Quote:
Originally Posted by Hersbird
On the highway, cargo completely enclosed inside isn't going to affect gas, diesel, or EV significantly .
There are downhill roads that even with max regen braking are going to require either nauseatingly slow speeds or actual friction brake applications. We have a lot of passes here that have nice long straight downhills, followed by 25 mph hairpins, followed by nice long straight sections. You could probably just hold 30 mph on the whole thing but you usually let it pick back up some speed. TFLcar has been doing some EV testing up and down Loveland pass in Colorado from 5000 ft Boulder to 12,000 foot summit and they still don't gain much if any battery back onnthe downhill. They also run climate control and maintain speed limits and such to try and make it what a normal person might expect. They have only done the Kona and the Golf but they have a Model X too, I just haven't seen that episode. The Golf actually couldn't make it without a mid charge, but the Kona did it no sweat with 120 miles of range left.
|
Well you got my point, that the elevation change doesn't really affect range.
Certain perfectly graded hills can increase ICE MPGs simply because it's in an efficient load going uphill, and can coast back down the other side with no use of brakes.
A loaded EV could certainly be way more efficient on steep and long descents. I gained back the full 3kWh coming down from Yosemite in the Prius and had to engine brake / friction brake to bleed off the rest of the elevation loss. Did the same thing coming down from Crater Lake. None of that is lost in an EV except for the relatively low conversion loss. I expect a loaded truck would greatly benefit by having the ability to recover that energy.