Charging + Driving tips for those living in a valley? High usage for the first 10 kms

[krnshh]

Hi,

We live in a bit of a valley and for my daily driving to work, I have to take the motorway in about 1 km after unplugging which is a bit of an uphill road for about 10 kms. The car has an extremely high kwh usage of around 400-450wh/km for that period of time and there seems no way we can reduce it, unless we have driven a while after charging on flat roads.

Are there any tips to reduce the wh/km? Something related to charging or such or should we just ignore this?

Plus, does this mean any long term concerns on battery degradation?

Cheers!

 

[mikeash]

If you're going uphill then increased consumption is expected. It takes energy to lift the car against gravity. You will mostly make it up when coming back down.

 

[Dborn]

It seems strange, but depending on where I have last charged, it seems my average wh/ km for that charge session will vary. For instance if I fill up at home, I have a steep hill straight out of my driveway. I cannot seem to get my average down below 220. If I charge up fully at my place of work, where it is level and downhill all the way home, my average is often 200. If I supercharge ( close to home), it is somewhere in between. The driving I do is all on the same relative routes, so you would expect it all to average out about the same, but it doesn't.

 

[bxr140]

Its zero problem. Its just the math doing what math does--its dividing a big number (Wh) that is the obvious result of uphill vs flat land travel by a small number (km traveled).

 

[stevezzzz]

Not to worry. I've got the same sort of situation when I leave my house: it's uphill for a mile or two in most directions. I often see an average of 700-800 Wh/mi as I crest the hill; by the time I return home along the same route, my average has dropped to around 300 Wh/mi, which is my summertime average. It's no different when I leave the house in the one direction that travels downhill: I see great consumption numbers to start with but by the time I return home, consumption for the trip is back up to right around the long-term average.

Your uphill average discharge rate of 400-450 Wh/km is very low compared to a rate that might stress the battery pack; I'd just not spend any time worrying about it.