[susanl]

I have a new SE that I picked up just before Christmas. I added snow tires a week later (I'm in northern Illinois so snow tires are basically required equipment) and the car is kept in an unheated garage. Most of my driving is currently short trips in local traffic. The longest trip has been 54 miles round trip. I always run the climatization before leaving the house and the automatic climate control is set around 70 degrees.

My range has been steadily decreasing since I got the car. When I picked it up, the guesstimated range was found 95-100 miles when fully charged. Today, the guesstimated range was only 61 miles! I was out for about an hour or so, most of that time the car was not in use, and when I got home it was only 87% charged and estimated remaining range was 48 miles. I know it's really cold here today but that seems really low. My m/kw is reading 2.8. Should I be concerned about the low range? Or is this normal for a cold climate? thanks in advance

 

[MichaelC]

Both the colder temperature (thus needing more energy to heat the cabin--especially parked in an unheated garage) and snow tires (with higher rolling resistance than the stock summer tires) will reduce your available range.

The SE's Guess-O-Meter ("GOM") is notoriously pessimistic, and will almost always show a much shorter range than you can actually achieve. And colder temperatures will make it even more stingy. You can calculate your own range estimate by multiplying the mi/kWh value by 28.9 (the available energy from a fully-charged battery in kWh). So 2.8 mi/kWh should be 80.92 miles of total range. I believe the SE includes energy used to climatize the cabin in it's calculation for a trip's consumption, so if you climatize when the car is not plugged into a charger, that may be reducing your mi/kWh reading a bit more than actual driving. And this can have a disproportionate impact if you're taking very short trips.

Whether or not you should be concerned depends on how far you need to go on a single charge. If 54 miles round trip is typically the farthest you need to go, you should definitely feel confident that you can get back home even with 2.8 mi/kWh in the winter (assuming you leave home with a full battery).

 

[susanl]

Thanks Michael. I only climatize when the car is plugged in, it usually reduces the charge by a percent or two but doesn't usually reduce the range. So far I've mainly done local driving but I will need to make regular trips that are around 43 miles each way and I'm concerned about being able to get there, find a charger (there are only level 2 chargers in the area), and get back to where I can find a DC fast charger (about halfway home). Right now I'm at 97% charged and the GOM is saying 55 miles so you can see my concern.

 

[MichaelC]

Yes, I definitely see your concern! Pay more attention to your mi/kWh instead of the GOM--you will be able to better estimate your range that way. And as you gain more experience with your SE, you'll get a better feel for how far you can go under various conditions, too.

If you're able, try taking some longer drives to improve the SE's mi/kWh measurement so you can be even more confident in your own range estimation. So if your GOM says you have 55 miles of range, try taking a 30 or 40 mile round trip and compare what the GOM says at the end of the trip against your own estimation based on the mi/kWh consumption measurement. (And see if the consumption value improves.)

 

[notbatman]

Moonwalk Grey all the way!

Yes. Good idea to do one's own calculations and build confidence with experience. Just curious, though, which mode of driving is being used, sport, mid, or green? I assume not green+ since climate control is in use. Here in Boston area last winter, using green mode and climatizing (65-66) while plugged-in I was getting ~96 miles on the GOM, with a daily commute of ~60 miles RT, both highway speeds and heavy, slow traffic. Usually reach home with ~76 miles on the GOM. Temps anywhere from 13 F to 30's F. My challenge this winter has been keeping tires at the correct pressure with unusual temp fluctuation.

 

[susanl]

So with the warmer weather in the Chicago area lately and a couple of longer trips my GOM is up to somewhere in the 90-100 mile range which is reassuring. Friday I need to go 86 miles round trip; my plan is to stop halfway home and charge up to be on the safe side (there are several fast chargers at a mall on the way home).