First Time EV Owner: Live experience report

[dreamweaver]

Thanks .

Its been a bit of an adventure, as this was a big decision for us. Saying I belabored it might be understating things.

I hear you on the numbers/the cost. For us this was right on the edge of what we can afford. Well, without dipping into more significant savings or cutting savings for the future (like we wanted to make sure we can still fund the years IRA's, etc).

The difference is that we were pretty sure that we'd be needing/wanting vehicles with more space in the next few years, and this seemed like the best time available to do that. As almost no matter what, it seems like vehicle prices will be up in 2-3 years (Tax credit being gone by EOM is an automatic $7500 price increase, then the general tariff/inflation issues). And we got ours for about the same as/less than many of the other comparable vehicles (even compared to lightly used ones in many situations).

Ironically, the "living" with the vehicle part is probably the least difficult part so far. If you're in the habit of recharging a PHEV, the EV is no different. And we used the PHEV like an EV, and were sometimes charging it 2-3 full times per day, so we've got that habit.

For the first week we sometimes didn't charge it in for a day or few. But I think that is because we have some range anxiety/unfamiliarity. So every day starting with a baseline of 80%, seems to help with that.

I think the lowest we've been down to in a day was ~58% charge. And that day we did ~90 miles or so.

Oh, and we're consistently seeing a smidge over 400 miles of range projected for a full charge (322 miles of range shown at 80%). Not bad for something that is supposed to do 320 miles of range.

Thank you for the latest episode of your EV journey. It is appreciated. Makes me feel better about my Traveler EV reservation.

 

[J Alynn]

Thank you for the latest episode of your EV journey. It is appreciated. Makes me feel better about my Traveler EV reservation.

Same here. The more real world stories the more my mind eases over BEV

 

[Logan]

Same here. The more real world stories the more my mind eases over BEV

Thank you for the latest episode of your EV journey. It is appreciated. Makes me feel better about my Traveler EV reservation.

Glad its helping, even though I don't know if I had a goal in this, other than I guess sharing the process because others asked.

Although, TBH, it doesn't feel like I've shared anything illuminating yet, as everything has been pretty uneventful (ie, everything has worked well, other than I've got a paint defect that has to be fixed at some point).

But... maybe that in and of itself is the "point"?

Also, apparently my wife, and my buddies wife (the family with a near identical Ioniq 9) talked on the phone today and were talking about their likes/dislikes of the vehicles.

And the TLDR was that they haven't missed their old van yet (2014 Odyssey). The storage space in the back is quite a bit smaller... but, still totally livable. And, somewhat surprisingly for a family who hadn't had their toes in the PHEV space like we did... they seem to be taking to it just fine. Their wife said she really likes how it drives, and loves how much they're saving in gas (About $60-90 a week, driving ~350-400 miles a week shuttling 3 kids to and from all the things, coming from a ~21mpg minivan).

And actually, my buddy is noticing it too. He previously joked with me about why I didn't drive my Jeep all that much anymore, as I'd take my PHEV Tucson anytime the family wasn't using it. Now he gets it. Its hard to justify driving the other vehicle unless needed, simply because of the cost savings.

For reference, driving to my local mountain biking spot is ~22 miles round trip. In my Jeep, thats like $7-8 in gas (12-15mpg, $4.50/gallon...). In his truck, its like $4.50.

In my Tucson its like $0.93. In our Ioniqs, its like $0.65.

 

[6-ScoutFamily]

…
Although, TBH, it doesn't feel like I've shared anything illuminating yet, as everything has been pretty uneventful (ie, everything has worked well, other than I've got a paint defect that has to be fixed at some point).

But... maybe that in and of itself is the "point"?
…
For reference, driving to my local mountain biking spot is ~22 miles round trip. In my Jeep, thats like $7-8 in gas (12-15mpg, $4.50/gallon...). In his truck, its like $4.50.

In my Tucson its like $0.93. In our Ioniqs, its like $0.65.

That absolutely is the point, and it’s hard to argue with that math. Thank you for sharing your experiences.

 

[dreamweaver]

Glad its helping, even though I don't know if I had a goal in this, other than I guess sharing the process because others asked.

Although, TBH, it doesn't feel like I've shared anything illuminating yet, as everything has been pretty uneventful (ie, everything has worked well, other than I've got a paint defect that has to be fixed at some point).

But... maybe that in and of itself is the "point"?

Also, apparently my wife, and my buddies wife (the family with a near identical Ioniq 9) talked on the phone today and were talking about their likes/dislikes of the vehicles.

And the TLDR was that they haven't missed their old van yet (2014 Odyssey). The storage space in the back is quite a bit smaller... but, still totally livable. And, somewhat surprisingly for a family who hadn't had their toes in the PHEV space like we did... they seem to be taking to it just fine. Their wife said she really likes how it drives, and loves how much they're saving in gas (About $60-90 a week, driving ~350-400 miles a week shuttling 3 kids to and from all the things, coming from a ~21mpg minivan).

And actually, my buddy is noticing it too. He previously joked with me about why I didn't drive my Jeep all that much anymore, as I'd take my PHEV Tucson anytime the family wasn't using it. Now he gets it. Its hard to justify driving the other vehicle unless needed, simply because of the cost savings.

For reference, driving to my local mountain biking spot is ~22 miles round trip. In my Jeep, thats like $7-8 in gas (12-15mpg, $4.50/gallon...). In his truck, its like $4.50.

In my Tucson its like $0.93. In our Ioniqs, its like $0.65.

These EV journeys stories let people know that EV's are not these scary unknown driving machines that are going to disrupt their lives. They are vehicles with benefits that easily replace ICE vehicles and enhance their lives while while spending less to get where they need to go daily. Thank you.

 

[cyure]

These EV journeys stories let people know that EV's are not these scary unknown driving machines that are going to disrupt their lives. They are vehicles with benefits that easily replace ICE vehicles and enhance their lives while while spending less to get where they need to go daily. Thank you.

More and more everyday I keep thinking just do it. Just get the Bev and jump in both feet. I just made appointments for oil changes for our vehicles and the oil change on a Supra is $250. Just for the oil change. It would be nice not to have to worry about that stuff.

 

[dreamweaver]

More and more everyday I keep thinking just do it. Just get the Bev and jump in both feet. I just made appointments for oil changes for our vehicles and the oil change on a Supra is $250. Just for the oil change. It would be nice not to have to worry about that stuff.

Those are some of the many benefits an EV provides. That's why I called EV's vehicles with benefits.

 

[Cranky Canuck]

Thanks .

Its been a bit of an adventure, as this was a big decision for us. Saying I belabored it might be understating things.

I hear you on the numbers/the cost. For us this was right on the edge of what we can afford. Well, without dipping into more significant savings or cutting savings for the future (like we wanted to make sure we can still fund the years IRA's, etc).

The difference is that we were pretty sure that we'd be needing/wanting vehicles with more space in the next few years, and this seemed like the best time available to do that. As almost no matter what, it seems like vehicle prices will be up in 2-3 years (Tax credit being gone by EOM is an automatic $7500 price increase, then the general tariff/inflation issues). And we got ours for about the same as/less than many of the other comparable vehicles (even compared to lightly used ones in many situations).

Ironically, the "living" with the vehicle part is probably the least difficult part so far. If you're in the habit of recharging a PHEV, the EV is no different. And we used the PHEV like an EV, and were sometimes charging it 2-3 full times per day, so we've got that habit.

For the first week we sometimes didn't charge it in for a day or few. But I think that is because we have some range anxiety/unfamiliarity. So every day starting with a baseline of 80%, seems to help with that.

I think the lowest we've been down to in a day was ~58% charge. And that day we did ~90 miles or so.

Oh, and we're consistently seeing a smidge over 400 miles of range projected for a full charge (322 miles of range shown at 80%). Not bad for something that is supposed to do 320 miles of range.

Yeah I've found Hyundai's in particular to be very good about EV range. The company tends to under-promise and over-deliver which is what you want. I see their quoted range as kind of a 'worst case' range (ie middle of a cold winter day for example). I started out like you did being conservative about charging but over time I've found I only need to charge the car once a week or so depending on how much I drive. I usually charge it when it gets down to 30% or so.

A word of advice from a long-time Hyundai EV owner, make sure to charge it when it goes down to 20% or lower. 20% is the cutoff for when it the vehicle stops keeping the 12V topped up so as long as you don't leave it for extended periods below 20% you shouldn't have any 12V battery drain issues.

The range anxiety will also go away quickly, especially after you've done your first road trip somewhere and realise that it's not a big deal at all and that there's charging infrastructure pretty much everywhere you need it.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 is still showing 100% battery health after three years (using a car scanner app that can interrogate the BMS) so it looks like Hyundai has done well in the battery engineering department as well which I would expect given they're on their third generation EV platform now.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Yeah I've found Hyundai's in particular to be very good about EV range. The company tends to under-promise and over-deliver which is what you want. I see their quoted range as kind of a 'worst case' range (ie middle of a cold winter day for example). I started out like you did being conservative about charging but over time I've found I only need to charge the car once a week or so depending on how much I drive. I usually charge it when it gets down to 30% or so.

A word of advice from a long-time Hyundai EV owner, make sure to charge it when it goes down to 20% or lower. 20% is the cutoff for when it the vehicle stops keeping the 12V topped up so as long as you don't leave it for extended periods below 20% you shouldn't have any 12V battery drain issues.

The range anxiety will also go away quickly, especially after you've done your first road trip somewhere and realise that it's not a big deal at all and that there's charging infrastructure pretty much everywhere you need it.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 is still showing 100% battery health after three years (using a car scanner app that can interrogate the BMS) so it looks like Hyundai has done well in the battery engineering department as well which I would expect given they're on their third generation EV platform now.

I would recommend plugging in whenever possible and stick to the ABC (always be charging) philosophy. Small, short recharge events are better for the battery long term health. It also makes emergency trips easier because your vehicle is always near the charge level you have set.

That said, it's also good to run the charge down to <10% without charging and then up to 100% without driving every once in a while (once a year or so) so the battery management system gets a reset in knowing the charge on the battery. Over time the charge controller loses track of the charge the battery has used and received.

 

[dreamweaver]

I would recommend plugging in whenever possible and stick to the ABC (always be charging) philosophy. Small, short recharge events are better for the battery long term health. It also makes emergency trips easier because your vehicle is always near the charge level you have set.

That said, it's also good to run the charge down to <10% without charging and then up to 100% without driving every once in a while (once a year or so) so the battery management system gets a reset in knowing the charge on the battery. Over time the charge controller loses track of the exact number about of charge the battery has used and received.

Good tip Thanks.

 

[Cranky Canuck]

I would recommend plugging in whenever possible and stick to the ABC (always be charging) philosophy. Small, short recharge events are better for the battery long term health. It also makes emergency trips easier because your vehicle is always near the charge level you have set.

That said, it's also good to run the charge down to <10% without charging and then up to 100% without driving every once in a while (once a year or so) so the battery management system gets a reset in knowing the charge on the battery. Over time the charge controller loses track of the exact number about of charge the battery has used and received.

Hyundai recommends charging up to 100% once a month to help the BMS balance the battery.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Hyundai recommends charging up to 100% once a month to help the BMS balance the battery.

That’s a good recommendation. I do road trips so often that we charge at least one of our cars to 100% at least once a month just for that reason.

 

[dreamweaver]

Yeah I've found Hyundai's in particular to be very good about EV range. The company tends to under-promise and over-deliver which is what you want. I see their quoted range as kind of a 'worst case' range (ie middle of a cold winter day for example). I started out like you did being conservative about charging but over time I've found I only need to charge the car once a week or so depending on how much I drive. I usually charge it when it gets down to 30% or so.

A word of advice from a long-time Hyundai EV owner, make sure to charge it when it goes down to 20% or lower. 20% is the cutoff for when it the vehicle stops keeping the 12V topped up so as long as you don't leave it for extended periods below 20% you shouldn't have any 12V battery drain issues.

The range anxiety will also go away quickly, especially after you've done your first road trip somewhere and realise that it's not a big deal at all and that there's charging infrastructure pretty much everywhere you need it.

My 2022 Ioniq 5 is still showing 100% battery health after three years (using a car scanner app that can interrogate the BMS) so it looks like Hyundai has done well in the battery engineering department as well which I would expect given they're on their third generation EV platform now.

Upgrades and updates can sometimes be a step back rather than forward. Good to hear they are at least neutral with the new generation of platforms battery engineering.

 

[Chavannigans]

I have never driven an EV using OPD. I am willing to try as long as they get the regen/braking smooth but useful. Everyone tells me it is just like the old golf carts, unfortunately, I am not a golfer; never was. And my wife's fancy golf cart is a two pedal affair. We shall see.

I drive golf carts daily at the University.

On some carts, it will begin braking when you take your foot off the go pedal.

We have 3 Club Cars and a Yamaha. All of them are electric.

Our local cart repair contractor removed all of their speed limiters and maxed out our one pedal braking.

Her cart may have the ability, but it may not be enabled.

 

[Logan]

This week I had to go into the office 3 days in a row (which is unusual, I'm usually full time WFH).

Because the Ioniq 9 is cheaper to drive, I ended up commuting in that, instead of our smaller Tucson PHEV. But this means that I got a fair bit of seat time. So I thought I'd do some testing. Specifically, I wanted to compare one pedal driving, to lower regen setting driving.

I intended to be good, and drive the same route every day, and do a whole day in one regen level, and get to compare the actual efficiency each direction. But instead... I sometimes got to work and was dashing into the building, and forgot to take photos/etc. So instead of a really easily observable set of screenshots... I've got a smattering of images, and some general thoughts/feelings.

So its a bit less "A/B" test than I'd like. But still maybe helpful.

• My commute is ~26.2 miles from leaving my garage to the parking spot at work.
• Temps were in the ~55f - 65f range.
• I wanted to have climate impact the efficiency results the lowest amount possible.
  • Climate was either off, or set to something like driver only at ~65f (I run warm), although I did use the lowest level seat heating and heated steering wheel in the brisker times.
• Did one trip and back with level 1 regen (closest analog to a normal automatic vehicles engine braking that my vehicle has).
• Did one trip there and back with level 4 regen (1 pedal driving, highest level of regen offered).
• Most of the route I take has speed limits between ~35mph - 55mph. Without traffic I'd say the avg speed is somewhere around 45mph.
  • ~Most of the distance is two lane road (one way each direction). Some of it is rural-ish, others are more suburban ish.
• Used adaptive cruise control on the higher speed sections, and sometimes in the stop and go.

Since I can't do an easy A/B test result here (at least with proof), here is what I'll do instead. Some data, some feelings.

Day 1: Low regen.

• Efficiency of 3.8 miles/KWh on the trip in, and I believe ~3.3 miles/KWh on the trip back.
  • I went into the office late in the day (~1pm) because of work things in the morning, which meant that the avg speed for this trip into the office was higher (ie, no traffic, I got to work faster). Slight rain, but not "much".
• Return trip had an efficiency of ~3.4 miles/KWh (no photo, sorry).

Day 2: High Regen (One Pedal driving)

• From memory it was ~3.6 miles/KWh (it could be ~3.5, but pretty sure it ticked to 3.6 right before I got out, so giving it the benefit of the doubt) on the same exact route, the day after.
  • This day had more rain than the day before
  • This day was a longer commute by ~10-15min, as the speeds were lower.
  • Usually lower speeds translate to better efficiency for EV's (less aero impact), so I was surprised that this was lower, as I was trying very hard (and succeeding) at driving smoothly.
  • The rain should negatively impact the range, but it was low intensity rain (wipers on intermittent), and the roads were "wet" but not "saturated".
  • Its not conclusive
• Return trip was 3.4 miles/KWh, and took about an hour.
• 

Day 3: Low Regen

• Ended up going to a different building on the way in (slightly different path, mileage, etc). No photo because I was running late, but I think the efficiency was in the ~3.6 miles/KWh range
• Return trip was from a different location, as there was a "team dinner" offsite. And since my "A/B" test idea was out the window, and I was close to the freeway, I decided to take that home instead.
• I was between ~60-67mph or so most of the time. And all but maybe... 5-6 miles of this range was on the highway (2-3 miles to get on/off).
• Way lower efficiency, as expected, at 2.9miles/KWh
• 

Day 4: WFH!

I was supposed to go into the office today, but a key meeting had been moved to virtual, and I have to coach a kids soccer practice tonight, so it made more sense to stay home. But I was intending to do another day of high regen driving to try to get more data.

Other findings/feelings:

Remember that the Ioniq 9 (and I presume most others) do the "blended" braking thing, where any time the brake pedal is pressed, it first does regen (variable based on pedal pressure) up to the max it can provide, before friction brakes are engaged. This means that "low regen" driving modes... aren't low regen. Its just low "default" regen. So its more of a "choose how you apply regen" decision, as "theoretically" the efficiency should be pretty similar.

Just a collection of thoughts, no real order:

• Despite doing ~60 miles in one day on one pedal driving, I'm still not 100% acclimated.
  • 1 pedal driving mode did still require brake activation, at times. In my case, I think all of them were on pretty steep hills (one hill on the way to work is a paved 15% grade for 3/4 of a mile, with a stoplight at the bottom).
  • I found myself coming to slightly more abrupt stops. Not an "accidental lift off", but more of a "the braking forces ramped more exponentially towards the end of that stop" rather than the more linear braking force shape I'd prefer as a smooth driver. I'm sure I'd get better at this with more time.
  • Coming off of adaptive cruise control was less natural. As after you cancel it, the "2n'd gear in a manual transmission driving 45mph" style deceleration that happens kicks in rather soon, which means to be smooth, your foot needs to be "buried" in the throttle already, and perfectly matching the position. With lower regen levels this matching is easier/almost not important.
  • I did find that I was not covering the brake the way I would be in a normal automatic/low regen car.
    • I think this is because the "heavy" throttle/accelerator feel that requires you to keep your foot deep into the throttle (to maintain speed), is still happening in times/places where I'd usually be rather gently pressing the throttle (or lifting off) to get ready to tap the brakes (ie, when you think an irrational driver you've been watching may be cutting you off, etc).
• In traffic situations where its not quite true "stop" and go, but rather "slowly creep from 1-5mph", 1 pedal driving is actually way easier to manipulate.
  • Its a combination of the fact that you only have to use one pedal (so no hopping back and forth between throttle/brake every 0.5 - 3 seconds), combined with the speed granularity.
  • The toe in on the throttle with mine is really, really gentle. So I can go 1mph with a very slight press, but going 1mph with a normal automatic car (or mine in level 1) which wants to "creep" at ~5mph, means heavily "riding the brakes".
  • on the third day when I was trying to stick in level 1 regen, in a section of particularly bad traffic, I actually had to force myself not to go back to 1 pedal, because this brake/accelerator dance was annoying.
    • Then remembered that... adaptive cruise control is better than either of these in this situation. So I did that instead.

I don't know if I have any conclusions from this yet. All I can say is that so far there doesn't seem to be a lot of data supporting that one is any better than the other in terms of efficiency (technically the data shows that its slightly more efficient for my driving to use lower regens, which I'd attribute to it being easier to "coast" and gently/slowly come to a stop over longer distances, but thats only one data point, and the difference wasn't "huge", so I don't count it as conclusive).

I will say that my instincts are still tuned for lower regen levels, so for the time being, I'll likely stick with that most of the time as 1) that feels more natural/normal and I don't have to "think about it", AND, there at least isn't a negative in terms of efficiency. But I'm trying to keep an open mind towards trying 1 pedal, so I know when/how I want to use it.

Anyway, long post. And no idea if this is helpful for anyone.

I just hope Scout offers both, so everyone is happy . Maybe even those of us who still haven't really decided which we prefer more yet .

Also, we're currently showing 408 miles of range at 100% charge for our mostly suburban/rural-ish driving patterns. EPA range is 320 miles.

And even at temps of ~55f, I didn't see any battery temp maintenance on the energy consumption charts. I'm curious at what temps we'll start to see that.

 

[strider]

• Despite doing ~60 miles in one day on one pedal driving, I'm still not 100% acclimated.
  • 1 pedal driving mode did still require brake activation, at times. In my case, I think all of them were on pretty steep hills (one hill on the way to work is a paved 15% grade for 3/4 of a mile, with a stoplight at the bottom).
  • I found myself coming to slightly more abrupt stops. Not an "accidental lift off", but more of a "the braking forces ramped more exponentially towards the end of that stop" rather than the more linear braking force shape I'd prefer as a smooth driver. I'm sure I'd get better at this with more time.
  • Coming off of adaptive cruise control was less natural. As after you cancel it, the "2n'd gear in a manual transmission driving 45mph" style deceleration that happens kicks in rather soon, which means to be smooth, your foot needs to be "buried" in the throttle already, and perfectly matching the position. With lower regen levels this matching is easier/almost not important.
  • I did find that I was not covering the brake the way I would be in a normal automatic/low regen car.
    • I think this is because the "heavy" throttle/accelerator feel that requires you to keep your foot deep into the throttle (to maintain speed), is still happening in times/places where I'd usually be rather gently pressing the throttle (or lifting off) to get ready to tap the brakes (ie, when you think an irrational driver you've been watching may be cutting you off, etc).
• In traffic situations where its not quite true "stop" and go, but rather "slowly creep from 1-5mph", 1 pedal driving is actually way easier to manipulate.
  • Its a combination of the fact that you only have to use one pedal (so no hopping back and forth between throttle/brake every 0.5 - 3 seconds), combined with the speed granularity.
  • The toe in on the throttle with mine is really, really gentle. So I can go 1mph with a very slight press, but going 1mph with a normal automatic car (or mine in level 1) which wants to "creep" at ~5mph, means heavily "riding the brakes".
  • on the third day when I was trying to stick in level 1 regen, in a section of particularly bad traffic, I actually had to force myself not to go back to 1 pedal, because this brake/accelerator dance was annoying.
    • Then remembered that... adaptive cruise control is better than either of these in this situation. So I did that instead.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I think Hyundai needs to work on their software. A Tesla will regen down to a "limo stop" every single time. It should never be abrupt (unless you're stomping on the brake to avoid something of course).

Same comment for coming off cruise. Teslas have a delay when coming off cruise and then regen slowly ramps so you have plenty of time to press the accelerator to the speed you want.

Yes, in traffic, OPD is so nice. Tesla's TACC is really abrupt (TACC uses the free Autopilot software and not the paid Full Self Driving [FSD] software and they seem to have stopped all development on Autopilot) so I almost always turn it off if traffic slows. I'm expecting Scout will be better at this.

 

[Logan]

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I think Hyundai needs to work on their software. A Tesla will regen down to a "limo stop" every single time. It should never be abrupt (unless you're stomping on the brake to avoid something of course).

Same comment for coming off cruise. Teslas have a delay when coming off cruise and then regen slowly ramps so you have plenty of time to press the accelerator to the speed you want.

Yes, in traffic, OPD is so nice. Tesla's TACC is really abrupt (TACC uses the free Autopilot software and not the paid Full Self Driving [FSD] software and they seem to have stopped all development on Autopilot) so I almost always turn it off if traffic slows. I'm expecting Scout will be better at this.

Interesting, you're saying that in a Tesla, if you're using 1 pedal driving, and fully lift off the throttle, it does a "gentle limo stop"?

In my ioniq 9 the throttle liftoff behavior is easy to predict, but in one pedal mode, if I lift off all the way, I get max regen braking asap. Usually I didn't do that, but there was one or two "oops" moments where habit had me lifting off the throttle faster than was smooth.

There is a short delay after the cruise control turns off before the regen really kicks in. So it is possible to control it, its just harder in one pedal mode. Id actually love to see that delay be user selectable in some range.

I actually think that the adaptive cruise control in the Hyundai is pretty good. As good as one pedal driving was in those slow creeping traffic situations, the cruise control was better (it handles complete stops, and the slow creeping). So I tend to turn that on most in those situations.

 

[J Alynn]

This week I had to go into the office 3 days in a row (which is unusual, I'm usually full time WFH).

Because the Ioniq 9 is cheaper to drive, I ended up commuting in that, instead of our smaller Tucson PHEV. But this means that I got a fair bit of seat time. So I thought I'd do some testing. Specifically, I wanted to compare one pedal driving, to lower regen setting driving.

I intended to be good, and drive the same route every day, and do a whole day in one regen level, and get to compare the actual efficiency each direction. But instead... I sometimes got to work and was dashing into the building, and forgot to take photos/etc. So instead of a really easily observable set of screenshots... I've got a smattering of images, and some general thoughts/feelings.

So its a bit less "A/B" test than I'd like. But still maybe helpful.

• My commute is ~26.2 miles from leaving my garage to the parking spot at work.
• Temps were in the ~55f - 65f range.
• I wanted to have climate impact the efficiency results the lowest amount possible.
  • Climate was either off, or set to something like driver only at ~65f (I run warm), although I did use the lowest level seat heating and heated steering wheel in the brisker times.
• Did one trip and back with level 1 regen (closest analog to a normal automatic vehicles engine braking that my vehicle has).
• Did one trip there and back with level 4 regen (1 pedal driving, highest level of regen offered).
• Most of the route I take has speed limits between ~35mph - 55mph. Without traffic I'd say the avg speed is somewhere around 45mph.
  • ~Most of the distance is two lane road (one way each direction). Some of it is rural-ish, others are more suburban ish.
• Used adaptive cruise control on the higher speed sections, and sometimes in the stop and go.

Since I can't do an easy A/B test result here (at least with proof), here is what I'll do instead. Some data, some feelings.

Day 1: Low regen.

View attachment 9578

• Efficiency of 3.8 miles/KWh on the trip in, and I believe ~3.3 miles/KWh on the trip back.
  • I went into the office late in the day (~1pm) because of work things in the morning, which meant that the avg speed for this trip into the office was higher (ie, no traffic, I got to work faster). Slight rain, but not "much".
• Return trip had an efficiency of ~3.4 miles/KWh (no photo, sorry).

Day 2: High Regen (One Pedal driving)

• From memory it was ~3.6 miles/KWh (it could be ~3.5, but pretty sure it ticked to 3.6 right before I got out, so giving it the benefit of the doubt) on the same exact route, the day after.
  • This day had more rain than the day before
  • This day was a longer commute by ~10-15min, as the speeds were lower.
  • Usually lower speeds translate to better efficiency for EV's (less aero impact), so I was surprised that this was lower, as I was trying very hard (and succeeding) at driving smoothly.
  • The rain should negatively impact the range, but it was low intensity rain (wipers on intermittent), and the roads were "wet" but not "saturated".
  • Its not conclusive
• Return trip was 3.4 miles/KWh, and took about an hour.
• View attachment 9579

Day 3: Low Regen

• Ended up going to a different building on the way in (slightly different path, mileage, etc). No photo because I was running late, but I think the efficiency was in the ~3.6 miles/KWh range
• Return trip was from a different location, as there was a "team dinner" offsite. And since my "A/B" test idea was out the window, and I was close to the freeway, I decided to take that home instead.
• I was between ~60-67mph or so most of the time. And all but maybe... 5-6 miles of this range was on the highway (2-3 miles to get on/off).
• Way lower efficiency, as expected, at 2.9miles/KWh
• View attachment 9580

Day 4: WFH!

I was supposed to go into the office today, but a key meeting had been moved to virtual, and I have to coach a kids soccer practice tonight, so it made more sense to stay home. But I was intending to do another day of high regen driving to try to get more data.

Other findings/feelings:

Remember that the Ioniq 9 (and I presume most others) do the "blended" braking thing, where any time the brake pedal is pressed, it first does regen (variable based on pedal pressure) up to the max it can provide, before friction brakes are engaged. This means that "low regen" driving modes... aren't low regen. Its just low "default" regen. So its more of a "choose how you apply regen" decision, as "theoretically" the efficiency should be pretty similar.

Just a collection of thoughts, no real order:

• Despite doing ~60 miles in one day on one pedal driving, I'm still not 100% acclimated.
  • 1 pedal driving mode did still require brake activation, at times. In my case, I think all of them were on pretty steep hills (one hill on the way to work is a paved 15% grade for 3/4 of a mile, with a stoplight at the bottom).
  • I found myself coming to slightly more abrupt stops. Not an "accidental lift off", but more of a "the braking forces ramped more exponentially towards the end of that stop" rather than the more linear braking force shape I'd prefer as a smooth driver. I'm sure I'd get better at this with more time.
  • Coming off of adaptive cruise control was less natural. As after you cancel it, the "2n'd gear in a manual transmission driving 45mph" style deceleration that happens kicks in rather soon, which means to be smooth, your foot needs to be "buried" in the throttle already, and perfectly matching the position. With lower regen levels this matching is easier/almost not important.
  • I did find that I was not covering the brake the way I would be in a normal automatic/low regen car.
    • I think this is because the "heavy" throttle/accelerator feel that requires you to keep your foot deep into the throttle (to maintain speed), is still happening in times/places where I'd usually be rather gently pressing the throttle (or lifting off) to get ready to tap the brakes (ie, when you think an irrational driver you've been watching may be cutting you off, etc).
• In traffic situations where its not quite true "stop" and go, but rather "slowly creep from 1-5mph", 1 pedal driving is actually way easier to manipulate.
  • Its a combination of the fact that you only have to use one pedal (so no hopping back and forth between throttle/brake every 0.5 - 3 seconds), combined with the speed granularity.
  • The toe in on the throttle with mine is really, really gentle. So I can go 1mph with a very slight press, but going 1mph with a normal automatic car (or mine in level 1) which wants to "creep" at ~5mph, means heavily "riding the brakes".
  • on the third day when I was trying to stick in level 1 regen, in a section of particularly bad traffic, I actually had to force myself not to go back to 1 pedal, because this brake/accelerator dance was annoying.
    • Then remembered that... adaptive cruise control is better than either of these in this situation. So I did that instead.

I don't know if I have any conclusions from this yet. All I can say is that so far there doesn't seem to be a lot of data supporting that one is any better than the other in terms of efficiency (technically the data shows that its slightly more efficient for my driving to use lower regens, which I'd attribute to it being easier to "coast" and gently/slowly come to a stop over longer distances, but thats only one data point, and the difference wasn't "huge", so I don't count it as conclusive).

I will say that my instincts are still tuned for lower regen levels, so for the time being, I'll likely stick with that most of the time as 1) that feels more natural/normal and I don't have to "think about it", AND, there at least isn't a negative in terms of efficiency. But I'm trying to keep an open mind towards trying 1 pedal, so I know when/how I want to use it.

Anyway, long post. And no idea if this is helpful for anyone.

I just hope Scout offers both, so everyone is happy . Maybe even those of us who still haven't really decided which we prefer more yet .

Also, we're currently showing 408 miles of range at 100% charge for our mostly suburban/rural-ish driving patterns. EPA range is 320 miles.

And even at temps of ~55f, I didn't see any battery temp maintenance on the energy consumption charts. I'm curious at what temps we'll start to see that.

Appreciate the long post and the time you spent. The more we hear the more we learn and I’d rather hear stories here than read a published article. I’m thrilled to see how well you range is playing out for you vs the listed EPA range. Majority of my driving will be local-about 8-10 miles round trip if I take the long way to work. And being as I only go in three days a week this should provide similar results for me based on your experience as well as others. Thanks for taking the time

 

[cyure]

Appreciate the long post and the time you spent. The more we hear the more we learn and I’d rather hear stories here than read a published article. I’m thrilled to see how well you range is playing out for you vs the listed EPA range. Majority of my driving will be local-about 8-10 miles round trip if I take the long way to work. And being as I only go in three days a week this should provide similar results for me based on your experience as well as others. Thanks for taking the time

Honestly if not for everyone’s stories on this forum I would still be getting a Harvester.

 

[Logan]

Honestly if not for everyone’s stories on this forum I would still be getting a Harvester.

Ironically, I'm still reserved for a Harvester.

But we'll see as things get closer. Specifically how much experience we have with road tripping, and how that has been going. I know road tripping with it is "possible" right now, but its still a change to how we do our road trips. But also, I know that infrastructure should have improved in another 2-3 years.

Its also possible that now because we have 2 newer vehicles, I may wait a bit before I pull the trigger on a Scout. Because money, and things.