Avg MPH for all posts mentioning really high EV range

I got my estimate up to 54 shortly after I bought the car. That was in May, and temperatures here were nice enough to have the climate control doing whatever it does on the lowest fan setting and the temperature on 78. This was segments of 30 and 60 for a few miles to/from work and 40-70 for 15-20 miles each way back and forth to another town a few times per month.

It has hung around 47 for the past months, either due to high A/C usage or high heat usage (yay Texas weather requiring both on the same day every day...) with the same driving patterns. I don't make any special effort to "hypermile", but I do often annoy angry asses by passing slow drivers at the speed limit instead of 20 over.

 

I've had the EV estimate up over 72 (and done real world 68 with 4 miles to spare) and you are right to ask about speed - those drives were on country roads with speed limits of 35-40 mph, and trafficky but steady Boston area highways with only occasional forays up to 60-65 mph. That happens to be our usual conditions, so we are lucky that they favor high range with careful driving. What brought it up 5-10 miles more was learning how to "coast" and avoiding unnecessary acceleration or braking. Heater usage in the fall destroys those ratings, so I try not to use it - my wife prefers not to freeze on the way to work for some reason and is getting more like 46-50 this fall.

 

For the past week my EV range (GoM, tracking pretty well with actual) has been 57-61 miles (61 was yesterday). It was closer to 50 in the heat of the summer (when I used the AC intermittently). I've had the Clarity almost 6 months, have driven about 3800 miles (have spent a few weeks overseas).

My commute is about 40-ish miles (+/- 5 or so), with 3-5 miles surface roads and the rest on an expressway at 55-65 mph (speed limit 50-55 mph). I stay about 2 seconds behind car in front of me (old habit).

So, why would my EV range estimate be close to 60?

Factors that seem likely:

• Currently mild weather.
• Climate setting: I generally have climate on "Lo" temp with blower at minimum, very rarely use seat heater. I wear a jacket in the car when it's cool. Low temp here in Baltimore in the past week was 34 F, mostly mid-40s to high 50s (very nice) with some rain+wipers. I charge overnight outdoors on a parking pad next to my house, and precondition while attached to L2 EVSE prior to leaving home; at work I park in a breezy (often cold) garage, no EVSE there (yet). I occasionally use front defogger, rear defroster to clear fogging but only for first 5-10 min.
• Driving mode/style: I keep my speed closer to 60 than 70 mph. I stay in Econ, use the brake pedal much more than the regen paddles, but I'm pretty careful about anticipating speed changes and dampening the accordion - avoiding hard braking or rapid acceleration. Prior to the Clarity I spent 16 years driving Honda Civic Hybrids and learned that punching the accelerator is costly for economy without making much of a difference in arrival time.

 

Sometimes, though, it is necessary. When I see stupid bumper stickers claiming smoky prowess over green vehicles stopped next to me at a red light on a small highway, I cannot resist pointing out their silliness by leaving them in the dust It's doubly fun because I'm doing it in a stinking fat sedan while they're in a two-seater with a dumb wing on the tail.

 

I was getting up to 63 over the summer, driving on local 2 lane undivided roads. Now between the lower temps here in the NYC burbs and lots of highway driving where anything slower than 70 feels like standing still and I'm at around 47. Rain and wind bring range down another 2-3. When temps go into the teens I expect to go below 40. Then if I go with winter tires subtract another 10%. None of this is unexpected. Given my driving pattern, helped by a charger at my office, I will still drive in EV mode most of the time. HV mode is really pretty transparent on the highway so with a little planning the Clarity should be an enjoyable ride under almost all circumstances. When I get a BEV in a few years I'll want a minimum 300 mile EPA range.

 

From most, if not all, posts I've read that had low(er) EV range, was due more to temperature than their ave mph - which for those who's owned it longer, tend to have the same daily commute but with weather changes being more substantial, so a little caveat on that as what you're linking the higher EV may not necessarily be the best.

For what it's worth, my morning reading before getting out of the garage has been consistently in the 52-54 range even now that the weather is getting a little colder here in North Cal. That said, my morning commute is usually bumper to bumper traffic for the most part (and my EV usually drops 8-9 miles when actual travel distance is 13-14). Afternoon commute is usually a mix of freeways (bumper to bumper, up to 70 MPG for Very Short stints) and then local traffic that's also bumper to bumber. I tend to burn more "miles" on my EV range in the PM than AM mostly I think due to the steeper DOWN HILL incline in the morning vs the different route I take in the PM. Usually settle around 20-22 mile "usage" on 28-30 actual mile travel.

 

During the warm months, my 16.5 mile loops used exactly 19% of the battery. I recharge (to about 80% for battery longevity as Tesla recommends for its cars) after every short trip so I don't really know how many miles I can squeeze from a full battery. This is in-town with speeds about 25 - 35 mph. When I go on the freeway, it's naturally worse per mile. Tesla says that 23 mph is the most efficient speed for its vehicles. Once I drove 54 miles from an 80% charge before I had a chance to charge again and the battery wasn't even depleted so it's not unrealistic to get over 80 miles of EV range in-town from a full charge.

 

Speed makes a huge difference in range, especially above 60 mph. I think we have hit an estimate of near 70 miles, but that is at speeds less than 50 mph and mild temps. I think my wife gets about 40 at freeway speeds (around 70 mph). Now that it is cold the range is in the 30s. This is typical. I would expect the range of the Clarity PHEV on EV to be 25-70 miles depending on conditions.

 

I got 71 battery-only miles yesterday going to Los Angeles and back home. Freeway driving at 60-70 mph, some stop-and-go on way back, 15 mins of city driving, 76 degrees outside. Also, I had Prius for 9 years, which taught me how to drive for better energy efficiency. I'm amazed by how much I'm exceeding the 47 mile EPA estimate.

 

The Clarity has a narrower accessible battery range compared to Tesla. Tesla allows a fuller charge since people are willing to sacrifice a hit to battery longevity so they can extend range to meet their needs, yet Tesla recommends 80%. It would be as if Honda gave you an option to overcharge the Clarity, but recommend a 100% charge.

Not "fully" charging means that you aren't balancing your cells.

 

Thanks. I'm aware of that. I do a full charge whenever I need to go on a longer run where I have to use HV mode. That's about once every week or two. The cells get balanced then.

 

I would get 48 up until a few weeks ago when temps got lower and heater started to be used. Commute one way is about the same with a good 7 miles of 55-60 mph if I hit all green lights, about 3 miles at 65-70 mph in the interstate and another 3 miles at 35-40 mph.

Now range is about 38 and if the seat heater goes on, it's even worse. I charge full every day at work. On the weekends, I'll plug in with the L1 charger, and charge full at least once. Sunday night I'll add enough to get me to work.

 

Wow... are you drafting on others or what 71m including freeway usage is insane

 

Yeah, I've noticed much more freeway range going east/west with not much change in elevation, rather than north/south, which involves a much steeper climb on the northbound leg. So, geography matters too.