Any one else getting more than 30 per charge?

Yeah, I expected that and saw somebody demonstrate that on YouTube, but I myself haven't seen it. I just hopped into the car and tried it; no change.

Possible explanations: First, maybe I haven't tried it on a full battery (I can't remember right off). Perhaps at 8.6 miles like when I tried it just now, the difference is too small to register. Second, I have the AC on the ultra-eco setting: Eco mode, driver only, 78 degrees.


iPhone ? Pro

 

Fyi. I gamed the system today and got 7.9 miles per kwh. However my mpg took a huge hit at 155 mpg for 50 miles while I've had a record of 190 for this route.

So gaming the system or not... My gaming is based on mpg

Which leads to my original thought that ev auto should be tailored... It's kind of useless imo... At least for me. I would love to run ev and not think about it if I'm beyond the original ev range and maximize fuel effeciency

 

I find 40 miles per charge to be just outside my reach. 35 miles is typical

 

Mr. 88, my A/C is on Auto, at 72°. I didn't pay attention to whether it was set for Eco or not, although I don't think it made any difference. Starting with 8.6 miles, is definitely going to make very little difference in the final outcome. I start with about 35 miles of range, and this leads to a reduction of about 2.5 miles on the EV range, when I turn on the AC, Auto.. Looks like the loss in range is currently about 7%, although as I remember in the past, it was closer to 4.5%.

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I have mine on driver only auto at 75 and get about 31 miles EV. I also dont know if AC is on Eco or not or what Eco even does. If i turn the AC off i show almost 35 to start.

 

Been using AC this week, set to 78 and ECO... when turning it on impact to EV range shows 1.8 miles less

 

Mr. Joachim, sounds like the higher temperature setting you use on A/C Auto might be the reason using A/C has less impact on your EV range estimate.
My ambient temperature right now has been in low 90s.

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Sort of.

Once the Prime reaches the target it only has to remove additional heat coming in through the glass and that is the same for any Prime traveling with the same incident light. Much more important for any but REALLY long drives is the initial cooling down of the car and removal of the retained heat in the materials.

I'll guess the difference is more likely to be that Joachim is careful to avoid sunlight into the cabin while parked.

 

Ms. Oniki, my car is in a closed garage, so there is no sunlight effect. I do think that the heat soak effect is relevant with the high ambient temperature (90's) affecting the calculation of the EV estimate by my Prime. When the ambient temperature was in 60's & 70's, my EV estimate drop with A/C was only about 1.5 miles from 35 EV miles.


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Oh, for sure. I was replying to the idea that that the thermostat setting explained the difference between ~ 3 and 7% percent A/C load differences. And to be a bit clearer, it certainly has a role but the starting heat load in the cabin is a major factor.

If the starting heat loads are the same then I suspect that differences in incident light explain the differences seen. I'll guess there is a 3x fold variation in glass surface area for sunlight to enter depending on travel direction and time of day. A lot more if the glass has dis-similar blocking properties, say if one car has aftermarket tint.

Out of curiosity -- is your garage closed when your car is parked ? If so, does it heat up more than ambient ?

 

Actually, i turn the AC only on once I get in the fwy, and since I'm going south in the morning I have the sun shining onto the driver side, evenings again on the driver side... and while I try to park in the shade, there isn't much, but the beauty of San Diego is that temps are typically below 80... even during the recent heat wave

 

The I phone app might show mileage with acc off. And car shows on.

 

I don't know for sure about the temperature inside the closed garage, although a guess might be that it is slightly higher. Sorry, don't have thermometer inside, but it might be fun to get one to see the temperature variances. I'd want to also get one for outside/near the garage for comparison. It still remains that the EV estimate for higher ambient temperature, everything else remaining the same, results in a substantial drop in range: Clever Prime!!

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Fair enough!

You may start with a hot car, but I'm guessing you open windows at the start of your drive and use ventilation to cool the air and materials down to 80F before you close up and start the A/C. Either that, or you leave windows open when parked and use a sun-shade so that the car's heat load is close to ambient.

Either way are smart and efficient ways to reduce energy use for cooling, and they both depend on strategies to not let the interior car materials heat up much past ambient before A/C is started.

 

I'd like to take a stab at estimating steady state A/C power during Joachim's drive:

Say surface area is 0.5 meter*meter through the side windows
Perpendicular light is 700 watts per meter*meter in the morning and evening

Then 350 watts of heat have to be displaced by an A/C that probably has a COP of 4 at the temperatures being discussed for an A/C power draw of ~ 90 watts. Say he is driving 65 miles an hour on the freeway, so A/C adds under 1.5 Wh/mile, or about 0.7% load. The difference between this calculation and his experience is explained by the work to expel the initial heat load.

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One other thing to mention in this discussion:
A/C load percentage will approximately be proportional to average car speed.

 

June 22, 2017 30.3 EV slowly but Shirley inching back up to my high of 34.3

 

I always inch up slowly but Shirley onto Laverne (actual street 1/2 block from my house!) Har, har.

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Yep, windows down overnight in the garage, temp in the garage according to Prime 79... drive with windows down til fwy... at work I have all windows cracked, no sunshade and my windows are not tinted, and again windows down til fwy

 

You are doing great, but I bet you could improve energy use and have a bit more comfort during the drive home if you park facing the sun and put up a sun-shield in addition to your current practice.

 

And the addition of medium tint to all windows makes a big difference for me.

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