Conserve Misconception

[HyperionMark]

My name is Mark and I've *towed* over 1,000 miles in Conserve. Thanks for having me to this meeting of Tires Anonymous.

I want to address a common misconception I see around here sometimes. It seems like people think that driving in Conserve automatically makes it so you have increased tire wear.

On the whole I do strongly believe that Conserve can definitely lend itself to more tire wear, but that is largely only true under two variables:
1. You are driving more aggressively than the average vehicle. This is an extremely heavy vehicle and physics dictate that will increase tire wear.
2. You aren't doing tire rotations enough. This one speaks for itself.

So how do I have pretty normal tire wear driving and towing almost exclusively in Conserve? Well, mainly I just drive conservatively. If I need to do a ton of starts and stops, especially at higher speeds or with the trailer I put it in All Purpose. But on flat long segments of highway I keep it in Conserve. I should get 25-30k miles on this set.

A couple other points:
1. Watch the motor graphics next time you are stopping in AP. You will notice the front motors do a lot of the heavy lifting, especially closer to stopping.
2. Is it possible we as a society drive rather insane sometimes? The normalized driving in most places is way too crazy and barely gets you there any sooner. If you like going fast, I get it, that can be fun sometimes. Just put it in AP and expect increased tire wear even then.

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[MountainBikeDude]

Driving habits are the single greatest factor.

For me, I typically only engage conserve at or close to cruising speed on a highway this helps greatly reduce the additional wear. Similar to how the dual motor configurations work, all wheel drive under increased load, front wheel drive at speed.

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Is it possible we as a society drive rather insane sometimes? The normalized driving in most places is way too crazy and barely gets you there any sooner.

Haha, I had to look where you live to see if you were one of my neighbors. ?

 

[ksurfier]

Good points, is there a temperature where you stop using Concern Mode / seeing any benefits? In the best case scenario, my impression is that CM might add 10-20 miles of range on a full charge. Since almost no one charges to 100%, the actual increase in range is maybe 5-10 miles…so it begs the question, instead of using Concern Mode, wouldn’t it be wiser to simply slow down to the speed needed to reach the destination? For example, 80 mph range is only 190 miles but 60 mph is 300 miles range…tuning the speed will make a difference, but using conserve to get 10 more miles while driving 75 mph (225 v 215) seems silly…

More importantly, overuse of Concern Mode causes the front motors to run hotter (ironically when it’s hot is the only time it makes sense to use CM too).

Each motor in CM needs to double its work load which undoubtedly leads to increased rate of wear and likely early failure.

Concern Mode has me…well…concerned…

My name is Ken and thanks for letting me air my grievances at Tires Anonymous

 

[Dark-Fx]

My truck wants to drop into all-purpose the moment I plug it in. What are you doing differently?

 

[HyperionMark]

Good points, is there a temperature where you stop using Concern Mode / seeing any benefits? In the best case scenario, my impression is that CM might add 10-20 miles of range on a full charge. Since almost no one charges to 100%, the actual increase in range is maybe 5-10 miles…so it begs the question, instead of using Concern Mode, wouldn’t it be wiser to simply slow down to the speed needed to reach the destination? For example, 80 mph range is only 190 miles but 60 mph is 300 miles range…tuning the speed will make a difference, but using conserve to get 10 more miles while driving 75 mph (225 v 215) seems silly…

More importantly, overuse of Concern Mode causes the front motors to run hotter (ironically when it’s hot is the only time it makes sense to use CM too).

Each motor in CM needs to double its work load which undoubtedly leads to increased rate of wear and likely early failure.

Concern Mode has me…well…concerned…

My name is Ken and thanks for letting me air my grievances at Tires Anonymous

Over a full charge I'd be shocked if mine wasn't at least a 40 mile range increase.

 

[HyperionMark]

My truck wants to drop into all-purpose the moment I plug it in. What are you doing differently?

Yep, but you can just switch back to conserve after that.

 

[foxerson]

Hi Mark! Thanks for convening this meeting of Tires Anonymous and for sharing.

I can certainly identify with your story. I have about 25k miles on my OEM AT tires and they still measuring at 6/32"-7/32" of tread depth. Yes they are a bit loud. But shouldn't they be practically bald by now? It's making me self-conscious about my driving style. Do I need to be more "spirited" and aggressive? I feel better knowing that there are others who are gentle on their tires. Maybe I am ok after all.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Yep, but you can just switch back to conserve after that.

Maybe I've never tried. I know sport mode gets grayed out though.

 

[ksurfier]

Think I’ve figured out why CM doesn’t do much below 65 Fahrenheit, has to do with motor efficiency at different temps…a test near 77 F will likely shed some light on this…

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I use conserve on the highway too and it doesn’t hurt anything. Daily driving is in sport mode. I didn’t buy a car with a 3 second 0-60 time to drive it like a grandma coming home from bingo.

 

[mikehmb]

Think I’ve figured out why CM doesn’t do much below 65 Fahrenheit, has to do with motor efficiency at different temps…a test near 77 F will likely shed some light on this…

I assume you are referring to ambient temps, but this is motor temps. I typically see 125-150 degrees on the QM motors under normal conditions. 175-ish isn't unreasonable in Conserve.

And I always see a few points increased efficiency in Conserve, though I only use it on flats and while at speed.

What is the source of this data?

 

[HyperionMark]

Hi Mark! Thanks for convening this meeting of Tires Anonymous and for sharing.

I can certainly identify with your story. I have about 25k miles on my OEM AT tires and they still measuring at 6/32"-7/32" of tread depth. Yes they are a bit loud. But shouldn't they be practically bald by now? It's making me self-conscious about my driving style. Do I need to be more "spirited" and aggressive? I feel better knowing that there are others who are gentle on their tires. Maybe I am ok after all.

You are ok. This is a safe space.

 

[HyperionMark]

Think I’ve figured out why CM doesn’t do much below 65 Fahrenheit, has to do with motor efficiency at different temps…a test near 77 F will likely shed some light on this…

We are just not jiving on any of the Conserve stuff. I see plenty of benefit regardless of the temps.

 

[ksurfier]

We are just not jiving on any of the Conserve stuff. I see plenty of benefit regardless of the temps.

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