250 miles.... NOT!

[StEvnut]

The estimated remaining range (otherwise known as the guessometer or GOM) has nothing to do with your actual range. It's just a made up number. It doesn't know how fast you'll be driving, how wet the roads are or which way the wind will blow. It doesn't even discern between having the heating on max or 'lo'.

My MG5 SR is showing around 215 on a full charge. (9months old and 7000 on the clock). That drops around 20miles on the GOM as soon at you switch so anything related to the A/C…
We’re on a long winter drive soon (Covid permitting). It’ll be be interesting to see how the car and the network holds up

 

[EVsince2016]

Absolutely not comparable - while an ICE also loses some fuel efficiency mostly due to friction losses of colder fluids, an ICE always has a big surplus of heat that can be used for heating the cabin - in other words, there is no additional fuel burned for heating, v.s. the EV, which must 'burn' lots of energy to heat the cabin.
Moreover, gasoline does not need pre-heating, does not lose thermal output like a battery. All things considered, ICE are by far less affected than battery powered cars in cold temperatures - it's simply one of the disadvantages of EV's.

The time to heat up an ICE engine increases by at least a factor of 2 in the winter and as most trips are short, it doesn't reach operating temperatures on a short trip thus consumes huge amounts of fuel. This is at it's worst in winter traffic when many larger diesels can never really reach operating temperatures.

Of course on longer trips the gap is much smaller.

Basically EVs do better in traffic, ICEs on long runs as far as winter goes.

 

[Alansurfer]

I’ve had my short range MG5 for a year this week, I’m getting 3.4-3.6 miles per kWh winter and 3.8-4.2 summer mixed motorway, town, country A/B roads (heater and aircon all year round when needed).
Driving a lot slower on the motorway, 60-65, I’m getting 4.4-4.6 summer and 3.8 miles per kWh winter. Always drive in sport or normal mode, Kers 3 and use throttle feathering and the power meter to vary the regen (0 on the power meter is coasting for instance). Doing this you can be doing 70 mph down hill using zero power or regen a small amount to maintain speed.

 

[Stormgrey]

Hi, I'm new to ev's, I bought an MG5 ev long range 1 week ago. I do like the car but I'm finding the 250 mile range very hard to believe. I'm driving in eco mode with the kers set to 3, no heating on and not doing over 60, I've just driven 64.2 miles and it's on 69% from 100% and according to the display i have 153 miles left, but I started with 250, this means i've used 97 miles but only actually done 64.2 according to the tachometer.
Can someone please give me advice on how to get closer to the 250 miles i was promised. I must just say that I am a very careful driver and I'm not one for putting my foot down.

250 is possible in Summer temperatures, but in Winter temperatures around 3 or 5 degrees c you should expect around 20% less range

 

[Rob Smart]

The MG5 LR doesn't 'have 250 miles of range'. That's what it achieved under the controlled laboratory conditions of the WLTP test, not what it should achieve in the real world.

Your actual range will vary depending on factors including speed, journey type, driving style, temperature and weather conditions. Even 60mph is significantly less efficient than 40mph, and current temperatures and windy conditions will also reduce your range (low temperature makes the battery less efficient and physically reduces its ability to store and release energy).

In the summer, with careful (slow) driving, you could get well over 300 miles out of a full charge. But, in the worst conditions and when driving fast, you might only get 150 miles. Most of the time you'll get something in between.

210 miles is perfectly achievable most of the time, but you might have to stop and charge in the winter months. I can't imagine any 210 mile journey in the UK which doesn't go within a couple of miles of a bunch of rapid chargers.

Range is also adversley affected if you use Pilot, which is apparently why it wasn't installed on the original (now standard range) model..

 

[Lovemyev]

Absolutely not comparable - while an ICE also loses some fuel efficiency mostly due to friction losses of colder fluids, an ICE always has a big surplus of heat that can be used for heating the cabin - in other words, there is no additional fuel burned for heating, v.s. the EV, which must 'burn' lots of energy to heat the cabin.
Moreover, gasoline does not need pre-heating, does not lose thermal output like a battery. All things considered, ICE are by far less affected than battery powered cars in cold temperatures - it's simply one of the disadvantages of EV's.

We will agree to disagree on this subject.
In order to get a petrol ( or even worse on a oil burner ) up to its normal working temp of around 98 degrees ( when the thermostat opens ) takes a long time in the winter.
While this is happening, the engine is consuming a very rich mixture of fuel.
Fuel consumption is extremely high and not to mention the level of high emissions being omitted from the exhaust.
With an EV this does not happen of course.
The pack is temperature affected of course, but not to the same degree as a fossil.
Heating in an EV is a big consumer of energy, this is very true, and heat provided to the cabin by an ICE car appears to be free.
But as we know, you get nothing for nothing in this world.
It’s wasted heat that is a byproduct of an internal combustion engine.
The high fuel consumption of a ICE car in the winter, goes undirected to a large extent by the fact the car is carrying a massive spare fuel capacity in the tank.
It would no difference, if the EV had a battery of equal size.
One thing that is pretty clear to me is in the cost of running a EV over a ICE in the winter time !.
You can keep your fossil fuel !.

 

[Brianlescargot]

Expect anything between 25-40% drop in range in winter. That’s the reality of all EVs

 

[Brianlescargot]

Nether do ICE cars !.
There range or MPG is equally affected in the winter time.
But because you are carrying such a massive surplus of fossil fuel around in the tank, you don't notice the decrease in efficiency.

No they aren’t “equally” affected. The drop in range in an EV in winter, even with a heat pump, is massive.

 

[Mike01Hu]

And don't forget hills, the biggest drain on power is lifting 1.6 tonne of metal to the top of a hill and you don't get it back with KERS on the downhill stretches, as the conversion efficiency is not that good; biggest that is, unless you have a heavy foot and enjoy the traffic light grand prix with ICE's! When I lived in the Fens, long distance performance was not an issue but now in the west with loads of hills the story is very different, regularly 25% and more lower.

 

[Stevebissex]

Hi, I'm new to ev's, I bought an MG5 ev long range 1 week ago. I do like the car but I'm finding the 250 mile range very hard to believe. I'm driving in eco mode with the kers set to 3, no heating on and not doing over 60, I've just driven 64.2 miles and it's on 69% from 100% and according to the display i have 153 miles left, but I started with 250, this means i've used 97 miles but only actually done 64.2 according to the tachometer.
Can someone please give me advice on how to get closer to the 250 miles i was promised. I must just say that I am a very careful driver and I'm not one for putting my foot down.

In my EV5 normal range I was getting 4.3 mpkwh in the summer but now I am lucky to get 3.4. Its the cold weather and will definitely improve when it warms up a bit

 

[Lovemyev]

And don't forget hills, the biggest drain on power is lifting 1.6 tonne of metal to the top of a hill and you don't get it back with KERS on the downhill stretches,

This is very true in a heavy EV due to the heavy battery pack, but lugging a heavy SUV oil burner up the similar incline with a cold engine in winter conditions is likely to be seen as uneconomical also I guess ?.
Returning around 20 MPG but nobody is overly concerned as it has a huge volume of excess derv fuel being carried around strapped under the car.
Oh ...... And chucking out all that smelly crap out of the exhaust at the same time !.
When EV battery technology improves ( because it has too ) and cars are able to carry out a trip equal to the distance of a fossil car on the same charge / fill up, then not many people will give a toss about how much range they use by using the heater in the winter time, because they will the same such a massive reserve of energy in the car.
To be honest, when thinking about an EV a few things should be strongly considered first.
Factor in both your usage requirements that include both summer and winter driving conditions.
An EV that is JUST about suitable for summer usage, is not going to suit your usage in the winter, with the use of the heater etc.
Also a certain % level of battery degradation ( as the pack ages ) has also has to be accounted for as well.
Charging more often in the winter time, is a small price to pay for the cost savings over the price of filling up a fossil car in my opinion.
A few weeks ago, I had the use of a three year old Peugeot 3008 for four weeks.
In that period, we used £150.00 worth of Derv.
We ran our EV for 6 months for that type of outlay.
If I have to charge more often in the winter time, due to the use of extra range / heat required.
Then so be it !.

 

[Alansurfer]

And don't forget hills, the biggest drain on power is lifting 1.6 tonne of metal to the top of a hill and you don't get it back with KERS on the downhill stretches, as the conversion efficiency is not that good; biggest that is, unless you have a heavy foot and enjoy the traffic light grand prix with ICE's! When I lived in the Fens, long distance performance was not an issue but now in the west with loads of hills the story is very different, regularly 25% and more lower.

Electric vehicles do have a big advantage of always on torque for hill climbing though, just dropping a few mph slower and 5-10% on the power meter can make a big difference in efficiency when climbing. I’ve been driving and riding evs for a long time and in the early days hypermile’n was essential with just 60 miles range! Now though with 200ish miles range I mainly do it for fun. All my regular journeys that are over 200 miles I stop for a rest break before the car needs a charge at the same places I’ve stopped in the past in ice cars so a 20-30 minute top up doesn’t add any time to my journey.

 

[Lovemyev]

EVMan has a really good recent video on this very subject of winter range loss.
Comparing ICE to EV's and what losses you are likely to receive.

 

[gazter]

Range is also adversley affected if you use Pilot, which is apparently why it wasn't installed on the original (now standard range) model..

There doesn’t seen to be any regen on pilot/acc.

 

[smokie]

There is on mine.

 

[EVGeezer]

The time to heat up an ICE engine increases by at least a factor of 2 in the winter and as most trips are short, it doesn't reach operating temperatures on a short trip thus consumes huge amounts of fuel. This is at it's worst in winter traffic when many larger diesels can never really reach operating temperatures.

Of course on longer trips the gap is much smaller.

Basically EVs do better in traffic, ICEs on long runs as far as winter goes.

I agree with you on the second part of your comment - nothing beats an EV's for sort trips and city traffic - long trips, colder temps and towing, the crown goes to the ICE. That is why I am sure ICE's will be with us for much longer than a lot of people expect.

 

[EVsince2016]

I agree with you on the second part of your comment - nothing beats an EV's for sort trips and city traffic - long trips, colder temps and towing, the crown goes to the ICE. That is why I am sure ICE's will be with us for much longer than a lot of people expect.

Not if you look at the EV development rate & battery cost reduction for the last 10 years and the predicted rate going forwards!

 

[NigelB]

I have a new LR MG5 that is showing 210 mile range at 100% charge, is this right? I would have thought it would show 250 mile range and conditions determine what you actually get?

 

[biffo]

I have a new LR MG5 that is showing 210 mile range at 100% charge, is this right? I would have thought it would show 250 mile range and conditions determine what you actually get?

Estimates range depends on current driving model (Sport/Normal/Economy) as well as current trip computer values - reset this and see if it changes.

 

[sido]

I’ve had my MG5 SR for a little more than a month and have now done a couple of long runs. First one very cold day, wet and windy 300 miles round trip. Drove at motorway speeds, heating full on, two passengers and luggage, just managed both legs starting on full charge. About 12% left both ways. Second a 200 mile round trip. No passengers no luggage heating on low, very cold sunny day, I was running a little late so gave it some wellie used 60% of charge each way. extrapolating these figures gives me about 1.7 miles for each percentage point of charge or 170 miles from full charge. I never take much notice of manufacturers data as it is virtually impossible to replicate the criteria they have used to calculate them, this type of forum is the best place to research actual usage from a wide range of users all who have different driving habits and experiences. Still love my MG5 SR, great to drive good level of comfort and cheap as chips to run.