Efficiency Has TANKED

[Jayhawkeye]

Just drove back home from a night out and was triggered by the efficiency changes the last 7-10 days, so I closely monitored on a 30 minute drive at 70 mph with no wind whatsoever.

heat at 75, 2 dots for 25 minutes
Heated steering for 10
Temp was 43 degrees
Hardly any elevation change
Last mile was in my hood at 25 mph max.

it’s been this way for one week, out of nowhere, after hovering 2.1ish daily.

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[Harrison]

In gauge view you can check motor temperature. If they are over 60degC or 150F then the efficiency is bad because of battery heating.

 

[Riviot]

heat at 75, 2 dots for 25 minutes
Heated steering for 10

Do this sitting still for 25 minutes and report back consumption. Round up to factor in 25°F wind chill with your speed and temp.

 

[godfodder0901]

Just drove back home from a night out and was triggered by the efficiency changes the last 7-10 days, so I closely monitored on a 30 minute drive at 70 mph with no wind whatsoever.

heat at 75, 2 dots for 25 minutes
Heated steering for 10
Temp was 43 degrees
Hardly any elevation change
Last mile was in my hood at 25 mph max.

it’s been this way for one week, out of nowhere, after hovering 2.1ish daily.

Short drives in the cold are the worst thing for efficiency.

 

[ksujeff99]

It’s simple really. Your Rivian hates the Eagles.

I’ve seen similar lately too. It’s not just you. I can’t find a consistent pattern (weather, battery temp, heat/ac use, speed, etc.). Sometimes when they’re all theoretically favorable I still get crap efficiency. Other times it’s the inverse. I solved it by showing the map instead of the efficiency screen. Now I don’t worry.

 

[240vPlug]

What's your tire pressure? 43 is pretty cool so you have a combo of things most likely

-colder temps - battery conditioning
-Cabin heat use
-70 mph highway driving

You might see some improvement on a longer drive but the system has to work to keep the battery warm. You could experiment by turning off cabin heat and only using heated seats/steering wheel. Unfortunately cold weather is not kind to EVs... Especially if they don't have the heat pump.

 

[mtberman]

If I set the interior temp in any of our EVs to 75 deg F, I would expect to pay for it.

Using battery for heat is how they work and you guys all seem to know it, so I sort of wonder why the OP is so surprised. I am with those of you who suggest dropping that temp setting to 70 or so.

 

[elektrode]

There’s some discussion going on about this here too:

https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/bad-efficiency-getting-worse.20796/

Biggest contributing factor is heat use. I’ve been driving around in the cold now.

 

[Zoidz]

It’s simple really. Your Rivian hates the Eagles.

I’ve seen similar lately too. It’s not just you. I can’t find a consistent pattern (weather, battery temp, heat/ac use, speed, etc.). Sometimes when they’re all theoretically favorable I still get crap efficiency. Other times it’s the inverse. I solved it by showing the map instead of the efficiency screen. Now I don’t worry.

My Rivian loves the Eagles (how bout that game last night) and I see the same. Efficiency is all over the place sometimes with no real logical patterns. It is what it is.

 

[Jayhawkeye]

Either way, I guess I wouldn’t have expected such a large drop with the heat on low setting and the temp not too very cold. In a few weeks it will be 20 degrees cooler.

so we should expect cold temp ranges of 190-200 miles? Yikes.

 

[Dark-Fx]

Either way, I guess I wouldn’t have expected such a large drop with the heat on low setting and the temp not too very cold. In a few weeks it will be 20 degrees cooler.

so we should expect cold temp ranges of 190-200 miles? Yikes.

The most important thing to understand is that your efficiency will creep up over a longer trip in the cold. 30 minute trips are about the worst because it's just starting to get to the point where there is less wasted energy warming everything up.

Charging stops will further improve it as there's a lot more heat in the system from charging.

You should also make sure your tire pressures are at 48psi cold if you haven't.

 

[R1Tom]

The most important thing to understand is that your efficiency will creep up over a longer trip in the cold. 30 minute trips are about the worst because it's just starting to get to the point where there is less wasted energy warming everything up.

Charging stops will further improve it as there's a lot more heat in the system from charging.

You should also make sure your tire pressures are at 48psi cold if you haven't.

This is where scheduled departure times would be so nice.

Truck could calculate time to start charging. Then 5 minutes prior to departure, start preconditioning cabin.... then at disconnect from the mothership everything is warmed up and ready to go...at full battery setting percentage.

 

[carsly]

Cold is a killer.

I just took a weekend trip - 200 miles each way in my Model S. On the way out it was 65 degrees at start and about 55 degrees at the end., was plugged in until departure. My return was 30 degrees at start and 50 degrees at the end, car parked in a cold open parking garage overnight. Same route.

Way up, in warmer temps, used 64% of the battery. The cold-temp return used 75% of the battery. Was probably driving a little faster on the way up as well, slower on the return because I knew the cold would be a battery killer. And my Model S has a heat pump, but it doesn't matter much below 40-45 degrees as heat pumps aren't that efficient at really cold temps. So definitely not near the rated range for this 2021 Model (albeit on new 19" winter tires).

PS I only plug in my car on weekends in the late spring, summer and early fall. In the late fall, winter and early spring when it's cold? Plugged in every night.

 

[Smeek]

it's the cold weather.

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