Losing range when pulling out of the garage?

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mrjoe

New member
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Messages
3
Hi,
My wife is using our new RAV4 EV as her daily commute car. She reports that twice in the first week she starts the car and notes the available range in the current charge which then drops by 7-11 miles before she reaches the street.
Yesterday her miles number dropped by 11 miles in the 25 feet of our driveway and we can't figure out why.

Anyone here able to explain?

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
This probably is occurring because she is activating the HVAC (AUTO, ECO HI or ECO LO) in the center console. As soon as the forced air heater comes on, there will be an immediate drop in the indicated electric range depending on which climate control mode is selected. Obviously, the RAV4 EV battery will drain much faster with the Climate Control system running during Winter driving, even though most drivers would naturally use that in an ICE car first thing. Some may even leave it on all the time year round at a preset temperature and let the CC do all the work.

If you are charging your RAV4 EV at home overnight before commuting to work, you should enable, "preconditioning" in the charging control system, while your RAV4 is kept plugged in to the charger. This will warm up the passenger compartment before commuting to work, so that you can minimize use of the battery to do the same while first starting out.

Also, try using just the front seat heater(s), in low, medium or high, which is a much more (electrically) efficient way to stay warm without actually activating the forced air heating climate control system from the center console.
 
The car my be activating the heater on its own too. It might not even be her turning it on. My Rav4 likes to decide when I'm cold and turn on the seat Warmers and sometimes the Hvac system.
 
She says she has everything off climate wise when she starts the car... odd.

Dsinned said:
This probably is occurring because she is activating the HVAC (AUTO, ECO HI or ECO LO) in the center console. As soon as the forced air heater comes on, there will be an immediate drop in the indicated electric range depending on which climate control mode is selected. Obviously, the RAV4 EV battery will drain much faster with the Climate Control system running during Winter driving, even though most drivers would naturally use that in an ICE car first thing. Some may even leave it on all the time year round at a preset temperature and let the CC do all the work.

If you are charging your RAV4 EV at home overnight before commuting to work, you should enable, "preconditioning" in the charging control system, while your RAV4 is kept plugged in to the charger. This will warm up the passenger compartment before commuting to work, so that you can minimize use of the battery to do the same while first starting out.

Also, try using just the front seat heater(s), in low, medium or high, which is a much more (electrically) efficient way to stay warm without actually activating the forced air heating climate control system from the center console.
 
Don't worry about the estimated mileage. What counts is how much of your battery remains. Over time, you'll get a good sense of how far you can go on what amount of charge.

For example, I know that a half-full battery will reliably get me 35 miles. There are times I can get as many as 60 miles out of half a battery, but if it's freezing outside and I have the heat on and I'm driving in Sport mode, I know that I can still make that 35-mile drive without any range anxiety.

My Volt is the same way - sometimes it shows a starting mileage of 34, other times it's as high as 41. I ignore it, because I know exactly how far I can drive on a full battery regardless of the car's estimate.
 
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