Kia / Hyundai 64kh EVs and A Better Route Planner.
Discussion
Looking at getting an EV as next car. Considering the E-Niro 4+ as delivery times are reasonable and pricing decent over a three year lease.
Reading owner reviews on this forum and elsewhere, it seems that 250miles of range in mixed driving and decent weather is a reasonable expectation, with a lot of people saying they never see less than 220 miles regardless of how they are driving or the weather.
However, I've been checking a few of the occasional longer trips that I might need to cover for work on 'A Better Route Planner' and even with the settings tweaked for 100% battery at departure and setting speed at max 70mph it's showing me a much lower range than that.
A few examples:
219mile trip from London to Norwich and back - M25 / M11 / A11 - estimates that I should charge for 23min in Norwich, taking on 14kwh, to get back with 10% reserve in London.
201mile round trip to Southampton, recommends a 9min stop just outside Southampton for 9kwh of extra electricity, again returning with 10% reserve.
Even with a much shorter 169mile one way trip to Cardiff, the planner says that I would arrive with just 14% battery left.
Is the Route Planner roughly correct ? Or is it being over cautious and those kind of trips are actually realistic on one full battery in regular weather (keeping speed to 65mph on A roads and Mways if needed?)
Thanks in advance.
John
Reading owner reviews on this forum and elsewhere, it seems that 250miles of range in mixed driving and decent weather is a reasonable expectation, with a lot of people saying they never see less than 220 miles regardless of how they are driving or the weather.
However, I've been checking a few of the occasional longer trips that I might need to cover for work on 'A Better Route Planner' and even with the settings tweaked for 100% battery at departure and setting speed at max 70mph it's showing me a much lower range than that.
A few examples:
219mile trip from London to Norwich and back - M25 / M11 / A11 - estimates that I should charge for 23min in Norwich, taking on 14kwh, to get back with 10% reserve in London.
201mile round trip to Southampton, recommends a 9min stop just outside Southampton for 9kwh of extra electricity, again returning with 10% reserve.
Even with a much shorter 169mile one way trip to Cardiff, the planner says that I would arrive with just 14% battery left.
Is the Route Planner roughly correct ? Or is it being over cautious and those kind of trips are actually realistic on one full battery in regular weather (keeping speed to 65mph on A roads and Mways if needed?)
Thanks in advance.
John
I've done a couple of longer trips in the eNiro and used ABRP as my route guide.
I've stopped at each charging point recommended, and each time my SOC has been higher than "predicted". From memory one time ABRP said I'd arrive with about 14% and I had 27%. I charge back up to the level recommended by ABRP and carry on, so charging stops are a little shorter than suggested.
So at least in the case of the eNiro I would say that ABRP is somewhat pessimistic.
I've stopped at each charging point recommended, and each time my SOC has been higher than "predicted". From memory one time ABRP said I'd arrive with about 14% and I had 27%. I charge back up to the level recommended by ABRP and carry on, so charging stops are a little shorter than suggested.
So at least in the case of the eNiro I would say that ABRP is somewhat pessimistic.
Summer is good.
Winter is not.
Mine would not do 200 motorway miles at 75/80 in cold wet winter weather.
Yes you can increase the range by slowing down but I don't want to die of old age before I get to my destination. Sitting at 55 mph on an empty motorway is not for me.
If you have a regular 200 mile+ journeys then think very carefully. I'm going back to diesel as my journey profile has dramatically changed since getting the car (due to work+ageing family issues). Yes it'll cost me more money but I can't buy time.
If you must go electric buy a Tesla for the much faster recharge speeds.
Winter is not.
Mine would not do 200 motorway miles at 75/80 in cold wet winter weather.
Yes you can increase the range by slowing down but I don't want to die of old age before I get to my destination. Sitting at 55 mph on an empty motorway is not for me.
If you have a regular 200 mile+ journeys then think very carefully. I'm going back to diesel as my journey profile has dramatically changed since getting the car (due to work+ageing family issues). Yes it'll cost me more money but I can't buy time.
If you must go electric buy a Tesla for the much faster recharge speeds.
Edited by The Road Crew on Saturday 11th September 11:13
The Road Crew said:
Is that for sustained motorway speeds?
My rough averages are high 3's (occasionally low 4s) in the summer.
High 2's to low 3s in sub 5C winter with heaters on.
I think my worst was 179 miles (from 100% to 12%)
Maybe it depends on "motorway speed". I just set the cruise control to 75 and trundle along at a true 70. Doesn't add anything meaningful to the journey time.My rough averages are high 3's (occasionally low 4s) in the summer.
High 2's to low 3s in sub 5C winter with heaters on.
I think my worst was 179 miles (from 100% to 12%)
At that speed I expect 3.5 m/kWh in winter and about 4.0 m/kWh now. So 220 - 260 miles range, which seems to be what most people are reporting.
Thanks all for the replies.
I just wanted to check that it's realistic to expect a range of 200 to 220 miles from the E-Niro in normal use (Assuming not in the very depths of winter or being thrashed down the outside lane of motorway most of the trip)
Suspected ABRP was being overly pessimistic but wanted a second opinion from people who have driven the car.
I just wanted to check that it's realistic to expect a range of 200 to 220 miles from the E-Niro in normal use (Assuming not in the very depths of winter or being thrashed down the outside lane of motorway most of the trip)
Suspected ABRP was being overly pessimistic but wanted a second opinion from people who have driven the car.
I guess so, I used to set mine to 75-80 on the display. Couldn't get average much over 3.0/3.1 over a 3+ hour continuous drive with heating on 21/22C on cold winter days (3-4C)
I expected a drop in winter from the stated range of 282 but not as far as I experienced.
YMMV of course but I'm really glad to see the back of it. Crazy used prices mean I almost got all my money back. Feel like I've dodged a bullet by getting out of it now.
I'll look again at EV's in 3-4 yrs time and hopefully things have advanced a lot further but they simply ain't good enough for me and the journeys I now currently have to do.
I expected a drop in winter from the stated range of 282 but not as far as I experienced.
YMMV of course but I'm really glad to see the back of it. Crazy used prices mean I almost got all my money back. Feel like I've dodged a bullet by getting out of it now.
I'll look again at EV's in 3-4 yrs time and hopefully things have advanced a lot further but they simply ain't good enough for me and the journeys I now currently have to do.
The Road Crew said:
I'll look again at EV's in 3-4 yrs time and hopefully things have advanced a lot further but they simply ain't good enough for me and the journeys I now currently have to do.
My condolences on having to do so much driving that the eNiro isn't enough! Must be awful 
Out of interest, are you hoping for bigger batteries or better charging?
The Road Crew said:
I guess so, I used to set mine to 75-80 on the display. Couldn't get average much over 3.0/3.1 over a 3+ hour continuous drive with heating on 21/22C on cold winter days (3-4C)
I know that for your use, you weren't totally happy with the Niro, but your figures have actually made me a little more optimistic about the range than I was.75/80mph driving with proper heating running on a cold winters day, by my maths would still give at least 190 mile range at 'only' 3 miles per Kh ?
Which would mean that a 70mph drive in spring / summer / autumn would give a better than 200miles range, which is what I hoped.
Knock_knock said:
The Road Crew said:
I'll look again at EV's in 3-4 yrs time and hopefully things have advanced a lot further but they simply ain't good enough for me and the journeys I now currently have to do.
My condolences on having to do so much driving that the eNiro isn't enough! Must be awful Out of interest, are you hoping for bigger batteries or better charging?
Upto 77kW for only half the charge cycle just isn't good enough. I of course bear some responsibility for making the wrong purchase due to not full assessing the impact of this on my usage profile. Happily high used prices have saved my skin in this respect.
Bigger batteries obviously equal more expense and weight to carry around so not the ideal solution in my eyes.
S1bs said:
The Road Crew said:
I guess so, I used to set mine to 75-80 on the display. Couldn't get average much over 3.0/3.1 over a 3+ hour continuous drive with heating on 21/22C on cold winter days (3-4C)
I know that for your use, you weren't totally happy with the Niro, but your figures have actually made me a little more optimistic about the range than I was.75/80mph driving with proper heating running on a cold winters day, by my maths would still give at least 190 mile range at 'only' 3 miles per Kh ?
Which would mean that a 70mph drive in spring / summer / autumn would give a better than 200miles range, which is what I hoped.
I think my worst long economy was on a snowy, sub zero day, I think we averaged something like 2.2/3 over 100 miles. Thats heating on full and both seat heaters, so never going to be good economy in that scenario.
I've seen sub 2 on short local short trips in -10C temperatures.
I didnt like a few other aspects of the car (leather seats - horrid. Never again. Endless bings bongs and warnings, beeping when reversing FFS, Lane keep assist - can't turn it off. Nav system, bit slow, low res display, no wireless android auto, nor full screen display) this change to my usage is the straw that broke the camels back.
They're the right option for some, especially if you are taking advantage of the low BIK (no company car scheme for me sadly) but not for me at the moment. If I never went more than 100 miles from home I'd have kept it.
Edited by The Road Crew on Saturday 11th September 19:52
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