For everyone unhappy with the range, just remember you will go much farther in the Air than if you were driving any other EV on that very same trip. If the range “sucks” on the Air it will really, really suck on anything else.
Lucid's Tips to Optimize Range
- Thread starter Thinjake
- Start date
I think this graph from the Tesla website back in 2013 says a lot. It is a breakdown of all frictions and power consumers. The dominating ones are tire friction, which is constant with speed and aero drag which is increasing with the square of the speed. Double speed, 4x aero drag.
Thank for the range of tips. I do love to just kick back and enjoy the ride when I am on the highway. Of course, in winter my fur coat works much better than any seat warmer or HVAC, so that is my "range optimization" trick for the coldest of days.
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One thing not noted here is that the "aero" drag is not actually related to the speed of the car, but the car speed plus headwinds (oversimplified). Driving 70 in calm air is roughly equivalent to 50 with 20 headwind component, or 90 with 20 tailwinds. Pilots know this well.
The other factor is the penalty for gaining momentum (accelerating that mass) is not quite made up for with regenerative braking (losing momentum). A (relatively) constant highway speed means little change in momentum. In stop-and-go traffic (including stop/go at stop signs or lights), you pay that momentum change energy loss tax. But drag at those lower velocities is not as critical component.
Final factor: the shorter your trip time, the less energy is spent on HVAC, lights, etc.
Moral of the story (as has been said on this range topic so many times): if you want maximum range, drive at a constant 5mph speed on flat roads with no traffic, during the day with lights and wipers off, stopping only once at your destination, dress for the weather. If you want to enjoy your car, acknowledge that you will have to re-energize the batteries every once in a while, and use the above graph and information or ABetterRoutePlanner.com for trip planning.
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