Winter Range/MpkWh WAY Down

[jmmurphy26]

I've had my 2015 eGolf SEL since Oct and really love it. But I've noticed a big drop in my range projections and (obviously) MpkWh average. While i fully anticipated some drop off in these colder months (i'm on the shoreline of CT), what i'm seeing is steeper than i expected.

During the sales process i had been told to expect a drop off of 10-15 miles in range over the winter months. This is feeling closer to a 20-30 mile drop off. Not sure if this is misplaced initial expectations or bad habits on my end.

Below are some of the numbers i'm seeing in my driving data. I'm curious if others are seeing a similar drop or if this is the result of bad habits/etc. My daily commute is 17 miles through fairly rural roads. I pre-heat my car for 5-10 minutes and use the seat warmer/heat pump as one might expect on a 19 degree morning.

Warm Months Commute: Avg=4.32 MpkWh; Max=4.7 MpkWh; Min=3.8 MpkWh
January Commute: Avg=2.94 MpkWh; Max=3.4 MpkWh; Min=2.4 MpkWh

That represents an average 32% reduction in range. And that is with at least 3 of those January mornings switching over to Eco+ mode to crawl into the charger at work with 6 miles of range left (I try to only charge at work).

Thanks for the help!

 

[JoulesThief]

I've had my 2015 eGolf SEL since Oct and really love it. But I've noticed a big drop in my range projections and (obviously) MpkWh average. While i fully anticipated some drop off in these colder months (i'm on the shoreline of CT), what i'm seeing is steeper than i expected.

During the sales process i had been told to expect a drop off of 10-15 miles in range over the winter months. This is feeling closer to a 20-30 mile drop off. Not sure if this is misplaced initial expectations or bad habits on my end.

Below are some of the numbers i'm seeing in my driving data. I'm curious if others are seeing a similar drop or if this is the result of bad habits/etc. My daily commute is 17 miles through fairly rural roads. I pre-heat my car for 5-10 minutes and use the seat warmer/heat pump as one might expect on a 19 degree morning.

Warm Months Commute: Avg=4.32 MpkWh; Max=4.7 MpkWh; Min=3.8 MpkWh
January Commute: Avg=2.94 MpkWh; Max=3.4 MpkWh; Min=2.4 MpkWh

That represents an average 32% reduction in range. And that is with at least 3 of those January mornings switching over to Eco+ mode to crawl into the charger at work with 6 miles of range left (I try to only charge at work).

Thanks for the help!

You are being unrealistic trying to only charge at work. You also had your heater software updated, which is now taking a larger % of the battery charge to heat the vehicle. The energy to do that comes from somewhere... the range of your battery being decreased accordingly. Wear warmer clothes when you need to drive, dress in layers. That should help some with increasing the range.

 

[f1geek]

You might want to plug in the car at home: even using the included L1 charger overnight will give you about 3-5 miles of range per hour (depending on the weather) so you won't be worrying about running out of energy on the way to work. Also, you might want to pre-heat the car to 72 F while plugged in and give the car enough time to reach the temperature setpoint - this may take 30 minutes or more depending on the ambient temperature. Otherwise, you could play with the interactive page at Tesla to see how temperature affects the range of the Model S - I don't know what to expect when the ambient temp is in the teens. Good luck!

 

[GadgetGav]

I've had my 2015 eGolf SEL since Oct and really love it. But I've noticed a big drop in my range projections and (obviously) MpkWh average. While i fully anticipated some drop off in these colder months (i'm on the shoreline of CT), what i'm seeing is steeper than i expected.

During the sales process i had been told to expect a drop off of 10-15 miles in range over the winter months. This is feeling closer to a 20-30 mile drop off. Not sure if this is misplaced initial expectations or bad habits on my end.

Below are some of the numbers i'm seeing in my driving data. I'm curious if others are seeing a similar drop or if this is the result of bad habits/etc. My daily commute is 17 miles through fairly rural roads. I pre-heat my car for 5-10 minutes and use the seat warmer/heat pump as one might expect on a 19 degree morning.

Warm Months Commute: Avg=4.32 MpkWh; Max=4.7 MpkWh; Min=3.8 MpkWh
January Commute: Avg=2.94 MpkWh; Max=3.4 MpkWh; Min=2.4 MpkWh

That represents an average 32% reduction in range. And that is with at least 3 of those January mornings switching over to Eco+ mode to crawl into the charger at work with 6 miles of range left (I try to only charge at work).

Thanks for the help!

I think this happens a lot in all vehicles, but EV drivers pay more attention to it. I was reading this article on boston.com the other day and it says ICE cars lose 12-22% and hybrids lose 31-34%
http://www.boston.com/cars/news-and-reviews/2016/01/22/how-cold-weather-kills-your-gas-mileage-and-what-about/2XenINES82YfCzCIpkbibJ/story.html

At the end of the day, it probably equates to one day less commute per full charge and if you want to make use of the pre-heating, it's probably better to plug it in every night anyway.
It feels like a big difference and I've noticed it too. With gas prices coming down for the entire year I've owned my e-Golf, I was worried I'd miscalculated on choosing this car, but I worked it out and I'm still at about half the cost per mile of my previous ICE car. And the off-the-line acceleration is worth it even without that saving!

 

[MLS]

You can plug it in and leave charging off... Just so when you preheat the car you're not using battery. Maybe that will help.

 

[REM]

I've had my 2015 eGolf SEL since Oct and really love it. But I've noticed a big drop in my range projections and (obviously) MpkWh average. While i fully anticipated some drop off in these colder months (i'm on the shoreline of CT), what i'm seeing is steeper than i expected.

During the sales process i had been told to expect a drop off of 10-15 miles in range over the winter months. This is feeling closer to a 20-30 mile drop off. Not sure if this is misplaced initial expectations or bad habits on my end.

Below are some of the numbers i'm seeing in my driving data. I'm curious if others are seeing a similar drop or if this is the result of bad habits/etc. My daily commute is 17 miles through fairly rural roads. I pre-heat my car for 5-10 minutes and use the seat warmer/heat pump as one might expect on a 19 degree morning.

Warm Months Commute: Avg=4.32 MpkWh; Max=4.7 MpkWh; Min=3.8 MpkWh
January Commute: Avg=2.94 MpkWh; Max=3.4 MpkWh; Min=2.4 MpkWh

That represents an average 32% reduction in range. And that is with at least 3 of those January mornings switching over to Eco+ mode to crawl into the charger at work with 6 miles of range left (I try to only charge at work).

Thanks for the help!

That sounds about right to me. I live in Upstate NY, so probably similar conditions. My miles/kWh in October was regularly 4.5 - 5+. When the temps dropped into the 30s and I used the heater, my economy went down to 3.8 - 4 miles/kWh. It was 37 today on my drive home and I got 4.2. Below 30 my economy dropped. When in the teens I struggled to get to 3 (heat set to 72), with short-range averages dipping down to 2.4 or even below two at times until the car warmed up and I ended up getting 2.9 or so. The heat pump is great, but it becomes much less efficient as the temperatures drop. Also, a cold battery is not a happy battery. Charging at work and then letting your car sit all night in the cold is doing nothing to warm the battery. It's best if you could charge so that it finish soon before you depart. I had a 70-mile daily commute last year in my Leaf, so I learned a lot about maximizing range in cold weather. Relying on layers and the seat heater when possible makes a difference. Driving slower is also always a good idea. I saw -12 last year one morning-- the battery got down to 10 (I had a meter that plugged into the car to tell me battery info), and my economy was horrible when the battery was that cold.

 

[mfennell]

Those numbers look about what I'm seeing here in central NJ. Two suggestions:

1. Even if you want to do the bulk of your charging at work (to save money?), do some charging in the morning at home before you leave. That will warm up the battery a fraction and also let you pre-heat off the grid.

2. Park in a garage if possible. One of my cars is having work done so I'm temporarily garaging my e-golf. I find my attached garage can easily be 15F over ambient and that makes a real difference when it's truly cold out.