Range Update

[aquiss]

So just want to give a range update, as I've seen a few reports and people quite upset.

Last night I needed to fly up to Manchester and back from home (setting off a 4.00pm - so already dark). The distance was 98 miles one way.

Left home with reported 312 miles last night (ie: 100% reported). Went up the M54/M6 and sat at 70 to 75MPH most of the way (apart from heavy rain that was slightly under). The M6/M54 accounted for 90% of my trip...10% local A roads.

I used Range mode

Got back home with 61 miles left in the battery (reported at 19% battery)

So 98 x 2 + 61 basically comes out at 257 miles

Does this sound bad? Not to me. Lets factor in some reality here

1) I left at 4.00pm in the dark (lights in heavy use)

2) The temp was sub 7 degrees and dropping all the way, so car heating was on (at 23 degrees)

3) I was driving through wind and rain for large parts of it

 

I have enough experience from 4 years of driving the Jaguar I-Pace previously, that come the better months, the Eletre should get closer to 300 miles and with software tweaks coming along, I'm sure things we look better. For me 250 miles, basically last night was absolutely fine.

[pete]

so its the driver thats the problem not the car?

[aquiss]

I'm really not sure how you have extrapolated my thread starter as that. My post could have both been taken in a good light or a bad like, depending on the viewpoint.

[pete]

As you say depends on your viewpoint

[Bibs]

At this time of year, on a 90% motorway drive I think that's more than reasonable for the car. Wait 'til summer with urban driving, that will be in excess of 300 miles easily. 

@pete, consumption works for both petrol and EV's the same. If you've a heavy right foot, you'll get through more fuel either way but if you want range in either car, take it easy and you'll see better MPG or M/KwH. 

[kabre]

I agree with the OP on this.  I have also just come out of an i-Pace, the range is definitely better (as are most things - but not all); 300 miles does not feel realistic at the moment, but I don't consider that too unreasonable at the moment.  I would expect the car to be better at being realistic about the range, it always starts at 312 miles with a 100% battery, but seems to lose range about 15% more quickly than the actual miles driven - but most of my miles so far have ben motorways.  Range estimation is one of the many things that I am hoping will be addressed in the hopefully imminent UK OTA software update.  I am optimistic that higher temperatures, less rain and said software update will get the range well above 300 miles come spring / summer.

Something else that does not help with range is that the regen is very passive - even on the max setting.  With the i-Pace, taking you foot off the accelerator made the electric motors work very hard to harvest energy as the car slowed, it was rare that I would need to use the brakes.  But I need to use the brake a lot more with the Eletre, I hope that during the initial part of braking make the motors are working rather than the brakes, but the in car info about energy use is very weak so it is far from clear.  My current suspicion is that when slowing down I am wasting far too much energy heating up the brake discs rather than re-charging the battery, otherwise why not offer a more aggressive max regen setting!  Hopefully another thing that can be address with a software update.

 

[aquiss]

4 minutes ago, kabre said:

With the i-Pace, taking you foot off the accelerator made the electric motors work very hard to harvest energy as the car slowed, it was rare that I would need to use the brakes.  But I need to use the brake a lot more with the Eletre, I hope that during the initial part of braking make the motors are working rather than the brakes, but the in car info about energy use is very weak so it is far from clear.  My current suspicion is that when slowing down I am wasting far too much energy heating up the brake discs rather than re-charging the battery, otherwise why not offer a more aggressive max regen setting!  Hopefully another thing that can be address with a software update.

 

100% agree with this Kabre. Adapting my driving style, coming from the I-Pace, has taken adjusting and I agree I rarely used my brakes, as you could feel the I-Pace using the motors, but I am hitting the brakes with the Lotus (and they are literally biting instantly...where you had some regen braking travel in the I-Pace). I don't mind the Lotus braking bite (and I must admit I found maybe the I-Pace had too much travel), but the Eletre regen levels need spacing out a bit, from full on braking discs only to a true 1 pedal driving option.

With regards details about how much the car is using and where, I also agree. The I-Pace itself was not massively informative on data (and they could have improved things in both InControl and Pivi), but the Lotus, currently is less useful.

[Bibs]

2 hours ago, kabre said:

Something else that does not help with range is that the regen is very passive

Is there a power meter in the car? I'm sure that in most EV's the brakes are actually the motors until the last 2-3mph until standstill so rather than one pedal driving you're doing the regen yourself. Perhaps find a big hill, drive down it and see how much you can increase the range. My record was 4 miles of range from one hill but my EV had an actual regen meter as well as the range but you'll see if it's regening rather than braking if the SoC increases on a large downhill stretch on the 'brakes'. 

[kabre]

There is a power meter, but it is just a very small line that changes colour a bit - no way to actually see how many kW or miles have been harvested during the trip.  Lifting off the accelerator doesn't slow you down much, and when pressing the brake it feels like it is using the brakes rather than increasing the regen on the motor - but I could be wrong.

[Footie]

From what I have read the regen setting is saved and when you come back to the car it stays at the previous setting. So probably leave it on top setting and get as much regen as possible to increase range.

BTW one thing I have noticed in my two years of driving EVs is best to use to heated seat and lower the heater temperature than no heated seat and a higher interior temp.

[kabre]

Regen setting is saved - my issue is just that the max regen setting feels nothing like strong enough - just personal preference based on my experience in other EVs.

W.r.t. warming the cabin, the Eletre has a heat pump, which should make it pretty efficient at warming the cabin. I think it is usually EVs that do not have a heat pump where the range is impacted more due to heating.

[mik]

@kabre Don't have an Eletre, but mrs mik has run an E-Tron for 3yrs now. Regen on that can be set to a "1 pedal driving" type mode, or you can set it to coast when you are off the accelerator and introduce regen manually with the paddles. In both instances however full regen isn't introduced until you are using the brake pedal. Under most normal driving conditions it's slowing the car using regen exclusively - only when you brake harder do the conventional brakes come into play, but it's really pretty seamlessly integrated and unless you are watching the power meter it is very difficult to sense the point at which this occurs. I imagine the Eletre has to have a similar setup.

I only drive it once a week or so, but make a point of slipping it into Neutral (which disables regen completely) and braking fairly heavily 60-ish mph down to walking pace in order to clean the (very large and very expensive looking) discs. The local Lotus Driving Club organised a trip to the Tesla service centre in Edinburgh a few years back - before we had an EV - and the techs were advising they replaced more brake discs for corrosion than they did for wear, as many drivers don't brake hard enough to give the mechanical stoppers any use.....

Edited January 8 by mik

[RogEletre]

Thanks for update.  Just to confirm (Apologies if I missed) is this an R or Base/S to baseline the starting range please?

 

Am hoping it’s the R as otherwise my one which is due to arrive is going to be annoying potentially for 3 years!

 

Lotus sales process is currently telling me to run a mile frankly….

 

 

[aquiss]

Sorry to break your heart, I am running on a S version.

For me, 600BHP was more than enough and with further range, it just felt the right balance.

[RogEletre]

Crikey.  Thanks.

So R real world might well be sub 200 miles….

it just can’t be with that battery being the same and driven sensibly (motorway and commuting isn’t the same as making excellent progress haha!)

Anyone with an R?

[Footie]

I’ve had a demo car out now for a couple of days and so far I have done 89 miles and the range is showing 196 miles and 63%, it started with 301 miles and 98% so in all honesty I think it’s potential range is very good considering the outside temperature.

Couple of things I have noticed about the car is suspension at slow speeds is noisy, way noisier than anything else I have driven with air suspension. The other is the steering, I always feel it takes driving on your own roads to get a proper feel for thing like steering and the Eletre hasn’t much feel, of course this is true for the iX or the Q8 ETron but compared to the Taycan this is one area it’s lacking. 

Apart from that the car is amazing, even navagating through the information system has been relatively easy considering how different it is to the BMW I normally drive. 

[RogEletre]

That doesn't seem quite as bad.... An S/Base not an R?

[Footie]

It was the base model on 22” wheels. Upon handing it back and stepping back into my own car I have evaluated my opinion about the steering, originally I didn’t think there was much feel from the steering but it has a lot more feel than my car, in fact I would go as far as to say my car feels lifeless by comparison.

Another thing that shocked me even more was the performance, step back into my car which I know isn’t slow by any means but it felt like I had stepped into a much lower model, according to the stats between them there is meant to be only 60hp extra in favour of the Eletre but in reality it now feels more like 160hp. Is it possible that Lotus are being very conservative with their output figures?

BTW for those that are interested my time with the Eletre it averaged out about 2.5miles/Kw compared to the same journey in my car of 2.3. It was only 5 degree all day so I imagine both would improve greatly during the summer months, also the regen seems quite efficient on the Lotus.

Its hard not to be impressed by this car but it has its faults though none of these are with the actual driving experience, the info system isn’t ideal, no Apple play etc, the menu system and info for stuff like Radio, Music is too small and haven’t enough info. All things that could be easily sorted as its software but would require someone inside Lotus pushing for these changes to happen and of course Geely listening.

What Lotus have is arguably the best electric SUV on the market and of course opinions may differ but I reckon it’s the prettiest too. I hope it is a huge success.

[aquiss]

14 hours ago, Footie said:

It was the base model on 22” wheels.

I want to add, as the Thread Starter, that my Range Update is based on a car with 23" wheels, so on 22" you should see a slightly (and I mean slightly) better range than myself, but every inch counts (so I'm told).

[FastLaneJB]

The range is hard to judge. See people in UK saying they get over 300 miles on an S with 22 inch wheels when it's about 5C or a bit lower here, on the other hand others that say they are around 200 miles in same conditions. Harry's Garage was getting towards the 200 mark in his testing. I actually think some of them have a heating / cooling issue and it's sucking juice, the range of results is just massive. Some do have their cars I'm because the cooling petals are always open for instance where as others are normal.

Not sure on R's but seems around 220 - 230 in winter in same conditions but far less posts about range with an R.

Edited January 13 by FastLaneJB

[RogEletre]

I shall update once mine arrives!  They finally found it (someone had to press a button) - hard for me to say but old school Dealers one throat to choke almost seems utopia haha.  Deposit paid in full so waiting delivery, PDI and handover!

Silverstone Team have been great and Lotus Cust Service appear very nice but clueless as they are hamstrung by terrible IT/Processes etc.  Is it just me?

[aquiss]

15 minutes ago, RogEletre said:

Lotus Cust Service appear very nice but clueless as they are hamstrung by terrible IT/Processes etc.  Is it just me?

First of all, congratulations and welcome to the Eletre owners community!

Secondly, it's been the IT systems throughout that are their weakness. You're not alone and something we have all faced along the delivery or our new-borns. 

[RogEletre]

Let's see if she actually arrives yet hahaha.  Glad am not alone but also feel for everyone!

Thanks for congrats and seem a superbly welcoming Forum bunch thus far.

It's:

R, Solar Yellow, Magnetite, Side Cameras, 22" Black Wheels (Corsas- will go Michelin as soon as I possibly can), Intelligent Roof, Kef Reference, Parking Pack, Highway Pack.

So should be fun and chilled for cruising up and down Motorway.

[FastLaneJB]

So I had an order in for a R in Grey with Magnetite however I've switched for a stock car that's very close to your specifications there. Only difference is it'll be Quartz interior.

Also paid up in full, should be picking it up on Saturday. Cannot wait but also only test drove an S so unsure what kind of monster an R really is. I've had a few ~600hp ICE cars and obviously lighter but 905hp is a whole different ball game.

Wife's coming with me to pick it up so I'll be able to tell you what an eco run is like probably because I suspect if I put my foot down and it goes out of shape I'll get clobbered. 🤣 Best test that out first to get used to it on my own.

[RogEletre]

Enjoy her!  I think I looked at that one as was a stock car (mine is stock too) and thought what the hell and cancelled my S order which was due July ish.

Can’t wait to see what you think.

21 minutes ago, FastLaneJB said:

So I had an order in for a R in Grey with Magnetite however I've switched for a stock car that's very close to your specifications there. Only difference is it'll be Quartz interior.

Also paid up in full, should be picking it up on Saturday. Cannot wait but also only test drove an S so unsure what kind of monster an R really is. I've had a few ~600hp ICE cars and obviously lighter but 905hp is a whole different ball game.

Wife's coming with me to pick it up so I'll be able to tell you what an eco run is like probably because I suspect if I put my foot down and it goes out of shape I'll get clobbered. 🤣 Best test that out first to get used to it on my own.

With regards power - 800BHP ICE through rear tyres at 0 degrees C heading home the other day focused the mind.  I suspect the Eletre will be a Nissan Micro after that haha :-)