Rav4EV Driving Tips & Suggestions

I was looking for a post that discusses the best way to drive the Rav4EV to achieve the best EV efficiency and EV Driving Scores and how these translate into the true range you can get from a Rav4EV. As I didn't find one....here I am.

I have had my Rav4EV since 11/5/13 and promptly started tracking all of my metrics for each trip including: Starting range, miles driven, ending range, charge time, new range after charge. I'm noticing that charging with a standard 110 outlet, I'm averaging a range gain of 3.6 miles per hour. During running, I am averaging an EV efficiency of 3.6 miles/kWh according to entune (Ranked 10th right now - Goblinz Rav4EV). This is over the course of driving 294 miles so far.

Over the past couple of days, I started to wonder (and test) how driving styles effect my EV efficiency. Is a Pulse & Glide method of acceleration more efficient than a slow steady acceleration? Does the use of cruise control help or hinder efficiency? I will be testing these things and update this post with my findings. Are different methods better given the road conditions? ie....slight inclined road vs. slight declined road. My trip to work in the morning, I can get an EV efficiency of 4.9 m/kWh, but on the way home I'm only getting 3.1m/kWh due to the road inclination. What is the most efficient MPH to drive at for an EV vehicle?

Do you have any suggestions based on your driving experience in the Rav4EV?

I think one of the most significant driving efficiency factors is how well the driver can judge deceleration to a stop solely using regenerative braking. This is VERY challenging! Especially in high traffic situations. A lot of finesse is required, but if done well and consistently, the RAV4 EV's maximum range will surely be optimized. By the same token, AVOIDING high traffic situations is another way to optimize your driving efficiency. In this regard, driving on the freeway vs. city streets may well be advantageous in order to avoid excessive stop and go driving.

The problem with driving in town based on a high degree of regenerative braking is dealing with the impatience of other drivers in ICE vehicles. Prudent re-generative braking to a stop and thus decelerating as gradually as possible, is quite a contrast in the real world where most ICE drivers are perfectly content to jam on the brakes to decelerate quickly so as to come to a stop in as little distance and time as possible. For this reason, sometimes the regenerative method is even more dangerous to do in an EV especially at night or when your EV will be the first car to stop at an approaching yellow or red light.

I learned from others on this site to maximize the momentum of the car by switching into Neutral. Mine seems to glide for a very long time. However, getting maximum range is usually not my style. I drive 70mph+ on freeways and race to get kids to school on time. Plus living in the general LA area, driving 'country style' slow is impossible.

Honestly I'm not sure how you folks get such great efficiency. 3.6 miles/kwh or even anything north of 3.2 for a sustained period seems impossible for me. I got 9.0 m/kwh going down hill very slowly to pick up my kids, but 2.0 on the way back (this was me trying hard to be efficient!)

Anyway, I've learned to embrace the SPORT feature and enjoy life when I see red on my dashboard. 267 pounds of torque! I get excited just thinking about it.

Dsinned said:

AVOIDING high traffic situations is another way to optimize your driving efficiency. In this regard, driving on the freeway vs. city streets may well be advantageous in order to avoid excessive stop and go driving.

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I disagree with this statement. Speed kills driving efficiency. It will always be better to take side streets versus the freeway if you drive at normal freeway speeds. When I'm driving home on my commute, stop and go traffic always gives me increased range due to the low speeds. The lower speed greatly offsets any battery lost from the start and stop.

mhkp said:

I learned from others on this site to maximize the momentum of the car by switching into Neutral. Mine seems to glide for a very long time.

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California Motor Vehicle Code 21710 states: "The driver of a motor vehicle when traveling on down grad upon any highway shall not coast with the gears of such vehicle in neutral."

I won't tell if you wont!

One of my biggest complaints with the RAV is the inability to do one-pedal driving. I really learned to love driving the Volt in L, which gives very heavy regen. The B mode in the RAV is weak sauce and not significant enough to bother.

new owner here coming from Prius. Missing the glide mode, I was using neutral in the Rav until I read in the manual on P.194, "Shifting to N while the vehicle is moving will disengage the EV system's drive-train. Regenerative braking is not available with the EV system disengaged and the transmission may be damaged." Any comments?

Amy

goblinz Rav4EV said:

California Motor Vehicle Code 21710 states: "The driver of a motor vehicle when traveling on down grad upon any highway shall not coast with the gears of such vehicle in neutral."

I won't tell if you wont!

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The gears on the Rav4 EV (or any other current production EV) do not go into "neutral" ever. The gears are always engaged, even when going into reverse. It's merely the power that is manipulated (from zero power to max) and the phase (to change motor direction).

That law doesn't apply.

abs said:

new owner here coming from Prius. Missing the glide mode, I was using neutral in the Rav until I read in the manual on P.194, "Shifting to N while the vehicle is moving will disengage the EV system's drive-train. Regenerative braking is not available with the EV system disengaged and the transmission may be damaged." Any comments?

Amy

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Yes, I have a comment. It's true that regenerative braking is not available, just like engine compression braking isn't available on an oil burner car when the car is in neutral. Yes, that's a fact.

There is ABSOLUTELY NO POSSIBLE WAY that this will damage the "transmission" like it may on an oil burner's automatic transmission. This is somebody at Toyota who just "cut-and-pasted" out of another car.

goblinz Rav4EV said:

...My trip to work in the morning, I can get an EV efficiency of 4.9 m/kWh, but on the way home I'm only getting 3.1m/kWh due to the road inclination. What is the most efficient MPH to drive at for an EV vehicle?

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Assuming equal distances to and from work, then we can presume that your overall economy was 3.1 + 4.9 / 2 = 4.0 miles per kWh economy. That's really good !!!

The most efficient speed for this EV is about 20 mph.

mhkp said:

Anyway, I've learned to embrace the SPORT feature and enjoy life when I see red on my dashboard. 267 pounds of torque! I get excited just thinking about it.

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It's actually 273 lb-ft of torque according to the specs, but it seems more like 400 ft-lbs up to about 40mph! This I can honestly say after having driven a 395hp/400lb Chevy Trailblazer SS before I traded it in to get my 2012 RAV4 EV.