highway range

About to finally pull the trigger on this car. The one bit of information on this car that is not very clear is what I can expect for highway range say at 70MPH. Any feedback owners could give on real word highway driving in this car would be great. I am fully aware the car does not like highway driving but it part of my commute.

I do have to say I test drove the car an absolutely loved it.

At least 50 miles even under fairly hard driving. LAX to my house is 56 miles, it is uphill over 1500 feet and I'll drive at 70-75, occasionally 80 MPH. It gets home with 5-10 miles range left. Normal driving at a fairly steady 65 MPH on more or less level terrain it will likely do the full 76 miles that it is rated for.

If you live in a cold area, need to park outside and need to use the heat while driving, then you need to get advice from someone else, as I understand the range can be severely reduced under those circumstances.

Worst case highway range I've ever had was 35 miles: going 75mph into a brisk 30mph wind and it was <0F out.

About 75 miles at 65-70mph with AC on, flat terrain, 80F day.

I drive my FFE a 50mile round trip (25 miles each way) mostly on freeway at 65mph+ using cruise control starting with a 100% fully charged battery.
I get home in moderate weather temps with about 20miles left on the GOM and ~33% battery charge left.
Heater not used, sometimes A/C used but not too much, mostly just fan only on at low speed (LO with A/C off).

Leaving my home for the 25mile trip is mostly downhill, so I can go faster on the freeway when I see the energy draw (wH/m) is lower on the real-time energy meter.
Coming back home though its more uphill, so I tend to keep the freeway speed down to 65mph or a little less.
On that trip, I average 250-280 Wh/mile.

On a commute if you encounter slowing during rush-hours a lot on the freeway, that will extend your range greatly.

Between 60mph to 70mph I would say you will realistically get 60 to 65 miles out of a full charge and if you plan to blast it at 80mph, expect to get 50-55 miles out of a full charge.

I've grown to drive the car at an average of 65mph on the freeway, thereby, getting 65 miles to a charge. Remember, that's an average of 65 miles, so sometimes I'm going 80mph when I'm the the carpool and I have a line of cars behind me. Or if everyone is going fast on the freeway I may be going over 70mph at least half of the trip.

This car is only really good for urban travel of up to 35 miles each way. And there must be chargers (even if you may not need them) nearby otherwise it will induce serious anxiety. It would do poorly in places like Texas where there are large distances.

brogult said:

At least 50 miles even under fairly hard driving. LAX to my house is 56 miles, it is uphill over 1500 feet and I'll drive at 70-75, occasionally 80 MPH. It gets home with 5-10 miles range left. Normal driving at a fairly steady 65 MPH on more or less level terrain it will likely do the full 76 miles that it is rated for.

If you live in a cold area, need to park outside and need to use the heat while driving, then you need to get advice from someone else, as I understand the range can be severely reduced under those circumstances.

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Seems like pjam3 should have you give him some driving lessons.

About to make the decision on this car. The one aspect I'm unclear about is the highway range, specifically at 70MPH. Any insights from owners regarding real-world highway driving performance would be highly appreciated. I understand that the car may not be optimized for highway driving, but it's a crucial part of my daily commute. Any feedback on how it handles at higher speeds on the highway would be invaluable.Nrega Job Card List

If you can drive 60mph, you get more range than at 65mph than at 70mph.
I cannot give an exact range because I do not know how you drive and what your road conditions are.
I drive conservatively, but I have a combination of freeway that is up and down hill, and city streets. I average about 4 miles per kW.
If I were to drive on flat highway, at 70mph, I would think that would drop to 3.3 miles per kW. If your focus has 19 useable kWs, then you are going to get about 62 miles. If you focus has 27 useable kWs, then you are going to get about 89 miles. When in doubt, expect worse. Sorry.

Apologies for the delay. I posted a formula for the energy versus speed on the focus a while back that you could use to calculate.

https://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=28880#p28880

I found that the background draw is about 1100watts before you factor in AC or cooling and the newtons you get from the formula are effectively watt seconds.

"Highway range" typically refers to the distance a vehicle can travel on a single tank of fuel or charge while driving at highway speeds. It's an important metric for evaluating the practicality and convenience of a vehicle for long-distance travel. Manufacturers often provide highway range estimates based on standardized testing procedures, but real-world driving conditions can vary significantly. Electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles often have highway range estimates alongside traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

Aarna785 said:

"Highway range" typically refers to the distance a vehicle can travel on a single tank of fuel or charge while driving at highway speeds. It's an important metric for evaluating the practicality and convenience of a vehicle for long-distance travel. Manufacturers often provide highway range estimates based on standardized testing procedures, but real-world driving conditions can vary significantly. Electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles often have highway range estimates alongside traditional internal combustion engine vehicles.

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That's all true but for my 2015 FFE it's misleading, Due to lower over all speeds and good regenerative practices I get much better range in and around town than I do on the highway. I also find that my FFE Will Accept a much better charge on an 80 deg day (up to 90 mi), than it does on a 30 deg day (58 mi).

It's not a matter of "accepting" a charge, that estimate reflects how much stored energy is going to the wheels versus all the other non-range draws. The stored energy does vary with temp but it's single digit percentages (I'm able to see the kWh energy-to-empty in real time)

The cabin heater is a huge sink for power and at that low of a temp the inline battery heaters are going to turn on without any user input.

That said, if you drive a level stretch of road with cruise at 65 and climate off you get the range they advertise - at least before battery degradation reaches a noticable level.

Aarna785 said:

"Highway range" typically refers to the distance a vehicle can travel on a single tank of fuel or charge while driving at highway speeds.

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It would be more correct to say "while driving under highway conditions" as it's compared with "city conditions".

While speed is one factor, the greatest effect is from the stop-and-go of city driving versus not having that on the highway. All that stopping and going and constant changes in speed results in lower mileage (or higher fuel consumption) with ICE vehicles.

With EVs, regenerative breaking (and coasting) brings the two values to about the same, with city usually being a tiny bit better.

Anti_Climax said:

It's not a matter of "accepting" a charge, that estimate reflects how much stored energy is going to the wheels versus all the other non-range draws. The stored energy does vary with temp but it's single digit percentages (I'm able to see the kWh energy-to-empty in real time)

The cabin heater is a huge sink for power and at that low of a temp the inline battery heaters are going to turn on without any user input.

That said, if you drive a level stretch of road with cruise at 65 and climate off you get the range they advertise - at least before battery degradation reaches a noticable level.

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I'm only able to see what's on the dashboard but the difference between a winter charge and a summer charge is dramatically different for me, about 30%. And it has nothing to do with the heater. With all the accessories off, when first entering the car the difference on the dashboard can be 30%.

The value, with everything turned off reflects your recent average efficiency with the available energy, but if the temp is low enough there is a heater running on the battery itself that you do not control. But that should also keep it from dropping so low that you lose much useful energy.

Regardless it's very common for the usable charge to vary seasonally. If that difference is not due to housekeeping loads then you have a much bigger problem to worry about. I'd recommend setting the "my view" to show battery, Wh/mi and the climate/accessory loads. You can derive the average/estimate it's using the data on the Wh gauge, and if you truly think the stored energy is varying that much I'd also suggest noting the trip miles/energy on the left screen when you end a drive. You'll know very quickly if it's the amount stored or the rate of use.