Fuel Bars Question

[davebb]

Did a little searching in this forum and found that the fuel bar indicator next to the GOM should show all 16 bars when fully charged with either normal or extended charge. Well the story I get from my daughter who now uses the car is that the GOM shows only 50 miles and the fuel bars only show 15 bars. What could cause the fuel bars to not go to the top? Thanks!

 

[davewill]

As the battery degrades you eventually lose bars. The GOM number also suffers from degradation. It also goes up or down depending on recent driving efficiency. I'd guess that your daughter is being a bit of a lead-foot, accelerating hard and braking hard.

 

[davebb]

As the battery degrades you eventually lose bars.

Well that's bad news. Now she has to not use the car anymore because she drives more than that 50 mi. GOM estimate everyday and it sounds like the battery degradation is the problem. I guess as a final deciding factor, I'll try the Tony test.

 

[jgblair]

In our 2013 RAV4-EV, the GOM shows a max of about 70 or less because we drive it short distances. Typically, each bar in our car is worth about 6 miles of range. So 15 bars would = 90 miles. Remember it is called GOM ("Guess-O-Meter") for a reason. The only time our GOM is even close to accurate, is when we regularly drive it down to 10 miles or less. Otherwise, as I drive I add up the current GOM reading and the distance driven in my head and watch it steadily increase (i.e. the GOM reads 68 after I have driven 10 miles = 78; it reads 63 after driving 20 miles = 83) up towards 100. Also if you watch the bars drop out, you will see that you lose 1 bar every 6 miles (on flat terrain) so you can easily see that you will make close to 90 miles (with 15 bars). I used to drive between Northern California and Southern California (500 miles) so I got used to how to read the GOM.

 

[miimura]

When driving longer distances I also put the next stop in the navigation and watch the miles to destination compared to the GOM range remaining. Usually I start with a buffer and watch whether the buffer is getting larger or smaller as the trip progresses.

 

[davebb]

Usually I start with a buffer

I don't think I understand.

 

[miimura]

I don't think I understand.

Start the trip with the NAV showing 75 miles to the destination and 80 miles on the GOM. Arrive at destination with 15 miles on the GOM. The 5 mile buffer (extra range) grew to 15 miles during the course of the trip. The actual vehicle range for this example trip is closer to 90 miles even though the car never said 90 miles range.

 

[n3ckf]

yes the GOM is wildly influenced by the last few drives youve had. Mine can read 60 at full scale or 85 depending on how ive driven the previous couple of times.