[ZeroCarbonScot]

I'm hoping someone can help me with why the fully charged range drops on my Kia. Starting at full charge, it was 290, now, after only 500 miles and not many charges, various drops have taken the range to 243 miles after full charge. My driving is rated as 90% economical with the other 10 'normal'
I'm finding it infuriating and it naturally provokes about of range anxiety

 

[DJC]

The computer estimates your range based on an average of your recent journeys. This is affected not just by your driving style, but also by the type of driving you're doing. If you spend a week just driving around town you'll find the estimated range is a lot higher than if you've just completed a road trip at motorway speeds.

 

[ZeroCarbonScot]

Thanks for replying, I'm grateful for that. I don't think that's been made clear by KIA as my expectations are that the range would be the same and I would choose how to achieve it but, if that's what it is, and is everyone's experience, I will accept that. However, my driving has actually been a real mix during the 500 odd miles, as much town as dual carriageway (a small amount at 70) but even after town driving, it won't estimate above 243 miles, I'd be grateful if you could, from your experience, say that's normal behaviour?

 

[Gif]

The behaviour is entirely normal and matches exactly what an ICE car would do. Your SoC reflects the energy left in the battery in the same way that the petrol gauge tells you how much fuel is left in the tank. That information is not much use though regards range. The range of either car is derived from an algorithm which has two inputs, the remaining stored energy and your most recent "burn" rate to determine when your fuel will likely run out.

my expectations are that the range would be the same and I would choose how to achieve it

I'm not sure what you mean here? Surely you don't expect the car to start at say 300 miles full and count down 1 mile for every 1 mile you drive? How would that work when you've driven 240 miles, the range says 60 left but your battery is empty because you've been driving at 80mph for the last 3 hours?

If you do want to just monitor battery remaining in a similar way to staring at the petrol gauge then the answer is to monitor the SoC on screen instead of the range but I'm not sure how useful that is to determine whether you are likely to get to your destination or your next charger. It doesn't tell you how fast you are getting through your fuel which is what the remaining range is all about.

 

[Gif]

but even after town driving, it won't estimate above 243 miles

It won't estimate over 243 miles because if you continue to drive in the manner you have (that's not a criticism of your driving, just an observation), then 243 miles is all you are going to be able to drive before the battery is empty. 243 is quite low in my experience to be fair. I fully charged my car for the first time in ages last night and it was showing 303 this morning. That was after 30 odd miles of urban / 50 mph dual carriageways yesterday driving in normal mode with HVAC on, two people and no luggage. I am no saint when it comes to driving either!

I'd expect you to be seeing 270/280 at this time of year with reasonably average driving conditions. But if it's colder ooop north and you live in the mountains and are driving in heavy rain with lights burning and a heavy load etc then lower figures are likely. Just worth checking, are your tyre pressures okay?

 

[Rob Lazenby]

90% economical is quite low, my norm for economical is about 96 to 97%. Mind you recently driving through France at decent speeds my range estimate on full charge was just under 200 miles😮 but it was fun😉

 

[jgwozdzicki]

I'm hoping someone can help me with why the fully charged range drops on my Kia. Starting at full charge, it was 290, now, after only 500 miles and not many charges, various drops have taken the range to 243 miles after full charge. My driving is rated as 90% economical with the other 10 'normal'
I'm finding it infuriating and it naturally provokes about of range anxiety

This is totally normal I suspect. We are exactly the same as you parameter wise. Had the car for bang on 500 miles and have 90/10 split. However, this seems fine to me as we live on the edge of the Peak District so it’s quite hilly, weather has been pants (lots of heavy rain and wind) and we used the M1 for runs to Wakefield and Meadowhall recently. Our fossil cars often recalculate when we head south when it’s a tad more flat and warmer! I’d keep an eye on it and see what happens but I think the GOM will recalculate when you do a longer drive somewhere or the parameters it uses changes to something more favourable, like dryer less windy weather!

 

[Mjkelly5a]

What is your miles per kwh showing? Mines around 4.2 regularly which is about 268 miles. If I'm bimbling around locally I am at 4.9-5.2 mPkWh 313-332 miles. However it is still summer.

My Tesla would lose about 15% in the winter.

 

[PS54321]

We’ve done just over 500 miles, short runs mainly, couple of 60 mile runs, very little dual carriageway.

Charged up 3 or 4 times adding 50-80 miles, only charged to 80% so far each time, which gives a range of high 250s, suggesting 315/320 of it was fully charged. 5.1/5.2 m/kWh typically.

 

[JWilde]

Thanks for replying, I'm grateful for that. I don't think that's been made clear by KIA as my expectations are that the range would be the same and I would choose how to achieve it but, if that's what it is, and is everyone's experience, I will accept that. However, my driving has actually been a real mix during the 500 odd miles, as much town as dual carriageway (a small amount at 70) but even after town driving, it won't estimate above 243 miles, I'd be grateful if you could, from your experience, say that's normal behaviour?

Switch it to % if you want that.