[DRM]

So I have a couple people I know who have other EVs and agree that for the most part, range anxiety has not been an issue for them. But they are driving on pavement to destinations where they can charge. When I drive my Crosstrek to my fave mountain trailheads, the mileage may be no more than 1/3 of what it gets on the highway, and of course there is no charging at these trailheads. Then the car sits there, maybe in the sun, for a few days.

Now, only a few miles are on that rough terrain. One route in particular involves 20 miles of interstate, 25 miles of uphill two lane highway into the mountains, 20 miles of moderate gravel/dirt roads that might be potholed or washboarded, and then a few miles of borderline X-MODE 1 terrain. Being able to do this RT and not charge till I can do so back at home is kind of my threshold.

What experience do Solterra owners have with range and rough terrain? Does the charge drop that much faster on rougher uphills?

 

[ammika13]

The more energy it takes to complete the task the more battery it’s gonna eat. I’ve been commuting 60 miles round trip everyday and I have to charge every 2 days. The guess o meter for me is generally about 10 miles off from the start. So whatever the meter says at the start it’s usually 10 extra miles of range needed. This is my 1 week experience thus far. Climate control in the cabin also eats what looks like 43 miles on the guess o meter so if you don’t use any climate you should be able to extend the range by 25 real miles I’d say

 

[R P]

EVs at low speed use less energy than ICE vehicles at low speed. That's why ICE cars get their best fuel mileage on the highway which is the opposite of EVs which get their best "mileage" in the city and at lower speeds. So EVs should do well off road. We have to go off-road to our lake cabin, so will see how our consumption numbers pan out. But certainly not worried about range, as we also have an off-grid solar system there with excess capacity, and will charge the Solterra there.

 

[poodlemaster]

I finally will get mine on the weekend, or so I hope. Anyway mine is going up the mountain. It will go up about 1000 meters to Robotham lake, and into that country. Its not a long way, but it is up there and I am interested to see what a 1000 meters of regen will do.

 

[DougK]

Almost related...

30F in town, -4F at the destination, about +2500ft elevation change, 103 miles between home and destination.
Two people and luggage in the car. Light snow on the road. Stock tires and wheels.

Charged to 90%, set eco mode and inside temp to 72F. A couple of "hills" to go over but mostly uphill. Mix of 65mph and 55mph on two lane paved winding road. Cruise refused to engage.
Ending range with climate still on was 12 miles - and yes, there was some range anxiety!!!

On the way back charged to 100%, set eco and temp to 72F. The car sat in an unheated area but preheated the interior while plugged into the L2 charger before we left. L2 charger did not have any issues in the below 0F temperatures.

Mostly downhill. And the Solterra had no problem passing slower vehicles...
Got back home and had 74 miles of range with climate control still on.

Yes, I could turn off /down the temp and possibly lower speed if needed, but wanted to see what a worst case scenario would allow me for a trip we like to do.

 

[DougK]

On the way down, the S-pedal mode was not reliable (kept disengaging and suggested I read the owners manual - not helpful), but regen settings of 4 or 5 kept working and allowed recapture of some of the energy we used going up there!

 

[DRM]

Thanks Doug, not off-pavement, but still relevant. Sounds like the cod and uphill and light snow almost cut the range in half.

 

[DougK]

Not sure what the useful kWh capacity is supposed to be...

On the trip up I did take a shot of the screen:

Went 103.7 miles and the display shows 12 left, so at the same rate to 0, this would suggest I would have used
52.6 kWh ( = 115.7miles / (2.2miles/kWh)), and drained the battery.

If it was an actual 90% of usable battery charge (and 0 miles meant 0%), then the usable capacity would be
58.4 kWh ( = 52.6 kWh / 0.9)

So either the reporting is wrong, the charge max % is not correct, the charge remaining at 0 mile range is not 0%, the power used for heating is not included in the calculations, some combination of those, or the usable amount of battery capacity is no where near 72.8kWh...

 

[poodlemaster]

It has been said and no I don't have a link, that there is a lot left when the Solterra hits 0.

 

[JayEM]

Also, Toyota has as much as admitted the usable capacity is around 64 kWh.