Range or Percentage...a Simple Poll

[doctorwho]

range is an estimate, percentage is accurate. i use percentage

 

[ibdb]

Around town, I leave it on range because it very rarely matters.

On long road trips, always on percentage because it aligns much better with route planning and how long I need to charge before moving on.

 

[BIG ACH]

What bothers me is even when I have it set to range, whenever I enter a destination in the Navigation, it still tells me how much percentage I will have left when I arrive (and after my return as well).

Wouldn't it make more sense for the navigation to be aligned with your setting and showing how much range you'll have left after your trip?

 

[Ciaopec]

This poll is pretty evenly split so far. I did not realize it would be so close. It will probably remain undecided until all the absentee ballots are counted.

Hanging chad in FL and fraud in WI, OH, and TX are really going to make the poll all but believable.

 

[Ciaopec]

Percentage. My trip graph is more easily (for me) read in percentage. So my battery indicator is also in percentage; that is also how I fill the battery.

 

[Ciaopec]

As of 6/13 at 0800 et only 47.7% of us do it the right way.

 

[.jg.]

Range for sure, personally I think its a lot more of a relatable number than percentage. If I had it on percentage, I would inevitably be doing the math in my head of about how much range it would mean I had left.

Yes, when I tried using percentage, I was doing the calculations in my head, mainly because the remainder of my journey is measured in distance e.g. Is 28% adequate for the remaining 80 miles? It is just easier if the car does the percent to miles calculation for me.
However, I would really prefer to have both percentage and range displayed.

 

[Sparrow]

Range. There is already a little green bar that gives me a rough approximation of the percentage anyways.

 

[RAW84]

I use range.

I'll never get the point of % since you have to convert it to mileage anyways....why not let the car make the first pass at this conversion? Sure the mileage isn't accurate, but the use of a safety factor makes it easy to determine if a trip is feasible pretty immediately. If I get home from work and friend ask me to meet for dinner 40 miles away, I need to quickly ascertain wether I have enough juice to make that trip. Looking at my dash and seeing 114 miles, I'd know, given the weather and mostly highway driving without major elevation difference that I can make that trip fairly comfortably. If I see 46% I have to do some conversion to come to the same conclusion. Mileage also lets me assess the feasibility of the trip on the fly so I can either adjust my driving habits or find a charger to divert to if needed. This is definitely more difficult with a % displayed.

range is an estimate, percentage is accurate. i use percentage

If the whole of that percentage is degrading (and unknown) is it really meaningfully "accurate"? Meaning 80% at mile 1 is not the same useful capacity as 80% at mile 50,000.

 

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

range is an estimate, percentage is accurate. i use percentage

Actually that is quite the opposite. Range is directly proportional to the amount of energy in the battery. Percentage is proportional to what your full battery would hold today. How much is that today? How much was that on the day you bought your car? How much will it be in a year? Who knows?

You need a certain amount of energy to make it form point A to point B. Range tells you how much energy you have. Percentage tells you....what does it tell you?

 

[Don85D]

I have become accustomed to range (km) as the right measurement for me but it's like religion or text editors, the one that you learn first is always the best. My BMW motorcycle does not have fuel gauge so I reset the trip meter at every fill up and stop for fuel before the 'reserve light' (80km remaining) comes on. The same for the Tesla... I charge each night to a fixed 387km and keep 100 km in reserve as the minimum threshold to look for charging options. There is always the risk that a charging station is out of service so the 100 km reserve also has contingency built in.

When touring we plan Supercharging stops or reserved destination charging stops and that is worry free with the car doing the calculation and projection.

Whatever works for you is the best. This poll is just an opportunity to talk with peers.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

Why doesn't the car actually use what you select? You select RANGE, but in the nav it shows a percentage for your arrival.
What QC does the main screen even have? This has been an issue for YEARS.
Stick to ONE unit when selected.

 

[BIG ACH]

Why doesn't the car actually use what you select? You select RANGE, but in the nav it shows a percentage for your arrival.
What QC does the main screen even have? This has been an issue for YEARS.
Stick to ONE unit when selected.

YES!!! I posted the same thing a few posts above... so annoying!

 

[mknox]

I've never owned an ICE with it's gas gauge calibrated in miles. It could be easily done by taking the car's combined EPA fuel efficiency number and size of gas tank into account. That's all Tesla is doing here.

I prefer my "fuel gauge" be calibrated in units of Empty (0) to Full (100).

It is not a very accurate predictor or range anyway... especially in winter... since it is just a linear representation from 0 to whatever your car/battery size EPA rating is anyway.

If I want to know how far I can really go, I pop open the Energy App, set it to last 30 miles and it will tell me how far I can go based on recent driving style, weather and so forth. On long road trips, I use my Nav system to tell me how far in actual miles and the Energy App to tell me how far I can go based on current, real driving conditions. As long as Projects > Actual miles, I'm good to go.

 

[jbcarioca]

range is an estimate, percentage is accurate. i use percentage

Actually percentage is an estimate too. There is no means to directly measure actual SOC for a pack for normal daily use. The differences are small, to be sure, but both of these displayed numbers are estimates. That said, I use % also because that is less imprecise and inaccurate than is range. Anyway, I do actually use both because I also display the large range calculator page that provides for rated/instant/average range over instant/5 mi/to 30 mi. That gives me more than enough to indulge my obsessiveness. Model 3 does not thus far have that display but I suspect it will come, whereupon I'll use it when driving a Model 3.

 

[Owner]

I use primarily % as I drive without navigation most of the time. Sometimes I will switch to range when using the navigation and making sure I can make it to that particular location.

Why can't we have both listed somewhere?

 

[bxr140]

Engineer in me wants to use percentage, human in me accepts that range is more intuitive.

Note that my range is pretty spot on with my typical RM use, so there’s little value in %. If your use is 10-20% off, range is worthless.

 

[ewoodrick]

I would prefer both, even just a battery with 10 segments would be nice.
Showing miles agitates the range anxiety for me.

 

[d21mike]

What bothers me is even when I have it set to range, whenever I enter a destination in the Navigation, it still tells me how much percentage I will have left when I arrive (and after my return as well).

Wouldn't it make more sense for the navigation to be aligned with your setting and showing how much range you'll have left after your trip?

YES! That is the main reason I am using percent. If I say rated range then everything should be rated range. Again, I think both would be optimal.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

YES! That is the main reason I am using percent. If I say rated range then everything should be rated range. Again, I think both would be optimal.

Been like this since my 2013 S. Consistency is.... something... something...