I Drove to Work and I Have Questions

pt19713

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What's the topography like? My drive to work is always more efficient than driving home. My drive to work has more downhill driving, thus more regen and less energy consumption.
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Which is the ā€œguess o meterā€? The range estimate or the battery charge level? Or do you mean both? In which case, owning the car will be ... interesting.
The GOM is that little number that says how many miles you can go. Always take it with a grain of salt. It doesn't know where you are going, how fast your will drive, if it. will be all uphill or down, etc. It's a clueless indicator based on past driving and is not to be taken as gospel. The good news is Ford programmed theirs to be conservative. On our Leaf I've gotten halfway to my destination and found I wouldn't make it. That's never been a problem in my Mach E.
The battery charge indicator should be accurate but may vary a bit with outside temperature.

Rather than using the GOM, use navigation. Tell it where you are going and then see what the computer says. Now it will know the roads, the traffic, the terrain, the temperature, the wind and can combine these with your past driving style to calculate a meaningful estimate.

Yesterday, I drove to the office (I work in University City, Philadelphia), and live in the western suburbs. The commute is about 22 miles, 20 of which are on what is optimistically referred to as an "expressway" in this area.
When I pulled out of my garage at home, the car reported:
213 miles of range
96% battery
When I parked in the garage at work, the car reported:
216 miles of range (oh, really?)
90% battery
The trip computer reported:
Trip distance: 23 miles
Trip time: 48 minutes
15% climate use (interesting, since I had the climate control turned off, and wasn't using the seat heaters or heated steering wheel)
77% route
6% accessories
8% Ext Temp (What's that all about?)
That totals to 106% BTW :D
Don't overthink the percentages of power use and the 106%. None of us have access to the code used to calculate these so who knows why it went that high. 106 seems odd. However, each is probably being calculated separately and combined.

Used 6% of your battery and GOM range went up? That's no surprise. The GOM is now basing your range on your drive into work. Of course, you haven't bothered to tell the car where you are going, so it just has to guess again.

External Temperature? The Mach E heats or cools the battery and drive system based on outside temperature and your driving.

Climate control? Did you go into the climate control screen and turn climate control off or are you just assuming it was off because you didn't turn it on?

I returned directly home, simply reversing the route. When I got home, the car reported:
200 miles of range
81% battery
The trip computer reported:
Trip distance: 22.2 miles
Trip time: 42 minutes
14% climate use (again, no climate control, seat heaters, or heated steering wheel was used)
73% Route
6% accessories
8% Ext. Temp
BTW, that's a total of 101% :D

So, a couple of observations: To go TO work, I used 4% battery, but to go HOME, I used 9% battery! My average speed going INTO the office was 28.75 MPH, and my average speed going home was 31.7 MPH. I'm not sure 3 MPH at a low average speed would result in a 5% increase in battery consumption? That doesn't make sense.

Next, traveling 23 miles resulted in a 3 mile increase in range? and a 22 mile trip resulted in a 16 mile decrease in range? A 44 mile round-trip resulted in a net 13 mile decrease in range? Really? That seems illogical.

Finally, Why is it claiming I'm using any power for climate when I have the climate control system turned off? and why is the sum of the energy consumption over 100% (I could buy 101%, MAYBE even 102% for rounding, but I'm not buying 105%! That's not "rounding error" :D)
Thoughts?
You reserved the route but the temperature and wind direction were different. Is there a difference in terrain? Was going to work net downhill and back net uphill? Speed is clearly faster. Did your driving coach differ? Were you accelerating faster coming home? Using a different driving mode?

Drive farther before you start sweating the details but if you want to know the difference in performance, lots of details you didn't mention matter.
 
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What's the topography like? My drive to work is always more efficient than driving home. My drive to work has more downhill driving, thus more regen and less energy consumption.
Fairly flat. The expressway runs right along a river.
 

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A simple example is this: I park the car in the evening with a reasonable temp and it shows 109km, when I start the car the next morning it is a lot colder and the range shows 97km, then I drive a short distances and park it, temperature is rising and the range shows 105km...all dependend on outside temp and the GOM...

Don't take your GOM too serious?
 
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The GOM is that little number that says how many miles you can go. Always take it with a grain of salt. It doesn't know where you are going, how fast your will drive, if it. will be all uphill or down, etc. It's a clueless indicator based on past driving and is not to be taken as gospel. The good news is Ford programmed theirs to be conservative. On our Leaf I've gotten halfway to my destination and found I wouldn't make it. That's never been a problem in my Mach E.
The battery charge indicator should be accurate but may vary a bit with outside temperature.

Rather than using the GOM, use navigation. Tell it where you are going and then see what the computer says. Now it will know the roads, the traffic, the terrain, the temperature, the wind and can combine these with your past driving style to calculate a meaningful estimate.



Don't overthink the percentages of power use and the 106%. None of us have access to the code used to calculate these so who knows why it went that high. 106 seems odd. However, each is probably being calculated separately and combined.

Used 6% of your battery and GOM range went up? That's no surprise. The GOM is now basing your range on your drive into work. Of course, you haven't bothered to tell the car where you are going, so it just has to guess again.

External Temperature? The Mach E heats or cools the battery and drive system based on outside temperature and your driving.

Climate control? Did you go into the climate control screen and turn climate control off or are you just assuming it was off because you didn't turn it on?



You reserved the route but the temperature and wind direction were different. Is there a difference in terrain? Was going to work net downhill and back net uphill? Speed is clearly faster. Did your driving coach differ? Were you accelerating faster coming home? Using a different driving mode?

Drive farther before you start sweating the details but if you want to know the difference in performance, lots of details you didn't mention matter.
Thanks for the detailed responses!
Flat route

Funny story about navigation (and this isnā€™t limited to MME, my Focus nav was similarly stupid, but my Escape was smarter). As you saw another person comment, the Expressway is more of a parking lot on the way into town in the mornings. There is one point where there is a junction with Route 1. You can get off at that junction, dive across traffic (which is very heavy) and get straight back onto the route 1 on ramp onto the expressway maybe 1/4 mile, at most ahead of where you were. Itā€™s a stupid move and saves no time. Hereā€™s the silly thing: there may be times you legitimately WANT to detour onto route 1 If there are serious traffic issues. The problem is the navigation systems never show you if they are legitimately detouring you, or just making you do their silly and dangerous shortcut. The Mustang Mach E navigation system is still dumb as a rock.

Thats cool about Ext temp - I never knew that!

Yep I had climate off as in go into the climate screen and press the power off button. The temp controls said ā€œOffā€ to boot?

Iā€™ve never seen a Driving Coach in the Mustang Mach E? In other Fords (Fusion Hybrids) Iā€™ve driven) thereā€™s always been this thing called a ā€œbrake coach ā€œ that came up every time I braked that basically showed whether I was doing a good job braking, and some kind of flower icon came up with petals at the end of a drive showing how efficient I was or something. The only thing I see on the Mustang Mach E is the where did my energy go and the miles per kilowatt-hour for the trip.

I always use unbridled. I didnā€™t use one pedal driving. Iā€™ve recently begun to use it but Iā€™m still not thrilled with the braking. It seems to slam on the brakes at the very end and sometimes, when the car first moves, it jerks suddenly. Not very smooth at all. Iā€™ll get it sorted out Iā€™m sure.

The WX was calm, overcast, and the temps were within about 5 degrees when I left for work and when I returned. I forget precisely, but Iā€™d say mid to upper 50s. Again, Iā€™m not sure that aero plays a big role at 28 MPH? Iā€™m happy to be corrected by someone who is more knowledgeable, but Iā€™ve been told that aero effects really only begin to play an effect above 40 MPH?
 


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Jimrpa

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A simple example is this: I park the car in the evening with a reasonable temp and it shows 109km, when I start the car the next morning it is a lot colder and the range shows 97km, then I drive a short distances and park it, temperature is rising and the range shows 105km...all dependend on outside temp and the GOM...

Don't take your GOM too serious?
Cool! Thanks! Battery gauge it is then ?
 

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Would that be the 'Surekill Expressway' you are traveling on Jim? That would explain the average speed you listed with most of the travel on an 'expressway' ? I don't miss Phiily traffic one bit!

Anyway I think the odd statistics aside you will find the range will level off as you drive the car more. Guess-O-Meter refers to your range estimate...and it has been enormously pessimistic in my experience.
I'm intimately familiar with I-76, but you're all pronouncing it wrong, it's "Shore-kill Depressway". ?

Fairly flat. The expressway runs right along a river.
Although the road itself my be flat. The Philly suburbs are at about 400 ft elevation and downtown Philly is about 100 ft elevation, so a net downhill going and net uphill coming home.

As others pointed out, the battery percentage is more important than range. With my ICE car I used the gas gauge, but it also offered an estimated range based on driving history. After a fill up it would vary between 300 and 500 miles.
 

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There is no known way to measure the energy in a Li-Ion battery. All they can do is measure what goes in and what comes out. That's why it is called a "Guess-o-Meter".

You didn't have climate turned on but you have no control over heating of the battery. Anything below 70Ā° F is cold to a Li-Ion battery.

OT: my salesman told me yesterday that he sold a Mach-E to someone from Horsham. Was that you? I live in Horsham.
 

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Iā€™m not sure I follow your example? With internal combustion engine vehicles, my rule of thumb was to always begin looking for a gas station once the needle hit 1/4 of a tank. I never paid attention to range, and I never wanted to be ā€œthat guyā€ who was proud to demonstrate that they could go another 20 miles after hitting E. Always seemed silly to me.
 
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There is no known way to measure the energy in a Li-Ion battery. All they can do is measure what goes in and what comes out. That's why it is called a "Guess-o-Meter".

You didn't have climate turned on but you have no control over heating of the battery. Anything below 70Ā° F is cold to a Li-Ion battery.

OT: my salesman told me yesterday that he sold a Mach-E to someone from Horsham. Was that you? I live in Horsham.
Nope. I live near Berwyn.
 

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Yesterday, I drove to the office (I work in University City, Philadelphia), and live in the western suburbs. The commute is about 22 miles, 20 of which are on what is optimistically referred to as an "expressway" in this area.
When I pulled out of my garage at home, the car reported:
213 miles of range
96% battery
When I parked in the garage at work, the car reported:
216 miles of range (oh, really?)
90% battery
The trip computer reported:
Trip distance: 23 miles
Trip time: 48 minutes
15% climate use (interesting, since I had the climate control turned off, and wasn't using the seat heaters or heated steering wheel)
77% route
6% accessories
8% Ext Temp (What's that all about?)
That totals to 106% BTW :D

I returned directly home, simply reversing the route. When I got home, the car reported:
200 miles of range
81% battery
The trip computer reported:
Trip distance: 22.2 miles
Trip time: 42 minutes
14% climate use (again, no climate control, seat heaters, or heated steering wheel was used)
73% Route
6% accessories
8% Ext. Temp
BTW, that's a total of 101% :D

So, a couple of observations: To go TO work, I used 4% battery, but to go HOME, I used 9% battery! My average speed going INTO the office was 28.75 MPH, and my average speed going home was 31.7 MPH. I'm not sure 3 MPH at a low average speed would result in a 5% increase in battery consumption? That doesn't make sense.

Next, traveling 23 miles resulted in a 3 mile increase in range? and a 22 mile trip resulted in a 16 mile decrease in range? A 44 mile round-trip resulted in a net 13 mile decrease in range? Really? That seems illogical.

Finally, Why is it claiming I'm using any power for climate when I have the climate control system turned off? and why is the sum of the energy consumption over 100% (I could buy 101%, MAYBE even 102% for rounding, but I'm not buying 105%! That's not "rounding error" :D)
Thoughts?
The "Range" reported is the guess-o-meter and is very conservative. Your ACTUAL driving efficiency was better than what it initially guessed, AND it gat warmer throughout the day (improving what the computer guesses your actual range will be). Thus you seemed to gain range on the drive.

While it reported 96% when you left and 90% when you got to work (which is a 6% not 4% difference), those are rounded off numbers - so it may have actually used around 7%. For the return trip it reported 9%, which may have been closer to 8%. Regardless, the reason it's a rounded number is that the precision with which a Li-ion battery's state of charge can be measured is actually not that high. So, yes the reported range value is a conservative guess, as is likely the reported state of charge number.

As for why it would be different going versus returning: the course was not perfectly flat, the speeds and acceleration were not exactly the same, and the environmental conditions were not identical.

The world is analog and your experience reflects that.
 
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Jimrpa

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The "Range" reported is the guess-o-meter and is very conservative. Your ACTUAL driving efficiency was better than what it initially guessed, AND it gat warmer throughout the day (improving what the computer guesses your actual range will be). Thus you seemed to gain range on the drive.

While it reported 96% when you left and 90% when you got to work (which is a 6% not 4% difference), those are rounded off numbers - so it may have actually used around 7%. For the return trip it reported 9%, which may have been closer to 8%. Regardless, the reason it's a rounded number is that the precision with which a Li-ion battery's state of charge can be measured is actually not that high. So, yes the reported range value is a conservative guess, as is likely the reported state of charge number.

As for why it would be different going versus returning: the course was not perfectly flat, the speeds and acceleration were not exactly the same, and the environmental conditions were not identical.

The world is analog and your experience reflects that.
Thanks. Still, the variations do seem somewhat high. I guess Iā€™ll get used to it.
 

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So, I figured out that miles per kWh is analogous to MPH. If so, youā€™re right, instantaneous MkWh (is that a valid unit?) is just an amusing display. It sounds like, as long as the battery gauge is accurate AND linear, one should just treat the range estimate as an approximate gauge and drive just the way you would a normal car, by the battery (fuel) gauge, and ā€œfillā€ the tank (to whatever the appropriate percentage is), when it drops ā€œcloseā€ to empty (or fill it every night).
Not quite. mi/kWh is the the equivalent of MPG. You still have MPH in the Mach E - thatā€™s how fast youā€™re going. Well, we Mustangers actually call it Ground Speed cause weā€™re cool like that.
 

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We all know the GOM is not great. But do we at least feel pretty confident that the SOC is fairly accurate? Not sure how one would test that.
 

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Thanks. Still, the variations do seem somewhat high. I guess Iā€™ll get used to it.
The variations on the GOM are high, but the variations in mi/kWh in a BEV are far greater than they are in an ICE vehicle too.

I just drove 783 miles Denver-Vegas this week. 7 drive legs between charges. I got as low as 2.0 mi/kWh, and as high as 3.7 on those 7 legs. Elevation gain/loss has a huge impact. Driving 70 MPH or 75 or 80 makes a big difference. Outside temps make a big difference (especially if below ~40F). Use of cabin heat (E-Heat) lowers mileage some. Wet roads lower mileage some. Headwinds and tails winds matter. For the whole 783 miles, I averaged 2.6 mi/kWh. Half of that was at 80 MPH (Utah speed limit). But on some ~20 mile stretches, it got as low as 1.6 and as high as 4.4.

The variability can easily be 2:1 from very favorable conditions to very unfavorable. Sometimes even 3:1 in the most extreme cases.
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