Sudden drop in range :(

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Ruthf
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Post by Ruthf »

Hi all. I’ve had my ID.3 for a few weeks. It has been registering 220 miles after a charge to 80% and about 270 miles after a charge to 100%. That has suddenly dropped. Now it’s saying 177 miles after a charge to 80%. We did our first longer journey in the car so could the car be calculating based on that trip? We were on the motorway for most of the longer journey. We also charged to 100% twice and didn’t drive straight off as we hadn’t figured out the app on the car that lets you tell the car what time to be fully charged for. The third time we fully charged the car we used that feature and unplugged the car and set off just before the car reached 100%. Could we have damaged the battery with just two full charges that finished a few hours before we set off? Thanks for any advice people can offer
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robgarth
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Post by robgarth »

I think it's just the maths the car is using. You'll probably find that the first few weeks you were doing between 4 and 5Kw per mile which would go down if you were on a long fast trip. It'll settle down as it gets more info. Google VW electric battery maintenance for some good info on how to look after the battery.
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

As Rob said the motorway miles would change projected range. As for battery damage on 2 charges. An accumulative affect of going to 100% tens or hundreds of tiimes over many months may be measurable but not a couple of times in your early days.
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Sherlock
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Post by Sherlock »

In addition to the other replies the other factor to consider is the outside temperature. Has it dropped below 14/15 C? Makes a big difference in my experience.
Ruthf
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Post by Ruthf »

Great. Thank you everyone. I’m going to start following the three golden rules set out by VW. To the letter. Our dealership never talked through any of these rules. Now I know. It’s definitely a learning experience for us in these early days.
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Ruthf
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Post by Ruthf »

Temp today is good so I don’t think that’s a factor. At least not now. I’m wanting to take the car to Aberdeen (from Leamington) in November. I’m thinking quite a few stops will be needed…
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robgarth
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Post by robgarth »

Three golden rules were an eye-opener to me too, it changed my charging routine. Don't go over the top, it talks of averages etc so do what you need to and enjoy the car.
Rob
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OllyExeterID3
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Post by OllyExeterID3 »

Hi,

Just adding in my experience here. Had a previous EV (i3) - never knew about charging problems charging to 100% so only ever charged it to 100%, sometimes then not driving for two weeks. I heavily doubt two full charges would have had any damage on battery.

In my experience of both cars, the guess-o-meter of range changes daily or certainly after every drive. We have had everything from 150 - 210 miles at 80% on our ID3. I tend to trust my intuition instead - most likely it is just guessing with many factors taken into account.

I know it is easy to say "not to worry" but one way to put your mind at ease is to take a drive you know might exceed the predicted range and then see how much it measures at half way through the journey etc. I know that I can always eke at least an extra 20 miles range if it looks tight.
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Started today with 231 miles on the Guessometer and 75%.

Drove ca. 27 miles.

Am now on 217 miles on the Guessometer and 67%.

All the best

Andreas
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Utumno
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Post by Utumno »

Ruthf wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 11:19 am Temp today is good so I don’t think that’s a factor. At least not now. I’m wanting to take the car to Aberdeen (from Leamington) in November. I’m thinking quite a few stops will be needed…

Zap-map theorises 3-4 stops for that journey (in Gretna) using a theoretical 58kWh Pro Performance Family. And that’s with very conservative settings, starting at 80% charging at 20% then charging to 80% at each stop.

If you change the route parameters to leave home with 100% charge and then charge again at 10% that cuts it to two stops only. Frankly you probably should be taking more than two rest breaks anyway on a long journey like that.
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Leccy
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Post by Leccy »

We had the exact same experience as you @ruthf with our first longer trip causing the 80% range estimate to drop from ~220 to ~180 miles. What the others suggest is true, ours is smoothing out now that it’s covered nearly 1000 miles, 80% charges are back over 200 miles again.

A 100% charge prior to the longer trip we’re on now was 256 miles. I’m not expecting 80% charges after we get back to drop all the way back to 180 as it will be less volatile to its most recent experience, we’ll see.
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Post by Deleted User 192 »

Ruthf wrote: Sat Sep 18, 2021 7:33 am Hi all. I’ve had my ID.3 for a few weeks. It has been registering 220 miles after a charge to 80% and about 270 miles after a charge to 100%. That has suddenly dropped. Now it’s saying 177 miles after a charge to 80%. We did our first longer journey in the car so could the car be calculating based on that trip? We were on the motorway for most of the longer journey. We also charged to 100% twice and didn’t drive straight off as we hadn’t figured out the app on the car that lets you tell the car what time to be fully charged for. The third time we fully charged the car we used that feature and unplugged the car and set off just before the car reached 100%. Could we have damaged the battery with just two full charges that finished a few hours before we set off? Thanks for any advice people can offer

How many times have you charged your phone to 100%? How’s it’s battery health?

You won’t have done anything to your car with literally just a couple of 100% charges.

Recent journeys you have made influence the predicted range. You’ll see it drop as it gets colder.
Ruthf
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Post by Ruthf »

I started off with only 177 miles for 80% yesterday but after 41 miles the range only dropped to 158 miles. 👍

Looking forward to the battery smoothing out. Thanks for all the advice. I was wonder if they will change the range prediction to work on a mix of route (if you have GPS on) and past driving style on those types of roads etc. That would be really useful
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Post by Deleted User 192 »

“battery smoothing out”?
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

Ruthf wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:19 am I started off with only 177 miles for 80% yesterday but after 41 miles the range only dropped to 158 miles. 👍

Looking forward to the battery smoothing out. Thanks for all the advice. I was wonder if they will change the range prediction to work on a mix of route (if you have GPS on) and past driving style on those types of roads etc. That would be really useful
With experience you will probably not be looking at the range indicator so much. Its often referred to as the guessometer! Its useful on long journeys but for normal everyday driving look at your charge level. I dont think that will change with GPS or other SW as there too many other variables in addition to driving style. How many passengers, luggage, ambient temperature etc. All impact on the range.
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Andreas
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Post by Andreas »

Ruthf wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 7:19 am I started off with only 177 miles for 80% yesterday but after 41 miles the range only dropped to 158 miles. 👍

Looking forward to the battery smoothing out. Thanks for all the advice. I was wonder if they will change the range prediction to work on a mix of route (if you have GPS on) and past driving style on those types of roads etc. That would be really useful
It's not really the battery, it's the logic of the range estimation algorithm. This will never really change, unless you always do the same route. It was the same on my 2005 petrol Audi A4. It will always guesstimate on the basis of a floating average of what you last drove, and how, and with how many people, and at what temperature etc

All the best

Andreas
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Leccy
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Post by Leccy »

scott28tt wrote: Sun Sep 19, 2021 9:30 am “battery smoothing out”?
I used “smoothing out” in my post to describe our experience of the remaining range estimate not seeming to be as affected by a motorway trip now as it was when the car had only covered a few hundred local miles from new, with ambient temperature, driving mode, heating/aircon not being very different. I don’t know how far back in miles the range estimation algorithm goes so its just an observation.
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Post by Leccy »

Seems that the recent use part of the car’s range estimate doesn’t go back very far. We were away at the weekend, 120 miles motorway. 80% charge following bimbling around for 20-30 miles put the range estimate on 208 miles, but sure enough after the 120 mile motorway run home 80% charge gave 184m. Next charge to 80% after a week or so of local use bet it will show 200-210 again. Look forward to the temperature effect next 🥶
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Daveion
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Post by Daveion »

I think thats right. I would not be surprised if the algorithm works well within the cars normal range of 260 miles. Maybe only 50-100 miles with the most recent 10 miles or so having the biggest effect then tappering off.
My LTA is 4.3m/kw. Projects out to 250 miles.
My since charge figure is 4.9m/kw projects out to 284 miles.
That is why I look at the charge level. After 9 months I can predict what my range will show based on all normal driving variables for different journeys I take. Its something you probably did automatically in your ICE looking at the fuel gauge
rather than miles left in the tank.....until the yellow fuel light came on.
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