[Gutti]

HI All,

Planning a long distance trip - thanksgiving.
Phoenix --> San Diego
I am usually a speedy driver.
My last trip ... I went 80 mph on average. Stopped twice. Usually a 5hr min trip in an ICE became close to a 7 hr trip.
Thinking of how to decrease charging time / frequency.
I saw a post recently that changing from 65 mph to 75 mph in a Model 3 decreases range by about 30 miles. (I would expect a more significant decrease in my XC40 due to drag coeff. / etc.)
I figured that decreases travel time by ~ 15 minutes in a normal 150 mile leg. Lower state of charge --> faster charging time at lower end.
I only do long distance travel once every 3 months and I'm thinking of using my ICE vehicle to cut out that extra 2 hrs.
sorry for rambling post...

What works for most people / or your experience on longer trips? To minimize journey time.
Speed limit vs +5 mph over speed limit vs + 10 mph over speed limit ... etc

 

[arijaycomet]

7 Factors That Affect Electric Vehicle Range - Charged Future

There are many factors that affect electric vehicle range such as speed, cold weather, and cabin heating. For example, at 75 MPH, EVs can lose 15% of range.

www.chargedfuture.com

This is just one article I could find quickly — but the bottom line is that for every 5 MPH extra on the freeway you will lose around 10% more range. In our cars that is 20-25 miles real mileage lost. That of course is just one factor (the article above talks about other factors).

FWIW, having been 10+ years with BEV/PHEV … we tend to just do +5 over limit. Going the limit doesn’t always bode well for safety and going +10 kills the range, so the +5 seems the sweet spot of not feeling like a turtle holding up traffic, but not killing your range either. Slow and steady wins the race, though.

PS: Assuming your journey between chargers is 150 miles — 65 MPH posted limit — at 70 MPH the trip would take 2.14 hours and at 75 MPH only 2 hours. You would get there 8.4 minutes faster going 5 MPH faster. But you’d likely need/want to add back in 25 MPH of range, which in our cars would be almost 10 kW (based on 75 MPH efficiencies). Assuming you’re seeing around 70 kW (60% SOC approx) then you’d need 8.5 minutes more charging time. So again that extra 5 MPH driving actually nets -0- gain — if you have to add the energy back in Then the time savings is worthless. Just some “guessing” math here since too many moving parts, tail/head wind, ambient temps, to know just how accurate this really would be — but a good rough example.

 

[VinceC]

Hi Gutti,
We are in PHX as well. We considered driving our XC40 Recharge to Flagstaff but have talked ourselves out of it because of concerns with charging station reliability (are they working). Until we have more confidence in the charging station reliability we use our ICE vehicle for roadtrips and EV for local trips. Which is fine for us as that is what we bought it for. Great analysis arijaycomet.

 

[XC90_Dinosaur]

7 Factors That Affect Electric Vehicle Range - Charged Future

There are many factors that affect electric vehicle range such as speed, cold weather, and cabin heating. For example, at 75 MPH, EVs can lose 15% of range.

www.chargedfuture.com

This is just one article I could find quickly — but the bottom line is that for every 5 MPH extra on the freeway you will lose around 10% more range. In our cars that is 20-25 miles real mileage lost. That of course is just one factor (the article above talks about other factors).

FWIW, having been 10+ years with BEV/PHEV … we tend to just do +5 over limit. Going the limit doesn’t always bode well for safety and going +10 kills the range, so the +5 seems the sweet spot of not feeling like a turtle holding up traffic, but not killing your range either. Slow and steady wins the race, though.

PS: Assuming your journey between chargers is 150 miles — 65 MPH posted limit — at 70 MPH the trip would take 2.14 hours and at 75 MPH only 2 hours. You would get there 8.4 minutes faster going 5 MPH faster. But you’d likely need/want to add back in 25 MPH of range, which in our cars would be almost 10 kW (based on 75 MPH efficiencies). Assuming you’re seeing around 70 kW (60% SOC approx) then you’d need 8.5 minutes more charging time. So again that extra 5 MPH driving actually nets -0- gain — if you have to add the energy back in Then the time savings is worthless. Just some “guessing” math here since too many moving parts, tail/head wind, ambient temps, to know just how accurate this really would be — but a good rough example.

Thank you for that. Very well put. Unfortunately as soon as I get in the car all the tips are flying through the window and I go fast....chasing all the tips perhaps... It was very hard for me to antisipate the speed. The Volvo is so quite and smooth and going 130km/h seems slow compared to my old XC90.

 

[Greg S]

The slower the better for maximum range, but you’d have to do some calculations to determine the strategy for the shortest time from point A to point B factoring in charging speed. Here in Australia, we have the joy of speed cameras and speeding fines even if you exceed the speed limit by 3 kph, so we tend to set the cruise control on the posted speed limit and go with that. No real risk of being seen as a “turtle holding up traffic” as everyone does the same thing for the most part to avoid losing their license! Being a “US American” originally, I know what it’s like over there though...a rat race! My parents live in the country about 100 mi from Atlanta GA, and when we fly over to visit I’m amazed at how fast and crazy the traffic moves in Atlanta. No thanks! I feel much safer on the roads here. Of course if you went the speed limit in Atlanta you probably WOULD be a road hazard!!

 

[SeattleCat]

Slower is better for maximum range / distance over time with one caveat. You can speed so you arrive at your level 3 charger nice and low (ideal about 12%) charging is so fast in the teens that it is almost free (time wise).

Did a 1200 mile trip was planning all this efficiency stuff in the end just had fun. The trip is part of the vacation (in my mind) so unless you are in a very underserved leg of the trip (there are some legs of journies that you have to adhere to 55 mph to make it (but ABRP will warn you about these).

Other than that. Get in. Strap in and swoosh away. If anxious you can lock on to a station see the %. Swoosh keeping an eye on how the numbers every now and then.

Another solution is to pick charging stations in interesting places … this failed for Us as they were all in Walmart car parking lots or other big car parking lots. The dream of charging while watching the ocean or having a good meal seems for now to be a dream.

Have fun. Let us know how it went.

 

[arijaycomet]

@SeattleCat — part of the reason the DC chargers are at Walmarts (etc) is the need for the infrastructure. There needs to be adequate power running to the DC fast chargers, and where better than a large existing structure like Walmart? In the future we’ll certainly see more “ocean view DC fast charging:” or the likes. What I will say is this: we’ve managed to stay at nice/fun hotels With Level 2 charging that we’d overwise maybe have skipped over. Often times the hotels with the J1772/Tesla charging are nicer, or just special. Also, check out some of the B&Bs that Tesla aligned with many years ago, often times off the beaten path. If you want to take the slower route, you can sometimes charge in the countryside and enjoy an overnight in A cozy little spot. (Take your Tesla adapter, LOL)

PS: ABRP does a good job telling you how to drive to achieve next charging station; so does the Google Maps, which I think since v1.7 is amazingly good, better than ABRP, PlugShare, and other apps. I don’t hate ABRP, but in my Polestar where I can use it right in the main screen, ABRP is fairly useless and lacking in major benefits. For the more adventurous intermediate or advanced user, give it a shot— but for most beginner EV owners, the native GM experience is fine.,

 

[B-mtrd]

Silly question. Will it make a difference between coasting or driving with OPD on the freeway? Even if you use cruise control there are instances where you have to “manually” drive it and it would be interesting to know which would be best to use.

 

[arijaycomet]

Silly question. Will it make a difference between coasting or driving with OPD on the freeway? Even if you use cruise control there are instances where you have to “manually” drive it and it would be interesting to know which would be best to use.

Technically speaking if you hold the accelerator pedal "just right" in OPD-mode, you can make the car coast (using 0 power +/-). But of course that is much harder to do, especially as the car shifts over bumps etc. This is why the logic in many cases is coasting over OPD. Audi's eTron SUV (amongst other cars, like the new BMW i4) use an auto OPD mode. Basically the car defaults to coasting, but when the sensors detect a car in front of you, it will use Regen to avoid hitting them. It is like adapter cruise, but even w/o the cruise on.

This does have merits. You're on any road and you are coasting as there is maybe a small decline in the angle of the road, so no power is needed. Your feet are OFF the pedals. Someone turns out in front of you with more than ample distance, but then suddenly as they achieve their max velocity, it is a speed LOWER than what you can accomplish coasting. So you need to brake. Why DIY when the car can do it for you, Regen?

Personally, I prefer OPD as it just makes for such a great around-town driving experience. And you have to move/shift your foot around next to never. I'm not sure I subscribe to the whole "coasting is more efficient" -- but I still feel like my ankle is calibrated well enough to achieve the same mi/kWh -- and I suspect the OPD-vs-Coasting battles will go on for decades LOL

 

[Greg S]

Technically speaking if you hold the accelerator pedal "just right" in OPD-mode, you can make the car coast (using 0 power +/-). But of course that is much harder to do, especially as the car shifts over bumps etc. This is why the logic in many cases is coasting over OPD. Audi's eTron SUV (amongst other cars, like the new BMW i4) use an auto OPD mode. Basically the car defaults to coasting, but when the sensors detect a car in front of you, it will use Regen to avoid hitting them. It is like adapter cruise, but even w/o the cruise on.

This does have merits. You're on any road and you are coasting as there is maybe a small decline in the angle of the road, so no power is needed. Your feet are OFF the pedals. Someone turns out in front of you with more than ample distance, but then suddenly as they achieve their max velocity, it is a speed LOWER than what you can accomplish coasting. So you need to brake. Why DIY when the car can do it for you, Regen?

Personally, I prefer OPD as it just makes for such a great around-town driving experience. And you have to move/shift your foot around next to never. I'm not sure I subscribe to the whole "coasting is more efficient" -- but I still feel like my ankle is calibrated well enough to achieve the same mi/kWh -- and I suspect the OPD-vs-Coasting battles will go on for decades LOL

I’m with you on questioning the “coasting is more efficient” theory. The only time I can see that being true is if you’re not maintaining a constant speed. Sure, if you coast down the hill and go from 100 kph to 120 kph, then back up the next hill and let it get down to 90 kph, that will be more efficient than maintaining a constant 100 kph down and up the hill via regen maintaining the set speed...for most of us, we set the adaptive cruise and let the car do the work. Of course it can much better modulate the accelerator input than a human, so it’s going to optimise the input and maximise efficiency at a constant speed. The human driver can of course see the road ahead and if willing to vary the speed, probably could improve efficiency a bit, but IMHO it’s not worth it.

 

[Gaffaa]

I’m with you on questioning the “coasting is more efficient” theory. The only time I can see that being true is if you’re not maintaining a constant speed. Sure, if you coast down the hill and go from 100 kph to 120 kph, then back up the next hill and let it get down to 90 kph, that will be more efficient than maintaining a constant 100 kph down and up the hill via regen maintaining the set speed...for most of us, we set the adaptive cruise and let the car do the work. Of course it can much better modulate the accelerator input than a human, so it’s going to optimise the input and maximise efficiency at a constant speed. The human driver can of course see the road ahead and if willing to vary the speed, probably could improve efficiency a bit, but IMHO it’s not worth it.

agree, just did a 300km trip today with some hills, most doing 90-100kph, much easier just using the adaptive cruise control on B class roads and enjoying the drive rather then concentrating on the speed and the hills etc.

 

[SeattleCat]

Are radar detectors legal in Australia?

Are roads safe for speeding?

There are many places I would not speed due to bad road design or road upkeep.

 

[azemon]

Play around with A Better Routeplanner
It does a nice job of letting you evaluate the trade-offs if driving at different speeds and charging for different lengths of time.

 

[Greg S]

Are radar detectors legal in Australia?

Are roads safe for speeding?

There are many places I would not speed due to bad road design or road upkeep.

Radar detectors are illegal in AUS...and there are speed cameras (fixed position and mobile position, both run by contractors, plus speed cameras in police cars). Depending on jurisdiction the tolerance over speed for a ticket can be very small - 3-6 kph over can get you a ticket in Victoria. WA and SA may be 10 kph? Not sure. Never had a speeding fine in the 22 years I’ve lived here, and don’t care to find out. Although I have been known to floor it when I overtake, getting up to speeds well in excess of the posted limit for a very short duration. Guess I’ve just been lucky as if there were a speed camera or a cop, I prob would have lost my license. I think 25 kph over may be automatic loss of license for a period of time.

 

[Gaffaa]

Radar detectors are illegal in AUS...and there are speed cameras (fixed position and mobile position, both run by contractors, plus speed cameras in police cars). Depending on jurisdiction the tolerance over speed for a ticket can be very small - 3-6 kph over can get you a ticket in Victoria. WA and SA may be 10 kph? Not sure. Never had a speeding fine in the 22 years I’ve lived here, and don’t care to find out. Although I have been known to floor it when I overtake, getting up to speeds well in excess of the posted limit for a very short duration. Guess I’ve just been lucky as if there were a speed camera or a cop, I prob would have lost my license. I think 25 kph over may be automatic loss of license for a period of time.

I think in WA the auto loss of license kicks in at about 40kph and that is about the speed that they impound the car as well.

 

[John M]

I think in WA the auto loss of license kicks in at about 40kph and that is about the speed that they impound the car as well.

Same as in BC, Canada. They can impound car for 7 days and up to 30-60 days for repeat offenders if you still have a license which is doubtful

 

[Gaffaa]

Same as in BC, Canada. They can impound car for 7 days and up to 30-60 days for repeat offenders if you still have a license which is doubtful

I dont have a problem with loss of license or impounding cars, do the speed pay the cost

 

[XC90_Dinosaur]

Same as in BC, Canada. They can impound car for 7 days and up to 30-60 days for repeat offenders if you still have a license which is doubtful

More than 40 km/h speed limit, you will receive a ticket for $368. On your birthday ICBC ( insurance of BC) will look at your driving record for the past three years. If you had one excessive speeding violation in BC, you will have to pay $320 each year for the next three years.
If you are still not convinced that this is a serious violation, there is more. The first time you receive an excessive speeding ticket, your car will be impounded for 7 days. If it is not the first ticket of this kind for you, the impoundment can increase to 30 and 60 days. For a towing fee you are looking at anywhere between $70 and $120 and different companies charge different storage fees, but it tends to be at least $12/day.

Excessive speeding in BC is a serious violation that costs drivers about $1,500 in the end in for just a single ticket.
BC do not have speed cameras. They exist (35 of them) only on certain high incident intersections.