tank calibrated in E - ¼ - ½ - ¾ - F. The energy deficit of, say, high speed driving won't be so evident in an ICE, hence the incentive to improve isn't as strong. In an EV you are aware of every energy drain - aircon, seat-heating etc

I agree, the driving style has definitely changed. For instance instead of sticking the car at 2500/3000rpm for motorway cruise which usually is around 75mph on the speed for best mpg value, in an EV I find it is around 60-65mph. I don’t actually think driving at 75mph or 60mph on a motorway affects total journey time that much. You will always hit traffic at local roads coming off the motorway or someone lane hogging on the motorway or accident or congestion and the speed differential will only come to effect on 100mile+ journey and on those you are going to have a break and therefore it’s moot point.

In town driving with ICE car there is no coasting or regen braking. Clearly with EV that’s a key driving style.

On A/B roads, hyper miling clearly extends range and conserve energy where in ICE car you probably want to trash the car around the corner a bit.

If you ain’t getting high 3mi/kwh in an Enyaq, then it is definitely down to driving style or you got all the heating/aircon on all the time and wasting energy

[CrowSysE243]

I agree with most of the comments but I think that the optimum speed for economy, and the balance between economy and time, depends on several factors including the car. For motorway driving I do not find a signficant difference between the Enyaq and my previous Passats and Tiguan. I used to aim to drive "around 70" on the motorway but dropped to 60 to 65 over 10 years ago with a more relaxed style and found that the achieved range increased by a similar proportion to the Enyaq without a significant increase in time on long journeys in most driving conditions. With the diesel Passat I could get near 900 miles in the summer and near 800 in the Tiguan. I have not changed driving style in the Enyaq and it has enough range that I am comfortable driving faster if I want to. There is a difference in the way energy/fuel left is displayed but I find the remaining range indications similarly accurate with similarly predictable changes with conditions and driving style over most of its range and better at the full end,

Even when driving hard/fast there is comfortably more range than I had on my original Austin Mini 1000 and it is easier to find somewhere to charge on long journeys than it was to find petrol stations then when there were not so many motorway services and no mobile phones. The most significant difference I find between the ICE vehicles and the EVs is the time to charge but generally I have found charging more convenient. I can leave the car charging while I have a coffe or a meal. In the wilds of Scotland I have had to plan carefully or go out of my way to find a petrol station in the past in an ICe vehicle but if I can get the EV within 15 to 20 metres of a 13A socket I can charge it (not that I have had to resort to that except when visiting friends/relatives yet).

If you did not already have a relaxed driving style the information available in the EV and the lower max range might tend to encourage you to, but you do not neec to, although you do need to think about the range you get and its impact on charging on long journeys. Running down to near zero range and then relying on having an ultrafast charger available to recharge where there is not a large charging hub is probably not a good idea, but the equivalent applies to an ICE. Petrol stations may be far apart, run out of fuel or be closed in my experience. I have not yet had to drive home in the middle of the night at 30 mph to ensure that I can get there and have sufficient range to go and refuel in the morning in an EV but I have in an ICE.

The important thing for me is that the EV is more enjoyable to drive and it has sufficient range that I can drive how I want and still achieve the journeys I undertake without concern. If I want to drive fast the normal breaks in driving on long journeys are still sufficient even in a normal winter. If it suits you to drive at 70, then why not. If it suits you to drive a bit slower then that is OK as well.

I find that driving in congested, particularly urban areas, as long as winter journeys are not too short, the EV range fairs better than ICE under the same conditions.

I accept that EVs will not suit everybody but in most cases I think that they are a much better option than some of the press suggest. Having decided 2 years ago that I could go for an EV to replace the Tiguan, based on experience of the Kona, I have found the Enyaq to perform better than expected.

[Hodgey]

Hello, I've only had my Enyaq IV 80x for about a month but am a bit disappointed with the range. I expected the range to be lower at this time of year but even driving as carefully as possible and rarely using the cabin heating I'm only getting 2.9 mi/kWh. I live on a country lane about 2 miles from a main A road so there is a fair bit of hilly conditions on a daily basis but I'm not far from the flatter, straighter roads. The car is 3 years old and has 26k miles on the clock. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks

[Gary R]

Pre-heat your car on cold mornings while it's plugged in to charge. Getting the cabin up to temperature uses a lot more power than keeping it at that temperature, so heat up while you're plugged in. As far as I'm aware, when you pre-heat the cabin it also pre-heats your drive battery, which will therefore work more efficiently.

Over the last few days the temperature where I am has hardly raised much above zero, and with pre-heating I'm getting around 3.5 miles per KwH.