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EV charging only to 28 miles, dropped from 32-33 miles

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by steelva, Jan 19, 2020.

  1. steelva

    steelva Junior Member

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    I bought a 2017 Prime in April. I own 2 houses and charge it at both places. I was consistently, ALL The time, getting 32 or 33 miles of EV after a night of charging. Suddenly, in like Nov, the charge produced only 27 or 28 miles of EV, and this is all I've gotten from 10, 12, even 15 hour charges since then. Wth ? Mind you, it's not been overly cold, and I never blast my heat full-blast. The car has only about 13K miles. I am using the OEM charging cord, for lack of a better term. In both homes that I own, which are 200 miles apart, I have changed nothing in my charging routine.

    Am puzzled. I've read some other posts somewhat related to this, but haven't seen anything that would explain such a massive, 19% drop in EV. Appreciate any wisdom anyone can provide. Thanks.
     
  2. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    normal, we all see it. cold affects battery capacity. even under 70degrees
     
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  3. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    That's quite normal. The heater is electric. You're trading distance for warmth. When shooting returns, so will your EV range.
     
  4. Rieuk

    Rieuk Member

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    You're assuming the OP is using the heater and not accounting for this usage in his/her complaint. I don't think this is the case.

    I have the same car and have had the same issue which occurred also around the same time. The temperature swing hasn't been that larger. It is strange. Also this happened in November when Winter was barely here yet. Previous winters did not effect such a change.
     
  5. steelva

    steelva Junior Member

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    81, member: 5889"]normal, we all see it. cold affects battery capacity. even under 70degrees[/QUOTE]

    Good feedback, thanx. In 1 location, I park in an enclosed, underground garage. Sure, it's not a heated garage. But it wasn't a frozen tundra in Nov or Dec. It all seems quite puzzling. And what's also odd is that in July and Aug, I had to run the AC, yet I got much better EV than I am now.
     
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    You don't need to blast the heat to feel the effects of the lower range. I leave mine at 20°C/68°F but when it's cold, the car will maintain cabin temperature but of course that means using more energy to do so (even though I never changed the temps or never had the climate control "blast" the heater). The car is really good at keeping you comfortable without you knowing. On a regular car, we wouldn't notice the increase in fuel economy but on a Prius or a Prius Prime, you would notice because we're paying attention and on a short range like the Prime, it's even more noticeable.

    Look at the A/C Load Ratio. It would've increased from 10-15% to 25-30%.
     
  7. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    It takes less energy for a heat pump to move heat from a place which has a lot of it, inside a car during the summer, than to move it from where there is little of it, outside in winter.
     
    #7 Trollbait, Jan 19, 2020
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 19, 2020
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  8. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    As others commented, it seems normal to me. I would not worry too much about it. The distance displayed on GOM (Guess-o-Meter) is not a very good indication of the actual EV range or battery capacity (or degradation of the battery). It is more related to the average miles/kWh history you have been driving. These numbers which you can see on a daily Eco log on MID are affected by a variety of things such as temperature, weather, use of heat, distance, speed you drove, etc. It is very normal to see daily frustration even doing the same commuting. And it does respond fairly quickly to a poor miles/kWh record. I have had over 20% drop in a single day, and it takes days or weeks to bring the value back.
     
    #8 Salamander_King, Jan 19, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2020
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  9. Tickwood

    Tickwood Active Member

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    I always get 22 to 24 (indicated) miles on a charge, either level 1 at home (23 to 24) or level 2 at a Charge Point location.giving me 22 to 23. How is that people talk of getting 30 and more miles indicated. I live in San Diego, there has been no extreme weather hot or cold.
     
  10. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    GOM miles is just an estimated range car makes based on your recent past EV driving. If you look at Eco Log for your past few weeks miles/kWh, it probably shows 3-4 miles/kWh. If you drive high speed on EV or a lot of uphills or heavy use of heat all will lower the EV efficiency.
     
    #10 Salamander_King, Jan 19, 2020
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2020
  11. yaun

    yaun Member

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    Having heat on is one factor. But even if not, the car makes sure that the battery is heated to some minimum temperature while it operates. At freezing temperatures there will always be some heating happening even if you disable it on the console.

    But more generally, even with all the heating taken out of the equation, battery chemistry slows down with lower temperature. Because of that you will see lower battery capacity. On the flip side, it's also a reason to rejoice because battery degradation will also slow.

    http://www.tawaki-battery.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/BatteryCapLife-heat.jpg
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    depends on your driving conditions. you'll get much more range at lower speed than high, less stops than more, flatter than hillier, etc.
    it's not a miles battery, it's a certain amount of energy.
     
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  13. mr88cet

    mr88cet Senior Member

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  14. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Ya got that right!!! The other day I ran some local errands and when I got home it was showing 6.8 m/kWh. Then I had a meeting 17 miles away and had to drive that stupid State Route 54 with the 60 mph speeds and 19 traffic lights (mostly red). By the time I got home, the 6.8 m/kWh for the day had become 4.5. Sometimes, I get as low as 3.8 on that drive. But another route would take three times as long and be over 20 miles out of the way.
     
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  15. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    this is a simple case of temp related battery capacity. no need to read more into it than that, expect seasonal changes from any vehicle, you're just not paying as much attention when using petrol.
     
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  16. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    At this very moment, it's 31 degrees F in Fairfax VA (Near Washington DC) and 34 degrees F in Richmond VA.

    Burr, it's COLD OUT....

    Tomorrows weather in Fairfax VA, High of 37 F & Low of 21 F.



    Rob43
     
  17. Marine Ray

    Marine Ray Senior Member

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    EPA EV range is 25. I bought mine knowing that. Anything above that is gravy.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
  18. bresna

    bresna Active Member

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    All of these people chiming in that it's temperature related are missing the fact that the OP's driving a 2017. I have noticed a large drop as well in my 2017 and this is my 3rd winter driving this car. I have 83,000 miles on it. I know what happens when it gets cold and this isn't it. Something happened and it killed my GOM's estimated mileage. I never seem to get above 24 EV miles now and I used to get over 30 nearly all year.
     
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  19. Rob43

    Rob43 Senior Member

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    What tires did you put on your Prime when the OE set died ?


    Rob43
     
  20. Salamander_King

    Salamander_King Senior Member

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    My 2017 PRIME is showing 48.4 miles of EV range on GOM right now.;)

    Screenshot 2020-01-20 at 5.12.40 PM.png
     
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