Sudden drop on range according to the GOM

KennyCaphill

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Now that fall is in season and the weather is getting colder, I was expecting decrease in range on my Premium SR 4WD Mach E but starting last week I went from getting around 190 miles per 90% charge, now I'm barely breaking 150.

I charge every night, outdoors, and am now leaving my car plugged in due to temps but I wasn't expecting such a huge drop off.

Is anyone else up here in the northern part of the country experiencing similar issues? This is my first EV so I don't know what the expectations are.

Thanks!
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stmache

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My Premium with Extended Battery had done the same. It used to easily get 270+ on a 90% charge and over 300 at 100%. Lately, those dropped a lot to around 240 and 270 until I realized I had the E-Heat on all the time. The weather is cool in the morning but using the heated seats and steering wheel only is fine until the real cold hits later this year (I live in Upstate NY).

Since I started doing that, the range has gone back up to around 265 for a 90% charge and 298-300 on 100%. But, I agree, was not expecting such a drop since the weather has not dipped below 45 yet at night.
 
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bshaw

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It's hard to predict what the GOM is going to do, but if you live in the Northeast, get mentally prepared for up to a 40% hit in GOM range when it gets really cold in the winter.

Use departure times for pre-conditioning and stay plugged in overnight are really the only things you can do.
I personally don't think its practical to try and drive with only the heated seats and steering wheel keeping me warm -- I will keep e-heat turned on and just plan for lower ranges accordingly.
 

stmache

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It's hard to predict what the GOM is going to do, but if you live in the Northeast, get mentally prepared for up to a 40% hit in GOM range when it gets really cold in the winter.

Use departure times for pre-conditioning and stay plugged in overnight are really the only things you can do.
I personally don't think its practical to try and drive with only the heated seats and steering wheel keeping me warm -- I will keep e-heat turned on and just plan for lower ranges accordingly.
Totally agree when its get cold, I will have no issue using e-heat but right now, I'm comfy without as long as the weather is holding with temps above average.
 
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KennyCaphill

KennyCaphill

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My Premium with Extended Battery had done the same. I used to easily get 270+ on a 90% charge and over 300 at 100%. Lately, those dropped a lot to around 240 and 270 until I realized I had the E-Heat on all the time. The weather is cool in the morning but using the heated seats and steering wheel only is fine until the real cold hits later this year (I live in Upstate NY).

Since I started doing that, the range has gone back up to around 265 for a 90% charge and 298-300 on 100%. But, I agree, was not expecting such a drop since the weather has not dipped below 45 yet at night.
I did the same thing, realized I had the e-heat on this whole time. We'll see what kind of savings that nets me as the heated seat does plenty to keep me toasty until mid-winter.

Thanks for the advice!
 


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FYI the heat makes a larger % difference when you drive slower because of the energy distribution. If you drive on the freeway the difference with heat might only be 15%, but if your average speed is only 35 MPH (city driving) you could take a 30% hit or more. When driving faster much more energy is used for propulsion, so the heat becomes a smaller percentage of the total even though it's the same amount of watts used. You folks getting 300+ mi GOM are probably averaging less than 60 mph so you will see larger percentage shifts.

I like my heat so I'd probably leave it on auto all the time and say "It is what it is" unless I was in a range pinch.
 

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Now that fall is in season and the weather is getting colder, I was expecting decrease in range on my Premium SR 4WD Mach E but starting last week I went from getting around 190 miles per 90% charge, now I'm barely breaking 150.

I charge every night, outdoors, and am now leaving my car plugged in due to temps but I wasn't expecting such a huge drop off.

Is anyone else up here in the northern part of the country experiencing similar issues? This is my first EV so I don't know what the expectations are.

Thanks!
Read the first post here:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ulate-how-far-your-mach-e-can-really-go.6104/
 

0t60-3.5

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I'm lucky to have a heated garage that will keep a balmy 50 degrees during extreme cold temps. This should obviously help range. However, it may be interesting to find reaction with temperature shocks from storage at 50 degrees and go into an outdoor temp of -10 to -20F on the really cold days in Iowa. Probably better than cold storage and then run cold (or pre-warm up).
 

DaMeatMan

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Now that fall is in season and the weather is getting colder, I was expecting decrease in range on my Premium SR 4WD Mach E but starting last week I went from getting around 190 miles per 90% charge, now I'm barely breaking 150.

I charge every night, outdoors, and am now leaving my car plugged in due to temps but I wasn't expecting such a huge drop off.

Is anyone else up here in the northern part of the country experiencing similar issues? This is my first EV so I don't know what the expectations are.

Thanks!
Totally normal and to be expected. That's just the reality we face with BEV vehicles, and you should expect to lose anywhere between 25% - 35% realistically depending on the temps. This is due to the fact that energy will be used to warm the cells, the cabin and the overall efficiency of the battery chemistry drops with the temps. These are specific losses faced only in BEV's, and might be shocking coming from an ICE vehicle since you had no batteries to keep warm, and cabin heat is provided by engine heat that is normally wasted anyway and is a practically free by product of ICE vehicles.

When snow starts to fall, you will also face loss in efficiency due to increased rolling resistance both due to road surfaces, and your tires pressure will also drop with the temps so keep them topped off.

At the end of the day, although shocking to experience for the first time, it's usually not that big of an issue for most people's daily commute in reality.

With all of that said the GOM is doing a pretty good job of giving you a REALISTIC expectation of what you will see based on real world conditions, rather than just quoting you some "feel good" figure that is 25% - 35% short of whats actually possible in the real world.
 
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ChasingCoral

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Did you happen to also get PowerUp 1.7.1 in your car recently? Updates often come with resetting the BEV history.
 

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I’ve noticed the same as OP. As soon as temps fell into the 50s, I got a big estimated range drop. I was seeing 305 on a full charge at the end of summer, with a near instant drop to 265 when temps fell into the 50s. My GOM is displaying 118 miles on 51% charge {only 235 full charge range) after my commute this morning. My actual consumption was 3.0 mi/KWH, which works out to 265.

My assumption is that since this is the first time the car has seen temps like this, it is working from the initial ultra conservative range estimates and will gradually learn as I add miles in this weather. I also need to add 3psi to my tires to compensate for the colder air. That should help some.
 

0t60-3.5

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These are specific losses faced only in BEV's, and might be shocking coming from an ICE vehicle since you had no batteries to keep warm, and cabin heat is provided by engine heat that is normally wasted anyway and is a practically free by product of ICE vehicles.
Agree BEV has specific reasons why range is lower during cold temps. But in upper Midwest (Iowa), I see at least a 10-15% reduction in gas mileage due to winter formulas in the gasoline. I guess they change gasoline during winter to help it not to freeze, but lowers overall efficiency and reduces MPGs.
 

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Agree BEV has specific reasons why range is lower during cold temps. But in upper Midwest (Iowa), I see at least a 10-15% reduction in gas mileage due to winter formulas in the gasoline. I guess they change gasoline during winter to help it not to freeze, but lowers overall efficiency and reduces MPGs.
I lost 20% of my MPG during the winter months in Ohio with my 2019 Honda Insight. It would go from 50-52 mpg down to 40-42 in the cold months, sometimes worse. I'm hoping for a similar experience but I haven't noticed much of a drop yet due to the mild fall so far.

I plug in daily to 90%, inside an insulated garage that does an okay job, and I use scheduled departure M-F. I also have been starting to do remote start when I know I am getting ready to leave the house but it is outside my scheduled departure time. I plan on leaving e-heat on.
 

RickMachE

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Agree BEV has specific reasons why range is lower during cold temps. But in upper Midwest (Iowa), I see at least a 10-15% reduction in gas mileage due to winter formulas in the gasoline. I guess they change gasoline during winter to help it not to freeze, but lowers overall efficiency and reduces MPGs.
Yes, they change the gasoline during the winter, but not for that reason. Actually, they change it in the summer, and then revert back to the regular blend in the winter. Winter gas contains a lot more butane. In the winter, an ICE vehicle loses MPG for 2 reasons - winter gas and temperature. A cold ICE engine in the dead of winter gets horrible MPG while it's warming up, and lower MPG while driving, as compared to the summer. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a15339380/the-vapor-rub-summer-versus-winter-gasoline-explained/
 

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This is happening to me right now
Sacramento CA
Here’s a pic of my scenario

50 degrees outside over night
I should be getting 300 miles - this is a CA Route 1
Looks like I’ll end up getting 235-236 miles


Ford Mustang Mach-E Sudden drop on range according to the GOM CF77B402-5E93-4318-90C4-4ECA705B14C2
Ford Mustang Mach-E Sudden drop on range according to the GOM A848FAAA-954B-450B-AD88-B47642DFFCB9
 
 




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