Driving on the motorway

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kps70

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2013
Messages
24
Location
Cheltenham, UK
I was brave enough to take the i-miev on the motorway today and got her up to 77mph!
I drove about 10 miles mostly at around 70mph. It certainly attracted attention as I have put a sticker on the back which say 100% electric!
I cannot say I will be doing this regularly as it decimates the range. Still, it was fun.
Kieron
 
I might have to try taking mine out onto the rollercoaster that is the A30 - there's no way mine would make it to a motorway from here. It would be fun to see how fast it goes down one of the steep sections, but maybe a worry getting it back up to the top...
 
Gentlemen, allay your fears. I drive mine on the motorway/highway all the time getting into New York CIty. Average speed around here is in the upper 60's to low 70's.

Also we have some highways with climbs up some significant hills and I still can gain speed while going up, though somewhat slowly. Happy driving!
 
It will do 81/82 mph easily. Doubt it would go any faster downhill because the motor is limited to 9900 RPM. How fast it will go UP the hills will surprise you (and everyone around you) too . . . . it's no slouch by any means

But . . . . as you say, it sure eats up the battery doing so!

Don
 
I love driving the highway when there is a traffic jam. My batteries will last longer :)

Had a dream - we are getting a CHAdeMO. Hope the dream comes true. I'd love to more often use the highway.

Highway plus hill is a combination I dont like. Had to drive them. Uphill took a lot of battery but downhill still consumed energy. I did not expect pulling a truck at its tail would save me that much energy but yes it did. Even allowed more than 100 kilometers per hour and keeping the needle in the green.
 
Indeed- I and my i live in a hilly area, where large trucks often are slowed to 35 mph climbing the highway. That's within the torquey 'sweet spot' of our motors, so the i and I enjoy rocketing out into the passing lane to blast by those behemoths...

I haven't yet found a steep enough hill to disprove this, but at 70-80 mph on a steep downgrade, the car does not accelerate in N due to aero drag.

Hmmm, now wondering if a streamlined i coasting downhill would 'hit a wall' past 82 mph and start computer-imposed regen to prevent motor overspeed...(a leading killer of golf cart motors)

lets see, putting our cars specs into http://www.calctool.org/CALC/eng/aerospace/terminal yields a terminal velocity of 279 mph! Of course, it would either invert or start tumbling after dropped from a helicopter, like this unfortunate bug that got squashed, totally destroying the calculation and topping out around 125 mph...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiAbcw5s9_8
:lol:
it's enough to make one want to head for the salt flats....
 
I noticed by staying behind a large semi truck at 60MPH, I was using about the same power as I would at 45MPH. Drag is a drag. :lol:
 
Anyone know of a cruise-control option? It's the only thing that I miss on the i.
 
I drive on the freeway every weekday. There's really no practical way for me to get to work without doing so, and while I could go out of my way and do a little more city driving, I figure it's better for the image of the car if I just drive it how I want to drive and only worry about extending the range when I really need to.

My drive is 14 miles each way, less than 2 of which aren't freeway. I have made the outgoing trip in two bars drafting a semi truck, but usually I use three or four. The return trip, which must be more uphill, and usually is in clearer traffic, drains a little more. in general I'm out about half a charge, give or take a bar, and my RR ranges from 59 to 72. (There aren't a lot of restaurants nearby, so if I go out to eat I can put another 10 miles on the thing.)

I usually drive in the mid-60s to 70s unless I'm consciously trying to conserve, with rush hour congestion sometimes helping me limit my battery drain. I have easily gone up to 75 without even trying or realizing I was going that fast. I have not attempted reach a maximum speed, but have definitely hit 80 before.
 
I took the highway today, following a flat-bed big truck doing about 60 mph. On the level spots, the needle was in the little green spot between ECO and the black "zero energy" point :!: Going downhill, I applied a little regen at the top of the hill, then coasted all the way down, plus about half a mile on level and stayed with the truck. I drove 34 miles and used 6.12 kWh, an astounding 5.55 miles/kWh. RR was 49 when I entered the highway, and after coasting down the hill, was 52. It stayed at 49 miles RR all the way until just before I started down the hill, when it temporarily dipped to 48.

I would've never thought that driving that efficiently on the highway could be possible.
 
PV1, you'll note that in my Hypermiling the iMiEV I, uh, "failed" to mention this practice which can net astounding results because, as we all know, aerodynamic drag is the single largest range-killer in the iMiEV. My best-case (legal) scenario is in the truck corridor of San Francisco's East Bay (lots of truck traffic going to to he shipping terminals), where following a convoy of trucks and having one on each side allows one to almost be able to coast many many miles. Although some benefit can be derived by sitting in the lane next to any large vehicle in its wash, there's nothing like drafting to dramatically increase the iMiEV's range as well as increase the probability of getting a ticket or push up daisies (whichever comes first). If you're interested you might wander over to http://www.cleanmpg.com/ for a hypermiling primer (although I suspect by now Wayne Gerdes has toned this aspect way down) and I'm sure on the internet you'll find posts of wild (and probably true) mileage claims by those NASCAR wannabees who tailgated trucks and lived to tell about it. I don't think we want to go there on this forum… besides, it results in too many windshield chips. :shock:
 
JoeS said:
I don't think we want to go there on this forum… besides, it results in too many windshield chips. :shock:
Yeah, have two of those, both from highway travel. I don't tailgate as I don't see a point in it. However, I was a little closer to the truck than normal, but still left myself plenty of following room.

Canion showed 114 wh/km when I passed the truck, and was still showing 114 wh/km after powering up a hill on my own at 65, coasting all the way down the other side, and the final mile through downtown to the charging station. After charging, I had 79 miles RR, vs. low to mid-60's for my everyday drive of a flat 45 mph.

We'll see how today goes. I may just go on my own and see what the difference in usage is.
 
Went on my own yesterday, and going a little faster (65 instead of 60) because I didn't have the protection of the truck for the rest of the 75 mph traffic. Efficiency went from 114 wh/km to 146 wh/km, and usage went from 6.12 kWh to 7.82 kWh. I went down to 6 bars, vs. 9 bars for Saturday. RR was 24 instead of 41.

The same hill I coasted down before, this time I had to apply power to maintain speed.
 
I think canion is showing the average watt hour per km for the trip. It's better to look at the bar graph on the 10 km range to get and idea of how well you are doing in each km. I see lots of variation with the driving terrain, speed,wind and if yor behind a large truck on that display. I've been using it more and more to watch the trend in economy as I drive.

Don......
 
I just don't understand how following a truck at a safe distance can save you much (if any) energy/range

The 'three second rule' says you need to maintain *at least* 3 seconds between you and the vehicle in front under ideal weather and traffic conditions. 3 seconds @ 60 mph is 265 feet - Is this really close enough to 'draft' off the vehicle in front?

Following a semi (which should give the best wind shadow) I would allow a bit more room, since you cannot see anything happening in the front of the truck - If you happened to be adjusting the radio (or looking at the canion) when he hit the brakes, it could be all over for you, ala Jayne Mansfield

Best range for me seems to be on lesser roads at 35 to 40 mph. Where we live, the trip to the next town can be done either on the freeway or on secondary roads parallel to the freeway and the energy use (for us) isn't even close - We use about 1/3rd more taking the freeway at 65 over what we use on the secondary road at 35

Don
 
Actually, you would think following a semi would be best, but they are so turbulent (at least with box trailers) that you are thrown all over the lane. Following a pickup is better, but a flatbed semi worked pretty well, too.

The other day I went north, but took the main road instead of the highway and achieved somewhere around 8-10 miles/bar. I used two bars and just lost the 3rd one a block away from my destination. But then a gain, it was 65 degrees, vs. the 50 degrees or less on the highway.
 
After a month, did my first mountain trip in the car, 31 km from home to ski area parking lot. Mostly highway uphill, 80-90 km/hr, plus the steeper climb up the mountain at 60 km/hr. The 31 km up was all in eco mode, and ate up 8 bars! I kept the heater off the whole time. Going down was a mix of coasting in neutral, plus regen (mostly in D, but some E and B depending on how much I needed to slow down). I only lost one additional bar during the 31 km home. 62 km, used up 9 bars total. I've never had this much fun driving a car.
 
burnabyimiev : I really wish more people understand the "fun" with EV's. I have been forced to drive a rental (ICE) as my Imeiv is in the shop. Another story but let's just say I am not very happy with the dealership right now.

However, I do miss the "Fun" and even with the problems with the dealer I do not regret getting the car. Just want it back.

Dave
 
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