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What are you guys doing to get range significantly exceeding 40 miles?

10K views 73 replies 42 participants last post by  Michael.Simpson 
#1 ·
I got my 2013 Volt about two weeks ago and continue to be amazed by the engineering that went into it.

However, I am a little bit jealous of all the people that claim to be achieving 45-50 miles on a single charge. My range hovers around 35-40 (I've only actually totally drained the battery a few times, but I am extrapolating in the other cases based on the mileage and energy consumption reported on the dash after each drive, and assuming a 10.4 kwh maximum capacity).

I live in Colorado Springs and have been using the Volt for commuting around town. I have about a 20-mile (round-trip) commute through local streets, with speed limits of about 35-45 and various traffic lights and hills (net elevation change from home to work is -800 feet). Temperatures have been fairly warm, 80's and 90's mostly, but we have had a few 75-degree days and they don't seem to improve the range more than a mile or two. I keep the climate control set to 72 in "eco" mode.

I have been careful to accelerate gently and maximize regenerative braking, yet I can't seem to drive as efficiently as people are reporting on these forums.

This is something of an academic question, since the nominally 38-mile range is enough for my commute, but nonetheless it would be nice to know what I have to do to achieve the 50-mile range people are bragging about. Is a range like that only achievable if your commute involves a 70-degree day and a flat, 50-mph limited-access highway with no stop lights and light traffic?
 
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#40 ·
Ahh, Colorado Springs. I love that city, and even have an application in for Colorado Springs Utilities. My heart goes out to all of you for having to endure yet another round of wildfires burning down homes and displacing families.

Much of what is probably killing your range is the fact that Colorado Springs has plenty of elevation changes. You always lose more going up than you get back going down. I have much the same problem as you, excepting for the fact that my driving around Williston is all flat land. I get to see the numbers climb as I putz around town at 30 - 40 mph, and am now showing 47 miles per charge. Our northern climate also means mild temps, and we've been sitting at a lovely 65 - 75 range most days. Let me leave town however, and all bets are off. Every road, and I mean every one of them leading out of town are all an uphill pull due to the fact we live in a bit of a basin. The best I've done leaving town has been about 42 - 43 miles before the engine kicks in.

It sounds like you are doing pretty much what you are supposed to do. Things might improve some as the car's components "break in" more.
 
#41 ·
I stopped taking the freeway to work. This lets me take an extra 4 minutes to get to work, driving a nice scenic route with few stops and much less traffic. It is uphill to work, but only by a few hundred feet. A few days last week I got in my car to see this:

 
#43 ·
Now that is impressive! I wonder if 60 estimating miles is the maximum for the late model 2012's & MY2013 (16.5 kW batteries).
 
#48 ·
I'm late to this discussion - as usual but having exceeded 50 miles on a single charge several times in my 2012 Volt I now fully understand GM's proclamation that driving a Volt efficiently revolves managing the "THREE T's"

TERRAIN - TEMPERTURE - TECHNIQUE

To this I would add TIME, the time of day you are on the roads played a major role in my achieving 50+ AER miles.

I didn't know there was a term for it, but after a few attempts (for fun and experimentation) I was able to routinely get 45 miles per charge (that's my spring/summer/fall daily average) now going into my second spring/summer and sure enough as I learned to master the THREE T's I have been able to drive 50 real world miles and not violating any traffic laws by doing any extreme hyper-miling or bothering vehicles traveling on the same roads.

I would suggest draining the battery down to ZERO and allow the ICE to come on, then fully charge it and then try a test drive.

Good luck and have fun.
 
#49 ·
I'm late to this discussion - as usual but having exceeded 50 miles on a single charge several times in my 2012 Volt I now fully understand GM's proclamation that driving a Volt efficiently revolves managing the "THREE T's"

TERRAIN - TEMPERTURE - TECHNIQUE
I would also add ClimaTe ConTrol as another T, or the lack of using it as a major factor in getting the higher ranges.
 
#53 ·
I consider ClimateControl is just part of "temp"
I don't. Just because it is very cold out, doesn't necessarily mean one would use climate control. Maybe they should, but it doesn't mean they actually do. When driving my commute, the temperature has huge implications on my range. However, I am crazy enough to drive without climate control so I can drive 100% EV. Now, if I could plug in at work, I would not have to resort to such extremes.
 
#57 ·
I don't. Just because it is very cold out, doesn't necessarily mean one would use climate control. Maybe they should, but it doesn't mean they actually do. When driving my commute, the temperature has huge implications on my range. However, I am crazy enough to drive without climate control so I can drive 100% EV. Now, if I could plug in at work, I would not have to resort to such extremes.
I understand. Nothing worse than "braving" the cold only to have you engine fire up because of ERDTT! And that can happen to me as much as 6 or 7 times during my commute. I end up getting to work with battery remaining and have burned a little bit of gas. :(
If I get the ERDTT run, I immediately fire up the climate control on comfort, as well as any defogger/defrosters to clear any condensation or frost. If the car's gonna force me to use gas, I'm going to get the maximum benefit from it.
 
#54 ·
[/QUOTE=ari_c;677721]I don't. Just because it is very cold out, doesn't necessarily mean one would use climate control. Maybe they should, but it doesn't mean they actually do. When driving my commute, the temperature has huge implications on my range. However, I am crazy enough to drive without climate control so I can drive 100% EV. Now, if I could plug in at work, I would not have to resort to such extremes.[/QUOTE]

I understand. Nothing worse than "braving" the cold only to have you engine fire up because of ERDTT! And that can happen to me as much as 6 or 7 times during my commute. I end up getting to work with battery remaining and have burned a little bit of gas. :(
 
#59 ·
I do a couple of things.

I drove a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid for years. It taught me well about using regenerative braking and the effects of the A/C on fuel economy. It also taught me how to look ahead in traffic, and coast when I could.

After driving that car for so long, the ECO mode of the A/C in my Volt feels pretty darned good. I haven't had comfort on yet, and until it gets *really* hot here in Nebraska I can't see that I will. ECO is just fine.
 
#60 ·
I had my best commute ever today. Drove 39.9 miles with 6.8 kWh used and had 16 miles remaining. It was 17 miles about 100 yds from my driveway. Previous record was 15 miles sometime last summer.

 
#61 ·
As has beeen mentioned a couple of times, you are looking at an estimate of your range. I believe it is based upon the average of the previous 15-20 recharge session completions. These do not need to be a fully discharged and recharged battery, just a charge that completes and resets the estimate. If you have only had it for a couple of weeks and it was on a dealer lot moving very few miles and possibly using a lot of electricity to cool the interior for a possible test drive, your averages might be only a few miles per charge. Give it another couple of weeks and your car will start to give you a pretty reasonable estimate. Try this, at the end of your daily drive, add the estimated range left to the EV miles covered. That should be pretty close to the actual estimate.

I am in Fort Collins, so the climate and terrain are pretty similar to the Springs. I don't do anything special and am typically reading 45+ and my estimate has been pegged at 50 regularly in the past few months (2012's max out at 50 estimated). I typically drive fan-only in the morning and ECO AC coming home after work. My daily commute is 30 miles RT with half of the milage on a two lane highway at 55 and the rest in town around 35-40. Work in Loveland is 500 feeet lower than home in Fort Collins so I am getting over 5 miles/kWh to work and just under 5 on the way home. I don't do any hypermiling and am generally keeping the green ball in the middle, but at times I just can't help dusting people at traffic lights. (The look on BMW driver's faces is priceless.)

Enjoy your Volt and don't worry about the estimated range.
 
#62 ·
A thing of beauty! I ran another errand and I wanted to see how far I could go on my charge. I was able to reach 58.0 miles by the time I returned home. This is a new record for me.

I have a feeling this has to do with me inflating my tires up to 45 PSI. Previously, it was at 42 PSI. I noticed a huge difference in my rolling distance in my neighborhood. Previously, on some of the hills I had to accelerate, now with the extra coasting speed, that is no longer necessary.

 
#63 ·
WHAT?!!! My tires are at 42 psi. You're saying to pump them up to 45 psi? They're going to POP! :)

That's a nice screen. Makes me less concerned about me getting 9.8, 9.9 kWhr Used instead of 10.1, 10.2.
 
#66 ·
I'm averaging 52miles of range during my work week (49 on the weekends cuz I like sport mode when I'm not hypermiling during the 55 mile commute during the work week). I have not totally dialed in my morning commute (get 49-50 miles range), but the afternoon commute is almost always 52 miles. I've been keeping my tires at stock psi, but I'm going to bump that up after I type this post. I've found that 52MPH is my sweet spot for freeway driving, it adds about 10 min to my commute but it's worth it to me and I usually only piss off 1-2 people a day :)
 
#67 ·
In order of importance

1. Speed...as low as possible..under 30 is good.
2. Internal battery temp ...charging raises temp ....72 F is good. Under 55 I am lucky to see 40 miles range.
3. You can do well on an undulating terrain by coasting in N. Regen is less efficient.
4. egg on pedals driving technique. Gentle!
 
#69 ·
Well I'm pretty happy! Today I set a PB under the following conditions. Mostly city miles, about 8 miles on 60 mph highways. Outside temp 70 in AM, 88 in afternoon. I made a big triangle about 15 miles +- each leg. Mostly speeds were in the 30-45 range. I kept the climate control off as it was perfect open window weather. If I had a sunroof it would have been open and if I had a convertible the top would have been down! I did punch the throttle a couple of times as I just had to dust off some slowpokies.

So the final range - 46.9 miles EV on 10.5 kWh! The engine turned on about 2 miles from my house (of course). I burned 0.07 gallons for that last 2 miles... I'm pretty psyched
 
#73 ·
kWh are easy to measure, but the state of charge of a Li-ion battery is notoriously difficult to measure. I believe the charging system charges the battery to 80% capacity (the buffer GM uses to extend battery life), but it can only estimate, and it is affected by other factors, not the least of which is temperature. The battery discharges while you drive down to the minimum threshold, which is also an estimate of the SOC affected by several factors.

I consider the tolerance of these estimates the primary suspects in the unexpected "kWh used" measurements.
 
#74 ·
I consistently get 40 -50 miles to a charge. However, I have a unique commute. If I do city stop and go driving, my range drops drastically. I have a very steep hill that I put the car in hold for. My car reports that my lifetime MPG is 19. My electric MPG is 310. I try to save the electric for flat or downhill sections where it gets maximized.
 
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