Man, this car is impressive.
This is the story of my first time experiencing "range anxiety". I've had the car for a year and a half, but I charge it at home, and what long trips I have taken have all been along major highways with plenty of superchargers around. I've spent zero seconds worrying about where to get juice -- until last night, driving home from a ski resort.
I spent the morning two days ago around home running errands. Then I drove to my parents place for a visit, and came back home before leaving for the ski trip. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to fully charge the car after driving around much of the day. The battery was up to maybe 75% or so when I left. It's a 2-hour trip, about 100 miles from Bristow, VA, to Ski Liberty, and there aren't any superchargers along that particular route, and I didn't charge it while I was up there either.
I spent the night in a cabin and skied all the next day. Perfect day on the slopes! BRUTALLY cold, though. Well under freezing. And it was snowing. When I got back to my car to drive home, the nav informed me that it estimated I would arrive home with just 7% of my charge remaining. It suggested I detour to the Gaithersburg supercharger -- adding at least an hour to my 2-hour trip.
Nahhh, I got this .... right? Probably?
The car and battery were freezing cold -- i had no regen for at least the first thirty miles. There was precipitation, too -- snow which later turned to sleet. The roads were sloppy. Also, it was dark, so I had to use my headlights, too. Everything I'd read about range said those were all battery drainers. Would that 7% of wiggle room be enough to get me home? Would I have to inch my way home well below the speed limit in order to make it? I put the car in "chill" mode for the first time ever (i live in Ludicrous), turned on Range Mode, and decided to find out.
My plan was to simply drive the speed limit, not one MPH more ... I am normally a speed limit +9mph person, but given the wintery conditions, i figured it was justifiable, although clearly a number of people stuck behind me on single-lane sections of Rt. 15 disagreed! (I do sympathize ... on the way up, I was passing people like mad on that road) I was pretty careful not to make any sudden accelerations, and I kept my speed extremely consistent, but I was never under (or over) the speed limit.
I kept the climate control on for most of the trip. I turned it off for part of the way, but it didn't seem to make any measurable difference on my battery reserves, so I turned it back on.
The point of the trip that was most worrisome was when I was about halfway home and my expected charge at destination suddenly dropped from 7% to 3% for no apparent reason! I kind of panicked, until I realized the nav for some reason changed my route to a significantly longer one, maybe because of some perceived traffic jam (that never materialized). I just stayed on 15 instead of following its new route plan, and once it realized I wasn't going to leave my original route, my destination charge jumped back up to 7% again.
And when I pulled into my garage at home, my charge remaining was .... 7%! It's initial estimate was spot on.
So, to sum up ... despite sub-freezing temperatures, no regen for part of the trip, snow, sleet, rain, full use of headlights, and climate control set to 70 degrees, it still covered 100 miles at exactly the consumption rate the car predicted.
Consider me impressed. Thank you, range mode and chill mode! Ludicrous is happily re-engaged, but I'm glad those modes are there when I need them!
This is the story of my first time experiencing "range anxiety". I've had the car for a year and a half, but I charge it at home, and what long trips I have taken have all been along major highways with plenty of superchargers around. I've spent zero seconds worrying about where to get juice -- until last night, driving home from a ski resort.
I spent the morning two days ago around home running errands. Then I drove to my parents place for a visit, and came back home before leaving for the ski trip. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to fully charge the car after driving around much of the day. The battery was up to maybe 75% or so when I left. It's a 2-hour trip, about 100 miles from Bristow, VA, to Ski Liberty, and there aren't any superchargers along that particular route, and I didn't charge it while I was up there either.
I spent the night in a cabin and skied all the next day. Perfect day on the slopes! BRUTALLY cold, though. Well under freezing. And it was snowing. When I got back to my car to drive home, the nav informed me that it estimated I would arrive home with just 7% of my charge remaining. It suggested I detour to the Gaithersburg supercharger -- adding at least an hour to my 2-hour trip.
Nahhh, I got this .... right? Probably?
The car and battery were freezing cold -- i had no regen for at least the first thirty miles. There was precipitation, too -- snow which later turned to sleet. The roads were sloppy. Also, it was dark, so I had to use my headlights, too. Everything I'd read about range said those were all battery drainers. Would that 7% of wiggle room be enough to get me home? Would I have to inch my way home well below the speed limit in order to make it? I put the car in "chill" mode for the first time ever (i live in Ludicrous), turned on Range Mode, and decided to find out.
My plan was to simply drive the speed limit, not one MPH more ... I am normally a speed limit +9mph person, but given the wintery conditions, i figured it was justifiable, although clearly a number of people stuck behind me on single-lane sections of Rt. 15 disagreed! (I do sympathize ... on the way up, I was passing people like mad on that road) I was pretty careful not to make any sudden accelerations, and I kept my speed extremely consistent, but I was never under (or over) the speed limit.
I kept the climate control on for most of the trip. I turned it off for part of the way, but it didn't seem to make any measurable difference on my battery reserves, so I turned it back on.
The point of the trip that was most worrisome was when I was about halfway home and my expected charge at destination suddenly dropped from 7% to 3% for no apparent reason! I kind of panicked, until I realized the nav for some reason changed my route to a significantly longer one, maybe because of some perceived traffic jam (that never materialized). I just stayed on 15 instead of following its new route plan, and once it realized I wasn't going to leave my original route, my destination charge jumped back up to 7% again.
And when I pulled into my garage at home, my charge remaining was .... 7%! It's initial estimate was spot on.
So, to sum up ... despite sub-freezing temperatures, no regen for part of the trip, snow, sleet, rain, full use of headlights, and climate control set to 70 degrees, it still covered 100 miles at exactly the consumption rate the car predicted.
Consider me impressed. Thank you, range mode and chill mode! Ludicrous is happily re-engaged, but I'm glad those modes are there when I need them!
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