[Veloce]

Hi, I'm driving my ZS EV in economy mode all the time with KERS set to level 3, but I'm struggling to get over 3.2 miles per kWhr. I'm driving pretty gently and mostly around town. I know the temperature can have a significant effect. Is anyone getting similar economy? Thanks Michel

 

[VinceWilliams31]

About the same as you and thats expected this time of year . Try switching heating off etc that can make a difference and pump tyres up to 38 psi.

 

[Gerbro]

Is the 3.2m/kWh figure from the 'current journey' display, or the accumulated?
I find the current journey display resets on every charge (I think. It also resets if you hold the OK button). When it resets it always starts at 3.1 and takes a few miles to get to 3.2, but will carry on rising if I carry on driving gently in town and B roads. Maximum I have got it to is 4.8.

My 'accumulated' reading has risen from 3.1 to 3.5 over 1700 miles, mostly gentle motorway driving.

 

[RicM]

After 2500 or so miles my accumulated figure is 3.2 miles/kWh. I have up to 4.6 on a current journey. Mainly A roads and twisty and hilly B roads however with very little motorway. Heater usually on on all journeys (2 notches of red and two notches of the blower). Temps since ownership have ranged from -5 Deg C to +10 Deg C.

A Better Route Planner has 3.64 miles/kWh in its default Alpha data for the ZS EV so hoping for that at least in the summer!

 

[Neilew]

My Zoe, which is pretty efficient (but not the best, I know) is currently showing 3.9 m/kWh. During summer that will rise to around 4.5 m/kWh. My driving is a mix of gentle and zoom zoom. I always have the heating on and never use the ECO setting. Looking forward to seeing how well I can do in my MG when it arrives.

 

[Veloce]

Thanks for your replies guys. My 3.2 average was for the current journey. The accumulated is 3.1. It does seem on the low side to me. I would have thought with very gentle driving around town it would have been a lot higher, even allowing for the cost weather.

 

[davesul]

In view of the current weather - coolish, wet and windy- I wouldn't jump to any hasty conclusion. These weather conditions can noticeably affect the miles/kWh...

 

[John Weatherley]

I am seeing 3.7 miles/kWh as my average after my first 3 weeks of ownership.

On a 150 miles round trip I recorded 4.2 miles/kWh, with 21 miles of range left when I plugged in

In the summer, I can see this car will be capable of well over 200 miles of range.

 

[richi]

@John Weatherley impressive, compared with most of the other reports I'm reading. Are you just an experienced hypermiler, or is there some other reason, do you think?

 

[John Weatherley]

@John Weatherley impressive, compared with most of the other reports I'm reading. Are you just an experienced hypermiler, or is there some other reason, do you think?

Not hypermiling, just really good at getting good range from my EVs

I also have an I-Pace and get 300 miles out of that in the summer months. Jaguar recently did an update that allows better range in the winter as well. Most owners are seeing around 8% improvement, or better. My winter range has gone from 250 miles to 270 miles with the I-Pace after the recent update.

I had a 2018 Nissan Leaf and on a run that would do 200 miles.

I was quite good with the i3 as well

 

[richi]

Yeah I can get 6 or 7 miles per kWh in an i-MiEV. I wonder what I'd achieve in an ZSEV.

Let's share "secrets"? I'll start, roughly in decreasing order of practicality:

• Inflate tyres, when cold, to 120% of guideline
• Slow acceleration (converting charge to power is more efficient with lighter pedal)
• Think ahead and glide as much as possible, avoiding regen and definitely avoiding braking
• Nice though radar cruise is, don't use it (especially in the MG)
• Draft double-decker buses (safely)
• Draft tall trucks (safely)

 

[John Weatherley]

Yeah I can get 6 or 7 miles per kWh in an i-MiEV. I wonder what I'd achieve in an ZSEV.

Let's share "secrets"? I'll start, roughly in decreasing order of practicality:

• Inflate tyres, when cold, to 120% of guideline
• Slow acceleration (converting charge to power is more efficient with lighter pedal)
• Think ahead and glide as much as possible, avoiding regen and definitely avoiding braking
• Nice though radar cruise is, don't use it (especially in the MG)
• Draft double-decker buses (safely)
• Draft tall trucks (safely)

Well done sir. Though I tend not to draft trucks as I try and keep to between 60 to 65mph on MWAY. I think you would have to be too close at 56mph to have any noticeable affect.

Important not to stop If you can help it. Have a really long look at what is happening at roundabouts and try to approach them without losing too much speed. Traffic lights at roundabouts are a pain. I do drive with highest regen I can, but use a very light right foot to carefully control it. Going downhill at 50pmh can produce a lot of regen energy.

Cruise Control is nice, but not efficient and, as you say, very bad to use in the ZS EV as it turns off regen and uses the friction brake to slow the car!!!

Rapid acceleration is the killer of range, as are uphill gradients. Go quicker on a downhill gradient if you know you have an uphill gradient following it. This will allow you to build up a lot of energy to get up the other side - don’t let the car slow using regen going up the hill - unless of course you want to stop.

All slowing of the car should be with regen rather than the friction brakes. This means you have to be aware of what is happening in front of you and take early action to stop smoothly. You should only need the friction brakes at the very last moment to bring the car to a stop - the Nissan Leaf with its E-Pedal is brilliant at this.

 

[Carty]

Well done sir. Though I tend not to draft trucks as I try and keep to between 60 to 65mph on MWAY. I think you would have to be too close at 56mph to have any noticeable affect.

Important not to stop If you can help it. Have a really long look at what is happening at roundabouts and try to approach them without losing too much speed. Traffic lights at roundabouts are a pain. I do drive with highest regen I can, but use a very light right foot to carefully control it. Going downhill at 50pmh can produce a lot of regen energy.

Cruise Control is nice, but not efficient, and as you say, very bad to use in the ZS EV as it turns off regen and uses the friction brake to slow the car!!!

Rapid acceleration is the killer of range, as are uphill gradients. Go quicker on a downhill gradient if you know you have an uphill gradient following it. This will allow you to build up a lot of energy to get up the other side - don’t let the car slow using regen going up the hill - unless of course you want to stop.

All slowing of the car should be with regen rather than the friction brakes. This means you have to be aware of what is happening in front of you and take early action to stop smoothly. You should only need the friction brakes at the very last moment to bring the car to a stop - the Nissan Leaf with its E-Pedal is brilliant at this.

I am already adopting the same above driving style to try and achieve the best economy from my ZS EV.
The car defaults to the "Normal" driving mode and "Regen 3" on start up.
I find by using a very very light right foot, it achieves the same result as using the "Eco" setting.
Unless somebody tell me different of course !.

 

[BimbleEV]

Hi, I'm driving my ZS EV in economy mode all the time with KERS set to level 3, but I'm struggling to get over 3.2 miles per kWhr. I'm driving pretty gently and mostly around town. I know the temperature can have a significant effect. Is anyone getting similar economy? Thanks Michel

If you're doing mostly short journeys then yeah you'll get worse results simply because the battery is constantly cooling down between trips and creating high internal resistance for the first few miles of a journey. Very easy to see on my Model 3 where each journey starts with an initially high 450-600 wh/mi consumption before quickly settling down as heat builds up in the pack. So I can get 280-300 wh/mi (~3.7 mi/kwh) on the way to work (20 miles) in the worst of the current weather but drive to Tesco and back, only about 3 miles and consumption will be 350-450 wh/mi assuming I just charged.

 

[richi]

@Carty yes, assuming the Eco mode works the same as other EVs, it just remaps the throttle pedal, and dulls the aircon/heating demand. So you need more initial pedal travel to achieve the same thing, giving you the illusion of a slower car (but full power is still available if you floor it).

 

[John Weatherley]

If you're doing mostly short journeys then yeah you'll get worse results simply because the battery is constantly cooling down between trips and creating high internal resistance for the first few miles of a journey. Very easy to see on my Model 3 where each journey starts with an initially high 450-600 wh/mi consumption before quickly settling down as heat builds up in the pack. So I can get 280-300 wh/mi (~3.7 mi/kwh) on the way to work (20 miles) in the worst of the current weather but drive to Tesco and back, only about 3 miles and consumption will be 350-450 wh/mi assuming I just charged.

Just like to point out that 280-300Wh/mile is 3.57miles/kWh to 3.33miles/kWh.

We wouldn’t want you thinking you could go further than you can because of an error in your consumotion figure

 

[MikeProcter]

I do lots of short journeys 15 mins to 30 mins, so my efficiency is not great. It’s way better than an ice though!!

Yesterday I managed 3.3 miles/kWh during Storm Dennis. 116 miles across country from Croydon to Eastbourne via Ashdown Forest. So quite a hilly route. I came back via A22. Arrived home with 15%. So around 135 mile range in very poor driving conditions. I was being quite gentle and not driving more than 50mph.

 

[CasperStorm]

My avg for past 2000 miles is 3.0 driven keeping up with traffic.

Saturday morning I drove 70 miles fairly gently (60mph motorway and some town miles, no hard acceleration, no ACC) and only got 2.7 (370 Wh/mi) - into a strong headwind & wet road, and overall about 500ft of elevation gain.

Yesterday morning did the same drive in reverse with much less wind (slight tailwind) and drier roads and got 3.4 (294 Wh/mi).

Weather conditions really affect the ZS economy, perhaps more than most EVs. You feel the laws of physics more in an efficient machine than in a wasteful ICE.

 

[Carty]

Yesterday morning did the same drive in reverse with much less wind (slight tailwind) and drier roads and got 3.4 (294 Wh/mi).

Wow ........ That reversing camera was working hard, well done !.
Only kidding - Sorry, bad joke.

 

[CasperStorm]

Wow ........ That reversing camera was working hard, well done !.

Oddly enough I saw this on TV yesterday (albeit in English)

Watch from 2:00 to the end