What's the WORST range you've gotten

[JoeS]

ChaplainBill - I agree that the number is low, especially as you are a very experienced i-MiEV driver. First, I would do as PV1 suggested and then refrain from leadfooting to see what happens. It may take a few full-recharge cycles (from two bars or less) to get your i-MiEV's internal battery capacity calculation recalibrated. If I were a betting person (Heaven forbid), I'd be willing to bet she'll quickly start acting normal.

If it does not improve after two or three such cycles, since Mitsu just replaced your battery, I would go right back to them and put the monkey back on their back,

Whereas I occasionally see sub-50 RR after a full recharge (after high-speed freeway runs), I also got RR=84 yesterday after a 40-mile drive down to the coast. The possible range variability is hard for non-EVers to fathom.

 

[PV1]

Ran some heat, drove on the highway, and got stuck on my driveway (again). 3 bars and 9 miles RR remaining, but only managed 35.7 miles. Gotta love single digit temperatures...and 20 MPH wind.

 

[mdbuilder]

I've been close to 1/2 a charge per day lately, usually 7 bars consumed. My per day mileage is 20, + or - 1.5 miles. Heat set to full blast

 

[ChaplainBill]

Thank you for sharing your own experiences with the new battery replacement concerns I expressed. I will be more patient. The battery seems much stronger, not losing power as fast, and recharging downhill much better than my failed battery. I will keep the car and may leave my new Bolt in Oregon for a couple more road trips, to get the miles and time up so I will not have to pay new car tax when I ship it to Hawaii later next year.
Aloha, and Mele kalikimaka.

 

[mdbuilder]

Today's driving - starting RR was 64, heat off although I had preheated for a few minutes.

35 miles actual driving, not much heat used on the 7 mile trip to work. some heat used in the middle 20 mile lunch trip. Full blast heat on the way home. Pulled in to the garage with 2 flashing bars and 6 miles left on the RR with the heat running.

 

[GdB]

I was getting only 32 miles RR with a full charge at home. I took it to the dealer and gave them copies of news articles about battery problems at the battery manufacturer and the $30 million dollar settlement to make it right in Japan.
They tested for weeks, over and over, techs from Japan, etc. and FINALLY agreed to replace my battery when they also got only 32 miles RR at their shop!
My new battery seems stronger, does not go down as quickly while driving my normal route, but the RR has only increased to 45 miles MAX in the two weeks since I have had it back. This vehicle had 85-90 mile RR consistently when new. Is my computer system in the car confused and does not recognize the new battery?
I almost gave up on my I-Miev, and in my weakness ordered a new Chevy Bolt which I hope to pick up in Portland before the end of the year for another tax credit, and a EV with a 238 mile range!!! I have an early deposit in on a Tesla 3, but felt I could not wait that long to get back into a dependable EV. I will enjoy a coastal road trip with the new Bolt before shipping it to my home in Hawaii... Aloha!

We did a few family trips over the summer and hypermiling on the highway we could just manage a 56 mile drive to my moms house, and did the round trip a few times.

After my wife having difficulty doing a trip that is usually easy, I needed to investigate...

I have been taking to my miev to work lately, and working late allows me to go full speed for 15.4 miles, and 3 miles city no traffic on the way home at night. I charge fully at home and work.

Note: no heat or AC used. 20 minutes of headlights is only 1/25th of a bar.

The next morning after charging, my RR has been 28 and 31 on different days. I was surprised that I was using up 12 bars to go 18.4 miles. Either my excel range calculations are wrong, or my battery is degraded. OK, the excel has some estimated unknowns, but if I would keep going full speed on the freeway I would drain the battery in less than 25 miles, whereas my excel predicts 40 miles. That's a huge difference!

OK, the colder winter temperature would drop the range about 6% (85F to 55F) based on air density only.

But I think there may be battery degradation. I have 35k miles on the odo, with a lot of that city driving.

I may have to go to the dealer like ChaplainBill.

 

[JoeS]

... if I would keep going full speed on the freeway I would drain the battery in less than 25 miles, whereas my excel predicts 40 miles. That's a huge difference!...

Yup, sounds about right. Full speed = 81mph, and at that speed the drag force is enormous! Dunno what spreadsheet you're using, but see the graph in this post which confirms a range of about 25 miles at that speed:
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=208&start=40#p17565

 

[Don]

... if I would keep going full speed on the freeway I would drain the battery in less than 25 miles, whereas my excel predicts 40 miles. That's a huge difference!...

Yup, sounds about right. Full speed = 81mph, and at that speed the drag force is enormous!

If I have learned anything new driving EV's now for 5+ years, that is it in a nutshell - Going fast costs lots more than going slower . . . . . and, even just slowing down a few mph really makes a big difference

Driving ICE's for years, we're all used to getting much better freeway mileage than around town and then we get an EV and find it's actually the opposite and it's not because ICE's like to go fast, but rather they are extremely wasteful in stop and go driving - Burn a bunch of gas to get 4500 pounds rolling and then waste all that energy friction braking at the end of the block. I now look at the brake pedal as the ultimate energy waster and do all I can to avoid pressing it until I'm down to 10 or 15 mph

Freeway driving in the iMiEV you can easily see from the amp meter that you're hitting the battery about twice as hard as you are at a steady 40 or 45, so it should come as no surprise that the range is cut about in half. We must drive the Interstate every trip to town because it's on the other side of the bay and the Interstate bridge is the only way across, but we do take local roads as far as possible to keep the Interstate miles to a minimum, so even with a two way trip to town and back it doesn't keep us from getting near 'normal' RR's on the next recharge . . . . assuming of course that we're not running the heat or the defroster on the trip

Don