Author Topic: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?  (Read 458150 times)

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Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #450 on: May 04, 2018, 04:59:34 am »
Nice.... 
I notice it's on the street.  Do you have a long e3ntension cord to plug it to charge it?

I was looking at the VW's a couple of weeks ago and learned VM stopped making EV/Hybrids.  THey are now only making 100% electric.  Won't work for me as I would need a charge-up to get home on some of my trips.

it sleeps in the garage. Right now it's having to make do with the supplied 1kVA charger, but I have all the bits for an OpenEVSE, and already dropped in a 240/30A circuit in the garage to plug that into.  I'm going to film the OpenEVSE assembly, and I'll put it on YouTube.

VW are pretty paranoid right now about overstating things, so while they advertise "201km range" , it said 235km remaining when I left the dealership, and still said 220km when I got home (which was 20km later).  I'll update with some real-world running information once we have a better idea of how it's all working out.  Given premium gasoline just hit C$1.80/litre here, I'm not going to miss the fillups, given electricity is only 8½ cents/kWh. That means it should cost around C$3 to fill it from completely empty

Thanks for sharing.  My wife has a Volt.  As much as I dislike American car companies, I have to admit the Volt is a very well designed and built car.  I never thought I would ever recommend someone to buy a GM car, but I would recommend getting a volt.  Now that I've driven an electric car I can't wait to get rid of my ICE and go electric.  I'm convinced hybrid plug-in is the way to go.

Hope you like you car.

You are paying C$1.80/litre?  Crud is my math right?  at $1.80/L that would be 6.84/gallon?  Wow.....  And then to covert the to USD (1.2) that would be $5.70 in USD.  Is that right?  I thought you Canadians had a lot of petroleum.

You have us beat on the electricty prices.  We are paying $0.45 kWhr for peak (2-9pm) and $0.12 for off-peak/night time.  (11pm - 7 am).

I would be intersted in seeing your video on OpenEVSE.  I installed 2 - 220v 50a circuits in my garage.  Purcahsed a Clipper Creek charger.  (+1)

How's the software on the VW?  Volt has it so you can program charging times.  It also used GPS cordinates so the Volt knows when you are charging at your home.  GM also has pretty good app for iPhone and Andriod to monitor the car, unlock doors, etc.

 





 

Offline boffin

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #451 on: May 04, 2018, 05:24:42 am »
Thanks for sharing.  My wife has a Volt.  As much as I dislike American car companies, I have to admit the Volt is a very well designed and built car.  I never thought I would ever recommend someone to buy a GM car, but I would recommend getting a volt.  Now that I've driven an electric car I can't wait to get rid of my ICE and go electric.  I'm convinced hybrid plug-in is the way to go.

Hope you like you car.

You are paying C$1.80/litre?  Crud is my math right?  at $1.80/L that would be 6.84/gallon?  Wow.....  And then to covert the to USD (1.2) that would be $5.70 in USD.  Is that right?  I thought you Canadians had a lot of petroleum.

You have us beat on the electricty prices.  We are paying $0.45 kWhr for peak (2-9pm) and $0.12 for off-peak/night time.  (11pm - 7 am).

I would be intersted in seeing your video on OpenEVSE.  I installed 2 - 220v 50a circuits in my garage.  Purcahsed a Clipper Creek charger.  (+1)

How's the software on the VW?  Volt has it so you can program charging times.  It also used GPS cordinates so the Volt knows when you are charging at your home.  GM also has pretty good app for iPhone and Andriod to monitor the car, unlock doors, etc.

c$1.80 is for premium, it's about c$1.60 for regular, so about $4.56/USGal. Right now it's about US$3.70/gal across the border in WA state, and when I was in Texas last week (near the large refinery capacity) it was around US$2.79/usGal

Yes, Canada has a lot of petroleum, but sensibly we have highish taxes on it (compared with the US), which encourages people to buy smaller cars. However, both here in BC and in Quebec, there is an abundance of HydroElectric power, and electricity is silly cheap (compared to almost anywhere else in the world). My 8½c/kWh is just over half what you pay off-peak, and less than 1/6th what you pay peak.

Expensive gasoline & cheap electricity makes the e-car a no-brainer here.

 

Offline ahbushnell

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #452 on: May 04, 2018, 05:33:26 am »
Thanks for sharing.  My wife has a Volt.  As much as I dislike American car companies, I have to admit the Volt is a very well designed and built car.  I never thought I would ever recommend someone to buy a GM car, but I would recommend getting a volt.  Now that I've driven an electric car I can't wait to get rid of my ICE and go electric.  I'm convinced hybrid plug-in is the way to go.

Hope you like you car.

You are paying C$1.80/litre?  Crud is my math right?  at $1.80/L that would be 6.84/gallon?  Wow.....  And then to covert the to USD (1.2) that would be $5.70 in USD.  Is that right?  I thought you Canadians had a lot of petroleum.

You have us beat on the electricty prices.  We are paying $0.45 kWhr for peak (2-9pm) and $0.12 for off-peak/night time.  (11pm - 7 am).

I would be intersted in seeing your video on OpenEVSE.  I installed 2 - 220v 50a circuits in my garage.  Purcahsed a Clipper Creek charger.  (+1)

How's the software on the VW?  Volt has it so you can program charging times.  It also used GPS cordinates so the Volt knows when you are charging at your home.  GM also has pretty good app for iPhone and Andriod to monitor the car, unlock doors, etc.

c$1.80 is for premium, it's about c$1.60 for regular, so about $4.56/USGal. Right now it's about US$3.70/gal across the border in WA state, and when I was in Texas last week (near the large refinery capacity) it was around US$2.79/usGal

Yes, Canada has a lot of petroleum, but sensibly we have highish taxes on it (compared with the US), which encourages people to buy smaller cars. However, both here in BC and in Quebec, there is an abundance of HydroElectric power, and electricity is silly cheap (compared to almost anywhere else in the world). My 8½c/kWh is just over half what you pay off-peak, and less than 1/6th what you pay peak.

Expensive gasoline & cheap electricity makes the e-car a no-brainer here.

Isn't cold weather a problem with battery range?
 

Offline james_s

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #453 on: May 04, 2018, 05:37:49 am »
Not likely, at least not the sort you'd find in the Vancouver BC area. The batteries will self-heat as soon as you put a load on them.
 

Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #454 on: May 04, 2018, 05:41:03 am »
Thanks for sharing.  My wife has a Volt.  As much as I dislike American car companies, I have to admit the Volt is a very well designed and built car.  I never thought I would ever recommend someone to buy a GM car, but I would recommend getting a volt.  Now that I've driven an electric car I can't wait to get rid of my ICE and go electric.  I'm convinced hybrid plug-in is the way to go.

Hope you like you car.

You are paying C$1.80/litre?  Crud is my math right?  at $1.80/L that would be 6.84/gallon?  Wow.....  And then to covert the to USD (1.2) that would be $5.70 in USD.  Is that right?  I thought you Canadians had a lot of petroleum.

You have us beat on the electricty prices.  We are paying $0.45 kWhr for peak (2-9pm) and $0.12 for off-peak/night time.  (11pm - 7 am).

I would be intersted in seeing your video on OpenEVSE.  I installed 2 - 220v 50a circuits in my garage.  Purcahsed a Clipper Creek charger.  (+1)

How's the software on the VW?  Volt has it so you can program charging times.  It also used GPS cordinates so the Volt knows when you are charging at your home.  GM also has pretty good app for iPhone and Andriod to monitor the car, unlock doors, etc.

c$1.80 is for premium, it's about c$1.60 for regular, so about $4.56/USGal. Right now it's about US$3.70/gal across the border in WA state, and when I was in Texas last week (near the large refinery capacity) it was around US$2.79/usGal

Yes, Canada has a lot of petroleum, but sensibly we have highish taxes on it (compared with the US), which encourages people to buy smaller cars. However, both here in BC and in Quebec, there is an abundance of HydroElectric power, and electricity is silly cheap (compared to almost anywhere else in the world). My 8½c/kWh is just over half what you pay off-peak, and less than 1/6th what you pay peak.

Expensive gasoline & cheap electricity makes the e-car a no-brainer here.

Isn't cold weather a problem with battery range?

I don't think so.  Dave did a video on lead/acid and they produce a lot of heat when charging and discharging.  I think it's 20% and 20%.  So between charging and discharging 40% of the energy is lost as heat.

Li batteries are a bit better.  But they are still affected by cold. But aging they heat-up when discharging.  Good question. 
 

Offline mtdoc

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #455 on: May 04, 2018, 06:41:43 am »
I own a Volt. Great car. I live about 100 mi as the crow flies from Vancouver, BC - same general climate. Battery range is definitely decreased approx 10%  in winter months compared to summer.

Lucky here . Gas is cheap and grid power (mostly hydro derived) is $0.075/kWh.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 06:43:15 am by mtdoc »
 

Offline paulca

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #456 on: May 04, 2018, 07:32:57 am »
Just for comparison in the UK I currently pay £1.34 per litre of premium.  So £4.95 per US gallon.  $6.71 per gallon.  A tank of 50 litres gets me around 300 miles commuting.  350-370 miles touring.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 09:01:08 am by paulca »
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Offline nctnico

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #457 on: May 04, 2018, 02:03:19 pm »
VW are pretty paranoid right now about overstating things, so while they advertise "201km range" , it said 235km remaining when I left the dealership, and still said 220km when I got home (which was 20km later).  I'll update with some real-world running information once we have a better idea of how it's all working out.
IMHO one of the errors with electric cars is that they emphasize on range left instead of charge left. It is simply impossible to calculate the remaining range accurate enough to be meaningful in practical circumstances. Just like ICE cars electric cars should show remaining charge as the primary indicator and range is just some kind of gross guesstimate.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 02:41:26 pm by nctnico »
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Offline linux-works

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #458 on: May 04, 2018, 02:54:26 pm »
consumers of vehicles are not usually very technical.  you want to have consumers do their OWN calculations to come up with the TARGET metric of 'distance left' ?

that's quite a product design approach.  life is too easy on the consumer, lets make it harder.

yeah, that will go over well.

how about this: solve the problem rather than avoid it?  if distance is hard to calculate, well, work harder and come up with better ways to get that estimate.  its not really rocket science and 'close enough' IS good enough.

Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #459 on: May 04, 2018, 03:23:55 pm »
The Volt has a battery fuel gauge.  Something GM did “right”!  They show battery charge on a fuel looking gauge and display miles remaining in numeric form.  I really wish I could say something bad about the Volt due to my dislike of GM....  But I really can’t.  Quitte honestly I could not give them any advice on how to make any improvements on the car.  Even there software and phone app is very good.

 

Offline phil from seattle

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #460 on: May 04, 2018, 04:59:11 pm »
Thanks for sharing.  My wife has a Volt.  As much as I dislike American car companies, I have to admit the Volt is a very well designed and built car.  I never thought I would ever recommend someone to buy a GM car, but I would recommend getting a volt.  Now that I've driven an electric car I can't wait to get rid of my ICE and go electric.  I'm convinced hybrid plug-in is the way to go.

Hope you like you car.

You are paying C$1.80/litre?  Crud is my math right?  at $1.80/L that would be 6.84/gallon?  Wow.....  And then to covert the to USD (1.2) that would be $5.70 in USD.  Is that right?  I thought you Canadians had a lot of petroleum.

You have us beat on the electricty prices.  We are paying $0.45 kWhr for peak (2-9pm) and $0.12 for off-peak/night time.  (11pm - 7 am).

I would be intersted in seeing your video on OpenEVSE.  I installed 2 - 220v 50a circuits in my garage.  Purcahsed a Clipper Creek charger.  (+1)

How's the software on the VW?  Volt has it so you can program charging times.  It also used GPS cordinates so the Volt knows when you are charging at your home.  GM also has pretty good app for iPhone and Andriod to monitor the car, unlock doors, etc.

c$1.80 is for premium, it's about c$1.60 for regular, so about $4.56/USGal. Right now it's about US$3.70/gal across the border in WA state, and when I was in Texas last week (near the large refinery capacity) it was around US$2.79/usGal

Yes, Canada has a lot of petroleum, but sensibly we have highish taxes on it (compared with the US), which encourages people to buy smaller cars. However, both here in BC and in Quebec, there is an abundance of HydroElectric power, and electricity is silly cheap (compared to almost anywhere else in the world). My 8½c/kWh is just over half what you pay off-peak, and less than 1/6th what you pay peak.

Expensive gasoline & cheap electricity makes the e-car a no-brainer here.

Congrats on the eVW!  I love the instant torque of electric and never having to go to the gas station - priceless. Too bad it took dieselgate to get them on the right track.

The average price per kwh in the US is around $0.11 so a lot closer to BC Hydro rates.  Most of our electricity in the Pacific Northwest comes from Hydro, too. But even with "cheap" gas here, EVs still make a lot of sense.

By the way, my in-laws live by the Columbia River in eastern Washington and pay $0.04 per kwh because of some special deal with the Rocky Reach Dam operator.  The area is attracting bitcoin miners because of the cheap rates.  I keep telling him they should get an EV but he's kind of a red-neck and thinks EVs are some sort of liberal conspiracy.
 

Offline phil from seattle

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #461 on: May 04, 2018, 05:08:33 pm »
consumers of vehicles are not usually very technical.  you want to have consumers do their OWN calculations to come up with the TARGET metric of 'distance left' ?

that's quite a product design approach.  life is too easy on the consumer, lets make it harder.

yeah, that will go over well.

how about this: solve the problem rather than avoid it?  if distance is hard to calculate, well, work harder and come up with better ways to get that estimate.  its not really rocket science and 'close enough' IS good enough.

Yes.  Even for me (pretty technical, can actually still do calculations in my head), I prefer remaining range.  While actual range is dependent on wind, temperature, rain, elevation gain/loss, tire pressure, ... an approximate range is easy to work with. Kind of like a gas gauge.  I just know that on a cold, rainy day with a headwind and going uphill I will see lower efficiency and plan for it accordingly.  Oddly enough, ICE cars have a similar efficiency drop in that kind of weather and no one whines about "want to see actual gallons/liters left".  A very vague gas gauge with maybe 1/8 markings is considered just fine. Plus, most modern ICEs have distance to empty displays.

And, the number of EV owners that have been stranded because they ran their batteries down to zero rounds to, well, zero.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 05:16:06 pm by phil from seattle »
 

Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #462 on: May 04, 2018, 05:59:33 pm »
consumers of vehicles are not usually very technical.  you want to have consumers do their OWN calculations to come up with the TARGET metric of 'distance left' ?

that's quite a product design approach.  life is too easy on the consumer, lets make it harder.

yeah, that will go over well.

how about this: solve the problem rather than avoid it?  if distance is hard to calculate, well, work harder and come up with better ways to get that estimate.  its not really rocket science and 'close enough' IS good enough.

Yes.  Even for me (pretty technical, can actually still do calculations in my head), I prefer remaining range.  While actual range is dependent on wind, temperature, rain, elevation gain/loss, tire pressure, ... an approximate range is easy to work with. Kind of like a gas gauge.  I just know that on a cold, rainy day with a headwind and going uphill I will see lower efficiency and plan for it accordingly.  Oddly enough, ICE cars have a similar efficiency drop in that kind of weather and no one whines about "want to see actual gallons/liters left".  A very vague gas gauge with maybe 1/8 markings is considered just fine. Plus, most modern ICEs have distance to empty displays.

And, the number of EV owners that have been stranded because they ran their batteries down to zero rounds to, well, zero.

Gas or EV miles remaing depends on how one drives.  My Volt with a full charge says I have a 68 mile range with battery power.  But driving down the freeway at 90 I only get about 40 miles.

Tell your red neck friend to drive an EV for a few days.  I was anti-EV until my wife forced us to buy one.  Out of the 4 cars we own I prefer the EV over any of hte ICE.

Explain it like this to your red neck friend.  Driving an EV is a lot like sex.  At first your afraid of it.  But once you try it, you love it.  (Or maybe that's just me.)


 

Offline coppice

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #463 on: May 04, 2018, 06:41:25 pm »
Isn't cold weather a problem with battery range?
Surely it would only be a problem if its unpredictable. Its actually fairly predictable, so its just something that needs to be allowed for.
 

Offline phil from seattle

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #464 on: May 04, 2018, 06:44:21 pm »

Tell your red neck friend to drive an EV for a few days.  I was anti-EV until my wife forced us to buy one.  Out of the 4 cars we own I prefer the EV over any of hte ICE.

Explain it like this to your red neck friend.  Driving an EV is a lot like sex.  At first your afraid of it.  But once you try it, you love it.  (Or maybe that's just me.)
Yeah, I'm SURE that will persuade him.
 

Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #465 on: May 04, 2018, 06:47:59 pm »
Isn't cold weather a problem with battery range?
Surely it would only be a problem if its unpredictable. Its actually fairly predictable, so its just something that needs to be allowed for.

I would agree.  It's like knowing if one should wear a jacket or shorts in the winter.  While weather is unpredictable climate is.  We know in the winter the climate is cooler.  Yes there can be winter days when one can wear shorts, but one can predict throughout most of the winter one will need a jacket.
 

Offline nctnico

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #466 on: May 04, 2018, 07:38:52 pm »
consumers of vehicles are not usually very technical.  you want to have consumers do their OWN calculations to come up with the TARGET metric of 'distance left' ?
Do ICE cars have a range indicator? No, they have a fuel gauge! That has worked well for decades and by your own experience (which automatically adjusts for your driving style and terrain) you know how far you can drive given the fuel guage read out.
« Last Edit: May 04, 2018, 07:43:46 pm by nctnico »
There are small lies, big lies and then there is what is on the screen of your oscilloscope.
 

Offline nfmax

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #467 on: May 04, 2018, 08:04:38 pm »
consumers of vehicles are not usually very technical.  you want to have consumers do their OWN calculations to come up with the TARGET metric of 'distance left' ?
Do ICE cars have a range indicator? No, they have a fuel gauge! That has worked well for decades and by your own experience (which automatically adjusts for your driving style and terrain) you know how far you can drive given the fuel guage read out.
Most ICE cars have a remaining range display as well as a fuel quantity gauge
 

Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #468 on: May 04, 2018, 08:07:34 pm »
consumers of vehicles are not usually very technical.  you want to have consumers do their OWN calculations to come up with the TARGET metric of 'distance left' ?
Do ICE cars have a range indicator? No, they have a fuel gauge! That has worked well for decades and by your own experience (which automatically adjusts for your driving style and terrain) you know how far you can drive given the fuel guage read out.

Reason for a fuel gauge is because the motor is always running consuming fuel.  It is quite possible and has happened one can have a full tank of fuel and run out of gas without moving a foot.  It's happed in large traffic jams.  There is no relationship between quanity of fuel and distance car can be driven with ICE.

EV different story.  One can sit in an EV for a month in a traffic jam not moving and the distane which can be driven is the same on day one as it is on day 30.  EV only use power when the car is moving, not while it is sitting in traffic.



Is that even possible in an i 

 

Offline glarsson

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #469 on: May 04, 2018, 08:20:08 pm »
Do ICE cars have a range indicator? No, they have a fuel gauge!
My current car does have a range display. All of them back to the one from model year 1988 had one.
Why should a range indicator be easier in an EV car than in an ICE car? Both know the remaining energy in the "tank" and can predict the remaining range based on the current drive style.
 

Offline DougSpindler

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #470 on: May 04, 2018, 08:39:18 pm »
Do ICE cars have a range indicator? No, they have a fuel gauge!
My current car does have a range display. All of them back to the one from model year 1988 had one.
Why should a range indicator be easier in an EV car than in an ICE car? Both know the remaining energy in the "tank" and can predict the remaining range based on the current drive style.

In an ICE vehicle the fuel gauge only has a loose correlation to the amount of miles the car can be driven.  If the car is started and left idling it will travel 0 miles.
 

Offline james_s

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #471 on: May 04, 2018, 08:58:13 pm »
I've seen cars with a range indicator but the cars I've owned have all had fuel gauges. I've never really cared one way or another though since I almost always fill it up before it dips below about 1/3 tank. No reason to run it down to fumes unless I just *really* want to get straight home.
 

Offline glarsson

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #472 on: May 04, 2018, 09:31:57 pm »
In an ICE vehicle the fuel gauge only has a loose correlation to the amount of miles the car can be driven.
True, but it is exactly the same in an electric vehicle.

If the car is started and left idling it will travel 0 miles.
Left idling for over 40 hours...
If you just sit in an electric vehicle with the heater or AC running it will also travel 0 miles.
If you just leave the electric vehicle for a couple of weeks (or days in cold climate) it will also travel 0 miles (and perhaps need a new battery).
 

Offline james_s

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #473 on: May 04, 2018, 09:34:30 pm »
Perhaps a more realistic measure, if you're cruising on a flat section of highway you'll get far better fuel economy than if you're going up a steep hill. My mileage varies pretty dramatically based on the driving I do, sometimes I can go 300+ miles on a tank, sometimes I'm running on fumes at 200. Either way, calculating the remaining range is something I do in my head based on the anticipated driving ahead, something the computer doesn't know.
 

Offline glarsson

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Re: When Will Electric Cars Become Mainstream?
« Reply #474 on: May 04, 2018, 09:38:55 pm »
Perhaps a more realistic measure, if you're cruising on a flat section of highway you'll get far better fuel economy than if you're going up a steep hill. My mileage varies pretty dramatically based on the driving I do, sometimes I can go 300+ miles on a tank, sometimes I'm running on fumes at 200. Either way, calculating the remaining range is something I do in my head based on the anticipated driving ahead, something the computer doesn't know.
But this is also true for an electric vehicle.
The only thing a range gauge can do is present an estimate based on remaining energy (in battery or fuel tank) and the measured consumption for chosen time period (last 10 minutes or whatever).
 


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