ALL POSTS - GOM - Range Meter - Distance To Empty meter

[sbportech]

I too have noticed the range variation, but have always made it home with range to spare, as far as the clicking goes I noticed it on my first drive. Not wanting to drive 60 miles to the service center I looked into it and found that it is the wheel center caps. I had the car up in the air so I removed the tires and secured the caps a little tighter with some felt tape. Also rebalanced the tires because they were out. Now it is silent, I would just drive it inill the 5k service and ask them to do something about it when they are rotating the tires.
Back to the range, I drive up and over a mountain every day so on a full charge it only shows 80 miles now but after my 70 mile commute I get hme with about 25 left, depending on how much I use the A/C. Like others have said just watch the bars on the gauge and go from there.

 

[RAVev4SF]

San Francisco to Sacramento/Roseville for 4th of July. Did an extended charge the night before and had a 101 mile range reading. Took I80 up and some backroads for the last 15 miles averaging 65 mph. I used the range bars to get a better idea of milage and I was getting 6 to 7 miles per bar. Left in the morning so didn't have to use any climate control at all. Had 4 bars left having gone 110 miles. Most of the freeway is relatively flat except the hilly portion from Vallejo to Fairfield and I think I had a slight tailwind in the morning. So it seems that on an extended charge I could have driven 138 miles. Plugged in at in-laws dryer outlet using a Nema 14-30 adapter and new Jesla (thanks Tony).

On the way home ended up leaving later in the morning with temps almost 90 so I had to eco hi most of the way home. Again did an extended charge and had about 115 mile range. Drove mostly 65 to 70 with eco high on and it seemed I only had a 2 mile penalty so I just kept climate on all the way home. Did a couple of errands before arriving home and had driven 112 miles with 13 miles of range left and 2 bars and the fuel light just turned on. Avg Efficiency was 3.0 m/kWh.

So based on my guess-ta-mate of 6 to 7 miles per bar a regular charge should net 96 to 112 miles, again depending on how fast I drive. I've only had the car 3 weeks so I'm still learning how to drive it more efficiently. Don't know if I have the guts to try the Sacramento trip on a regular charge though.

Tomorrow I have to drive to San Jose, I think I'll throw the rack and bike on and see how it effects efficiency.

 

[sqwalker]

I've had my 2014 RAV4 EV for about two months now. The GOM is only showing about 84-86 miles after every full charge (normal charge). However, I'm averaging 3.1 miles per kwh since new, according to ECO History.

If I'm averaging 3.1, shouldn't the GOM be displaying around 100 miles or so?

I frequently drive very short distances (3 miles to work), 5-10 miles here and there, and perhaps 10 miles a few times a week. Could this possibly be the reason why the GOM is only showing mid-80's? It just seems awfully low. Hopefully there isn't anything wrong.

Btw, I'm really enjoying this car. Just wish I could get around 100 miles, without having to resort to Extended Charging (which I haven't done yet).

Thanks for any possible suggestions.

Darren

 

[fooljoe]

Pay no mind to the GOM. If you maintain 3.1 miles/kwh for a given trip (reset it at the beginning of each trip rather than tracking your overall average) you will be able to drive ~108 miles on a normal charge, regardless of what the GOM says.

 

[sqwalker]

Even though I shouldn't pay much attention to the GOM, after a full normal charge last night, it was still disheartening to see the GOM only show 74 miles this morning. Heh, it just keeps getting worse.

 

[fooljoe]

Do you live on top of a hill? It could be that your drives home at the end of the day suck more energy than your drives away from home, and the GOM could be more heavily weighting those end-of-day drives. But alas, this is the kind of "guessing" that puts the 'G' in GOM.

To be sure nothing's wrong with your battery, I would reset your trip odometer and efficiency meter after a normal charge, then note what your efficiency and miles driven were for the day before charging again, along with your SOC from RavCharge. If your kwh consumed based on the car's dash gauges matches fairly closely what RavCharge tells you [(100-SOC)*35/100] then you're fine.

 

[sqwalker]

Yep, you guessed it, fooljoe. My trypical work commute is only 2.9 miles one way, and the first mile is going up a steep incline. So I assume this is what's causing the GOM to be out of wack.

When I had my Prius Plug-in where you are supposed to get like 12+ miles on the charge, my 6 miles RT would barely make it before running out of charge. The starting and ending inclines caused havok on the charge. I have been resetting my trip odometer after a normal charge and it appears that getting much better miles than what the GOM is showing.

Anyway, I do get about 2.8 miles/kwh going to work, and about 3.2 on the way home, and overall been averaging 3.1 kwh according to the past few months of Entune ECO Dashboard.

Thanks for the suggestion, fooljoe. It's nice to know it's not my battery.

 

[riderbike37]

Just did a 100 mile trip on Saturday. We started with an extended charge and 105 miles showing on the GOM. It was almost all freeway, from Berkeley to Vacaville. Once past Vallejo, the AC was necessary. By the time we got back, the GOM was showing 34 miles remaining, but I still had 5 bars, meaning I think I would have easily hit between 140--150 miles. I'm super pleased, especially because air temp was 104 degrees in the middle of the day, and the AC was running.

 

[TonyWilliams]

Just did a 100 mile trip on Saturday. We started with an extended charge and 105 miles showing on the GOM. It was almost all freeway, from Berkeley to Vacaville. Once past Vallejo, the AC was necessary. By the time we got back, the GOM was showing 34 miles remaining, but I still had 5 bars, meaning I think I would have easily hit between 140--150 miles. I'm super pleased, especially because air temp was 104 degrees in the middle of the day, and the AC was running.

That AC is super efficient... the two heaters (cabin and battery) are just the opposite.

 

[BabyTesla]

2014 with 1500 miles only charges to 69 miles on normal and 89 extended.
When I took it to the dealer they reset the learning feature.
So then is charged to 105miles in normal and we never tested extended.
Now it's happening again the charge is back to 80miles on a normal charge and going down.

Are my batteries bad from the start? Should I insist replacement?
We drive very conservatively and only get 2.9miles per killwatt

 

[Kohler Controller]

Can you do a range test to see what you really get?

 

[DevinL]

We drive very conservatively and only get 2.9miles per killwatt

That's your problem. The GOM (Guess-O-Meter) is basing your range on the poor efficiency you're achieving (not a reduced capacity). Driving reasonably (not super-conservative) and avoiding excessive top speeds should get you at least 3.3mi/kWh fairly easily.

What do your average driving conditions look like? Speed, elevation, and climate control can all have an effect. Do you live at the top of a hill? Are you using ECO HI mode for climate control? Have you checked that your tires are sufficiently inflated?

Your battery is probably fine, but your driving style is likely not as conservative as you think. Have you owned an EV or hybrid before the RAV4? Some hybrid hyper-miling techniques are not useful in a pure EV (i.e. pulse and glide).

 

[BabyTesla]

We live in So Cal, current Temps range from 72 to 90 all summer, the vehicle is used by my wife and is driven mostly on flat surfaces.
Lot's of short 3 to 10 mile distances, Soccer Mom type pickup and drop off.

I share my Charging station on "PlugShare" and so I met someone who had the same vehicle except 2012, she consistently gets 114 on normal.
that's what alerted me to my situation.

After the dealer reset the Learning mode I purposely watch the ECO light on the dash and make sure I do not acceleration to make it go off.
Also when I use the AC I use ECO HI or AC OFF Vent only.

Thank you "all" for your incite.
Oh and Yes I'm new to owning a efficient vehicle.

Alex

 

[riderbike37]

I live in an area with a lot of stop signs and short blocks. Driving around town kills my efficiency rating with all the stopping and accelerating. Once I had the chance to take some longer trips and push up my efficiency with highway driving, the GOM started to even out to around 105 miles/standard charge.

 

[Incredulocious]

We live in So Cal, current Temps range from 72 to 90 all summer, the vehicle is used by my wife and is driven mostly on flat surfaces.
Lot's of short 3 to 10 mile distances, Soccer Mom type pickup and drop off.

No need to worry. Short trips with lots of stop and go will drive down your efficiency and the range estimate will reflect that. It's normal for any vehicle. If you take some longer trips with steady speeds (no frequent changes in acceleration), you'll find that the next time you charge up you'll see a much higher estimate, like over 100 (and even up around 120 in warm weather) for a normal charge.

So, don't worry, enjoy your ride! And along the way, you'll likely learn how to improve your efficiency above 2.9 mi/kw. Think of it like you were riding a bike (a big, heavy, magic bike with regen?!), where you want to minimize the energy you put in and make the most of your momentum. But really, with the RAV4 EV, you've got a whole lot more range to work with, so enjoy!

 

[DevinL]

We live in So Cal, current Temps range from 72 to 90 all summer, the vehicle is used by my wife and is driven mostly on flat surfaces.
Lot's of short 3 to 10 mile distances, Soccer Mom type pickup and drop off.

That's pretty similar to my situation. My average efficiency is 3.3mi/kWh without concentrating much, but I've been driving hybrid/EVs for over 7 years now. It does sound like you might be using freeways for these short jaunts? That is a really good way to kill efficiency since you will spend a lot of power to get to a high speed where the car is least efficient and then lose all your momentum when you get off the freeway after a short distance. This isn't as inefficient as the car might make it out to be - but it could very well be causing your low GOM readings since the car can only average the past and will assume your future is filled with little high speed bits like this.

There is some adjustment to driving an EV efficiently, even from a hybrid. When I first got my LEAF I paid a lot of attention to all the little efficiency meters but over time learned to ignore them. That said, if you're coming from a gas car you do need some kind of meter to figure out where energy is going. In a gas car you are accustomed to hearing and feeling the engine and if you put your foot down you are instantly punished with noise. In an EV you can floor it and get up to high speed very quickly and with little fanfare.

The most useful thing to me is the raw mi/kWh bar chart (can be found in the center console under the EV category) and the Accel/Charge meter to the left of the fuel gauge. There's a notch about half way up the Accel meter if you look closely, and that is the threshold for the ECO light. All the ECO light does is stay on below that line or go off above that line. Using the meter itself gives you a better idea of how much juice is actually flowing. The car is most efficient when as little of that bar is lit up as possible, i.e. it is coasting/free-wheeling. Charge/regen is okay, but remember that you won't get as much juice back as you put out, for example: the LEAF regen efficiency is only 39%!

Another thing is to imagine you've got a big bowl of water on your lap. Do whatever it takes to prevent that water from sloshing out of the bowl. This'll force you to accelerate and brake smoothly and look further ahead, which dramatically increase efficiency. See here at 05:30... http://www.bbcamerica.com/top-gear/videos/budget-coupes-part-1/

Once you've gotten used to this stuff it's like second nature and you'll get a feel not only for how the GOM reacts but what the car actually is capable of despite what it tells you.

Good luck!

 

[TeCKis300]

A different perspective, but my favorite thing about the car is that it is so incredibly efficient, that even if I boot it all the time, it's still insanely efficient next to any of my other vehicles.

Yeah, I can optimize its inherent efficiency further by hyper-milling. But what's the fun in that. I can over accelerate and it will re-capture the extra momentum unlike any other car I have that just turns all that potential energy into waste heat.

I'm lucky this is my wife's car as I count on her to be my personal carbon offset. Important when the two ICE cars I drive are a 13 mpg full size pig of an SUV, and a 16mpg 4wd ballistic missile of a sports car.

 

[arnolddeleon]

I suspect another factor contributing to lower efficiency during short drives is battery conditioning overhead. I'm expect that the car is going to bring the battery up or down to the appropriate temperature. I've noticed my miles/kWh are better over longer drives given similar driving conditions.

arnold

 

[jimbo69ny]

How is your wife driving? If she doesn't care about efficiency as much as you (like mine) she will be more aggressive of a driver and keep that rating low. No matter how conservative one driver is, if the other is an inefficient driver your range is going to stay low.

Sorry but someone had to blame the wife. Haha!

 

[arnolddeleon]

Forgot the other obvious penalty for short drives is basic climate control. There is generally a little more energy spent on climate control at the beginning of drive to either warm up or cool down the cabin. If the drive is short then that cost is amortized over a small number of miles.

arnold