4K podcast: How range estimates work in different EVs

I have a love-hate-relationship with the GOM of the Ioniq 28. As you know, percentage is not linear with that car, though the GOM thinks it is. So I gotten used to treating the last 20 km of range as zero. So If I want to reach my destination with 20 km of range left (that is about 10%) I need to start with 40 km of displayed buffer. For example for a 120 km stint on the Autobahn, I charge until the GOM displays 160 km. It will go down in line with driven km up until 60 km left on the GOM and then 20 km of GOM range will "vanish" in the next 40 km. If you get used to that, it is okay, but this is madness for anyone without experience with the car.

On my very first long road trip in my Model Y, I remember navigating to a Supercharger after fast DC charging at a 50kW charger, that was about 250km away and it estimated I would arrive with 20% battery. However as I started driving, for the first 40km or so that "20%" slowly dropped right down to 12% SOC at arrival. Sure enough, I arrived at the Supercharger with 13% battery left. I'm glad I had that extra 7% otherwise I would have fallen short! No idea why it did that.

I think many buyers underestimate the importance of such details not visible in the specs.
If you only travel in areas with dense charging infrastructure, it may not matter that much. But if like me you also occasionally travel to places where it's sparse (e.g. in my case the balkans), accurate realtime predicition is super useful, I'd say almost a prerequisite for stress-free travelling with family.

I tend to find that both my Telsas are great for predicting destination rage when the terrain is flat. However, just took about a 500mile (800km) drive this past weekend, this was just the return trip, It told me that I would arrive with 10% and had told me it was ok to leave to reach my destination. I charged an additional 20 minutes showing us arriving with 29% SOC.
This was with a mountain pass on the way. We arrived with 6% SOC. If we had listened to the car, we would have had to add in a stop. This is my personal experience with Tesla. Fine for flat ground but as soon as you start doing something different, the arrival range is not accurate. Not even close. This also was not like we just jumped in the car and did that stretch, we had already been driving for 2 1/2 hours previous to this and range estimate was fine then too.
After that incorrect incident, the rest of the trip was mostly flat and it was very accurate for when we arrived home. I don't think Tesla takes into account elevation changes, at least not in my experience.

These public service educational videos by Björn have been valuable to me during the time I decided to switch to an EV. Thank you.

For a newbie EV owner, the drop of 5-10km off the estimate range for the initial km travelled from your trip is quite puzzling if you haven’t figured out how EVs behave, that’s why it’s important to refer to SOC and use estimated range as ballpark guide.

I'm a new Tesla owner…Model Y LR, your channel is super helpful…range is not an issue for my driving habits but next fall I do plan on driving 2300 km (over multiple days)…I must admit I am nervous but I found that all the hotels where I stay have Tesla destination chargers and superchargers along the way…I'm supposed to keep battery 20 and 80…on a long trip should I charge overnight to 100%?

My experience with gom is good. When I drive the remaining range and driven km should be constant. During winter i fekx get 480km on the gom when starting. After 300km the gom is 180km. Thats ok. Its amazing how car takes rain/wind/ and temperature into consideration. I never have any range anxiety. In Norway there are 5 times more chargers than petrol stations.

I was stranded recently with a diesel car with more than 100km left on the GoM !! Now I have more range anxiety with fossil cars than electric XD

IMHO the WLTP or NEDC are bullshit, any car should show 4 values, something like:
hot weather, at 130 km/h -> 320 kms, at 90 km/h -> 440 kms,
cold weather ,at 130 km/h-> 290 kms , at 90 km/h -> 370 kms

Not sure wifey is going to be impressed.

I’d rather have a GOM, than not have one. I suppose you get to know the routes you regularly drive and how much the vehicle needs in kWh or percentage of SOC to complete that distance. It must be more difficult for you but for someone who drives the same vehicle for 2-3yrs. or more. Then they’ll get to know their vehicle, in relation to routes and load being carried.

So a fully loaded vehicle or part loaded or carrying a canoe… you’ll get to know that vehicle. I suppose to be safe, always keep 10-20%, (depending on vehicle) on the lowest amount. Ok, so you might get to a charger or final destination with a greater percentage than expected but at least you’ll get there with a bit to spare. Just in case you need to say unpack and then rush off on an unexpected 20mi/32km excursion.

Even in an ICEd vehicle, you wouldn’t want to arrive with an empty tank. So why aim to get an EV to near zero, at the end of every journey. I accept that a fossil-burner is different, in that if you know in advance you’ll either get there or get there and return on half a tank, with a bit to spare. Then there’s no point having a full tank at the start. As the extra weight will require more fuel, just to transport that extra half tank. Whereas an EV’s battery weighs the same, be it full of energy or empty of energy.

As to the basic question – I’d like the option of a GOM, that learns as you’re driving. Plus a percentage of remaining battery. And I’d like both displayed at the same time. As to mi/km or kWh, it would be good to compare and make an ongoing record of distance -kWh-cost. But if you had the first two, you’d know if you were going to get to your destination or not and that’s the only really important thing, with any degree off immediacy.

"Just like my wife degrades over time" ~Bjorn Nyland 🤣

I choose to display % instead of mileage on my 2016 90D and just know from expirrence that It will do around 2.5 miles per 1% in summer, less in winter.

"Batteries degrade over time, just like my wife " Bjørn 2024 😂😂

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