SageBrush said:
I notice that Bjorn has added
Time (min) to add 75% SoC
Charge rate in Km per range added per hour for a 75% SoC increase
to his data table. Good for him !
There is still lots of room for misinterpretation due to large differences in range between cars, gaming with battery capacity reserve, and people not taking into account that Bjorn travels a VERY well endowed DCFC route, but he is certainly on the right track.
E.g., the Ioniq5 has 135 miles range at 120 kph in good weather presuming a 75% SoC usage. That will not be enough range to jump from a DCFC to the next in large parts of the US so the extra data points are misleading. It also makes for an annoying drive to stop that often (if even possible), and the time spent going to the charger and getting back to the trip is not included.
I think this points out the weaknesses of still relying on SoC in these calculations. Much better would be using baselines of 100, 150, and 200 miles between charging stops.
Personally, I don't consider any of the available or soon to appear BEVs, probably excepting the Lucid Air (the Model S LR can fake it), to have adequate range for extended road trips, especially in Western U.S. states with 75 or 80 mph speed limits. They can handle most weekend trips without too much compromise. In the case of the Ionic 5, 180 miles @ 75 mph (100-0%?) equates to just 126 miles practical for me, as I assume initial charging to 90% (to allow for degradation over a 3 year lease, gradually increasing the max. charge %, plus treating the battery better), and a 20% reserve, both because of the low density of charging stations and for battery care. Charging to 80% enroute drops the practical range between charging stops to just 108 miles. As I only need to stop to eat every 4 (more typically 5) to 6 hours on road trips, most of my charging would be to 80%.
Fortunately, most of my weekend trips are on routes where 75 mph is only occasionally possible, and definitely not legal as the max. rural interstate speed limit in California is only 70 mph, and I'm mostly off interstates. Not that the speed limit is widely adhered to; I've spent extended periods of time on I-5 in California cruising at 80 or 85 mph, either with or slightly above the flow of traffic speed, and similar cruising 10-15 mph above the speed limit is common on low traffic rural routes. It also helps that many of my trips are at higher altitude in less dense air, somewhat reducing the drag penalty paid by a big, blocky CUV, and a lot of the distance is at speeds at/below 55. Then there's the solar panel, hopefully taking care of most/all of the HVAC loads by day.
I expect the Ionic 5 to come in around 245 +-5 miles EPA Hwy, so (with the above charging and other conditions) weekend trips to the mountains with one enroute FC each way should be reasonably time efficient. Can't say the same for the Bolt (or EUV) - it took 47 minutes to charge a brand new 2020 Bolt from 45-80% coming back from Yosemite, and the same 47 minutes to charge from 80-100% on the way up (temps in the low to mid-80s both times), with FCs rated at 50 and 150 kW respectively, not that it got near the max. in either case. By contrast, the Ionic 5/EV 6 should be able to charge from 20-80% in 15 minutes at a 350kW charger.