[gewitzt]

It sits there constantly in front of me, challenging me, encouraging me, goading me. I start my drive in perfect balance and harmony with the world. I am at the fulcrum of the universe: 50%. The goal is to move into the higher percentile, not the lower. Ending a drive at less than 50% is an implied admission of failure.

So off I go. I rejoice to see the gauge moving to the right. The tattletale readout shows my ever-climbing success. I reach the 60s fairly easily. Notching the 70s brings delight. I am very self-satisfied when I top the 80s. Move into the 90s? I am at one with the world and at peace with mankind!

But what's that I see up ahead? A green light changing to amber. I know I must come to a stop, so I back off on the pedal as distance and traffic allow. But alas, I must finally put my foot on the brake pedal to come to a full halt. And I watch with sunken heart as my ECO display drops precipitously. By the time the light changes back to green, I may have lost upwards of 20% of my well-considered, earth-saving gains. When I finally resume my journey, it often seems that I arrive at my destination still above the targeted 50% (but not always); the limited range and capacity of my little transportation pod, plus the vagaries of suburban commuting make regaining that hallowed 90+ mark highly improbable.

I think Sisyphus drove an EV.

 

[Johannesl]

I was doing great most of my trip to dealership sitting at 98 (99 for about 15 seconds). Then when I go to pick her up for the trip home I’m sitting at 9% all that hard work down the drain. I know your pain well. Lol.


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[Mister_smart_LA]

That was hilarious.

 

[InjuredAgain]

I don't know how my wife does it, but now that she's become familiar with the eco score, she'll try and maximize it. She does an amazing job with it - she can be in rush hour traffic, making several stops at various stores, and still come home with it sitting in the upper 90's, gloating with maximum possible glee that I can't even seem to keep it above 50.

 

[jzchen]

Not sure if this helps, but try braking harder at first sight of yellow...... (Crossing my fingers)....

 

[asalazar]

We have a 2017 model and it's not even a challenge to keep the score above 70, high 80's and low 90's are very common. Are the earlier version ED's gauged differently?

 

[10470]

Are the earlier version ED's gauged differently?

Must be. My ECO gauge seems to top out at about 50.

 

[sokoloff]

Very common for both of mine to be in the mid to upper 90's. I'm disappointed when it isn't.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 13,750 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 2,750 miles

 

[Johannesl]

I suffer from a consistently heavy right foot. I can bring consumption down to the low to mid 20’s in a Prius. I usually average about 25-35mpg in my gas smart.

Unfortunately this transferred to my ED, but I’m learning.


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[DealMeIn]

Y'all are in too much of a hurry.

It takes 5-6 miles max for me to get to 100% on the ECO. I can occasionally make it in the less than 4 miles it takes to get to or from work, but mostly I end up at 98 or 99%.

 

[gewitzt]

Y'all are in too much of a hurry.

It takes 5-6 miles max for me to get to 100% on the ECO. I can occasionally make it in the less than 4 miles it takes to get to or from work, but mostly I end up at 98 or 99%.

I drive six miles from home to work. But I happen to live and drive in an area that has the worst traffic in the country. Drivers here are mostly highly-medicated, and relieve their frustrations by zig-zagging in and out of traffic lanes, crawling up one's (figurative) tail pipe, and generally behave as if Satan himself were in the passenger seat.

I count 14 red lights and stop signs in those six miles. That doesn't include road work, construction zones, and fender-benders one encounters unexpectedly. "Too much of a hurry?" Hurrying is impossible here (although some/most people don't seem to believe so).

 

[DealMeIn]

I drive six miles from home to work. But I happen to live and drive in an area that has the worst traffic in the country. Drivers here are mostly highly-medicated, and relieve their frustrations by zig-zagging in and out of traffic lanes, crawling up one's (figurative) tail pipe, and generally behave as if Satan himself were in the passenger seat.

I count 14 red lights and stop signs in those six miles. That doesn't include road work, construction zones, and fender-benders one encounters unexpectedly. "Too much of a hurry?" Hurrying is impossible here (although some/most people don't seem to believe so).

If you drive like they do - insist on accelerating quickly and decelerating quickly - then your ECO score will always be low. If you want a better ECO score and longer range, you drive more like the turtle than the hare.

Personally, I laugh at the morons who do stupid things like accelerating to stop signs/red stop lights - they aren't going anywhere while wasting fuel and wearing out their tires and brakes for nothing, but more people drive like them than drive like me.

 

[jzchen]

The person releases the pedal, and slams the brakes to stop for the light. Needs a gradual slow down, hence my recommendation to start braking right away....

As traffic conditions allow that is...

 

[Rob22304]

The person releases the pedal, and slams the brakes to stop for the light. Needs a gradual slow down, hence my recommendation to start braking right away....

As traffic conditions allow that is...

Or don't brake until the very end - the regen kicks in as soon as you take your foot completely off the acceleration pedal. Let the regen slow the vehicle down until you get to the point where you need to come to a complete stop. Sounds easy but it's difficult to do in heavy traffic without leaving a big gap.

Note that a slight press on the brake pedal seems to kick in an additional level of regen before engaging the hydraulic brakes. This action gives you a little more slowing power without taking away from the desperation to increase ECO points.

Also note that a slight press on the acceleration pedal seems to put the motor on a neutral stance - neither consuming nor generating electricity. This can be useful for coasting when the opportunity arises.

The ECO system seems to give big bonuses for constant speed and using the first level of regen.

 

[jzchen]

There was an ED for sale, not too far from here, which qualified for the federal tax credit, discounted to $11777, but by the time I convinced my wife we should go see it she called to find it was sold. That would have been $1777 for a '15 ED (with 56 miles the ad noted). Thank you for noting how the ED runs!

Sigh....

(But, on the up side, she did lease a Giulia yesterday evening!....)

 

[Yinzer]

My 2015 never goes below 60. Getting the low 90s is easy. Just accelerate moderately - keep the power gauge at 50% or lower, anticipate traffic lights so you can use regen (light touch on the brakes) for all but the last couple meters of the stop, and when descending hills feather the throttle or light-touch the brakes so you regen - not friction - your way all the way down the hill. Most of all, watch the power gauge!

I suspect that those who can't keep the eco over 80 simply have deeply entrenched bad driving habits.

 

[gewitzt]

Some of you take this ECO thing way too seriously!

As I posted in another thread, I find the ECO display to be

1) A distraction
2) A video game
3) A feel-good feedback loop

Here's what I have determined, after having specifically monitored my driving behavior and the ECO display:

It doesn't matter if I arrive at my destination reading <50% or <80%. My range estimate does not deviate. I take a reading of my range estimate in the morning after a full charge, and then again at the evening. It does not vary.

What matters is miles per KWh. This it seems, is a direct affect of temperature on the battery. In colder weather, my mph/KWh is lower (2.2 - 2.7) than it is in warmer temperatures (up to 3.9). Given that the battery is 17.4 KW, estimated range is a simple mathematical formula: mph/KWh x KW. Thus, in extreme cold weather, with the mph/KWh reading 2.2, my estimated range would be 37.4 miles (it hasn't gotten that cold, yet). These days, my starting mph/KWh is usually around 2.6, or 44.2 miles of range.

My ECO driving habits do not change the range. Only the temperature has an effect on it.

Besides, after sitting idle for four hours, the ECO display resets. What's the point of that? Game over?

 

[Tony Margulis]

I thought it was like golf...the lower score the better? I must be driving all wrong seriously, I drive my ED hard and just recently (because I started using the heater) I got under 60 miles to a charge.

 

[Spentit]

Great explanation gewitzt ! My wife has a hard time relating to kWh or Wh, MPGe, so I'm using an app called 'My EV App' designed specifically for EV's that allows me to record my trips along with temperature and compares that to my other car which is a gas vehicle. This way I can see trip by trip how much I saved using my smart ED compared to my ICE over time and based on the season.

They don't use miles/kWh but instead tells you what the distance you can drive for each available 1% of battery (although it does show kWh info too). So when I see 50% of battery remaining and my current rate for each % based on my history or season is 1.0 (d%b, distance for each % of battery), that means I can travel 50 kilometres. Right now in these cold days of winter I'm getting around .63 which means on a full charge I will get around 63 kilometres of driving compared to 145 with the warmer summer temperatures.

The app gives all kinds of other information, charts etc along with the ability to ask it how far you can travel based on your history for the amount of battery you have left. After 47 trips with it, the % of efficiency it provides is accurate compared to the smart which is over inflated.

I've attached some sample screen shots of the app.

Cheers.

 

[gewitzt]

That's a pretty interesting looking app, @Spentit. It does require entering a log for each trip, which for me isn't always practical. I do like the predictive nature ("can I make this trip with my current SOC?". I might look into it. For US$0.99, it may be worth it?