I've been carefully studying the energy consumption and indicated charge/use in my Renault Fluence since I got it. Hardly surprising - any EV driver must do this to plan their driving. Anyhow, I have come to trust and interpret what the SOC and gauges are telling me and am happy that I can judge my remaining distance to a few miles worth.
This is to the point that I undertook a 120 mile round trip journey a few weeks ago, content in the confidence that this could be done at a steady 52mph on the highway. The NEDC cycle says it is good for 115. I was expecting to be able to get a charge, but was not sure I could. As it happens, I did grab around 5kWh worth, yet made it back home with around 6 kWh left. So I could've made the whole trip without any charging.
Of course, there is no way I would've attempted such a trip had I not built up enough experience to believe I could do this. It is also usefully backed up by Renault's 'flat-battery' recovery service that goes with leasing the battery.
I was due to run a 51 mile trip, each way, today but decided not to go due to weather. However, the car would have been fully loaded and on a route I have not done. Nonetheless, I'll probably try it out next week. I think it will be pushing it, but, hey, I reckon I'll just about make it.
The other day I had one sector (of 8) of the SOC left, which I know represents 12 miles with a certain driving style. I went to pick up my son on a 10 mile round trip. No worries, though the car started beeping at me very annoyingly even though I was confident I had 5 miles left at that point. Of course, I made it back and never doubted that I would.
OK, my question: Does owning an EV for a while and becoming familiar with it lead to the exact opposite of what many people might think about owning and using an EV will lead to - Does it lead to range recklessness, rather than range anxiety?
I read here very often folks hitting the low battery warning, which means they've also gone off and used up their full range. I'm finding I am becoming much more 'gun-ho' about pushing the envelope of the range. Of course, that might change if I hit empty and end up stranded a few times. But where my thinking is at the moment, that would only happen if I 'mis-used' the car in some way and used/drove it in a manner that ate my expected range.
What do long-time EV users think? Do you set out on a journey with a well-established expectation of the range, and have no worries about getting back, or do you shy away from pushing the range envelope of your EV? Does it depend on the type of BEV you have - are some more 'forgiving' than others and let you use up some 'invisible' hidden-away reserves, or do you get a sharp cut-off and you avoid ever getting close?
This is to the point that I undertook a 120 mile round trip journey a few weeks ago, content in the confidence that this could be done at a steady 52mph on the highway. The NEDC cycle says it is good for 115. I was expecting to be able to get a charge, but was not sure I could. As it happens, I did grab around 5kWh worth, yet made it back home with around 6 kWh left. So I could've made the whole trip without any charging.
Of course, there is no way I would've attempted such a trip had I not built up enough experience to believe I could do this. It is also usefully backed up by Renault's 'flat-battery' recovery service that goes with leasing the battery.
I was due to run a 51 mile trip, each way, today but decided not to go due to weather. However, the car would have been fully loaded and on a route I have not done. Nonetheless, I'll probably try it out next week. I think it will be pushing it, but, hey, I reckon I'll just about make it.
The other day I had one sector (of 8) of the SOC left, which I know represents 12 miles with a certain driving style. I went to pick up my son on a 10 mile round trip. No worries, though the car started beeping at me very annoyingly even though I was confident I had 5 miles left at that point. Of course, I made it back and never doubted that I would.
OK, my question: Does owning an EV for a while and becoming familiar with it lead to the exact opposite of what many people might think about owning and using an EV will lead to - Does it lead to range recklessness, rather than range anxiety?
I read here very often folks hitting the low battery warning, which means they've also gone off and used up their full range. I'm finding I am becoming much more 'gun-ho' about pushing the envelope of the range. Of course, that might change if I hit empty and end up stranded a few times. But where my thinking is at the moment, that would only happen if I 'mis-used' the car in some way and used/drove it in a manner that ate my expected range.
What do long-time EV users think? Do you set out on a journey with a well-established expectation of the range, and have no worries about getting back, or do you shy away from pushing the range envelope of your EV? Does it depend on the type of BEV you have - are some more 'forgiving' than others and let you use up some 'invisible' hidden-away reserves, or do you get a sharp cut-off and you avoid ever getting close?
. I'd say that in the LEAF, I pushed it to the reckless range on a few ocassions and in the Volt, it was not much of an issue; I always pushed it to it's limit with impunity. In the RAV4, because of the increased range, I've rarely felt reckless even driving from San Diego to LA. There is another sort of reckelessness to consider though; after a few years of driving electric, I have a better sense of what each car can do and what I can do when needed and so when there's plenty of juice, I put the car into sports mode and punch it a bit ;-)
