This is an area of my car that I have questions. I’m not a tech guru and don’t understand all the numbers... I’m trying. I have had my X for 6 mos and not happy with the range. I’m not a speedster. I don’t take off fast and I cruise on freeway around 70. I’ve noticed that my range will decrease about 1/3 more then actual miles driven. (Ex I’ll drive 30, but my car range decreases 45). I’ve been watching the energy consumption and the average is usually around 360-370. I’m told I should be at 311.... way off. Not sure how to get it lower. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I haven't had my X for very long but one thing that is already emerging is that apparently one way to get better mileage is to take longer trips.
View attachment 371501 The reason for this lies in the aptly named "Departure Tax".
Here's the details of one from this morning.
The car sat in the unheated garage over night. As soon as I got close it turned on the heat and opened the door. I sat in it for a while listening to the radio and planning trips etc. in simulation of what one might do when actually leaving the house or a motel in the morning. Note that the load rose pretty steadily for the first minute, oscillated around 5 kW for a minute or so (after which the car was comfortably warm inside) and the slowly declined thereafter. The average power drawn over this 6.5 minute period was 3.69 kW and the total energy used 402 wH. For this experiment this power was drawn from the wall but if you did what I did disconnected from the wall the 402 wH would come out of your battery. If you run 5 miles to the shops that 402 amounts to 80 wH per mile. If traction is using 320 wH/mi your trip indicator will tell you at arrival that your consumption was 400 wH/mi. But if you went 10 miles it would report 360 and for a 20 mile trip 340. Etc.
Thus the first tip for better consumption numbers is: Don't pay the departure tax from the battery. Pay it from the charger. Of course this may not be possible if you are returning from a plane trip or departing a motel on a frosty morning.
Note that the heater appears to want about 1.8 kW or 1.8 kW/hr per hour in the steady state. If you go 60 mph then in an hour you travel 60 mi and use 1800 Whr for 1800/60 = 30 Wh/mi to be added to whatever the traction system is using. This depends, of course, on how cold it is. In very cold climates the heater may draw more and in warmer less.
The other things have been stated dozens of times before.
•Make sure tires are properly inflated
•Avoid, where possible, wet pavement, snow, gravel, mud
•Don't carry your barbells with you unless you need them
•Slow down but..
*Avoid stop and go and/or traffic that will have you below the sweet spot (30-40 mpH)
•If the battery is cold it won't accept full regeneration so try to manage your stops such that brake use is minimized and you use all the regen that's available to you until the battery warms up.
•Avoid rapid acceleration
•Avoid headwinds and exploit tail winds if you can.
•In cold weather travel during the daytime when temperatures are warmest (lowers heater requirement and minimizes drag)
•Other things I can't think of at the moment.
For comparison to others results: I've gone 536 mi since delivery at an average of 349 wH/mi.
Note from the first chart that there is tremendous variability in the achieved performance for short trips. This depends on traffic conditions, whether you are demonstrating the neck snapping acceleration, departure tax, road conditions...