I've been getting between 27-28 miles (per the indicator) on a full charge until the last couple of nights. Suddenly it's only reading at 23-24 miles. Is it because it's colder outside or maybe because I did more non-electric driving last weekend? Curious.
Welcome to the site. It can be either or both. The estimate will go down with cool weather and it will also vary based on your recent driving style. It's just an estimate.
the only way to know would be a set route that you take frequently, and record your actual ev miles driven until the engine comes on. even then, you're affected by climate and traffic. or measure the capacity when you charge. pretty much everyone will be seeing reduced ev miles until next spring
I'm not sure how the Prime calculates its available range, but I believe it is based upon historic data on how many miles per kWh your vehicle has been achieving over your past few driving cycles. We know that the traction battery's ability to accept a charge is dependent upon temperature. When plugged in and charging, it uses resistance heating strips which operate when the ambient temperature is below about 35 degrees F. Possibly someone could educate me about how temperature affects the discharge rate for the battery. For example, if I park in a heated garage and bring the battery to full charge, will the Prime achieve the same range driving in cold weather as it would at more moderate temperatures. If the traction battery is fully charged, does that mean that it will provide all that energy to the vehicle? Or is its discharge rate also temperature dependent? (I assume that some energy will be lost as heat from the battery as it dis-charges, but is that a significant loss?) Sometimes I wish I'd paid more attention in physics and chemistry classes.
