More range than expected

Well, my Kona regularly shows 500-525 km of predicted range in summer. But it is not a highway range, of course, it's a mixed, mostly slow city traffic plus some rural traffic with only small highway portions. During longer highway routes range drops to 480-490 km. Only-highway route, with regular speed of 115-130kph shows 14-17 kWh/100km with a practical range of 370 km (from 100% to 10% of SOC). Standard daily routine is 11-13 kWh/100km in summer. Only one time I saw below 10 kWh/100km for a while, but it was a particularly long slow-traffic route.

 

Well, the GoM is basing its estimate on your recent driving history, which includes use of HVAC and ambient temperature so could be reasonably accurate if you carry on doing the same. The sales spec is for whatever type of standardised test was used to compare the Kona with other EVs.

Our regional speed limits have recently dropped from 100 to 80 km/h and even with the use of cabin heating this has resulted in my wintertime GoM settling at an impressive 498 km, not much less than I see in summer. However I would only trust it to do around 400 km at higher open road speeds.

 

Yup, I do. But there is no single answer, because the actual distance that you can drive depends on city or highway driving, and the ambient temperature. For example, last summer I drove 558 km from a 100% charge to when Turtle mode kicked in at about 5% SOC. This was mainly city driving, with open sun roof and no AC. Then last February when it was quite cold and with mainly highway driving at about 110 km/hr, climate control set to 22 Celsius, it was barely 300 km.

So, the range projection is only valid if the type of driving and temperature stays the same. If you have been driving in stop and go city conditions, the GOM may display 500 km. but you will not get this if you then take a long highway trip at 120 km/hr. Conversely, if you have been doing mainly highway driving, the range projection may only be 400 km, but if this is followed by mainly city driving, you will go a lot farther. So there is no direct answer to your question.

 

Yes, exceeding the "official" range is quite common for the Kona and has been remarked on in multiple threads. My GOM regularly shows about 275 miles (= 442 km.) at 80% charge, and I've found it to be pretty accurate if the type of driving doesn't change much.

 

Well I hit 563 KMs the other day at !00% my highest ever ...usually 480kms at 80%

 

Well, if you extrapolate 480 at 80% to 100% you get 600 km!

 

It's called a "guess-o-meter" for a reason. It calculates your remaining range every 10-15 minutes based on your efficiency over that time. If you are in the city doing lots of high-efficiency stop-and-go driving, the remaining range will be quite high, often much higher than WLTP or EPA range figures would indicate. If you are doing a lot of low-efficiency highway driving combined with using the heating system during winter, for example, the remaining range will be significantly lower, more in line with the official range figures.

 

Got my first EV in 2011, a Nissan Leaf. The GoM was wild. I could check it the top of the 427 going south and it would say, for example,
100km range. If I pulling behind a tractor trailer to draft it, I could see the range go up to 120 while actually driving 5 km. Home is
just north of Bolton and work is just SW of the Toronto airport. After a while I got to notice the difference in the range estimates going
downhill to work and uphill to home ... about 250 ft change in elevation. Also the normal winds were in my face going uphill to home.
The heater was resistance and on those winter slushy high humidity days when the defogger, heater and AC were all trying to keep the windows clear
the range fell off the wall. All that said, I never ran out of juice in 8 years.
Now with the Kia Niro is a whole new game I suspect the GoM algorithms are pretty much the same in the Hyundai.. It is bang on. It is so responsive that if
I turn up or down the heating or AC I can see the range numbers go up and down 5 or km instantly.

yes ... progress.

 

It just takes experience to understand what your range will be, based on what the GoM is telling you. Beyond what others have mentioned about driving style, speed, and temperature, another factor is change in elevation between the start and end of your trip. I find that air conditioning in the summer takes much less of a hit than heat in the winter. (Also bear in mind that open windows or sunroof at highway speeds may take a big hit to wind resistance and more than offset turning off the air conditioning.) This makes sense if you think about the amount of temperature change it may be trying to achieve. Heating efficiency may also depend on whether you have a heat pump (my US Kona does not). My eGolf has a heat pump which helps some, but not that big of a difference really. Having racks on the roof or a hitch, even if empty, will also take a big hit.

When heading to a destination, I keep an eye on the Navigation distance compared to the GoM distance to see whether your driving conditions and style are doing to the relationship, keeping in mind what you have remaining in your trip in terms of city or highway driving and elevation changes. After a while, you get pretty good at being able to predict and control your range quite accurately.

 

Yeah, I have both a 2018 Leaf and a 2021 Kona. You really have to get to know each car.
I consider the Leaf is equipped with a 'SWAGoM' (Seriously Wild @ss Guess o Meter) while the Kona has an EGoM (Educated GoM)
I just drove the Kona from west end of Ottawa to downtown Montreal and only used 53% battery while much of the highway in between is 110km/h speed limit so had cruise set at 120 - with the AC on! I like my Leaf for what it does (e pedal is great for example) but am seriously impressed with the Kona efficiency even if I ignore the battery size difference.

Cheers!

 

The original spec of the car is based on 80% charge. Our KIA Niro was bang on its spec when 1st delivered to us in 2019. I am consistently getting over 400km at 80% charge with my driving style/environment preferences where the spec was 386km. With a 411 spec, 458 makes sense.

 

yeh get to know your car. The Niro is great on accuracy on range ... but I screw mine up a bit by taking the dog
with me ... yeh ... because when I shop I leave the car running with the AC on. Even came out one day to find COPS
waiting for me. I got reported for cruelty. They were astonished to know you could leave the car running without the key in
it and the dog was cooler than they were ... and that effects the range calc too !!!

 

Yeah, all these circumstances can have a big effect. As I mentioned in another thread, moving from my former urban location to a hillside spot where my drive into town for shopping, etc., means going 6 miles downhill, a bit of flat, then back up again coming home, has cut my energy consumption from about 4.6 mi/kwh to about 4.9, significantly increasing my range -- even though I'm using the AC a lot more than I used to. Of course, that all shifts again when I make an unusual trip.

 

Well said! There are a number of circumstances which will impact your range. The ideal seems to be 24C, no AC, and in city driving. Actually I find the "guess-o-meter" pretty accurate. It considers the circumstances/variables well.
I find it very useful.

 

Yes it is!

 

I know the general impression has been that city driving is best for range. While it certainly is better than zooming down the highway at 70+ MPH, My recent experience says it's not ideal.

Until January I lived in San Francisco. Other than a handful of longish trips to other parts of the state, at least 90% of my driving was city, no more than 10% highway. I was steadily getting 4.6 mi/kwh and range on a full charge ran about 285-290.

In January I moved to rural area in the hills on the outskirts of Hilo , Hawaii. To do any shopping or errands I must drive about 5 miles down a rural road -- virtually all downhill -- with only 1 stoplight, then
another mile or two through more suburban and urban territory, still mostly downhill. Coming home reverses this sequence.

Since I 've been here my indicated range when full has consistently been 320-330 miles and I'm getting around 5.0 miles/kwh. These long, unbroken downhill and uphill runs seem to be what the car loves in terms of energy efficiency. And bear in mind that I'm using the AC much more than I did in SF. My driving style has not changed -- in both locations the car calls my driving "economical" about 95% of the time.