Mache-E Range Dropped All of a Sudden

[The Black Horse]

STOP. plz stop.

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[generaltso]

there are at least a half dozen active threads complaining about it

We’ve gotta be in the hundreds by now.

 

[Kaleadunk]

Yeah as to the mention earlier that it's only getting to 40 or so, keep in mind that the range noted is just an estimate and it's basing it on a number of factors. One of those can be temperature and if you are running your HVAC system and requesting 70 degree air and the outdoor temp is below that, it has to run an electric heater and those are power monsters.

So the estimates drop, even if the outdoor temp was in the 50s, if it has to run the heater it consumes a good deal of energy. The battery also likes to be warmer, so it may need to run the heater for the battery even if you don't use it for yourself.

With that in mind, the drop you are seeing is normal, just keep in mind if it says 220 miles and it's 40 outside, but it gets to 75 mid-day, if you did nothing else, your range would probably go up to 270 or 290 or whatever, even though you didn't charge it or change anything. It's just estimating based on a number of factors both past and present.

So in general don't worry about it too much unless you are going on a long road trip and are trying to determine charging stops. Then it becomes more important to worry if you are going to get 180 miles in cold weather or 240 in warm.

This is really helpful- thank you! I didn't realize that what is shown is an estimate based on many factors- I took it more as a specific number- so will look at it with a different eye now.

 

[SnBGC]

I live in LA, and while it has been cold by our standards overnight (43 degrees), that doesn’t seem enough to cause this decline, but perhaps I’m wrong? Nothing else- driving routes, frequency of driving, etc- has changed at all.

Your reduction in range is about 15% which is a bit more than I've observed in similar temps. However, it does make sense because I am guessing that EV drivers in your area don't experience much of a range drop from A/C use due to mild summers (compared to drivers here in central Arizona).

Generally speaking, there is going to be a range drop when the seasons change. The severity of that will depend on the differences in average temps for each season. In AZ, I lose about 10% range during the summer (due to the extreme temps) and about 10% in the winter (cooler temps but still just above freezing in most cases). In LA, you have mild summers most of the time (compared to Phoenix) and our winters might be about the same. So, your range drop in 43F weather is expected. Your range will return in warmer temps.

The range estimation is heavily based on a calculated value called "kWh to Empty". That value varies quite a bit depending on the battery pack temperature. For example, at 68F pack temp, my kWh to empty is 85.57. At 88F, that value is 87.88 kWh. This means that 100% on Monday might be a different amount of energy as 100% on Tuesday. It's temperature dependent.

The other factor to consider is how much energy you are using to condition the cabin when it's 43F outside. If you have your climate control settings to something higher than 70F then you are going to be drawing quite a bit of energy in the morning to heat that cabin. The vehicle will take that into account and it can only assume that it's going to be 43F all day long and you are going to be using E-Heat all day long. Most places don't remain that cool all day long.....most places warm up as the day progresses so as the exterior temp increases and your cabin heat energy consumption decreases then your range calculation will be adjusted in real time.

Another item that affects the range estimation is precipitation. That has a big impact because the rolling resistance of the tires increases tremendously when driving in rain, snow or even sand.

Lastly,
To add one more wild card into the equation....the kWh to empty calculation can increase as you start driving your car in the mornings. This is because the battery temp rises as you drive so the State of Charge display might seem to be stuck at 100% for a while. This is normal during this time of the year.

Here is my screen about 1/2 mile from my house. I rolled out of my driveway.
Notice the 10% reduction in range from 300 ish miles down to 270 ish.

Then again about 6 miles from home. Notice the S.O.C. is still at 100%. This is because the battery pack is warming up while I am driving so there is a little more energy available from the battery pack compared to when it was cooler.

Also, note that I appear to have lost about 2 miles of estimated range. (Started at 270 miles, drove 6 miles down the road and now only have 262 remaining instead of 264 miles). This is because I turned on my seat heater and E-Heat. I keep my climate temp to around 70F during this time of the year since that feels fairly comfortable to me.

Here is a photo of the climate screen. It was 43F when I left the house and then it warmed up a bit by the time I arrived at the office.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your car!

 

[snowy_91]

You mean like this...

 

[HuntingPudel]

I honestly wish the UI folks made the fuel level gauge larger and shrank the silly GOM. In ICE cars we look at a gauge that has 5 graduations: 100% (or “Full”), 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0% (or “Empty”). I don’t like the paradigm shift to a guess on miles left. Just give me the level and let me figure out when I need to refuel.

 

[Kaleadunk]

Your reduction in range is about 15% which is a bit more than I've observed in similar temps. However, it does make sense because I am guessing that EV drivers in your area don't experience much of a range drop from A/C use due to mild summers (compared to drivers here in central Arizona).

Generally speaking, there is going to be a range drop when the seasons change. The severity of that will depend on the differences in average temps for each season. In AZ, I lose about 10% range during the summer (due to the extreme temps) and about 10% in the winter (cooler temps but still just above freezing in most cases). In LA, you have mild summers most of the time (compared to Phoenix) and our winters might be about the same. So, your range drop in 43F weather is expected. Your range will return in warmer temps.

The range estimation is heavily based on a calculated value called "kWh to Empty". That value varies quite a bit depending on the battery pack temperature. For example, at 68F pack temp, my kWh to empty is 85.57. At 88F, that value is 87.88 kWh. This means that 100% on Monday might be a different amount of energy as 100% on Tuesday. It's temperature dependent.

The other factor to consider is how much energy you are using to condition the cabin when it's 43F outside. If you have your climate control settings to something higher than 70F then you are going to be drawing quite a bit of energy in the morning to heat that cabin. The vehicle will take that into account and it can only assume that it's going to be 43F all day long and you are going to be using E-Heat all day long. Most places don't remain that cool all day long.....most places warm up as the day progresses so as the exterior temp increases and your cabin heat energy consumption decreases then your range calculation will be adjusted in real time.

Another item that affects the range estimation is precipitation. That has a big impact because the rolling resistance of the tires increases tremendously when driving in rain, snow or even sand.

Lastly,
To add one more wild card into the equation....the kWh to empty calculation can increase as you start driving your car in the mornings. This is because the battery temp rises as you drive so the State of Charge display might seem to be stuck at 100% for a while. This is normal during this time of the year.

Here is my screen about 1/2 mile from my house. I rolled out of my driveway.
Notice the 10% reduction in range from 300 ish miles down to 270 ish.

Then again about 6 miles from home. Notice the S.O.C. is still at 100%. This is because the battery pack is warming up while I am driving so there is a little more energy available from the battery pack compared to when it was cooler.

Also, note that I appear to have lost about 2 miles of estimated range. (Started at 270 miles, drove 6 miles down the road and now only have 262 remaining instead of 264 miles). This is because I turned on my seat heater and E-Heat. I keep my climate temp to around 70F during this time of the year since that feels fairly comfortable to me.

Here is a photo of the climate screen. It was 43F when I left the house and then it warmed up a bit by the time I arrived at the office.

I hope this helps. Enjoy your car!

This is truly helpful. Thank you so much for this detailed response. I am new to EV driving, obviously, and though I tried to find answers to this question online before I came to the forum, I didn't see anything that was explaining it. I also tried searching here, but must have put the incorrect search terms in because nothing was coming up- even though it appears from this thread there are a ton. I appreciate you taking the time to explain the nuances of the situation!

 

[MellowJohnny]

True.

SR models drop to 6 miles of range.

Close! It's been hovering around -2c here in the mornings and I'm showing about 220-ish km at 90%. So circa 136 miles. And that's *with* preconditioning.

Can't wait till it actually gets cold

 

[MellowJohnny]

I honestly wish the UI folks made the fuel level gauge larger and shrank the silly GOM. In ICE cars we look at a gauge that has 5 graduations: 100% (or “Full”), 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0% (or “Empty”). I don’t like the paradigm shift to a guess on miles left. Just give me the level and let me figure out when I need to refuel.

I always loved the 911 fuel gauges - 1/4 - 2/4 - 3/4 - 4/4. I guess German engineers don't like reducing fractions...

 

[Ixoye]

I got my Mach-E in May and it has always charged to 261/262 miles consistently at 100%. All of a sudden, its 100% max is 221. Any idea what could have happened? Is it part of these dreadful updates that have also completely thrown my CarPlay and PAAK out of whack?

welcome to the club. 220 has been the max charge for the last 25k miles or so. When a couple of updates happened it said it was 240 but that went away after a few days of driving.

 

[SnBGC]

This is truly helpful. Thank you so much for this detailed response. I am new to EV driving, obviously, and though I tried to find answers to this question online before I came to the forum, I didn't see anything that was explaining it. I also tried searching here, but must have put the incorrect search terms in because nothing was coming up- even though it appears from this thread there are a ton. I appreciate you taking the time to explain the nuances of the situation!

Agree on the search. There is a lot of good information in past threads but it's very hard to find sometimes. I know they are there.....I remember those threads.....sometimes I even participated but still I can't locate it very easy. Many threads start off on topic but we get easily sidetracked and then venture out into the wilderness which likely makes things harder to search for.

Welcome to EV driving. Ask away, there are a lot of helpful folks here.

 

[SnBGC]

This is truly helpful. Thank you so much for this detailed response. I am new to EV driving, obviously, and though I tried to find answers to this question online before I came to the forum, I didn't see anything that was explaining it. I also tried searching here, but must have put the incorrect search terms in because nothing was coming up- even though it appears from this thread there are a ton. I appreciate you taking the time to explain the nuances of the situation!

I failed to mention that using the seat and steering wheel warmers (if you have them) will consume less energy than warming the entire cabin via the E-Heat setting. So, smoke em if you have em (so to speak...)

 

[Kabish]

San Diego here, when it starts to get 73ish degrees or colder regularly the GOM will drop. The car is a true San Diegen when it comes to temps

 

[Terence Murphy]

Search for “@RickMachE , another one for your list”. That should find many of the previous threads!

 

[redMachE22]

I am in So Cal too. I used to get 260, 270 and even 280 @ 90%. Now, I got as low as 220 and 240 @ 90% a couple weeks ago. All the same driving. Nothing has changed.

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