Electric Cars - Motorway Speeds (Range Differences) 

I very happily drive at 55mph. Some good radio, podcasts, music. Feel rested and less stressed.

As a HGV driver I've noted far more the EV's tailing me for long periods. Personally couldn't think of anything worse than looking at my Taillift all that time.

These type of videos are really useful. We’ve just done a 260 mile journey to the father-in-laws, at between 75 and 80mph (with the flow), with one charge stop from 38% to 95% (from 95% at the start, SR+). We arrived with 15%, and paid £7.60 for the electricity, (it’s getting a free charge at the house now). When all EVs are charging at 130 kWh upwards, it’ll become too compelling not to move over from ICE. It’s effortless.

For context, my last ICE (before getting a Tesla) my commute journey on the M11 during rush hour before the pandemic hit was 25 miles with 18 miles on the M11. You could join the head to tail fight in the outside lane, or sit behind a lorry with little stress and take 2 minutes longer. In a 2.0L diesel Passat I could get about 50mpg at 70 (ish), or normally 60mpg or up to 70mpg with slip-streaming a lorry. So nearly as much loss (or gain) as an EV.

The national express coaches are your best friend on a long run. They usually push along about 65. In reasonable weather I can get nearly 5 miles per KW from my model s when tucked in behind. With the music on and a coffee it's a much nicer drive than the continually accelerate, break in the faster lanes.

Absolutely spot on. As a newish EV driver I am always trying to eke out a few more miles from the battery. Granny driving I find does actually work, often doesn't take that much longer than when driving like a mad fella!

I just completed my first long trip of 150 miles (300 return) in my Kia E Niro and went using mainly motorways for the trip down , with a few slower roads towards the end. I was averaging 3.5 miles/kWh and this picked up to average nearly 4 at the end of the trip. Battery had used 66%. For my route home, I took the more direct but slower and more scenic route for the first half of the journey, before being back on the 70MPH sections. I averaged 4.6 Miles/kWH and used only 45% Battery to get home. A/C, Phone charging and dashcam were all being used. So yes faster and lack of engine braking to recuperate energy makes a big difference.

I recently did a 75 mile round trip mostly motorway, I have a ZS ev it's averaging 3.8kw on mg pilot at 65mph left with 100% (152 miles ) got home with 85mile range left ,well pleased and so relaxing only had the car 2.5 months but I'm sold love it ,love the experience and ease of driving an ev ,plus my 3.5 mile trip to the shops has become a challenge to see if I can do it and get home with the Same range as I set out (nearly) did the 7miles used 2mile of range ,very addictive.

My E Niro with 4 people on board managed 4.1 miles per kWh on a motorway 65-70 mph run the other day. I thought that was fairly good going.

Thanks for doing this video, what a long way to go for evs. I’m looking forward to the days when evs are mainstream - 1,000kwh charging, people just driving to their destination without slipstreaming a milk float, being able to tow a small trailer to the tip (and by implication having an aftermarket tow bar fitted), being able to buy a 7 seater, being able to drive through a waterlogged road etc.

Can anyone help me! So I do 250 miles a week. A vast majority of those miles are in a motorway (commute into work) should I go for an electric car or should I go for a diesel ?

You should watch a few of the videos from Out of Spec Motoring in the US. I personally like the way that Kyle believes in charging where he basically jumps charger to charger with the odd jump over a charger but is never stopped charging very long as he only charges til it starts to taper or enough to get to the next charger(checking the charger status in the App) with about 10% buffer extra and arrives with about 10% at the charger so he gets the fastest charge rate possible. This is where I think the mass market ICE drivers are going to need some education otherwise they will treat their EV like an ICE and think they need to fill it to 100%. That way he also is out of the car more often plus stops for comfort breaks and food as well if you watch any of his long distance trips.

Excellent comparison- sounds quite accurate/ plausible despite the last minute-ness. Keep up the great work.

Bladder + age = inevitable stops

Nailed it. People that complain about EV range reduction at Motorway speed, but never consider that the same dynamics come into play with petrol and diesel and I agree that about 20 to 25% reduction in range (ie economy which is what you would call it driving an ICE car) driving at 70 mph rather than 60 mph. About 20 years ago when I had a 106-mile commute each way to the office mainly on the motorway I tried driving a 1500 cc diesel Renault Grand Scenic at 10 mph below every speed limit on my journey (other than the 30 mph of course) and saved 25% fuel cost and TBH it made very little difference to the journey time because on a commute there was far less bunching and braking and definitely less tiring drive. I don't drive to commute these days (who does) and generally choose when to drive but with an EV and shorter-range than ICE car the economic impact of fewer Motorway/Highway Rapid Charge stops through dropping the driving speed means more of your fuel can be homegrown 5p or less / kWh and less Rapid/Ultra-Rapid convenience fuel at up to 10 or 11 times the price. After all, many of us have made the Total Cost of Ownership argument to ourselves and spouses and based on the premise of lower costs of home charging.

We recently drove from near Aberdeen to the ChannelTunnel terminal at Folkestone. According to A Better route Planner it should have taken 11 1/2 hours but we decided to drive at 65 rather than 70 so it took closer to 12 1/2 hours. Forgot to check the usage but will do next time.

Good point about charging speed. I've always thought that if an EV could support high charging speeds, a small range wouldn't matter so much. Unfortunately high charging power capability usually goes with big batteries...

I have the same car as yours and prefer to drive as fast as possible as my bladder range is much lower than the cars range so better off getting to the charger faster, discharge myself and carry on. Never waited for the car (for Tesla at least) to charge, as by the time I’m ready to continue, so is it. Frequently it is actually ready before me. But I never travel alone long distance so there’s other humans needs that need considering which sums it up in a very nice experience overall

My option is to drive more slowly. Public charging is more expensive than charging at destination, or at home. It's also less cyclic stress on the battery, allowing more miles out of the lifetime of the battery. If you can get there in the same amount of time, and do it at ~1/2 the cost, why not? (I'm including the reduction of battery degradation, as well as the lower electrical cost to make that journey)

I find if you drive slower you see more and it makes the drive more interesting. Take the scenic route.

"Normal UK motorway speeds". That was about 45-50mph last time i was in the country :) With the respect to the driving speed vs overall trip time discussion, the maths is pretty simple on this: So long as you can charge with higher power than you consume you will get there faster. So just go faster until your power consumption is about the same as your average charging speed (including time to get to and from the charger). It can be surprising how little power is actually needed to maintain speed - probably around 30-40HP (22-30kW) to maintain a Model 3 at 70mph - so you can drive faster than you think. So unless you are on the autobahn (or you have a car with patheticallly poor charging speeds like a Leaf) you want to travel as fast as you can and stop more often. The "crossover" point (assuming HPCs) is at about 90-100mph for the Model 3 once you factor in the overhead time for getting to and from the charger. But even if you only have access to 50kW chargers you are still good to run over UK speed limits.

Normal motorway practice for heavy mist is to hog the middle lane while blasting everyone’s retinas with rear fog lights. If you can see to go more than 30mph you do not need fog lights. Because it’s not foggy.

I used ABRP for a trip I take frequently in my Tesla Model 3. (Phoenix AZ to San Diego CA 367 miles). I entered speeds as a percentage of the speed limit from 70% to 200%. The total time dropped steadily until I reached 140% and decreased minimally after that. But the total continued to drop all the way to 200% Any speed over 110% of the speed limit would probably take longer to account for the time waiting for the police to write the ticket. There was no speed slow enough to allow the trip to be nonstop. This is all dependent on the 150 and 250 kWh/hour Tesla charging speeds. I did the same exercise with a Chevy Bolt with its slower charging speeds and found the same thing. Driving faster and charging longer results in lower elapsed time!

Also keeping 3:03 a smooth driving style. Starting from standstill uses a little of energy due to overcoming rolling resistance.

A few years ago, the RAC published some figures about fuel consumption at different speeds with a conventional petrol engine. In line with your own observations, they concluded that the difference in fuel consumption between driving at 60mph and driving at 70mph was on the order of 24%, which confirms your comment at 13:24.

I used to do a regular drive from Sheffield to Silloth in a Series 3 petrol Land Rover. On one of the trips I decided to do an economy run and attained 29mpg rather than 18-20, but it took me an hour longer!

Thanks for another great video ! Yer driving eco is good but can get boring with everyone passing you !

I'd be curious what your retention graphs look like. Your topics always get my attention, and you have interesting conclusions - but it seems it takes a long time for you to get to the point.

I wonder how much influence the air temperature and weather had on the reduction in efficiency in the two runs? I own a Kona and regularly make a 135 mile trip up and down the M6 at an indicated 72 mph (c. 70 mph real). In mid winter, I have an average 3.2 mi/kWh as a worst case but in the summer with warm, dry and calm conditions I can reach 4.2 mi/kWh for the same run. Either way, it highlights the impressive efficiency provided by the M3! Really useful video...

It annoys me that Zap map says you don't need a charge on this journey assuming you can charge at your destination instead of asking if you can charge at your destination. Keep up the fantastic work .

25% difference is what I see, between driving at 55-60 and driving at 70 on long distance. In mine (2016 i3) the miles/kWh are 3.3ish and 4.4ish. On long distance I prefer to stop anyway, typically 2.5 hours is where I need to stretch my legs etc. I've found I prefer to take my time and make the journey much less effort, mentally.

What is the biggest useage of energy (ICE and EV) is the speeding up repeatedly when you inevitably have someone slower pull out in front of you and have to reduce speed to their level. So driving slower usually is a double whammy: better aerodynamic efficiency but also not having the constant accelerate/decelerate cycle. Saves the old blood pressure too!

Sometimes cruising (no regen) and sometimes hold a speed using regen. I was it was easier to switch between in my polestar.

The 4:53 stop is quite relevant. I have a Tesla model 3 and I need to stop before the car needs to charge, and the car is ready to continue before I am. So I would say it takes no more time than with an ICE car. My car is a LR so supercharge to go to the next supercharger are generally between 15 and 20 minutes. But when I play with ABRP I see that with a SR+ it would have been almost the same, just one more stop on a (very rare) 1000 km trip. In fact the only supercharges that take 30 to 45 minutes are when I am having a lunch because I want to finish my desert, so I charge until 100%. And of course it is for very long trips, most of the time I only charge at home and it just takes the time to plug (5 seconds ?), and a supercharge for a not so long trip can take less than 10 minutes, just enough to go home.

My LEAF experience leads me to drive at lorry speed on adaptive cruise control. I get the best balance, for me, between range and journey time, and time between toilets. Biggest range killers are high speed, high winds and heavy rain.

I would need to pee after an hour and a half so that would be the limiting factor. 😅

interesting .. i usually travel at truck / bus speed in my petrol car ( i find it less tiring ) but if i need to i'll travel at 70 ( ish ) along with the rest of the outside lane traffic .. and i think i use about 25% more fuel

Genuine question: is the plural of Nissan Leaf Nissan Leafs or Nissan Leaves?

This test now needs to be done in reverse. 70 "legal" limit on initial way down and then 60-62 on way back. Then average it out. Inclines make a huge difference, and another test will take that variable out. Yes i need to go out more.

Do you have the total time taken for both trips please or did I miss it in the video? It would be very interesting to see which was quicker if there was any real difference

I did 100 miles out and back today in my Seat Mii. Out was mostly 70 ish dual carriageway, 4.7 ml/kWhr. Back was mostly across Dartmoor at (as fast as safe) 40+/-, 5.3 ml/ kWhr average for the total trip. So 5.9ml/kWhr when slower. Agrees with your video.

Every weekend we do the same journey with our MG ZS, it’s a 101mls trip. We have done it both methods, 60mph and 70mph average speeds. On the 70mph trip we generally make a short stop at a fast charger to top up, not because it was absolutely nec just the fact there are no chargers within 25 mls near vicinity of our journeys end so don’t want to take any risks. In my wife’s view anything less than 20% range is a risk👵🏻😄. When doing the same trip at 60mph without stopping the journey time is the same🤷🏻‍♂️. When you get to our age, it is definitely bladder capacity that dictates range between stops😂😂

I drove 10 miles on the M60 in a Peugeot e-208 yesterday and used 17 miles of range. I drive at 70-73mph on the motorway

I don’t know how about in UK but in my country if go on a motorway where I can legally do 140 km/h. My audi a6 takes approx 7 l/100 km so if I want to make a weekend in Austrian Alps, I can go on one tank, and be there within 7-8 hours. I guess none of electric cars can do the same. Usually I’m passing them by going in between big trucks and intercity coaches.

Proved this time after time travelling on motorways to Italy and back. I wold cruise along at 65 mph (100kmh) for 2 or 3 hours at a time between loo breaks and snacks. I would see the usual racers pass me at 90 to 100 mph (160Kph) and then they stopped in a service area to refuel etc.while I cruised by. After 600 miles I would arrive a few minutes earlier than them (they were friends of the family). They were very surprised when I explained my tactics but couldn't argue with the result. This was in petrol cars but I have come to the same conclusion in my EV's I've owned over 8 years in the UK. I don't need to travel to Italy anymore as I fly there and hire a car when i arrive. I read some years ago that all cars do the same fuel consumption at 90 mph whether it is a Mini or a Rolls Royce as the mini is doing 5000rpm and the Rolls Royce only 3000 rpm, air resistance rises as the square of the speed so 60mph to 100mph raises the fuel consumption by nearly 3 times!

My Zoe used to do about 130 miles at 70 and 180 if I slipstreamed a truck. It could only charge at 22 kw so truck speed actually the fastest way in that. In my ice car 70 mph equals 40 mpg and truck speed equals close to 50 mpg

Yesterday we did oour first long journey since getting our e-niro 4+ down to my other halfs dad in Oxfordshire from up here in North Yorkshire. On the way back we stopped at a InstaVolt charger just off the M1 in Northampton. We had 132 miles to go to home and we had 82 miles range left so I added another 90 miles to give me a buffer of 38 miles. However, we were driving in the early hours so very little traffic. I sat at 65 all the way and when I got home I had 21 miles left. Yes the headlights were on and we had the heater on (20deg) but panic set in and with about 35 left on the car as the buffer had reduced quite a bit I turned off the heater which didn't please the other half very much. The car had dropped from a buffer of 38 miles to about 19. Cruise control most of the way but as there was virtually no traffic it was steady all the way no slowing down or speeding up. Car said I was getting 4.2m/kWh. Lesson learned...sitting relaxed for an extra 10 or 15 minutes means less range anxiety. Also, wish Tesla would open thier chargers up to the rest of us. 44kw charge seems to take forever.

Knowing your car is key. I drive diesel hatchback and never goes over 5l per 100km while some people are close to 7l and I do not drive slow 😅. Usually I have avarage 45km/h and I do not use motorways and I care when I drive trough settlements, schools etc. 1000km journey I avarage 4.5l and avarage speed close 80km/h.

So - what you are trying to express is - driving faster, you don't go as far, but you get there sooner! - The real problem that remains is when you get to where-ever, if there is a charger, will it work!

Really interesting video, 25% loss is quite significant. I wouldn't think 10 mph would make that much difference.

The point is, if you can make it to your destination at a lower speed without charging and you can charge at destination, then the lower speed is faster, as you don’t spend time charging at destination, the car does it without help. But if you have to stop no mater at what speed you drive, then high speed charging will help you being faster at a faster driving speed. But if you average 20-25% more kWh/mile it is also 20-25% more £/mile. I think in the past the cars hadn’t enough range and the charging speed was too low, so hypermiling made sense back then.

Were driving at an indicated 70mph or "true" GPS 70mph or are they the same in a Tesla?

Wow, I wasn’t expecting for there to be such a difference. I wonder whether the efficiency loss is a curve or straight line between those speeds? Is 65mph a 12% from 70 or more or less..? Although my current ICE car is less efficient at 70 than 60, it’s not over 20% less efficient, maybe 10% max? Or maybe I need to test it..:

Chatting to an old fella at Hopwood services (Birmingham) he tells me he's doing his third trip from Cornwall to the Lake District. I asked him what the range on his i3 was. He answered, 'about the same as my bladder.' I've been doing a fortnightly trip to Brum from Manchester (100 miles) for nearly two years in my ioniq. I've found 62mph to be the sweet spot plus knocking cruise control off on downhill sections helps efficiency. I'm averaging 5 miles per kWh. Quick question: Did you confirm your speed with gps? I've read that Teslas are more accurate than other manufacturers.

Totally agree. Slower is way more efficient than hoofing it.

Excellent video. So driving at 60mph compared to 70mph gives a percentage efficiency difference of 20ish percent. Allow me to throw this curve ball in. Car is a 2.5 litre V6 normally aspirated auto. Doing a 35 mile trip in manual mode sticking in 4th gear at 5k revs, yes speed is over the legal limit. Oh and for a couple of miles flat out in 4th gear. Trio back is in auto and sticking at 70mph. Going mog was 31. Coming back mpg 35. Go figure that. But most definitely Yes. The faster you go the more 'energy' you use.

Why the choice of "Chill mode"?

As you found out, stops are not always for charging but you can take advantage to charge at the same time. So have you lost any time that you would not have lost anyway to satisfy your bladder and stomach? Would the added weight of eating two pasties have reduced the cars efficiency?

The longer you own an EV the faster you drive... as you get to know the capabilities of the car. Having watched many ev videos before buying my e-golf I was under the impression that the range would shoot down at 70mph.. in reality it wasn't a huge difference

Do it again with four people in it AKA Holiday run and do the 70 MPH test will be interested to see how much more you lose in range I guess over 10%.

I got routed to Grantham supercharger the other day on the way up north, I couldn't believe Greggs shuts at 6! Had to have a lukewarm BK. Did you set the supercharger as a destination each way?

Thanks EVM, it's really timely for me as I'm planning our first trip away from the comfort blanket of a home charger - five days in Devon, driving across country from Kent plus days out. I've started to notice that my e-tron is noticeably more efficient at 60-65 than at 70. Given that the e-tron has terrible efficiency anyway (the best I've got for about 90 miles is 3.0 miles per kWh on a warm, dry day!) it's definitely going to be a 60mph journey until we build our confidence with public rapid charging.

What was the terrain like in each direction? I found I got 5.2 on a flat terrain, but it is very different between the 2 directions (4.7 avg) on my Leaf.

Did you keep a record of how long the journey took you each way?

That loss seems about the same as with a petrol/diesel car. My diesel does about 60mpg at 60 and 50mpg at 70.

😁🤪 you could put it on auto pilot while weeing in a bottle ?

Like Betty's Eldest said, having huge HGVs bearing down on you on the motorway is no joy in any way, shape or form...! For that reason, I tend to stick to about 68mph - it's enough to glide passed the lorries, yet I don't feel the urge to hunker down in the outside lane at 'rat race' speeds...

The most I ever got from my sr+ was 126kW that was after 3 hours driving, pre conditioning and starting at 14 %. Wonder why I didn't see the sort of speed you saw there.

Bjørn does very well doing long boring rides so work away. Hopefully the £300m infrastructure project will help; bring it on Gov asap.

Can you please give the conversion calculation rates for miles per kwh to watts per mile AND the other way around. Thank you.

Hi EVM, For many years (perhaps too many) I have always measured "consumption" by "miles per gallon". With my EV I am confused. By which measurement should I estimate the number of miles that I can travel in terms of "miles per volt" ?

Wish they would use m/kWh. Makes more sense.

Yes, ICE cars get worse economy when driving faster but… they are so inefficient anyway that the difference doesn’t show as much as when using an EV.

Me in my poor LEAF24 I plan to get to a charger with low % if I can't do the whole trip in one go. Charge speed being better at lower %.

How long does it take to charge from 50% to full ?

That was an interesting video apart from your sums... Some of us have not had the experience of always working usage out in KW's or else like me always work things out in MPG instead. I'm sure your used to it but can you tell those thickness like me what you actually got in mpg please? If I'm going to have to go back to school I'll just stay with ICE vehicles! 😉

Good to compare TM3 with a LEAF, range won by TM3 - Price is won by LEAF. Repeatedly mention one off them and never the other gives a false picture.

I respect people are honest about what they intend to use their sponsorship money for. Most youtubers use it to improve their video setup or get tools to help them do their video content. However just pocketing the money to help reclaim their previous expenses is not normally the Norm. I have thought a few days about this and I don't want to be part of this process so I am unsubbing.

You make a remark about the country’s charging stations. At least your country is trying to make the effort into mainstream electric cars. The USA is so very far between unless you drive a Tesla and then it’s not that great. Ours hopefully will catch up like Europe’s electric cars.

At last the proof proof that time is money... The higher speed will give less range, so you charge more and in the end you pay for going quicker.

Normal motorway speed.. that’s as quo k as you can go, especially in the fog or rain 🌧 😂

Me thinks that driving faster even with mega charging you’d be effectively wasting a lot of money ie. 'Miles per kW differential'. = waste/saving. As a Yorkshire man we should be concerned about that. By eck... ya can’t go round wasting money just coz ya wanna drive fast.

or you could do what I do tail gate a lorry and it's great to see my mpg reading 99mpg, only kidding!!

Until inoity hits you with 70p kwh. Then you are looking at a 35pkwh and waiting

Mmmm sausage bean and cheese melt! Do you really stop at every Gregs you see? There are so many!

Praise the lord for super chargers, as the public networks are shite!

Stealing from Greg's shocking! Vs driving at motorway speeds. Worse crime you need to ask yourself?

🤣

Every time I watch power point on wheels video the narrator always loitering around some remote unsecured outdoor public charge point explaining merits of battery car. Such a painful waste of time.

I want EV's to be the future of long drive trips (I really do. I own an EV - Hyundai Kona 64 kw). However: a)yesterday I drove 500 km on a gas car (Volvo V60 T6 2019), non-stop before I had to fill it up; b) total drive was 600 km and it took 4h35m; c) the same trip on an EV would have taken me, at least, 7 hours, according to the ABRP app. d) using the EV car would take me more time and the same cost money. Conclusion: EV's still are not the solution for a long trip journey. Give me an EV car that allows me to do the same and I'm all in...

620 miles mostly on motorway to get from Scottish Highlands to Gloucestershire relatives. Would be a nightmare with current pathetic EV range. Ok for denizens of leafy suburbs. Heard enough waffle and excuses for EVs.

I love 'Audi level ' speeds😂. Why are they bought by so many self-entitled prats?

I see that ford never went with your opinion of having the mustang less than 40k,although Rd tax is free I would never hand over 5k for a luxury tax.this govt has enough of there grubby little hands in our pockets.

First time I've watched, clearly an electric car fan boy. Just travel in a petrol or diesel car and get there in the normal "70 mph" time with less stress.

All I ever hear is zero to 60mph in 3,2 & now 1 seconds but now you want to drive 55, 60mph. Can you please pick one fight & stick to it.

This has been a big question of mine

The One point you never mentioned was cost, what would the cost difference be on the same return journey going fast vs slow?

A couple of years ago we had a puncture on holiday in France. As it was a Sunday we could not replace the tyre and had to drive 350 miles of autoroute on a space saver tyre at 50mph. At that speed it returned 83 mpg. Usually on a long run we get a little over 60 mpg. I can't say it was an enjoyable run with HGVs bearing down on us at around 60 mph, but it shows how much more fuel efficient vehicles are at lower speeds.

Next time you go down.... do it the other way around (fast down, slow back) to check for any direction specific changes

There is something else that really makes a difference - how you drive the car, and getting to know how to get the best out of it. We got our EQC in December, but hardly used it until the last few weeks, when my wife is needing to make a 15 mile journey two ways each day. Her initial rate was 2.2m/kWh (yes I know - it's a big heavy car!). As she has got used to driving with the different drive modes and varying the regen, she is now getting 2.8m/kWh. There is a skill to knowing how to use a car's features to give more economy, even without going slower. And my wife still sometimes puts on Sports mode to burn off and annoy some ICE driving person in an expensive performance car next to her at the traffic lights 😂