Beating EPA Range – One Percent at a Time
The challenge seemed simple at first: drive a 2024 Hyundai Kona EV as far as possible using only one percentage point of observed state of charge, then switch spots with a fellow experienced “eco” driver to see who could travel the furthest.
The power of competition would therefore not only encourage us to bring as many fuel consumption-enhancing tricks to bear, but it would also give the second person driving a distinct advantage, having been able to observe and internalize the techniques of driver number one.
I drove first in this exercise, if you hadn’t guessed.
The end result? We both managed to drive 6.4 km (or 3.97678 miles, to be exact) going from an 89 percent charge to an 88 percent charge. My driving partner though drove ever-so-slightly more efficiently, ending at 10.7 kWh/100 km (or 5.8 miles per kilowatt-hour), compared to my 10.8 figure (5.753 mpkWh).
Stretching a Kona EV to 400 Miles of Range
Thus, with a full 100 per cent charge of the Kona EV, in theory you should be able to travel 400 miles. At least in residential neighbourhoods and on lightly traveled urban roads in similar (near-ideal 72-degree-ish) temperatures.
And that’s a theoretical 400 miles with a Kona EV that’s officially rated at 261 miles of range by the EPA. The EPA says roughly 29 kWh will be used per 100 miles, which predicts roughly 129 miles per equivalent gallon in the city, and 103 MPGe on the highway.
A Competitive Eco-Run
This was all part of the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada’s annual EcoRun event – thus the metric figures, with this new “1% Challenge” a new part of the three-day event’s festivities. Over the past decade of the event, anywhere from 14 to 20-plus vehicles would gather to drive a set route over urban, highway and rural settings, with each driver sampling four to eight efficiency-enhanced vehicles (largely hybrids and diesels early on, more recently mainly BEVs, PHEVs, and hybrids, with the occasional fuel cell) over multi-hour stints using their most fuel-efficient driving techniques.
The winner, as in most fuel-efficient driver over multiple vehicles, would then be awarded the coveted “Green Jersey.”
It’s not the most fun or real-world way to test vehicles, as it discourages enthusiastic acceleration, when approaching on-ramps and basically everywhere else – or most types of handling tests. The group also brought in a rule to keep us within the speed limit.
This new activity was a new type of challenge. It had both a head-to-head element, as well as an element of competing overall for the most efficient driver. And, by the way, we were by far NOT the most efficient – but we’ll look at those figures later.
EV Range: Tips for Achieving Maximum Efficiency
Want to achieve optimum efficiency in your EV? The same tricks that help save gas in a conventional vehicle can help.
Any driver can name (or look up) a list of long-time, but valid, efficiency techniques that will help eke out greater miles per gallon or kilowatt, and many are just as effective in an EV:
- Accelerate smoothly and gradually
- Maintain steady speeds
- Plan your route to avoid traffic and minimize unnecessary doubling back, if possible
- Keep tires inflated to recommended levels
For EVs, especially battery electric ones like our Kona EV, there are some additional tips that are also important:
- Minimize climate control use, and in mild weather, use exterior vents instead of opening drag-inducing windows
- If chilly, favor seat heaters and steering wheel heat over climate control heat
- Use regenerative braking wisely, maximizing it when coming to a stop, but still minimizing braking overall as much as possible
Internal combustion engines, of course, create lots of waste heat, which is great for cold climate winters but terrible for efficiency. So, using heat in the winter is no big deal in a gas car, efficiency-wise, whereas in a BEV, that heat has to be generated – even if heat pumps and heat-scavenging battery technologies now alleviate at least some of the winter hit in newer and more efficient EVs.
Efficiency Suffers in Extreme Cold and Extreme Heat
We happened to be at the opposite end of the weather spectrum, with a heat wave beating down on our test group just outside of Montreal, although our early morning Kona test meant we didn’t have to endure the 88-degree temps seen later in the day without air conditioning.
With high humidity and our Kona EV sitting in the sun not helping, we managed the test with little shots of air conditioning. The Kona – and Hyundai EVs in general – offer a driver-only temperature setting which helps cool or warm just the driver area, not the entire vehicle’s cabin. We both used this feature to maximize efficiency – sympathy to the colleague in the passenger seat be damned.
Following the above efficiency rules as much as possible, we drove over roads that varied the speed limit from 30-50 km/h (19-31 mph). And we stuck within three mph of those speed limits, though I noticed that my drive partner actually drove slightly faster than I did, both in acceleration and top speed – which I found interesting when his efficiency numbers topped mine.
His biggest efficiency-boosting technique was not slowing down nearly as much for stop signs or lights unless absolutely needed. A full stop is the ultimate inefficiency, and slowing down to a crawl and then accelerating back up to speed also hurts efficiency.
Range Tests Take Time
What I also found interesting was how long burning through one percent of charge took – and how variable that amount could be. When we left at 90 percent charged, we weren’t quite sure how much “into” that percent we were, so we decided to drive until I hit 89 percent, then pull over and reset our trip from there.
You know how gas cars stay on the F for a long time, then move faster down the fuel gauge once moving? Well, we figured that wouldn’t be the case in the world of electrons. We were both surprised that it took 5.6 km (3.48 miles) and a full 19 minutes to get from 90 percent down to 89 percent, as recorded by the trip meter of the Kona.
If that timing held throughout its range, that would keep me behind the wheel in those conditions and speeds for a full 31 hours and 40 minutes before I hit zero. And just like with a gas car, BEVs usually – but not always – keep a few electrons in reserve that allow for at least a few miles driving after you hit zero per cent.
Efficiency here clocked in at 12.5 kWh/km, or 4.97 miles/kWh.
The actual test itself for the next percentage point took 15 minutes, where we traveled further (6.4 km, or four miles) but in less time (four fewer minutes), and also more efficiently. So don’t think that you have to impede traffic or annoy other drivers to beat EPA range estimates.
Conclusion: Practice Driving Efficiently
Efficient driving techniques can be practiced and improved, and don’t have to bring on road rage from other drivers.
For the record, the winner of this One Percent Challenge travelled an incredible 7.9 km (pr 4.9 miles) on a single percentage point of charge, which in theory would be good for 490 miles of low-speed city driving. But this was with no air conditioning, in the middle of a heat wave, no radio or accessory use, and no passenger. That’s a mind-warping average of 9.7 kWh/100 km or 6.4 miles per kWh. With lots of suffering inside.
As always, your mileage may vary.
