My Real World Consumptive Test CT 4S

[ciaranob]

Bit long winded - apologies up front!

Decided to do a quick tour/roundtrip out of Houston via Hempstead, Bellville and Sealy (closest thing to 'hilly' terrain we have nearby Houston) to test what I would refer to as a real world consumptive test without resorting to the constrictions imposed by Range Mode (I'm not adverse to using Range Mode but wanted to see what I can get w/o having to use it).

For me this would be

1) Car: Cross Turismo 4S with PB+ as std., 21" wheels Summer Perf Tires (Pirelli P-Zero ELECT) - ca 900 miles on odometer.
2) Driving in Normal Mode (my car set to lowest ride height in this mode all else as std).
3) 2 adults, My wife and I in the car (no luggage) and the A/C on ECO for entire trip.
4) Roads a good mix of interstate, highway and backroads so max. cruising speeds up to 85, typically 70-80 on highways and 55-65 on open backroads.
5) 100% SoC to start which provided a pre-trip (in garage) prediction of 243 miles range in Normal Mode but almost instantly reset to 234 Range (see poss. explanations below).
6) Weather perfect ranging from 55-60 F with no wind and 70% of trip on terrain that included flat roads with 30% in rolling hills (100's ft elevation changes only).

I'll do a test in Range Mode another time but my goal here was again to be able to get a feel for what real world range to expect with 'normal parameters' active in the car. Being forced to compromise comfort/performance on road trips for me detracts from driving this car - they are fine when you have to stretch it but not for general all purpose touring for me.

Trip Details:
Minor roadwork re-directions locally made total trip 183 vs the Google distance of 181 miles.

So after 153 miles of driving we arrived at the the only planned (and Porsche Charging Planner suggested) charging station in Katy Mills with a prediction of 73 miles of range remaining. 153+73 = ca 226 range very close to a pre-trip prediction of 234 but still higher than actual consumptive range of 223 miles for 100% SoC (183/.82 i.e. for total trip I used 82% batt. for 183 mies).

EDIT - we did mess about with seat heating and comfort settings on departure which may account for the odd sudden 'loss' of 9 miles of range, 243 to 234). Also some rather 'spirited' driving in last 30 miles may account for the difference in prediction of 234 to 223 - this is a real world test after all !).

See an additional possibility in #3 by Kingske below - possibly the correct answer!

When I plugged into the EVSE it indicated I had a remaining SoC of ca. 31% - again getting close agreement with a 234 mile initial range. This wa a 150kW charger and in less than 20 minutes we were at 81% charge - works for me!

Summarizing:
Started Trip with 100% SoC and using Normal Mode with Lowest ride height and with AC on the whole trip.
Pre-Trip Range 234 miles predected range (again dropped from 243 within first mile!)
Realized consumptive range was 223 miles (reasonably close to pre-trip guesstimate and disparity possibly explainable as mentioned above).
My Trip Data is listing an average of 2.5 mi/kWh for this trip.

I made an earlier thread in which I essentially predicted this type of real world performance for my car and TBH was and still am hoping for more range improvement (with an addl. 500 miles more under its 'belt' since that prediction) - but again possibly still too early in respect the 'conditioning' of my PB+.

Bottom-line though very happy with the performance given the settings I had on in the car and my 21" wheels w/perf tires . MOST IMPORTANTLY I could have easily not charged on this trip and would have arrived home with 18% SoC - if I had not had fun in the last 30 miles this would also easily have been 20% on arrival. Very GTK!

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[ciaranob]

One thing I did not like at all is that there seems to be no way to easily enter a multi-stop route (or tour as they list it in GTK) other than with "stop overs". If all you want to do is to force a route preference you basically have to use the stop overs to guide it (otherwise it just creates its own route based on efficiency preferences etc., not directions).

And to enter Stop-Overs you have to create a route with start and end pts and then actually start the route in your car(!!) to then add the said stop-overs to adjust the route - could it be more cumbersome? Worse, if all you plan is to drive through that 'waypoint' aka Stop-Over, the Nav will force guide you to exactly where it decides that Stop-over loc. is even if effectively off of your drive through route!

On top of all of that you cannot appear to save a 'Tour' in the car (multi-stop route), nor can you create the thing online (via your laptop/desktop) and simply send it to the car which would be massively less annoying.

OK I've whined enough but it does promote Apple Maps, or other 3rd Party maps if you are wanting to create such a multi-stop route!

Open to all advice on how to make this simpler on the Porsche system

 

[Kingske]

Bit long winded - apologies up front!

Decided to do a quick tour/roundtrip out of Houston via Hempstead, Bellville and Sealy (nearest thing to 'hilly' terrain we have nearby) to test what I would refer to as a real world consumptive test without resorting to the constrictions imposed by Range Mode (I'm not adverse to using Range Mode but wanted to see what I can get w/o having to use it).

For me this would be

1) Car: Cross Turismo 4S with PB+ as std., 21" wheels Summer Perf Tires (Pirelli P-Zero ELECT) - ca 900 miles on odometer.
2) Driving in Normal Mode (my car set to lowest ride height in this mode all else as std).
3) 2 adults, My wife and I in the car (no luggage) and the A/C on ECO for entire trip.
4) Roads a good mix of interstate, highway and backroads so max. cruising speeds up to 85, typically 70-80 on highways and 55-65 on open backroads.
5) 100% SoC to start which provided a pre-trip prediction of 243 miles range in Normal Mode.

I'll do a test in Range Mode another time but my goal here was again to be able to get a feel for what real world range to expect with 'normal parameters' active in the car. Being forced to compromise comfort/performance on road trips for me detracts from driving this car - they are fine when you have to stretch it but not for general all purpose touring for me.

Trip Details:

So after 157 miles of driving we arrived at the the only planned (and Porsche Charging Planner suggested) charging station in Katy Mills with a prediction of 73 miles of range remaining. 157+73 = ca 230 range very close to a pre-trip prediction of 234 (if I ignore the weird 243 to 234 drop in first mile!?).

When I plugged into the EVSE it indicted I had a remaining SoC of ca. 31% - again getting close agreement with a 234 mile initial range. This wa a 150kW charger and in less than 20 minutes we were at 81% charge - works for me!

Summarizing:
Started Trip with 100% SoC and using Normal Mode with Lowest ride height and with AC on the whole trip.
Weather perfect ranging from 55-60 F with no wind and 60% of trip on terrain that included flat roads with 30% in light hilly terrain.
Pre-Trip Range initial in garage prediction 243 miles dropped almost immediately to 234 miles predected range within first mile! This is odd and no explanation as yet.
Realized consumptive range was 223 miles - reasonably close to pre-trip guesstimate.

I made an earlier thread in which I essentially predicted this type of real world performance for my car and TBH was and still am hoping for more range improvement (with an addl. 500 miles more under its 'belt' since that prediction) - but again possibly still too early in respect the 'conditioning' of my PB+.

Bottom-line though very happy with the performance given the settings I had on in the car and my 21" wheels w/perf tires

Could it be that your one-mile-out-of-the-garage drop from 243 to 234 miles was caused by milder weather the previous days influencing your car's pre-trip in-garage range projection and then the car adjusting that projection based on the actual (chillier?) weather?

 

[fgwinn]

.....On top of all of that you cannot appear to save a 'Tour' in the car (multi-stop route), nor can you create the thing online (via your laptop/desktop) and simply send it to the car which would be massively less annoying....

I have found using the latest My Porsche app that it's easier to search for a destination, add stop overs, and then send the route to the car.

On the app, I can search for a particular commercial destination by name. The in-car GPS rarely finds locations by name.

It is unfortunate that there is a fairly long delay between sending the route from the app to the car. Also, I think the charging stations still need to be selected after the route is displayed on the car GPS.

 

[ciaranob]

Could it be that your one-mile-out-of-the-garage drop from 243 to 234 miles was caused by milder weather the previous days influencing your car's pre-trip in-garage range projection and then the car adjusting that projection based on the actual (chillier?) weather?

Well I was actually thinking about this and decided to replug the car in before we set off - of course likely did not change anything as at 100% so indeed you could be correct here.

 

[ciaranob]

I have found using the latest My Porsche app that it's easier to search for a destination, add stop overs, and then send the route to the car.

On the app, I can search for a particular commercial destination by name. The in-car GPS rarely finds locations by name.

It is unfortunate that there is a fairly long delay between sending the route from the app to the car. Also, I think the charging stations still need to be selected after the route is displayed on the car GPS.

Indeed it is a bit bizarre how long it takes for the car to receive addresses sent from the desktop and apparently from the app. Was frustrating enough that I just set it all up in the car!

 

[thecoloradokid]

Thanks for sharing the details of your drive.

Been driving a 4s sedan for almost two years now, but yesterday was able to find an allocation for a CT 4s, and pulled the trigger immediately since it was a March build date, and May delivery date.

I ordered the 20" wheels since it is easier to find snow/winter tires for Colorado, did not opt for the swipe charging door this time since I want to squeeze out a couple of extra miles of range , but did order the roof rails since I like how it breaks up the roof lines on the CT.

From your profile picture you did not opt for roof rails, but I would love to figure out what the roof rail aerodynamic penalty is on range. I certainly realize every driving situation is unique, especially for me here with big mountains just to the west of me, but seeing your range in decent weather gives me some optimism that I might be able to hit 240 miles on a full charge if I am keeping the speed at 75mph and heading east or south.

 

[ciaranob]

Thanks for sharing the details of your drive.

Been driving a 4s sedan for almost two years now, but yesterday was able to find an allocation for a CT 4s, and pulled the trigger immediately since it was a March build date, and May delivery date.

I ordered the 20" wheels since it is easier to find snow/winter tires for Colorado, did not opt for the swipe charging door this time since I want to squeeze out a couple of extra miles of range , but did order the roof rails since I like how it breaks up the roof lines on the CT.

From your profile picture you did not opt for roof rails, but I would love to figure out what the roof rail aerodynamic penalty is on range. I certainly realize every driving situation is unique, especially for me here with big mountains just to the west of me, but seeing your range in decent weather gives me some optimism that I might be able to hit 240 miles on a full charge if I am keeping the speed at 75mph and heading east or south.

I'd have to agree - my range predicted/consumptive has def being creeping up over the lowly 900 miles I've driven to date and I've had as high as 250+ at one point. I do think with another 1K or more miles under its 'belt' should see better still but perhaps being optimistic - others with 4S's and varying combo's of spec have reached way above this as you know. And again, remember this test was with all creature comforts on and only in Normal mode. I can guarantee I would have seen an additional min. 10 miles realistic total range if I had been in Range Mode.

As far as the rails go I honestly think this is likely to have truly minimal impact - its what you put on them of course that will effect range right! Best of luck with the build

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