EVs and Motorways

[Billy_Whizzzz]

Being thick, no doubt, but why (reading the news item on here about the new Audi EV), are EVs unsuited to long motorway journeys. FWIW that’s much of my driving with no short trips. Was finally thinking about a pure EV but as most of my journeys are 300 miles or more (return, with no charger at destination) and I hate stopping or the idea of endless waiting while visiting chargers, maybe an EV isn’t for me just yet. Any thoughts on motorways and EVs?

[Mr E]

Air resistance is proportional to velocity squared.

Or. The faster you go, the more power you need.

EVs are just fine on motorways. As long as you have sufficient power. On the plus side, most services will have decent charging facilities.

[Chris Hinds]

Not so much a case of unsuited as a case of having a different consumption profile. In a conventional car the inefficiencies of combustion are exacerbated by stop-start driving in town and therefore more fuel is used. When you get an ICE on the open road although it’s using more energy to push the vehicle through the air, that’s to a great extent counteracted at UK legal speeds by the engine operating in a more efficient manner. With an EV the motor is always efficient and so the extra drag as mentioned by the previous post becomes very very obvious because the motor is no more efficient at speed than it is in town.

What does that mean? It means in an ICE car that if you mainly do distance journeys at steady speed you can expect your economy to be better than if you live in town driving. If you have an EV you are more likely to achieve your best range on a mainly urban use profile because in reality that’s what uses less energy.

[giveitfish]

All covered above. Wind resistance is the killer.

I have a Tesla Model 3 Long Range company car and it’s ideally suited to motorway driving - as long as you’re OK stopping for 20-30 minutes every 150 miles while cruising at 70-75. It’s quiet enough (tyre noise is a bit of a disappointment), comfortable, fast, responsive, radar cruise, decent sound system etc.

If you don’t want to stop for 300 miles then no they’re not for you as yet. If you are happy to do so, then covering big distances is very pleasant indeed.

Edited by giveitfish on Thursday 17th March 08:45

[T1berious]

giveitfish said:

All covered above. Wind resistance is the killer.

I have a Tesla Model 3 Long Range company car and it’s ideally suited to motorway driving - as long as you’re OK stopping for 20-30 minutes every 150 miles while cruising at 70-75. It’s quiet enough (tyre noise is a bit of a disappointment), comfortable, fast, responsive, radar cruise, decent sound system etc.

If you don’t want to stop for 300 miles then no they’re not for you as yet. If you are happy to do so, then covering big distances is very pleasant indeed.

Edited by giveitfish on Thursday 17th March 08:45

^This^

As a recent mover to EV's I mirror the thoughts above. Our long trip is Birmingham to Scotland. My M2C or Z4MR couldn't do that trip on a single tank!
However, with the right rapid charger (>150Kw) I can get from 10% to 80% in less than 30 mins.

Tested it out a few times (non Tesla chargers) and its a mixed bag (broken chargers / 150Kw split across multiple chargers...). I'd say outside of a EQS in ideal conditions you'll not see 300 miles real world range.

[djglover]

EVs are just fine for motorway journeys. If you know where a few options are for 125/150kw charging then they are only marginally longer on 200-300 mile journeys than an ICE. I have driven to London a number of times in the ID3, with a smaller battery, and all that is required is a 10 min top up at Chesterfield Instavolt 125kw to make sure I can get home. I will add 16kw in that time.

At motorway speeds ID3 still gets around 4m/kwh and that is 240 miles (that does deplete in winter or with a full load - granted)

Yeah for silly long ranges, like going to the south of France, its going to mean stopping several times, but that is one outlier journey for most people and with the Tesla network now open across France its not anywhere near as daunting as it was.

ETA - no destination charging would be a problem I agree, I have a 340 mile round trip twice a week, but can charge at my destination, only at 7kw mind..

Edited by djglover on Thursday 17th March 09:27

[SWoll]

All well and good if there are decent 150kW+ rapid chargers en-route and they are available.

Despite being an EV convert and running them solely for 3 years now I'd not want to be doing regular 300+ mile journeys, that's already a long enough day without messing about charging thanks.

[TheRainMaker]

I would wait for now, give it a year or so and see how the charging network develops.

[Mr E]

SWoll said:

All well and good if there are decent 150kW+ rapid chargers en-route and they are available.

Which is why tesla and their supercharger network is a significant differentiator.

[ingenieur]

I think my Mercedes E350 does about 1000 miles on a full tank of diesel.

[Heres Johnny]

Mr E said:

SWoll said:

All well and good if there are decent 150kW+ rapid chargers en-route and they are available.

Which is why tesla and their supercharger network is a significant differentiator.

I'm with SWoll and we've both had/have Teslas.

The Tesla supercharger is not the panacea it once was. Many many locations are 130kw max and as they are busier than ever you are more likely to get half that as they share the power between 2 cars. (There are newer locations which are better but they're no more frequent that the competition).

[NDA]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Being thick, no doubt, but why (reading the news item on here about the new Audi EV), are EVs unsuited to long motorway journeys. FWIW that’s much of my driving with no short trips. Was finally thinking about a pure EV but as most of my journeys are 300 miles or more (return, with no charger at destination) and I hate stopping or the idea of endless waiting while visiting chargers, maybe an EV isn’t for me just yet. Any thoughts on motorways and EVs?

As has been quoted many times, if your use case suits an EV, then they're really very easy cars to own.

My commute is 80 miles each way in a Tesla, 99% of which is motorway. I've done this in spring and summer with a lot of range left to spare. I have done very few trips of longer than 200 miles, a couple or three, but not many. On these trips the charger network was absolutely fine and the visits very brief.

If I lived in the middle of Wales or Cornwall (for example) with long runs every day, I am not sure an EV would suit my use case.

The charging network was one of the reasons I chose a Tesla - although the truth is I rarely (if ever) use it.

[Mr E]

ingenieur said:

I think my Mercedes E350 does about 1000 miles on a full tank of diesel.

My Mercedes E class does about 350 miles from a tank.

And yes, I fully expect superchargers to be busy at peak times.

[SWoll]

Mr E said:

SWoll said:

All well and good if there are decent 150kW+ rapid chargers en-route and they are available.

Which is why tesla and their supercharger network is a significant differentiator.

Had a Model 3 for 2 years. The supercharger network does itself have some significant flaws and at busy times the combination of shared power and relatively poor charging curves can lead to frustration. They're also getting very, very busy due to the sheer number of Tesla's on the road and a very different prospect to when we got ours back in 2019.

[ingenieur]

Mr E said:

ingenieur said:

I think my Mercedes E350 does about 1000 miles on a full tank of diesel.

My Mercedes E class does about 350 miles from a tank.

And yes, I fully expect superchargers to be busy at peak times.

Which model? Mine has the 9-speed gearbox and should get 55mpg. From an 80 litre tank that works out at about 950 miles.

[SWoll]

ingenieur said:

Mr E said:

ingenieur said:

I think my Mercedes E350 does about 1000 miles on a full tank of diesel.

My Mercedes E class does about 350 miles from a tank.

And yes, I fully expect superchargers to be busy at peak times.

Which model? Mine has the 9-speed gearbox and should get 55mpg. From an 80 litre tank that works out at about 950 miles.

2014 E500 estate, it's in his profile.

[DonkeyApple]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Being thick, no doubt, but why (reading the news item on here about the new Audi EV), are EVs unsuited to long motorway journeys. FWIW that’s much of my driving with no short trips. Was finally thinking about a pure EV but as most of my journeys are 300 miles or more (return, with no charger at destination) and I hate stopping or the idea of endless waiting while visiting chargers, maybe an EV isn’t for me just yet. Any thoughts on motorways and EVs?

I wouldn't even have an EV on the radar at all for that kind of usage.

It's no problem having to recharge away from home on an occasional basis but if it's a genuine part of your every day life then it would be utter madness unless your employer is happy for you to do it on their time.

Spending your working day hypermiling, planning where you can stop, losing an hour from your day, potential hassle of chargers not working? I think you'd be barking mad to pay money you've worked hard to earn to make your life harder.

Go for the most economical ICE that's comfortable for that kind of driving, that makes your life as simple as possible and just wait a while until the EV market has a range of products you can choose from which allow you to complete those journeys at your preferred speed without having to refuel at all or get close to needing to.

The idea of a hard day at work and then willfully hanging around a motorway services for an hour in the wind and rain of winter instead of getting home! I think you're insane for even contemplating such foolishness.

[boombang]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Was finally thinking about a pure EV but as most of my journeys are 300 miles or more (return, with no charger at destination) and I hate stopping or the idea of endless waiting while visiting chargers, maybe an EV isn’t for me just yet. Any thoughts on motorways and EVs?

A pure EV is not for you yet IMHO.

I can, in summer, with careful driving and averaging 55MPH (which needs a clear road), eke 305 miles out of my EV. I wouldn't want to do that though, instead I drive normally and accept 280 miles in summer and 240-260 miles in winter (drop to 240 is sub 4 degrees). My typical day is 100 miles, 50 to work and 50 back. I could charge there too without much hassle but don't need to.

[gangzoom]

Billy_Whizzzz said:

Was finally thinking about a pure EV but as most of my journeys are 300 miles or more (return, with no charger at destination) and I hate stopping or the idea of endless waiting while visiting chargers, maybe an EV isn’t for me just yet. Any thoughts on motorways and EVs?

Essentially if you must need a car that does 300 miles at 70mph+, with no charging at the destination, with no stops, in all UK weather conditions no EV onsale today apart from may be the EQS will meet your needs. Even than, on a cold Jan day, torrential rain, the wind blowing the wrong way, you will need to slow down and/or stop for a charge to cover that distance non stop.

[gangzoom]

DonkeyApple said:

The idea of a hard day at work and then willfully hanging around a motorway services for an hour in the wind and rain of winter instead of getting home! I think you're insane for even contemplating such foolishness.

Any EV owner who would disagree with your evaluation of the situation is lying

Luckily most people don't have the driving demands/needs of the OP.