Power consumption and the data for it

[circatee]

All - I have noticed quite a few threads about power consumption, and some individuals go into quite the detail on how their power and battery was used.
So, I am curious, is it 'wrong' to not be into that data, and simply drive my car, and make sure I have charge to get me to my various destinations?

Sometimes, I feel like I am missing something here. Thus my question.

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[Snakebitten]

Honestly, if you are someone who might never, or at least rarely, ever experience range anxiety, then why worry?

I personally am nerd enough to desire to know and understand what makes things tick. But in the first 12 months of Mach-E ownership, I've not needed to know anything beyond proper L2 charging strategy, and where to get my tires. (I've had poor fortune with nails and screws)

 

[Fremont Kid]

Pretty much agree with Snakebitten. I have needed to monitor power consumption twice during longer trips when strong wind and cold temps changed the efficiency, i.e. miles/kWh. Glad I did two weeks ago. I was going to charge in Wagon Mound, NM but the winds became strong and the temperature dropped in a matter of minutes, then lasted about 40 minutes. Efficiency dropped from 2.7 miles/kWh to 1.4 during that time. I needed to add electrons in Las Vegas, NM because the battery would have drained before Wagon Mound. But, those are the only situations. Now, I probably should have planned to stop in Las Vegas anyway. But that is mainly about trip planning rather EVERYDAY battery power consumption.

Hope this helps.

 

[E90alex]

Some people are just data nerds and are interested in tracking all of that. Just like some people also track their gas mileage and prices religiously. If it doesn’t interest you then you’re not missing anything.

 

[kdonnel]

When Tesla started the only buyers on an EV were the early adopters who would be more interested in all the data available from the car.

I believe Ford launched the MME with the idea of capturing the every day car driver. They wanted to create a car that someone who had driven ICE for decades could get in and drive and other than having to learn how and when to charge, could drive just like every other car they had driven.

Either Ford did not anticipate how many more early adopters there were in the market, or they did and made a calculated decision to not include the data availability in the car UI.

@circatee, you sound to me like the type of owner I believe Ford was targeting with the MME.

 

[Maquis]

Some people like to nerd-out on data. There’s nothing wrong with that. There’s also nothing wrong with not doing it.

In a similar vein, I have wondered why so many ICE vehicles with automatic transmissions come with tachometers???

 

[RickMachE]

All - I have noticed quite a few threads about power consumption, and some individuals go into quite the detail on how their power and battery was used.
So, I am curious, is it 'wrong' to not be into that data, and simply drive my car, and make sure I have charge to get me to my various destinations?

Sometimes, I feel like I am missing something here. Thus my question.

Whatever floats your boat.

I tracked the mpg of every tank of gas in every vehicle I've owned for decades, so it was natural to track efficiency of electric vehicles.

Since using an EV, especially when you return from a trip empty, can have a dramatic effect on your electric bill, I adjust mine each month for EV charging, and that leads to calculating a cost per mile to drive. JuiceBox eliminating my data starting end of Feb is messing that up, but I'll be back on track after replacing the boards with OpenEVSE.

 

[Fremont Kid]

Whatever floats your boat.

I tracked the mpg of every tank of gas in every vehicle I've owned for decades, so it was natural to track efficiency of electric vehicles.

Since using an EV, especially when you return from a trip empty, can have a dramatic effect on your electric bill, I adjust mine each month for EV charging, and that leads to calculating a cost per mile to drive. JuiceBox eliminating my data starting end of Feb is messing that up, but I'll be back on track after replacing the boards with OpenEVSE.

Have appreciated your posts. I'll mention that since installing solar panels last spring, the sun has generated enough electrons to reduce our utility power dependency from 100% to just at 50%, which includes charging the MME. High capital expenditure with long-term benefits.

 

[MacherAWD]

All - I have noticed quite a few threads about power consumption, and some individuals go into quite the detail on how their power and battery was used.
So, I am curious, is it 'wrong' to not be into that data, and simply drive my car, and make sure I have charge to get me to my various destinations?

Sometimes, I feel like I am missing something here. Thus my question.

I only think about it during road trips, and it gives me something to do while I drive. We only own 2 EVs, people ask me about my efficiency, I can ballpark it with the Mach-e, with the Bolt i have no idea. I tell people its not something I think about, if a car is low I charge it, and if I have a trip coming I charge it, other than that, no idea.

Similar in all of our gas cars I had an idea of my MPG, but never tracked it very closely.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

From my perspective, you need to understand consumption during road trips to plan your stops. Beyond that, it’s very personal.

I traveled 350 miles to western Michigan on Mar 8 and came back to Chicago on Mar 15. The outbound trip was pretty seamless despite low temps. But on the way back, wind was blowing so hard that our efficiency dropped like a rock. I was expecting it and had contingency plans to stop earlier and charge more than what’s typically needed. The trip went well, except for all the drunks who descended on Chicago for St Patrick’s day. Man that was quite the shit show.

 

[fatjohn]

I'm relatively new and the 'range', in miles, was really giving me anxiety; still does. For example, a 100% charge says I have 220 miles of range but 15 minutes down the road, my range has dropped by 30 miles. But I am getting more comfortable with the percent of charge remaining (as opposed to miles remaining).
I pretty consistently get 2.5 mi/kwh. Knowing that the usable battery capacity is 68kwh, that gives me a max range of 170miles. At any point in my drive I can multiple the remaining charge percent of the 'battery times 170 miles and get my personal remaining range. That's about as nerdy as I get.
This weekend I found that 'auto' climate is much more efficient on climate usage (or maybe it doesn't make it onto the trip graph ;-))
john

 

[eponey]

I'm totally a data person and fiddler but this information is mostly worthless as long as you have a rough mi/kw you should be good to go.

It's just very hard to contextualize as well, so your car is pulling 4.6 kw for 5 minutes and then 6 for 2 then blah blah blah, especially when driving...any sort of summary stat is better than that information

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