[gjhead]

I got my 2022 EUV back in July. I absolutely love this car. Most of my driving is my commute, driving around town, etc. (We also own a 2021 Prius, which is my wife's and our longer journey car.)

This weekend was the first time I really had my Bolt on the highway. I had a 60+ mile trip that I usually stick to basic roads, but instead chose to take the PA turnpike to see how the Bolt felt on the highway.

The two things I noticed were:

1. I'm fairly certain that it drained my battery a lot faster than I expected. I used cruise control most of the way around 70-75mph. Sorry I don't have more solid numbers to share, but it seems like highway driving ate my battery quickly.

2. Cruise Control: My one pet peeve about the Bolt is that for optimum performance, you should stay in the "green" range on the Efficiency Gauge. I wish that Cruise Control was smart enough to keep this in mind when driving. It seems to not care one bit about Efficiency when it's in use. With all this technology, you would think this would be a feature?

Is it possible that using Cruise Control was a cause of my battery draining so quick? Or the constant acceleration?

On regular roads, I'm accelerating, slowing down, stopping at lights, regenerating, etc.

Anyway - any insight or help is appreciated!

 

[The Other Tom]

Speed kills range, no question about it. If you want longer range, decrease your speed to around 60-65 mph. The link below is for a Bolt but the same principle applies. Oh, and if you fell comfortable doing so, increase you tire pressure to neat the max sidewall pressure. Note that this is measured cold.

Chevrolet Bolt EV Range at Constant Speeds

 

[Dark-Fx]

65 mph is the sweet spot for the Bolt EV for long trips. If it's under 180 miles and the weather is good, you probably don't need to worry about your speed as much. I haven't driven the EUV on the freeway but I imagine it might be slightly worse at higher speeds, but 65 is still probably the sweet spot.

 

[ARob]

Speed Kills (range and efficiency). True for ICE and EV alike.

Air resistance increases exponentially with speed. It takes more energy to create the power to overcome the resistance.

So, why do we notice this more in EV than ICE? Because range and efficiency are foremost in out minds as EV owners, charging in public is not (yet) as ubiquitous as gas and diesel and takes longer. So EV makers make sure range and efficiency are prominently displayed to gauge when to search for public charging.

Take your Prius out on a highway journey and note the efficiency compared to around town, you will notice it drops similar to EV.

CC is a carryover from ICE days, and meant to reduce fatigue for drivers, not optimize efficiency. Over time, maybe engineers will devote more time to optimizing efficiency, but for now they use good enough routines and put products out for general use.

 

[redpoint5]

What is the "green range"? Seems like a gimmick to me that won't affect range in any meaningful way unless it's telling you to drive slower.

 

[Packard V8]

CC is a carryover from ICE days, and meant to reduce fatigue for drivers, not optimize efficiency. Over time, maybe engineers will devote more time to optimizing efficiency, but for now they use good enough routines and put products out for general use.

Can't agree with any of the above which suggests using CC results in less range than driver control.

I'm an old guy who grew up using last-century hypermiling techniques, but they were hard work for the reward. There were many times I tested CC against manual control and only when there was a true coast-in-neutral option did it pay off. In the late century, GM designed automatic transmissions with a freewheel coasting function. The downside was they ate brakes like popcorn. Then, with the advent of computer EFI which could shut off fuel on decel, coasting in neutral actually increased fuel use, as the engine stayed running at idle.

Bottom line - until someone can prove a negative to the Bolt CC via instrumented testing, I'm of the opinion it works well and efficiently.

 

[ARob]

Can't agree with any of the above which suggests using CC results in less range than driver control.

I'm an old guy who grew up using last-century hypermiling techniques, but they were hard work for the reward. There were many times I tested CC against manual control and only when there was a true coast-in-neutral option did it pay off. In the late century, GM designed automatic transmissions with a freewheel coasting function. The downside was they ate brakes like popcorn. Then, with the advent of computer EFI which could shut off fuel on decel, coasting in neutral actually increased fuel use, as the engine stayed running at idle.

Bottom line - until someone can prove a negative to the Bolt CC via instrumented testing, I'm of the opinion it works well and efficiently.

The one area that has often caused me to think that some work on CC could be of benefit on Hybrid and ICE is rolling hills.

CC seems to try really hard to hold the line on speed, but if it allowed minor variance to reduce fluctuations in consumption, it might yield minor efficiency gains. I often do this when not engaging CC.

You clearly see large trucks practicing this method, partly because a loaded rig will naturally slow on uphill climbs so they tend to gather up speed on the downhills to help them get over the next hill.

The Bolt actually does pretty well at maintaining speeds on CC. I find in D, it drifts a bit more than L on downhill sections. Of course, regen helps maintain steadier speeds, but you never recover as much as you use climbing uphill so using some momentum from downhill might shave a little off of the uphill consumption.

 

[jefro]

You have solid numbers. Your energy used is reported in a number of places. App on phone shows it. The can has a few places. Center dash and tablet screen have it. Look at the green button for last 5 miles or such.

Cruise control may not be best for energy. It is quite strict in speed. Normally a bit of wiggle on speed is what hypermilers use. Cruise control is convenience. It can actively apply brakes to the car. On country roads you are able to hypermile if you know some tricks. Everyone here notices that 70-75 will be about 3 mile per kwh. Plus or Minus.
I go up and down some steep hills every day. It wrecked my projected i3 range. You only get a fraction of regen for every watt you go uphill or accelerate.

 

[Marspilgrim]

FWIW, when the Bolt came out an engineer said that if you peg it at the 92mph top speed it will travel 160 miles.

 

[greendave]

FWIW, when the Bolt came out an engineer said that if you peg it at the 92mph top speed it will travel 160 miles.

Maybe downhill.

I’d strongly bet against that on level ground. My Bolt at 80mph is well below 3 miles/kWh. I can’t imagine 92mph doing much more than 2 miles/kWh.