Someone on
MirageForum asked a great question and I thought I'd share it here.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by FloridaG4
During your work week will you be using more battery supply vs regeneration by braking where you would have to recharge the battery every few days or a on a weekly basis?
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That is a great question! Not to mention another great way to look at this mod. We will have to run the numbers to check it out for sure.
Math time! Again we are going to estimate the car uses an average of 20 amps while in use since I haven't tested that quite yet. My commute is about 25 minutes long.
20 amps * 25 minutes = 500 amp minutes
500 amp minutes / 60 = 8.3 amp hours
The car uses 8.3 amp hours, but we get 2.8 amp hours regenerated. This washes out to (8.3 - 2.8 = ) 5.5 amp hours used. The trip home would also use about 5.5 amp hours for a daily total of 11 amp hours.
Now, the battery holds about 80 amp hours, but we never want to use more than half of that. That gives us 40 amp hours to use. 40 / 11 = 3.6 days worth of commuting.
So, I can theoretically go 3 days before having to charge. Not too shabby. However, if I use more power than normal, that cuts it down. Eg. using headlights vs just running lights, wipers, more HVAC power, rear defroster, or the PTC heater would probably also suck a lot of power as well. Those all reduce that range.
In the end, I find it much easier to plug in every night. That gives me a full charge so I don't even have to worry about it at all unless I go on a long trip. If that happens, I just turn the alternator back on and get a little worse fuel economy. I also have a block heater that I run in the mornings, especially in winter. This necessitates plugging in every night, so I kind of do this already. Might as well top off the battery too.