What's the best expected mi/kWh and speed to achieve it?

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JoulesThief said:
Eco and Eco+ modes are gimmicks. You can replicate all of that with a well tuned educated right foot, to do the exact same thing or better.

Not quite. Eco+ especially dials back some of the electrical load particularly the HVAC. In addition, there are maximum top speeds in those modes; in Eco+ I believe it's around 90 km/hr (57 MPH). As you run low on charge, the car automatically switches to Eco, then Eco+, unless you manually switch back to Normal.
 
Eco and Eco+ also cut power to the drive motor. In normal mode, all 136 hp is available. In Eco mode, only 94 hp is available and in Eco+, only 74 hp is available. You can get full power if you push the accelerator pedal all the way past the detent at the bottom of pedal travel, but driving in one of the reduced power modes has a dramatic impact on power consumption.
 
Eco modes are just helping you save energy. If you turn down or off the HVAC and modulate your right foot, you can achieve the same thing in Normal mode.
 
If you use cruise control, then your right foot is not modulating anything. I frequently and consecutively cruise control (in between deactivating to brake as conditions require) and usually run in ECO mode, and my efficiency is in the mid 5's mi/kWh because of it.
 
Tires make a big difference. Our 2015 SEL came with Continental tires, which were not great for rolling resistance. Our 2017 SE has Ecopia tires, and they are excellent for rolling resistance.

Aerodynamic drag is huge - the aero wheels that come on many e-Golf's are almost ideal. The underside is smooth, but incomplete - if it continued to the rear bumper, the Cd would be better. Air temperature affects aero drag - and so does elevation, and humidity. Warmer air, higher elevation, and higher humidity - all lower drag. The humidity is counterintuitive, but we are thinking about liquid water.

An average car (like the e-Golf) shifts about 4.5 TONS of air to the side each and every MILE traveled. Think about that for a minute ...

And rain does lower efficiency - you have to accelerate all the water that hits the car as it moves along, and water on the road has to be squished away, and it reduces traction, too.
 
Does anyone make the underbody back plate? Someone should...

NeilBlanchard said:
Tires make a big difference. Our 2015 SEL came with Continental tires, which were not great for rolling resistance. Our 2017 SE has Ecopia tires, and they are excellent for rolling resistance.

Aerodynamic drag is huge - the aero wheels that come on many e-Golf's are almost ideal. The underside is smooth, but incomplete - if it continued to the rear bumper, the Cd would be better. Air temperature affects aero drag - and so does elevation, and humidity. Warmer air, higher elevation, and higher humidity - all lower drag. The humidity is counterintuitive, but we are thinking about liquid water.

An average car (like the e-Golf) shifts about 4.5 TONS of air to the side each and every MILE traveled. Think about that for a minute ...

And rain does lower efficiency - you have to accelerate all the water that hits the car as it moves along, and water on the road has to be squished away, and it reduces traction, too.
 
ms4cd said:
Does anyone make the underbody back plate? Someone should...

NeilBlanchard said:
Tires make a big difference. Our 2015 SEL came with Continental tires, which were not great for rolling resistance. Our 2017 SE has Ecopia tires, and they are excellent for rolling resistance.

Aerodynamic drag is huge - the aero wheels that come on many e-Golf's are almost ideal. The underside is smooth, but incomplete - if it continued to the rear bumper, the Cd would be better. Air temperature affects aero drag - and so does elevation, and humidity. Warmer air, higher elevation, and higher humidity - all lower drag. The humidity is counterintuitive, but we are thinking about liquid water.

An average car (like the e-Golf) shifts about 4.5 TONS of air to the side each and every MILE traveled. Think about that for a minute ...

And rain does lower efficiency - you have to accelerate all the water that hits the car as it moves along, and water on the road has to be squished away, and it reduces traction, too.

Why don't you make it and sell it? What a perfect business opportunity!
 
In my own personal experience, with all peripherals and creature comforts shut off, except radio, during the daytime... doing 55 mph, sometimes a bit less, hardly ever touching the brakes, and driving smooth, in "D", paying attention to changes in elevation and coasting down hill when you can... my best has been 6.1 to 6.3 miles per kwh, starting and ending at the same location and elevation for the drive.

It can be done, but you need freeway or interstate on polished concrete, Bridgestone Ecopia 422 Plus tires set at 45 psi, and very, very smooth and steady driving techniques, with traffic that is accomodating on freeways or interstate. I try to get way far back behind a big truck, so cars that come up behind me know I am not the one impeding traffic, I can't drive faster than the truck in front of me, so they go around me.

You might have some luck heading south on 101 or interstate 80 to Sacramento and back, but not in town, in San Francisco. Way, way too many herd mentality drivers there with poor driving habits, driving combative instead of smooth. Just too many people there.
Managed to achieve 6.6 miles per KW on a 100-mile distance:
https://okharch.blogspot.com/2024/03/volkswagen-e-golf2020-370km-per-charge.html
Driving without climate control, with radion on, almost flat (no significant elevations)
 
I have a 2019 e-golf that I bought used last month, it has 38,000 miles on the odometer. Drove a 110 mile trip last week. 70F and almost flat, but on the freeway. Achieved 4.6 miles per kWh
 
I have a 2019 e-golf that I bought used last month, it has 38,000 miles on the odometer. Drove a 110 mile trip last week. 70F and almost flat, but on the freeway. Achieved 4.6 miles per kWh
Sounds about right. What was your average speed for the trip?
 
Managed to achieve 6.6 miles per KW on a 100-mile distance:
https://okharch.blogspot.com/2024/03/volkswagen-e-golf2020-370km-per-charge.html
Driving without climate control, with radion on, almost flat (no significant elevations)

That's great! I would not have thought that was possible at 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) and a slight uphill. The key was mostly likely your speed of 60 kph (37 mph) with no stop and go. That speed seems to be around the sweet spot for the 2017 and later model years.

I have a 2019 e-golf that I bought used last month, it has 38,000 miles on the odometer. Drove a 110 mile trip last week. 70F and almost flat, but on the freeway. Achieved 4.6 miles per kWh

That's good too. On my regular commute in my 2016 I would average 4.4 - 4.6 miles per kWh. In my 2019 it's more like 4.3 - 4.4 with 4.6 on the very high end of normal.
 
I participated in a third-party analysis of my 2018 e-Golf's performance. I took the data collected and crunched the numbers. I live in Calgary, Alberta and I drive year-round, from -35°C to 38°C The car is always outdoors and charges over a 110V connection. It has only failed to run twice, once in 2023 and once in 2024, when it hit -38°C. The 2024 fail was with the 12V battery, which is now 6 years old.

There are a lot of hills in Calgary and they have a big impact on these numbers, but it is also clear that temperature impacts performance as well. Studded winter tires with less aero wheels also contribute to lower winter performance. This e-Golf has a heat pump, but in -30° I'm using significant wattage to stay warm which combined with lower battery performance, makes for 130 km range. In the end, summer tends to average 7.4 km per KWh and half that when temperatures are below -25°C.

In Excel graphs, here is what I found;
1715488705282.png

1715489017477.png

1715489167125.png
 
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