R2 Highway Efficiency Test: 80 MPH vs 70 MPH Changed Everything

[Universe93B]

Yes, but that is only ~75 miles to South Hill. To Petersburg it's ~125 miles where I-85 ends and it slows down before that anyways. R2 has a 250-300 mile range. So the point was no one is averaging 80 mph straight for that long unless they're on a desert trek out west or something. Averaging 70 mph is far more likely, which is why a 70 mph range test is key and applicable to everyone's real world use.

I do a round trip on the same day, traveling back in the evening for a business and work. I wish EVs are better at constant speeds around 75-80mph.

I think you are defending EVs and the R2 a little too much. I think it’s better to acknowledge this issue in EVs in the current state if we want EVs to compete better with ICE.

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[SANZC02]

Worth noting, the drop in efficiency is related to drag not the speed. If you are on a busy highway and are not in the lead vehicle the drop off doing 75-80 is not as bad.

It is when you are the pace setter that you really see the drop off.

In my R1S 75 is not horrible but on the highways that have an 80 mph limit I tend to do 75-78, that extra few mph over seems to be a really big hit on efficiency. My last trip around 7k doing posted speed limit with the above exception I averaged 2.25 m/kWh. My guess is the R2 will be closer to my older Model S at just under

 

[Jeremy3292]

I do a round trip on the same day, traveling back in the evening for a business and work. I wish EVs are better at constant speeds around 75-80mph.

I think you are defending EVs and the R2 a little too much. I think it’s better to acknowledge this issue in EVs in the current state if we want EVs to compete better with ICE.

Sure, but then you just charge at home after ~150 miles so it's a non issue? I'm not defending anything; I've long been on the record here a ~100 kWh (vs. 88) battery R2 would've been great. I'm just pointing out a lot of people oversell how much range is needed in their daily life or even road trips. I have no issues with bigger batteries and farther range though.

 

[mcdaniken]

I may have one of the few vehicles on the planet that gets better fuel economy at 80 mph than it does at 70 mph. My Jeep Renegade has a 9th gear that won't kick in below about 80 mph. So i get about 22 mpg historically at 70 mph, and 25 mpg at 80 mph.

 

[zefram47]

Noting that Air is 14% less dense at 5,000 ft than Sea Level. That translates into about an 8% benefit at high altitude at 75 mph (depending on vehicle). Beware colorado 70 mph range tests!

Air at 32F is also 15% more dense than air at 70F for the same elevation. The difference between 70F and 100F is 5% lower density at 100F.

 

[Mike777]

Honestly, if that's the case that's really really bad. My Lyriq gets about 250ish going 80 in Texas. Anything less than that in a 2027 vehicle is a poor showing.

Tom's video from state of charge I think is a better example. If it gets 260 going 70 than 240 is probably more accurate going 80 with the 20 inch wheels.

I still dont understand how in 2026 we are still releasing cars at 300 miles of range. Although I'm still getting the R2 average speed limits in Texas highways are between 70-85. Most are 75 and some all the way to 85. You need at minimum a 350 - 400 miles range car coming out today for proper highway driving. Hence why I'm opting for the 20 inch wheels with aftermarket all season tires. This is coming from someone that does monthly long drives in our Lyriq.

I love EV's but there's a reason it's still not appealing to the masses because of this. Not sure why they didnt put at least a 100-110 kwh battery like the IX3 with the efficiency numbers would have been somewhere between 350-380 of range.

 

[Apprunner]

Honestly, if that's the case that's really really bad. My Lyriq gets about 250ish going 80 in Texas. Anything less than that in a 2027 vehicle is a poor showing.

Tom's video from state of charge I think is a better example. If it gets 260 going 70 than 240 is probably more accurate going 80 with the 20 inch wheels.

I still dont understand how in 2026 we are still releasing cars at 300 miles of range. Although I'm still getting the R2 average speed limits in Texas highways are between 70-85. Most are 75 and some all the way to 85. You need at minimum a 350 - 400 miles range car coming out today for proper highway driving. Hence why I'm opting for the 20 inch wheels with aftermarket all season tires. This is coming from someone that does monthly long drives in our Lyriq.

I love EV's but there's a reason it's still not appealing to the masses because of this. Not sure why they didnt put at least a 100-110 kwh battery like the IX3 with the efficiency numbers would have been somewhere between 350-380 of range.

If Tom is getting 260 going 70, no way he's getting 240 at 80 mph. At 70mph, I get 285 miles with my Model 3, at 80mph, i get 230 miles and its a super slippery sedan. At 80mph, this thing is going to get closer to 200 miles. Its good for a boxy SUV.

 

[Pablolibre]

I'm heading up to Utah and Wyoming tomorrow. Much of the interstate system there has 80 mph speed limits. I will not be in an EV because of that.

 

[VandalSibs]

Honestly, if that's the case that's really really bad. My Lyriq gets about 250ish going 80 in Texas. Anything less than that in a 2027 vehicle is a poor showing.

The Lyriq's battery has 20kWh more capacity and the vehicle is more aerodynamic than the R2.

 

[NeverFollow]

Yesterday in fact a motorcycle passed at around >90, moments later I saw a cruiser pursuit him, he jumped off highway only to jump back on and he was gone, the cruiser gave up almost immediately.

The criser might have keep a video, and not impossible that the motorcycle get a ticket later.
There are few videos on YouTube showing it...

 

[kshtxag]

Interesting thread…
I have a Lyriq now, but can’t wait to trade it in for the R2. Most of my driving is around town, charging at home, so range isn’t that big of a deal most of my life.
For the 3 or 4 times per year that we take big road trips, we can map out charging stops based on whatever range the car gives me. Yes, a bigger battery and 400 mile range would be nice, but overall, its still cheaper and cleaner than gas.
i hate interstates and take smaller roads whenever possible, depending on charging availability. If a trip involves charging deserts, we’ll take the hybrid Maverick instead.
But I do appreciate the original discussion to help me understand how to behave when I am on those Texas interstates in my EV.

also: I laughed at the Holy Grail reference…

 

[AirplaneDr]

As a thought exercise I was curious to calculate the time efficiency of the R2 over long distance. This graph shows my estimated time, including 10-80% charging sessions, to travel 1000 miles at different speeds. At 40 MPH there are 3.13 10-80% charging sessions, at 95 mph there are 8.42 10-80% charging sessions. I used ABRP to pull the battery usage at different speeds from 40-85 MPH and then calculated an exponential trend line* to extrapolate beyond what ABRP will do (or even the R2 for that matter). At 95 MPH driving speed the average speed including charging is 60.9 MPH. A more reasonable 75 MPH driving speed clocks in at 57.3 average speed.

My assumptions:
-- a charger is available exactly when the R2 hits 10%
-- 10-80% takes 0.5 hrs
-- additional 0.1 hours is lost at the start and end of each charge session (0.7 hrs per session total)

Bottom line, driving fast and charging more is faster on a long road trip than slower with less frequent charging sessions.

* y=41.7*e^0.018*x where x=MPH and y=battery percent to travel 391 miles. This is the distance between Matagami, QC and Chisasibi, QC, a 391 mi stretch with no chargers so ABRP will report the total percent needed to traverse it, even if more than 100% of the battery is used.

 

[Jeremy3292]

To me it seems there is a lack of attention to detail in this thread and not enough nuance when it comes to the range of R2. Too much emphasis being placed on some factors and not enough on others. I personally cannot wait for OOO range test. If I get my R2 first I’ll do it myself!

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