Well, a bit of free time over the holiday, curiosity and a gift to myself (in the form of a free pass for some guilt-free, aimless motoring) = new data about the ForkenSwift...
Neither Ivan nor I have done anything other than sub/urban driving so far, so this afternoon I headed the other direction and drained most of a charge in one fell swoop on a stretch of road/highway with no stops/lights.
Speed limits were 50, 60 & 80 km/h in different sections. I was going faster than 2 of the 3 speed limits at various points in the drive, but I only broke the law in one speed zone (it's a puzzler!).
Notable observations:
- New top speed (maintained, briefly, on flat road): 66 km/h (41 mph) - with gravity assisted acceleration part of the way there.
- It seemed to take about 120A @ 44.8v, or 5.38 kW, to maintain 55 km/h on what appeared to me to be a level bit of road (though that's something which is notoriously hard to eyeball).
- So then, for most of the drive, the pack was delivering over 120A.
- Distance travelled: 18 km - that's the farthest the car has gone on a charge in winter driving (dry roads; temp around 0 C).
- It's also the longest the pack & cabling has been subjected to sustained current of that magnitude. As soon as I got home I went around and touch tested all the major connections - they were all cool. Good sign.
Based on distance travelled & SOC of the batteries at the end of the drive, I think it was a pretty efficient run - maybe even better than the very careful sub/urban driving I've been doing - which also includes a lot of coasting.
Anyway, I'll know the answer to that question tomorrow morning when I check the kill-a-watt meter on the charger. Stay tuned...