[David Hall]

Had my Ampera now since May and have covered 1500 miles, am proud to say have used no fuel what so ever apart from a morning three weeks ago when I started car and it performed an engine maintenance programme for one mile!!!!! I charge the car at my factory each morning then drive home at night and recharge so on.... The best my battery has displayed is 44 miles "fully charged" but most times 42 - 43 miles. Am wondering what others are getting and is their a way to get to the "magic 50" Thanks Dave Hall

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

That is great David.

Don't forget that what it says on the display is only an estimate though will you?

I get from 40 miles estimated to 48 miles estimated so far and to date it has been quite accurate.

 

[taylorgx]

Funny you should ask that, took the picture yesterday!

Gary

 

[Dave Mathers]

Hi David,
Mine displays 50 miles and that is roughly what I get, a bit less when hilly.I only use D and climate in auto but I try to drive carefully when I can

 

[Brian Matthews]

Mine displays 50 expected miles often, having risen regularly from 37 miles since the 1st May.
Maybe 50 expected miles is the maximum figure it will display, similar to 250mpg is the maximum on the display for "actual" and "lifetime" mileage.
Yesterday achieved 52.7 miles on electric before ICE kicked in.

 

[Big Paul]

I think I need to get lighter (much) feet!!

The best predicted range from a full charge I've seen is 39miles but two days ago I actually achieved 44.3 miles on a single charge during a cross country run from Milton Keynes to Northern Northants and back which, until reading the above achievements, I was very pleased with.

I do enjoy driving in "D" plus Sport mode, however, which I guess might be where my lost miles are going. It is good fun though!

Big Paul

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Do you live at the top of a hill?

When we stay at the caravan we have a long hill climb to get back to the site and we always have dreadful estimates each morning because it takes the estimate from the most recent driving. By the time we get to the bottom of the hill, some 6 miles later, it is usually over 50 miles!

 

[David Hall]

That is great David.

Don't forget that what it says on the display is only an estimate though will you?

I get from 40 miles estimated to 48 miles estimated so far and to date it has been quite accurate.

Thanks for all the replies, I am only getting roughly what the battery display shows (between 40 and 44 miles). I charge car every day even if I have only done 5-10 miles, I then charge up fully, but some days it runs down to 3 - 4 miles. Am charging from an external socket at my factory which comes directly from a DB board. Am curious about how others charge their Ampera is it via an ordinary 3 pin socket or has anyone got the "British Gas" charger installed? Always getting all the green lights on charger when it's plugged in so don't know what else to do to try and get upto 50 miles per charge. Thanks Dave

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Getting the 50 miles per charge is nothing to do at all with how you charge. It is all about how you drive the car and the conditions such as hills, temperature etc. Charging the car in different ways will not affect the range.

I use a Pod Point home charging pod at home. It charges the car at 16A. however, if it is sunny then I sometimes charge at 6A using the supplied cable as I can then use solar.

 

[neil]

I regularly get between 48 to 50 miles predicted battery range on my journey to and from work, which is a 40 mile round trip.
This is usually with no additional electrical useage other than the radio.
The secret seems to be speed! Because I am mainly on 'B' roads, I rarely exceed 50 MPH -if that.
An alternative route that takes in 3 miles of motorway at 70 MPH can easily knock 2-3 miles off the predicted range!

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

Anything over 60mph will hammer the range. I have found that at between 50-60mph it very reliably gives me between 43 & 49 miles.

 

[Septerverius]

I agree and that is why the Ampera changes old driving habits!

 

[Septerverius]

Something seems to have happened about 3 weeks ago. Journeys where I regularly used to get 48 miles from a charge I now get only 35! Sometimes less but never more. Could it the falling temperatures? Has anyone else found this?

 

[REB]

Hello Septerverius,

I believe you will find your suppositions correct. Cold temperatures will definitely affect the Ampera/Volt range.

When your ambient temperature is in the 50s 35 miles is a good average for 100% state of charge compared to what you were getting in the summer. Heating using the seat warmers works well at this temperature unless you have passengers in the back that want cabin heating.

By the time your ambient temperatures drop to the 40s cabin heating becomes essential. Our 2011 and 2012 Volts don't have the Hold mode so we can't use engine waste heat until after the battery state of charge is low enough (about 40% in Mountain mode). Turning the engine on even for 10 minutes creates enough heat in the engine cooling loop for 20 to 30 minutes of warmth from the heater in fan only if you switch it back to battery power.

I only had about 5 days here in Colorado this past winter when the engine came on with a full state of charge at 100% due to the ambient temperature of less then 27 degrees. A full battery 100 % SOC was about 25 miles.

The mileage range you enjoyed this summer comes back in the spring just like the robins.


Ross

 

[Paul_Moxhay]

I only had about 5 days here in Colorado this past winter when the engine came on with a full state of charge at 100% due to the ambient temperature of less then 27 degrees. A full battery 100 % SOC was about 25 miles.

I will be very surprised if the drop in range drops by that much. Based on the drop in the range of the Leaf I would expect a 48 range to drop to about 35.

We will see

 

[Septerverius]

I did better today. 34miles showing after full charge but achieved 37. Mid journey charge showing 24 miles but achieved 30.

Next journey I will see if starting off on HOLD until the cat has warmed up and then switch to battery.

I like the idea of using HOLD to get the heating to arm the car.

 

[m455954]

It's definitely the heater that's causing the drop in range - if you look at the Climate screen, even in MIN mode the climate system with the heater on is running at 49% energy use.

I've found that by pre-conditioning the cabin for a good 10 minutes (20 if I can remember to do it twice before leaving the house) while it's still plugged into the mains, and then setting the climate system to off by putting it on MIN and then turning off the fan completely, I'm back to mid 40's electric only range.

I'm sure that in the depths of winter a maximum range of 25 is entirely possible, mainly due to the climate system, not just the way the cold reduces the battery efficiency. Make sure you keep the car plugged in whenever i's cold too, as it uses mains electricity to keep the battery at the optimum temperature.

Mark.

 

[dpeilow]

Power to overcome air drag rises with the cube of the velocity, so it is definitely speed related

I do 30 miles to work, 27 of which are motorway. I typically get range estimates of 33 or 34 miles. I've lost a mile due to the recent cold weather. The way home is up hill and that knocks about 2 miles off.

The best I have ever done is 49.6 miles on a charge and that was on B roads in slow traffic.

Last weekend I also used hold mode to warm the car when doing a 90 mile journey. That definitely works to optimise range and heats things up quicker.


I recently read about someone sending an Ampera back due to the range drop in cold weather. That seems a bit extreme.

 

[MK AMP]

Can I ask a really basic question on this topic?
Let's say I have 40 miles on the battery reading after a full charge. I make a journey and get 42 out of it.
If the battery reading had been 36 after the charge and I made exactly the same journey, same everything in every respect, would I still have got the 42?
Similarly if it had said 46 after the charge?

 

[Duncan]

Can I ask a really basic question on this topic?
Let's say I have 40 miles on the battery reading after a full charge. I make a journey and get 42 out of it.
If the battery reading had been 36 after the charge and I made exactly the same journey, same everything in every respect, would I still have got the 42?
Similarly if it had said 46 after the charge?

I believe the answer is 'yes, probably'.

The range after charging is an estimate based on previous use, assuming it charges to the same level each the estimate doesn't affect the actual range you'll get.
The 'probably' is because I'm not sure that it always charges to exactly the same level every time. The kWh from a full charge does fluctuate slightly so it might be that a lower initial estimate also corresponds to a slightly lower initial charge. Then again it might not.

In other news, I've got a few days commuting to Winchester, A34 at a pretty constant 70ish today with no recharge when I get there so today was 100.3 miles round trip, 41.7 miles battery range, 58.6 miles on petrol, 78.5 average mpg (46.5mpg for the petrol miles only). That's another 1.26 gallons gone from the dealer supplied tank of petrol (and probably the same again tomorrow and Friday).