Volvo Tips: What effects the electric range?

Volvo Tips: What effects the electric range?

Posted on 9/26/2024 by Charles Jordan - Leave a Comment

Volvo Tips: What effects the electric range?

Becoming familiar with what affects your electrified Volvo's range will help build trust and understanding of how it operates and improve your overall ownership experience.

Your electric range is how far you can go on a given charge.

Just like a gas-powered vehicle, all electric Volvos receive a range rating from the EPA.

This range rating tells you how far you can go between charging and optimal conditions.

You can find your Volvo's EPA estimated range on the Windows sticker or on the EPA website.

Several things can impact the range of your recharge plug-in hybrid Volvo.

Fortunately, your Volvo constantly monitors these variables to provide real-world range figures.

Here are some of the things that affect range variability.

Climate and temperature.

Road types and conditions.

Traffic route topography or hills.

Personal driving style.

Your local climate and temperatures can be the biggest impactor to range variability.

Today's EV batteries are the most efficient in temperatures around 70 degrees.

Driving in these temperatures typically means drivers will get the most range on a given charge.

As temperatures rise or fall further away from 70 degrees, the potential range of an electrified vehicle decreases.

While plugged in, you can use the climate preconditioning function in your Volvo Cars app to increase your comfort by heating or cooling your vehicle's cabin before unplugging or driving.

Heating or cooling the interior of your electrified Volvo affects the driving range of your charge, same as it would in a gas-powered vehicle.

To help offset this, the available heat pump in the XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge models helps minimize the use of electric energy.

Taking heat from the electric motors, battery and outside air, it recirculates it into the cabin to either heat or cool the cabin depending on temperature.

Road types and conditions can impact the range of your electrified Volvo.

Rolling resistance or the amount of energy needed to move the vehicle.

Can be affected by poor road conditions.

Your electrified Volvo comes equipped with specially designed low rolling resistance tires that help increase the range between charges.

Additionally, properly maintaining your tires by regularly checking that they are at the recommended tire pressure will help extend range.

Gas powered vehicles are more efficient on the highway versus stop and go traffic.

Electrified vehicles typically see an opposite effect.

Regenerative braking during city driving can increase range, while constant highway speeds with no regenerative braking can decrease the overall range per charge.

During highway driving, electricity is constantly being used to propel the car forward.

This depletes the battery's charge faster as it never has an opportunity to recharge from braking.

This ultimately leads to reduced range.

In a PHEV Volvo, driving in hybrid mode can extend the battery's range by utilizing the gas-powered engine during highway use.

How much the elevation changes on your route are a major route variable.

How hilly or flat your route is affects the range you'll get per charge.

Driving uphill requires the most energy of any driving condition.

Alternatively, downhill routes are a benefit to your range thanks to the combination of the ability to coast. without drawing on battery power and utilizing regenerative braking.

Your personal driving style is the single most controllable range variable.

Quickly and constantly accelerating uses dramatically more power than accelerating gradually.

Driving at higher speeds also impacts range as aerodynamic resistance increases with vehicle speed.

Lower speeds and smoother acceleration will increase your range between charges.

Driving with heavy loads, additional passengers, or towing add weight to your vehicle, requiring more energy and decreasing range.

It's important to remember that your electrified Volvo is constantly monitoring these range variables and projects a real-world range in the instrument cluster to provide confidence and comfort between charging.

Thank you for watching.

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