Range Test and Charging Challenges
#1
Range Test and Charging Challenges
My wife and I bravely ventured to visit our daughter in Fair Oaks--east of Sacramento--for Christmas and drove there from our house in Redwood Valley (inland Mendocino County--basically US 101 @ SR 20) in our 2019 I-Pace.
It's 155 miles from our house to our daughter's house and if we figure roundly that the trip left us with 15-20% range remaining, that indicates close to 190 miles max range (to forced shutdown) under the prevailing driving conditions. Barely adequate. I was mostly driving in the eighties and occasionally in the nineties, on the trip down and only slightly slower on return trek, especially when on I-5, obviously not a recipe for maximum range!
Found to our horror that there are (apparently) no fast chargers near daughter's house except one (by Volta) in a shopping center a few miles away. It was generously free to use and available BUT would only allow 30 minutes before shutting off. Since it was a holiday however, with almost every business closed, I gamed the system by repeatedly disconnecting, starting the Jag's motor momentarily, then shutting it off and reconnecting. Required borrowing son in law's car to run up there (about three miles from house) several times to get a full charge.
Alternative appeared to be a trek much farther away (such as to Folsom or Carmichael) for a fast charger that would presumably sell me a full continuous charge. At least the charger usage in Fair Oaks was free (of charge--heh-heh) if a big hassle.
Trip home from Fair Oaks was similarly tenuous except that we of course had the 240VAC Charge Point charger waiting for us at home (where it took almost 24 hours to fully recharge). Last 40 miles to home was at night and in pouring rain which didn't help. Before the end of each trip the car flashed its warning of impending shutdown. I hope by the time we try the trip again--if we do--charging will be easier.
Local trips and those to the coast are peachy in the I-Pace and it continues to be a joy to drive. I haven't been driving my XK8 at all and had to get a smart trickle charger for it after having it sitting and ruininh a battery.
Gran
It's 155 miles from our house to our daughter's house and if we figure roundly that the trip left us with 15-20% range remaining, that indicates close to 190 miles max range (to forced shutdown) under the prevailing driving conditions. Barely adequate. I was mostly driving in the eighties and occasionally in the nineties, on the trip down and only slightly slower on return trek, especially when on I-5, obviously not a recipe for maximum range!
Found to our horror that there are (apparently) no fast chargers near daughter's house except one (by Volta) in a shopping center a few miles away. It was generously free to use and available BUT would only allow 30 minutes before shutting off. Since it was a holiday however, with almost every business closed, I gamed the system by repeatedly disconnecting, starting the Jag's motor momentarily, then shutting it off and reconnecting. Required borrowing son in law's car to run up there (about three miles from house) several times to get a full charge.
Alternative appeared to be a trek much farther away (such as to Folsom or Carmichael) for a fast charger that would presumably sell me a full continuous charge. At least the charger usage in Fair Oaks was free (of charge--heh-heh) if a big hassle.
Trip home from Fair Oaks was similarly tenuous except that we of course had the 240VAC Charge Point charger waiting for us at home (where it took almost 24 hours to fully recharge). Last 40 miles to home was at night and in pouring rain which didn't help. Before the end of each trip the car flashed its warning of impending shutdown. I hope by the time we try the trip again--if we do--charging will be easier.
Local trips and those to the coast are peachy in the I-Pace and it continues to be a joy to drive. I haven't been driving my XK8 at all and had to get a smart trickle charger for it after having it sitting and ruininh a battery.
Gran
#2
2022 I-Pace a Bit Better
Charger coverage is still a challenge in many areas, but it is slowly getting better. Some 350KW chargers came online near my son's house, a place we visit pretty often.
Our 2022 I-Pace claims to have a 234-mile range. At first, I was lucky to get over 200 in early spring, but after several months, it crept up to actually getting as much as 240 showing after a full charge in the summer. Now that we're in winter in Delaware, it's down to about 220. Software updates may get the credit for the mild boost.
I also learned that there's a lot of imprecision in the reported range. In my case, it has reported it very pessimistically on some trips. Regardless, who wants to take the chance of being optimistic and wrong? I don't know about other drivers, but this accuracy problem has me leaving about a 20% mileage buffer when planning trips.
Our 2022 I-Pace claims to have a 234-mile range. At first, I was lucky to get over 200 in early spring, but after several months, it crept up to actually getting as much as 240 showing after a full charge in the summer. Now that we're in winter in Delaware, it's down to about 220. Software updates may get the credit for the mild boost.
I also learned that there's a lot of imprecision in the reported range. In my case, it has reported it very pessimistically on some trips. Regardless, who wants to take the chance of being optimistic and wrong? I don't know about other drivers, but this accuracy problem has me leaving about a 20% mileage buffer when planning trips.
My wife and I bravely ventured to visit our daughter in Fair Oaks--east of Sacramento--for Christmas and drove there from our house in Redwood Valley (inland Mendocino County--basically US 101 @ SR 20) in our 2019 I-Pace.
It's 155 miles from our house to our daughter's house and if we figure roundly that the trip left us with 15-20% range remaining, that indicates close to 190 miles max range (to forced shutdown) under the prevailing driving conditions. Barely adequate. I was mostly driving in the eighties and occasionally in the nineties, on the trip down and only slightly slower on return trek, especially when on I-5, obviously not a recipe for maximum range!
Found to our horror that there are (apparently) no fast chargers near daughter's house except one (by Volta) in a shopping center a few miles away. It was generously free to use and available BUT would only allow 30 minutes before shutting off. Since it was a holiday however, with almost every business closed, I gamed the system by repeatedly disconnecting, starting the Jag's motor momentarily, then shutting it off and reconnecting. Required borrowing son in law's car to run up there (about three miles from house) several times to get a full charge.
Alternative appeared to be a trek much farther away (such as to Folsom or Carmichael) for a fast charger that would presumably sell me a full continuous charge. At least the charger usage in Fair Oaks was free (of charge--heh-heh) if a big hassle.
Trip home from Fair Oaks was similarly tenuous except that we of course had the 240VAC Charge Point charger waiting for us at home (where it took almost 24 hours to fully recharge). Last 40 miles to home was at night and in pouring rain which didn't help. Before the end of each trip the car flashed its warning of impending shutdown. I hope by the time we try the trip again--if we do--charging will be easier.
Local trips and those to the coast are peachy in the I-Pace and it continues to be a joy to drive. I haven't been driving my XK8 at all and had to get a smart trickle charger for it after having it sitting and ruininh a battery.
Gran
It's 155 miles from our house to our daughter's house and if we figure roundly that the trip left us with 15-20% range remaining, that indicates close to 190 miles max range (to forced shutdown) under the prevailing driving conditions. Barely adequate. I was mostly driving in the eighties and occasionally in the nineties, on the trip down and only slightly slower on return trek, especially when on I-5, obviously not a recipe for maximum range!
Found to our horror that there are (apparently) no fast chargers near daughter's house except one (by Volta) in a shopping center a few miles away. It was generously free to use and available BUT would only allow 30 minutes before shutting off. Since it was a holiday however, with almost every business closed, I gamed the system by repeatedly disconnecting, starting the Jag's motor momentarily, then shutting it off and reconnecting. Required borrowing son in law's car to run up there (about three miles from house) several times to get a full charge.
Alternative appeared to be a trek much farther away (such as to Folsom or Carmichael) for a fast charger that would presumably sell me a full continuous charge. At least the charger usage in Fair Oaks was free (of charge--heh-heh) if a big hassle.
Trip home from Fair Oaks was similarly tenuous except that we of course had the 240VAC Charge Point charger waiting for us at home (where it took almost 24 hours to fully recharge). Last 40 miles to home was at night and in pouring rain which didn't help. Before the end of each trip the car flashed its warning of impending shutdown. I hope by the time we try the trip again--if we do--charging will be easier.
Local trips and those to the coast are peachy in the I-Pace and it continues to be a joy to drive. I haven't been driving my XK8 at all and had to get a smart trickle charger for it after having it sitting and ruininh a battery.
Gran
#3
Thanks @dpiatt for your experience and thoughts on the subject. I spent a couple hours today looking for answers as to when we can all use CCS connectors at Tesla Superchargers. I was mostly frustrated with seemingly few solid answers out there. Oddly enough it's only in the US that Tesla uses its proprietary connectors, using CCS in Europe. But USA uses CCS1 protocol and Europe has CCS2, the two being inexplicably incompatible with one another. Grrr...
What prompted me to dig into this today is going grocery shopping in town this afternoon and seeing that the parking lot of one of the shopping centers has suddenly sprouted a dozen brand new Tesla chargers. I went around to investigate all of them and every single one had only proprietary Tesla plugs and sported signs saying Tesla Only. I have read repeatedly that by the end of 2022 Tesla stations would accommodate non-Tesla EVs. Not so much, it seems.
Granville
What prompted me to dig into this today is going grocery shopping in town this afternoon and seeing that the parking lot of one of the shopping centers has suddenly sprouted a dozen brand new Tesla chargers. I went around to investigate all of them and every single one had only proprietary Tesla plugs and sported signs saying Tesla Only. I have read repeatedly that by the end of 2022 Tesla stations would accommodate non-Tesla EVs. Not so much, it seems.
Granville
#4
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kort6776 (01-14-2023)
#5
There should be a massive increase in public chargers over the next five years. When I got my 2019 back in 2019 and drove it home from the dealership, I almost didn't make it; I rolled into my garage with the car shutting down and out of power. Cold is particularly problematic for range, but I live at a high altitude, and the dealer is downhill 180 miles so going is no problem; coming home was problematic until the high-speed chargers went in around Salem. Now I hit those chargers while reading a book and make it home with power to spare. We primarily drive the I-Pace around town and drive my wife's Volvo XC60 Recharge (plug-in hybrid) for trips, which works fine for us (also, the dealer is almost within walking distance). Realize we are still in the early phase for electric cars; by the decade's end, we'll have much better batteries (faster charging, more range, better battery life), and chargers will be far more prevalent. Those happiest with electrics today drive short distances and live off their Level 2 garage chargers. Even Tesla drivers are having issues with people parking ICE cars in Tesla spots or camping with their Tesla for extended periods. It'll be interesting to see if inductive charging ever takes off, which would help with charging in parking structures and on the street because, right now, owning an electric in a city is problematic for most, given the lack of on-street parking and charging. My workaround is I avoid going to the dealer during the winter (to limit both driving on icy roads and range anxiety), and I don't take the car on long trips. But things have improved a lot since I drove a Tesla over a decade ago and labeled the trip "in search of a charger", having no idea how bad the charging was back then until that drive. In a decade, we'll look back at these early days and tell our kids and grandkids stories in line with our parents walking to school 50 miles barefoot and nearly naked, I'm already practicing my embellishments.
#7
Very interesting. What real world range do others get from ipace? And how noticeable is the winter cold effect (and driving with a heavy foot)?
Some studies on Teslas suggested you lose 10pc of range if you go 10pm faster at highway speeds (Eg 80 vs 70mph)
I'm considering an iPace but feel that low 200s of formal range could quickly become 150 with cold, speed, battery age etc.
Some studies on Teslas suggested you lose 10pc of range if you go 10pm faster at highway speeds (Eg 80 vs 70mph)
I'm considering an iPace but feel that low 200s of formal range could quickly become 150 with cold, speed, battery age etc.
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#8
In freezing temps, traveling uphill at freeway speeds, my range has dropped to around that 180 miles from my closest dealer. That is my one recurring annoyance with the car, but now that there are high-speed chargers on that route with more going in, it isn't the problem it once was. (I still don't like driving on icy roads on mountains without guard rails though, so I'm not making that drive until it warms up.)
#9
On topic, interesting article this week on why the I-Pace and other electrics that use Heat Pumps perform far better in cold weather than those that use the more common resistive methods to heat the car and battery pack:
https://jalopnik.com/heat-pumps-mass...NacCEZmHkuLABk
https://jalopnik.com/heat-pumps-mass...NacCEZmHkuLABk
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150FHC (01-11-2023)
#11
My wife and I bravely ventured to visit our daughter in Fair Oaks--east of Sacramento--for Christmas and drove there from our house in Redwood Valley (inland Mendocino County--basically US 101 @ SR 20) in our 2019 I-Pace.
It's 155 miles from our house to our daughter's house and if we figure roundly that the trip left us with 15-20% range remaining, that indicates close to 190 miles max range (to forced shutdown) under the prevailing driving conditions. Barely adequate. I was mostly driving in the eighties and occasionally in the nineties, on the trip down and only slightly slower on return trek, especially when on I-5, obviously not a recipe for maximum range!
Found to our horror that there are (apparently) no fast chargers near daughter's house except one (by Volta) in a shopping center a few miles away. It was generously free to use and available BUT would only allow 30 minutes before shutting off. Since it was a holiday however, with almost every business closed, I gamed the system by repeatedly disconnecting, starting the Jag's motor momentarily, then shutting it off and reconnecting. Required borrowing son in law's car to run up there (about three miles from house) several times to get a full charge.
Alternative appeared to be a trek much farther away (such as to Folsom or Carmichael) for a fast charger that would presumably sell me a full continuous charge. At least the charger usage in Fair Oaks was free (of charge--heh-heh) if a big hassle.
Trip home from Fair Oaks was similarly tenuous except that we of course had the 240VAC Charge Point charger waiting for us at home (where it took almost 24 hours to fully recharge). Last 40 miles to home was at night and in pouring rain which didn't help. Before the end of each trip the car flashed its warning of impending shutdown. I hope by the time we try the trip again--if we do--charging will be easier.
Local trips and those to the coast are peachy in the I-Pace and it continues to be a joy to drive. I haven't been driving my XK8 at all and had to get a smart trickle charger for it after having it sitting and ruininh a battery.
Gran
It's 155 miles from our house to our daughter's house and if we figure roundly that the trip left us with 15-20% range remaining, that indicates close to 190 miles max range (to forced shutdown) under the prevailing driving conditions. Barely adequate. I was mostly driving in the eighties and occasionally in the nineties, on the trip down and only slightly slower on return trek, especially when on I-5, obviously not a recipe for maximum range!
Found to our horror that there are (apparently) no fast chargers near daughter's house except one (by Volta) in a shopping center a few miles away. It was generously free to use and available BUT would only allow 30 minutes before shutting off. Since it was a holiday however, with almost every business closed, I gamed the system by repeatedly disconnecting, starting the Jag's motor momentarily, then shutting it off and reconnecting. Required borrowing son in law's car to run up there (about three miles from house) several times to get a full charge.
Alternative appeared to be a trek much farther away (such as to Folsom or Carmichael) for a fast charger that would presumably sell me a full continuous charge. At least the charger usage in Fair Oaks was free (of charge--heh-heh) if a big hassle.
Trip home from Fair Oaks was similarly tenuous except that we of course had the 240VAC Charge Point charger waiting for us at home (where it took almost 24 hours to fully recharge). Last 40 miles to home was at night and in pouring rain which didn't help. Before the end of each trip the car flashed its warning of impending shutdown. I hope by the time we try the trip again--if we do--charging will be easier.
Local trips and those to the coast are peachy in the I-Pace and it continues to be a joy to drive. I haven't been driving my XK8 at all and had to get a smart trickle charger for it after having it sitting and ruininh a battery.
Gran
I never would think of using a L2 charger when road tripping, and I would also never use an L3 that was under 50 kw.
#12
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