And here we are a week later.

My estimated EV range immediately drops by over 10% when I turn on the fan, with or without the A/C, so how could it not be affecting EV range? Can somebody explain, please?

 

In Eco mode the drain is small enough that it isn't a big difference, because the A/C is limited in how much electricity it can draw. In other modes there is probably a noticeable penalty, but still not large. When you turn the fan on, the car is guessing at your behavior, not actually measuring the fan's effect on mileage.

 

Well, if you notice- when you turn the fan off you get the "lost" 10% EV range back.
It's just a software thing that is poorly implemented in the PIP.

 

But does effect when the ice comes on.

 

OK, so what you guys are saying is that if I can go an actual 12 miles, as estimated EV says, and then I turn on the A/C, I will still go the 12 miles before I run out of EV, other things being equal. Do I have that right? I do realize it is not an exact science. The main effort I make is to maximize my EV use in town driving and avoid the ICE coming on as much as possible. If freeway driving is involved, I just let the computer figure it all out. BTW, I always run in ECO mode, have never even switched to anything else. Thanks for the help, guys.

 

I've never seen that on mine. When the A/C is turned on, I loose the 2 miles or so of EV. The only way to get it back is to regen. Once the EV remaining gets down to about 2 miles or so, switching the A/C off doesn't return those 2 miles lost from turning on the A/C initially.

I say A/C when I mean the climate control whether heat, defrost or whatever is needed.

 

You can probably go about 11.75 miles using the A/C in Eco mode. That's just a guess, made to show you can go *almost* as far with the A/C on.

 

I don't think the heater takes as much energy as the air conditioner. The heat is just waste heat from the engine. Unless you were on full electric power, in which case, you'd have to run the engine to provide heat.

 

Just keep the fan speed on the lowest setting you can!

 

In my experience, what you lose is 10%, and what you get back is also 10%, but of whatever is left. Again, that is only what is showing on the EV range, it doesn't affect what the car will actually do. Assuming the drain is actually only (say) 1%, switching the fan on at 10 miles range will drop it to 9, switching it back at 1 mile showing will make it jump to 1.1, but you will actually have driven 8.9 miles (rather than 8) on EV during that period.

 

I think the outside air temperature has a large effect on how much energy the air-conditioner uses. Just being turned on, may have a minimal effect if it doesn't have much work to do, but if there is a 40 degree difference between the outside air temp, and the temp you want inside, it will draw a lot more electricity.

 

My guess would be that the projected range is based on estimated current draw. If you have your lights on, the fan on, wipers on, etc., the computer would predict a shorter range immediately. If you turned all those things off, the estimated range would go up again. That's not necessarily a software bug.

 

That's not true though. You get the same range estimate whether you turn the AC up really high or barely use it (but have it on).

 

You can turn on the headlights, seat heaters, rear defrost, radio and it doesn't affect the EV estimate at all.
Turn the fan on low speed, temp set to low with A/C off and it drops instantly by 10-12%. Turn back off it instantly goes back up by the same amount. Turn fan on low with no A/C again, drops again by 10-12%. Turn A/C on with fan high, no change.

Mike

 

Thanks for the tidbit I was worried driving in the sweltering summer in my new PIP I would not be able to have ac comfortable cabin and get the great mileage i am seeing now.

 

This is an interesting point. The conventional ac is a belt-driven compressor, running at the mercy of engine speed, regardless of which speed is most efficient. It's notorious as a mileage-stealer, and many people rip off the belt. (The previous owner of my '81 Tercel did this, and the whole idler assembly had fallen off also). All he had to do was keep it switched off and it would have used practically no power.

At any rate, it stands to reason that the electrically-driven compressor would be designed to run at the most efficient speed, therefore using minimal power.

 

I'm spending $40-50 (the cost to fill up one 9 gallon tank of gas) per month. The savings has been huge for me. Plus I get to charge at work for free. My commute is 30 miles each way. 10 miles of EV heading up to work. 20 miles of EV returning down from work. The drive up and back averages to 105 mpg. What pulls my overall numbers down is the drives to the West side of Los Angeles. If I don't charge while there, I'm down to 60 or 80 mpg for that specific drive.

 

W

Which quite honestly is an amazing number. I am in NJ take mostly expressways at 70 MPH and get 61 MPG, I am hoping this goes up as I learn better techniques but I am conservative as possible already.

 

61 MPG is pretty average for 70 MPH freeway driving. I've found a side street route that gets me my high mpg numbers.

Also, our famous freeways tend to get really backed up. If the speed on the freeway is going about 30 mph, that is the perfect spot to get amazing MPG. At 70 mph, unfortunately, you just cannot do any better than 60 mpg. Unless your route is shorter and you can blend gas/ev modes on the freeway. Then you can get it up to 80-100 mpg. Charge at both ends.

BTW, when I drive on freeway, I drive 65 (the speed limit) in the #4 or #5 lane on a 6-lane freeway. I get cut off all the time. Most people drive about 80-85 on freeways in SoCal. That is why I try to avoid them.

 

Helluva way to test it, but what would be the mileage in constant stop-and-go traffic? I think the wind resistance would not be much of a factor