It doesn't make sense

[SignMD]

Took my first road trip with my Mach-e GTPE from PA to OH. Started the trip with 91% charge and traveled 234 miles. The terrain was mostly hilly and my wife had the A/C on auto the entire trip. When I arrived at my house in Ohio, the charge level showed 31%. So I traveled 234 miles using 60% of the battery. Using pure math, this equates to 390 miles to a full 100% charge. Am I missing something, it doesn't make sense?

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[dml105]

What was your elevation at the start and your elevation at the end? You may have benefitted greatly from a change in elevation. How fast were you going? Is this interstate driving or back roads? You may also have benefitted from taking the trip a bit more leisurely.

You got about 4.4 mi/kWh. That's not unheard of, especially when descending down a moderate hill. My commute into work is mostly downhill, and I usually get greater than 5 mi/kWh. But on the way back, up the hill, it's usually less, around 2.5-3.

 

[dml105]

Plug your route into abetterrouteplanner.com and see what it tells you.

 

[bs1055]

This is the first I hear of the mileage indicator on the car not being accurate.

 

[Maquis]

Prevailing wind is also a factor. A nice tailwind works in your favor.

 

[SignMD]

What was your elevation at the start and your elevation at the end? You may have benefitted greatly from a change in elevation. How fast were you going? Is this interstate driving or back roads? You may also have benefitted from taking the trip a bit more leisurely.

You got about 4.4 mi/kWh. That's not unheard of, especially when descending down a moderate hill. My commute into work is mostly downhill, and I usually get greater than 5 mi/kWh. But on the way back, up the hill, it's usually less, around 2.5-3.
[/QUOTE

Prevailing wind is also a factor. A nice tailwind works in your favor.

What was your elevation at the start and your elevation at the end? You may have benefitted greatly from a change in elevation. How fast were you going? Is this interstate driving or back roads? You may also have benefitted from taking the trip a bit more leisurely.

You got about 4.4 mi/kWh. That's not unheard of, especially when descending down a moderate hill. My commute into work is mostly downhill, and I usually get greater than 5 mi/kWh. But on the way back, up the hill, it's usually less, around 2.5-3.

I was traveling West so against the wind. It was a combination of 2 lanes and 4 lanes but not the expressway. Mostly traveling 60pmh or so. Good point, I did start in Ebensburgh which has an elevation of 2.140ft and ended up in an elevation of 1,100 feet. There were a lot of hills down but also a lot of hills up in PA, pretty flat in OH. I don't like that the Mach-e can't coast (like my Audi e-tron)...so I do put it in neutral a lot when going down hills. It just seems to be a lot of range, I haven't done a direct comparison but don't expect my e-tron would have had similar results (maybe it's the 7,000lb weight - it doesn't like going up hills).

 

[RickMachE]

Putting it in neutral eliminates regeneration, but also lets it coast free. 60mph or so could be 55 if you do the math, and that's much better efficiency than doing 70+ (I say 55 because when I say I'm driving 73 and then do the math, my average is like 68). If you keep it in gear downhill and put pressure and hold speed, you should get better efficiency with regen and keep control of the car - neutral removes that.

It would be interesting to see what ABRP says.

 

[SignMD]

Putting it in neutral eliminates regeneration, but also lets it coast free. 60mph or so could be 55 if you do the math, and that's much better efficiency than doing 70+ (I say 55 because when I say I'm driving 73 and then do the math, my average is like 68). If you keep it in gear downhill and put pressure and hold speed, you should get better efficiency with regen and keep control of the car - neutral removes that.

It would be interesting to see what ABRP says.

The e-tron has pure coasting as it doesn't have the 1-pedal driving feature. It has paddle shifters that allow you to initiate regen (2 levels) but doesn't slow the car to a stop like one pedal driving does. The consensus in the e-tron forum is that coasting is better than regen and maximizes efficiency.

 

[RickMachE]

Turn off 1 pedal.

 

[macchiaz-o]

There isn't a traditional neutral on the Mustang Mach-E. I'm not sure it's helpful to switch from D to N while driving. There isn't any clutch, so the motor(s) are permanently connected to the rear wheels (and front wheels if you have AWD).

Since there isn't a real neutral, my understanding is that software is used to simulate the feel of a neutral in the way we're expecting it based on our past experience in other vehicles.

If this is true, then efficiency in given circumstances (vehicle load, location, velocity, acceleration, jerk...) should be the same regardless of your driving mode, 1PD vs 2PD, or your selected "gear." You may as well stay in drive and use your pedals or cruise control to achieve your desired speed.

 

[DYohn]

IT'S NOT LINEAR.

 

[Av8tor]

The e-tron has pure coasting as it doesn't have the 1-pedal driving feature. It has paddle shifters that allow you to initiate regen (2 levels) but doesn't slow the car to a stop like one pedal driving does. The consensus in the e-tron forum is that coasting is better than regen and maximizes efficiency.

Have you tried Whisper mode? That does the least regen, and to me feels like it coasts.

 

[ripperAZ]

“GOM, (aka Fredo) I knew it was you. You broke my heart”

Jes Sayin. Don’t be Fredo

 

[dml105]

1030 feet of net elevation times 5000 pounds is a fair amount of convertible energy, but probably only enough to add 8 or so miles to your range. (314 meters * 2268 kg * 9.8 m/s^2 = 6,979 kJ = 1.93 kWh)

I think the bigger reason you got huge range was your comparatively slow speed. Aerodynamic factors increase with the square of speed, and at steady speed and elevation, the only thing causing the motors to sip some electrons is the force required to overcome the air resistance in front of you and a bit of road resistance, which is fairly constant. You drove slower, so you used less energy pushing air out of your way.

I don't like that the Mach-e can't coast (like my Audi e-tron)...so I do put it in neutral a lot when going down hills.

Why are you trying to game the Mach-e? What does "coast" mean to an EV? If anything, it means that you're going to use friction brakes to slow you down instead of using regen. That actually reduced your range.

Seriously. I need someone to define "coast" and then explain how Mach-e doesn't do that.

The consensus in the e-tron forum is that coasting is better than regen and maximizes efficiency.

Even if this is true (and I gotta say, it seems dubious), an e-tron is not a Mach-e. Different design philosophy, different energy management motif.

EDIT: reading a little more about it, it looks like Audi AG has a design philosophy whereby its onboard computer chooses to coast instead of regenerate at least some of the time. But that should also elucidate the difference I describe - coasting/regenning is a software choice part of a engineering philosophy that takes that choice into account. I don't know if trying to game it in the Mach-e, with its different design choices, will produce a similar effect. Indeed, there are multiple threads on this forum suggesting that UNBRIDLED mode gets the best range because it is max regen.

 

[SignMD]

The e-tron coasts all the time with the foot off the accelerator. If I move the gear from D to N in the e-tron there is not change at all. But if I move the gear from D to N in the Mach-e, there is a noticeable difference. While in Drive, the Mach-e seems to slow down (very slowly) but while in neutral it's like the E-tron, it just coasts. The E-tron does have an automatic regen feature so it will try to slow the vehicle down if the sensors see a car in front, but I just hit the left paddle and it turns it off. I still think the coast mode is a better option to have, which the Mach-e had it.

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