Range adventure - Attempted 202 miles in an 206 mile (EPA) car...

[eisenb11]

This past weekend, I had planned to do a trip to the Cabazon area... 101 miles each way, so 202 miles total - preferably without charging. My J1 Taycan is EPA rated for 206 miles (standard battery), but I also have the larger 20" wheels so I'm supposed to take a range hit for that. I heard that Porsche range is way underrated - which would be a good thing coming from a Tesla where the range was overrated. So how'd it go...?

Some quick set up - I drove the car in range mode, instead of my normal sports mode. I also limited my highway driving to the speed limit (65 mph) most of the time. I used ACC/ALK as I like to do for long drives. Being SoCal, we also hit heavy traffic a few times there and back. My home also requires about 15 minutes of dense local to get to the highway. It was also a hot day - over 90 degrees outside when I got a little inland. I had the temp set to 72 so the AC ran the whole time.

I did the 202 miles and the estimated remaining range on the car was still around 76 miles.

I'm beyond impressed with how much the range was understated. With numbers like that, my "206 miles EPA" car could be pushing close to 300 miles on a long drive like that.

Just thought I'd post this in case there were others like me that do 100 mile-ish trips now and then but had range anxiety about if it was doable or not without charging en-route.

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[Vercingetorix]

My 4S with the performance battery was 234miles indicated at 100% when new. 3 years later I think it’s 216. Never went beyond 200 miles before charging on a road trip. This is with 21’’ wheels.

 

[mocsman]

Seems about right. I if limit my speed to max of 65 mph, i usually get anywhere between 30–40 miles more on a full charge.

 

[SergeyIndy]

EPA numbers are bogus and unrealistic for Taycans. There are plenty of real world tests published that exceed EPA numbers by a lot. See Edmunds: https://www.edmunds.com/car-news/electric-car-range-and-consumption-epa-vs-edmunds.html

EPA is Grey
Edmunds Test is Blue

That is why Porsche did the independent test to show more realistic ranges for Gen 1 and had it on the website along the EPA numbers. However, I cannot locate that information on the website any more since only Gen 2 information is shown.

 

[DoctorLife]

This mirrors my experience as well. On a 166 mile drive from Cornwall to home after charging to 100%, estimated charge remaining at destination (home) was 27%, OK but a little concerning if stuck in an M25 jam. Driving in Range Mode, using auto regen, and coasting on downhills, driving between 65-70mph, the actual charge remaining at destination was 40%, meaning likely range around 280 miles. You just have to be careful you don’t drive it like a Porsche ? and having warm ambient temperature helps.

 

[Freeewilly]

Like to see a test for average speed around 75-80 mph. 65 mpg is too slow for me during long distance driving.

 

[Jonathan S.]

Like to see a test for average speed around 75-80 mph. 65 mpg is too slow for me during long distance driving.

https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a30874032/porsche-taycan-range-test-tesla-model-s/

 

[d00d]

Sounds about right, I have the same RWD with PB and 20".
Worst case over the summer was 3.2 miles/kWh over 202 miles and 71 mph average.
With 71 kWh usable, that's 227 miles.

 

[eisenb11]

Like to see a test for average speed around 75-80 mph. 65 mpg is too slow for me during long distance driving.

65 mph did make me (uncharacteristically) one of the slowest cars on the 91 that day. To be courteous, I stayed out of the left-most lane except when needing to overtake on the rare occasion of someone going slower (that's also when I sometimes went faster than 65).

Being my first long trip, I didn't want to push it as the numbers, on paper, weren't looking good. Seeing how much range was left, I may try 70 or 75 mph next time, but this isn't a trip I do often.

My GF did ask about it, and I estimate that driving 65 added about 22 min onto the length of the trip vs had I been driving more normally..

 

[snstevens]

This past weekend, I had planned to do a trip to the Cabazon area... 101 miles each way, so 202 miles total - preferably without charging. My J1 Taycan is EPA rated for 206 miles (standard battery), but I also have the larger 20" wheels so I'm supposed to take a range hit for that. I heard that Porsche range is way underrated - which would be a good thing coming from a Tesla where the range was overrated. So how'd it go...?

Some quick set up - I drove the car in range mode, instead of my normal sports mode. I also limited my highway driving to the speed limit (65 mph) most of the time. I used ACC/ALK as I like to do for long drives. Being SoCal, we also hit heavy traffic a few times there and back. My home also requires about 15 minutes of dense local to get to the highway. It was also a hot day - over 90 degrees outside when I got a little inland. I had the temp set to 72 so the AC ran the whole time.

I did the 202 miles and the estimated remaining range on the car was still around 76 miles.

I'm beyond impressed with how much the range was understated. With numbers like that, my "206 miles EPA" car could be pushing close to 300 miles on a long drive like that.

Just thought I'd post this in case there were others like me that do 100 mile-ish trips now and then but had range anxiety about if it was doable or not without charging en-route.

Great info - thanks for sharing your adventure.

For the record my 2021 4s (21" Mission E wheels) gets a range of 210-260 miles depending on temperature (260 in the summer months). These values have stayed pretty much unchanged since purchase.

 

[W1NGE]

Impressive range from the standard (non-PB+) battery - ambient is playing a key role here.

What would be really informative would be the consumption numbers as this is the key metric.

To achieve the OP range would have meant an impressively low consumption number - 3.8+ miles / kWh.

 

[f1eng]

I don't do many long trips and tend to drive normally in normal mode and charge when I stop for a comfort break.

I have noticed a considerable drop in potential range travelling at 70 to 80 mph, which is no surprise, particularly since the Cross Turismo has about 20% more drag than the saloon. Driving on the normal roads around home my predicted range is 265 or so but when doing long trips it drops to 225 presumably because of the motorway speed, although travelling on a busy motorway the energy usage is markedly less, presumably slipstreaming.

At least in an EV if you get stuck in traffic it doesn't waste as much energy as a IC car!

 

[MrB]

I don't do many long trips and tend to drive normally in normal mode and charge when I stop for a comfort break.

I have noticed a considerable drop in potential range travelling at 70 to 80 mph, which is no surprise, particularly since the Cross Turismo has about 20% more drag than the saloon. Driving on the normal roads around home my predicted range is 265 or so but when doing long trips it drops to 225 presumably because of the motorway speed, although travelling on a busy motorway the energy usage is markedly less, presumably slipstreaming.

At least in an EV if you get stuck in traffic it doesn't waste as much energy as a IC car!

This would chime with my experiences too, with 95% of my driving at motorway speeds I usually see in the order of 225-230 miles predicted range at full charge. When I recently had time off and was just pottering around locally, this went into the high 240s.

 

[corgidad]

It's known Taycan exceeds EPA estimate range by a big margin.

25 4 CT estimated range at 277 miles, but my first longish trip at 110 miles only consumed about 30% of the battery.

 

[W1NGE]

It's known Taycan exceeds EPA estimate range by a big margin.

25 4 CT estimated range at 277 miles, but my first longish trip at 110 miles only consumed about 30% of the battery.

Depends on which part of the world you live in.

UK / Northern Europe can only dream of these ranges (in summer) due to the lower ambients.

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