Charging Capacity

[ATL]

Perhaps I can offer a bit of perspective from the reverse direction.

In the first part of winter I drove short trips, non-preconditioned, in (warm cabin) comfort, lots of cold starts, and "idling" in parking lots. My GOM was not optimistic!

Then I had a 2 hour trip with 5 occupants & luggage, at 115 km/h (70 MPH) to make... Charged to 100%. GOM said I might make it. I was not worried, knowing it would have been an easy run in summer, and I'd be preconditioned.

Result: Got there with 49% battery remaining.

Moral: Drive, learn, & enjoy!

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[milepost1]

Everyone knows it's peas, not broccoli...

I eat my peas with honey. It makes the peas taste funny, but it keeps them on my knife!

 

[rhougey]

Thank you for your input.

Hey Jeff,
I am also in California. Far north California to be accurate.
And I own a Premium extended range RWD.
What everyone here is telling you is completely correct.
If you had the standard battery, you'd be seeing much lower estimated range numbers.
Mike is correct when he advises you to ignore the Guess-O-Meter (future range estimator), and instead learn to use the State of Charge meter. You seem to be thinking of your range estimator as your "gas gauge". Your "gas gauge" is the State of Charge meter. It tells you how much energy is stored in your "tank". When it reads 50%, you've got "half a tank".

The GOM is quite accurate if your next drive will be exactly like the average of your previous drives over the last two or three charge cycles, based on speed, driving style, incline, wind speed/direction, heat/cooling use, tire pressures, and ambient temperature, etc. So if the GOM is estimating your upcoming range at 220 at a 96% state of charge, it is telling you that that is what you WILL get if you keep driving the way you've been driving under the conditions you've been driving, given the current ambient temperature. What the range estimator can NEVER know is what the driving conditions will be on your next drive. Only you can know that, and over time you will begin to use your own experience and calculations to arrive at a more accurate number of what you can expect based on your current state of charge, which is displayed right next to the GOM. You will learn that you can manage your actual realized range to a degree by altering your driving conditions - the ones that you have control over. And as you begin to manage your driving conditions, the Guess-O-Meter (if you're still looking at it) will display somewhat better numbers.

One thing I do use the GOM for, is if my wife is having a range anxiety attack, I'll direct her to the GOM (which for some reason she trusts more than me), and I'll say "look - it says we will make it!" That usually settles her down but not until she says, "If we don't make it, I'll never forgive you!"

One other thing I will add is that if you were to fully charge your battery to 100% in a 75 degree garage, and if you've lately been driving your car under ideal conditions, your GOM may show an estimated range of 300 miles. But if you leave the car overnight and the temperature in the garage drops to 30 degrees, the same GOM that showed 300 miles yesterday will probably this morning now be showing 240-250 miles, because while it doesn't know where you are going or how you will be driving, it does know it's gonna be cold. If you can't grasp this now, you will understand it in May.

I hope this helps.

 

[ctenidae]

If this is all you have to go by, how much "range" do you have?

I'd say that's just about "Anybody need to pee? We'll be stopping before long." Give or take the "Real E" coefficient of course.

For reference, in the Mach E that represents about 40% charge for me. Give or take the SWAG-verified BOTEC data validation factor.

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