Is the Mach-E really 7 years behind Tesla?

[Nak]

Actually, I've found that they're pretty accurate at 60 mph. That's what the ratings are supposed to be at but I agree that most of the time that's not relevant.

I've tracked my mileage over the life of my 3 and my Y. 60 mph=EPA. 70 mph = about a 10% hit. 80 mph = almost a 30% hit. I'll make a guess here that the Mach-e will see similar penalties.

Tire pressure matters in EVs as well. I keep my tires at 45 psi. 39 psi results in a 10% to 15% penalty.

Environmental factors play a big role too. I see about a 10% hit on very wet roads. I'd guess the Mach-e will have less penalty for that due to narrower tires. Headwinds and tailwinds have almost the same impact as speed changes. Try driving at 80 mph into a 40 mph headwind, LOL. Or 60 mph into a 40 mph tailwind.

I can get a 20% improvement in range by drafting a semi about 6 car lengths back.

Here's a picture showing the effect environmental factors can have on range. This is from my Y. At 270 wh/mi I get a range of 280 miles. (Model Y performance with 21" wheels.) At 240 wh/mi I get a range of about 315 miles. At 380 wh/mi (80 mph) I get just under 200 miles. In this picture I had the cruise set to 60 mph and had to stop for one red light. I DO NOT claim this is typical, LOL! Just showing an extreme example of environmental factors affecting range.

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[dbsb3233]

Well, 45-50 MPH highways anyway. For what that's worth.

 

[hybrid2bev]

Audi e-tron 70 MPH Highway Range Test

[T]he e-tron performed admirably, and Kyle was able to clock 188.4 miles (303 km) in the test, falling short of the EPA-rated range by 15.6 miles (24 km).

https://insideevs.com/reviews/445646/audi-etron-highway-range-test/

 

[dbsb3233]

Audi e-tron 70 MPH Highway Range Test

[T]he e-tron performed admirably, and Kyle was able to clock 188.4 miles (303 km) in the test, falling short of the EPA-rated range by 15.6 miles (24 km).

https://insideevs.com/reviews/445646/audi-etron-highway-range-test/

Be very curious to see what they get for the Mach-E. Although by then I may already be doing my own tests.

I just live a mile off I-25 north of the city, so one of the first things I'll do is take some miles/kWh readings at 70 and 75 MPH.

 

[Nak]

I'll admit that my 70 mph numbers are not as well analyzed as my 60 mph and 80 mph numbers. On the interstate I generally do 80 and on the highway I generally do 60, and I have a lot of driving in those two conditions. 70 is something I do on certain stretches of I-5 and my wh/mi seem to be 300-310 in those areas. However, I have not kept records on equal stretches in both directions at 70 mph. (Dry roads, calm to light winds.) I have done that at 60 and 80 though. At 60 on a local highway stretch that I drive at least several times a week my average since mid May is 271 wh/mi. Similarly, on a stretch of I-5 that I drive at 80 mph three or four times a month--also since mid May--is 379 wh/mi. I don't record my consumption if conditions aren't dry, light winds and light traffic. Also, I've calculated my usable battery at 75.5 Kwh after numerous drives to less than 10% battery remaining. Anyways, 271 wh/mi gives a range of 279 miles. 379 wh/mi gives a range of 199 miles. That is a 29% decrease in range. I have no numbers like that for 70 mph, but a 10% - 15% range penalty seems reasonable to assume.

I'm not trying to make any claims that one car is going to be better than another car. Everyone is going to see different numbers due to variations in road conditions, driving habits, typical environmental conditions, etc. Reading this thread people seemed to want a better idea what they could expect for real world highway range. Since the Mach-e and the Y are reasonably similar, I would guess my experience would at least give folks a way to approximate what they might see for highway range with the E. I could be way off what others might see... My observations are merely another data point for consideration.

 

[Nak]

One other thing to consider concerning range is tire width. The narrower your tire, the less penalty you're going to see from certain environmental conditions. i.e. winter and wet conditions. Think of it like this: watercraft are long and narrow to reduce drag. Anything wide is going to have considerably more drag. Driving on a contaminated road--water or snow--narrower tires are going to have less drag than wider tires, whereas the two tires might have equal drag on clear and dry roads. So take two cars, say a Mach-e and a Model Y. The E has narrower tires, so theoretically it should see less range penalty on wet or snow covered roads. How much less is hard to say. Also, the Y has a heat pump. If the E does not--and I have no idea if it does--the Y may see less penalty in cold weather.

I guess the point I'm trying to make is that even if the EPA gave highway range estimates--which I think they should--so much else comes into play that you'd still have to take it with a grain of salt.

 

[Thevanin]

Here's the chart in table format.

	Highway	EPA	Percentage
Model 3 LR AWD	290	310	93.5%
Model y	276	316	87.3%
Kona	238	258	92.2%
Bolt	226	259	87.3%
Leaf SL+	190	215	88.4%
E-Tron	188	204	92.2%
Ioniq	171	170	100.6%
BMW i3S	141	153	92.2%
BMW i3S Rex	126	126	100.0%
Mini Cooper SE	108	110	98.2%
Spark	63	82	76.8%
Smart Electric	51	57	89.5%

 

[dbsb3233]

I just look forward to the day that there's enough range that we don't need to scrutinize whether the tires are 225 vs 235, or driving 70 vs 80 MPH. Get batteries up to a true 350 mile high speed range and the few% difference the tires/etc make become mostly moot. Like they're mostly moot on ICE now.

I don't even slightly hesitate to drive 80 MPH in my Escape. Or use 235 tires.

 

[Nak]

I can't speak to the others but the Model 3 would be 235/45-18 and the Y would be 255/45-19. TBH, I think tire choice would make a bigger difference. I've seen--in ICE vehicles--as much as a 15% penalty for performance tires. Changing to Michelin Cross Climates bumped range up somewhere between 5% and 10% on our 3. Same size as the tires we replaced. Of course, we then lost 5% getting rid of the aero wheels. Well worth the penalty as the 3 aero wheels are just plain ugly. Nice wheels made a HUGE difference in the looks of the car.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I can get a 20% improvement in range by drafting a semi about 6 car lengths back.

That's one of the best applications of adaptive cruise control!

 

[EVer]

Maybe a Kona is more "effecient," than any Tesla, but it certainly isn't more efficient than any Tesla.

https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=42089&id=42277

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