Real World Range Experience So Far +Recup Use and Range Mode

[Jhenson29]

I was never talking about touching the brake pedal. I’m talking about the car slowing itself when coasting so the brakes don’t need to be touched.

Then…what does any of it have to do with brake pads? Sorry, I’m just not following. How does overrun recup being on affect brake pads?

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[02bluesuperroo]

Then…what does any of it have to do with brake pads? Sorry, I’m just not following. How does overrun recup being on affect brake pads?

Because taking your foot off the accelerator slows the car down enough in a lot of situations so you don’t have to use the brakes.

 

[Jhenson29]

Because taking your foot off the accelerator slows the car down enough in a lot of situations so you don’t have to use the brakes.

So, the Taycan does not have one pedal driving. It really doesn’t slow down enough from overrun recup being on. As others mentioned is feels like light engine braking.

But regardless, pressing the brake pedal doesn’t use the brake pads. At least not right away. Pushing the brake pedal uses recup. And lots of it. So, if overrun recup is off and you press the brake pedal to slow down, that does not mean you are using the brake pads. Separate the brake pedal from the brake pads. They aren’t the same thing in the Taycan.

If you are pressing hard enough to exceed the 265kW of recup and start engaging the brake pads, you were likely going to be pressing the pedal and using the brake pads whether overrun recup was on or not, because your braking requirements exceeded what overrun provides.

And if you’re wondering…no, I don’t think you could have used overrun recup to slow down earlier over a longer distance. Not in any practical manner anyway. It’s really not very strong.

Does that make any sense?

 

[DMTaycan]

I have done over 9000 miles now, mostly in summer conditions, including many long distance driving all over Western Europe. The car seem to be very reliable in predicting range, which is based on the owner's previous driving habits.

I have developed my own driving style when I drive the Taycan, as opposed to when say I drive my much older Audi A8. I tend to drive the Audi more aggressively and I am ashamed to admit can speed a little. With the Taycan I am more conscious of the range so I don't just accelerate for the heck of it. I tend to drive steadily between 75 and 80 and this seem to produce 260 miles of mostly motorway range consistently. From my observations while driving in Europe, the car was able to do 320 miles range when I had to observe 65 miles speed limit for all of Holland. Also when I observed 70 miles the range was 280 miles roughly. I trust these figures now.

I use a combination of range and normal modes. Range mode probably increase the range by 5%. It is possible to increase the limit on the speed to 80 miles or even more in the range mode. I find that the range mode set my mood to reasonable driving. If I think I need a sudden burst of power, I tend to touch the sport haptic "button" at the bottom of the central vertical screen.

The car's acceleration and overtaking is phenomenal and can be enjoyed when appropriate e.g. in de restricted autobahns. The aforementioned semi relaxed style of driving does not actually detract from enjoying the car as it is an enjoyable car on twisty roads and in short bursts of acceleration. You don't have to constantly kill the range and flout the speed limits to enjoy the car, far from it, it can give me the pleasures of driving the A8 and the Cayman at the same time.

So here is what I learned; charge mostly to 85%. Charge to 100% if you have a big gap between fast chargers e.g. ionity chargers on a long road trip.
Plan, plan, plan
Use a combination of abetterrouteplanner and Porsche's navigation to plan routes and charging. Consider 200 miles between charges and pretend the car range is 250 to guard against surprises such as the very busy ionity at Hauconcourt near Metz in France or the odd non functional slow chargers and not to mention the legendary unexpected long diversions in the UK.
Don't ignore slow chargers completely as they may compensate by being along your planned route

Most car reviewers and you tubers suggest that you arrive with near empty battery to speed up charging. This, admittedly is more efficient and may shorten overall journeys' time but can be a risky and stressful strategy. I prefer having 50-60 miles range in reserve. That strategy saved me once when I was unlucky with a series of non functioning chargers and I went down to 2% and finally charged in a lone charger in a dealership that was about to shut its perimeter gates. This occurred in North Italy, although I must stress charging in Italy is generally good

Finally, if you really need 300 miles, just slow down, as I did in Holland. I had to choose between missing the car ferry back to England or arriving with little charge. In the end, I skipped a planned charging stop [in order to reach the ferry in time] as I gained more range when I stuck to 65 miles.

Remember driving on occasions at 65 is faster than driving at 80 if you have to stop for another 30 minutes to charge, but don't worry, this should be very rare, especially with more and more charging stations

 

[B61]

Do you guys set recup "On" or "Automatic"?
I tried with Automatic...and it looks that it has some algorithm, not works every time when you release a pedal.
Haven't tried "On" yet... will do on my next drive.

Also, is it possible to save recup settings permanently (I noticed that's always off)?

 

[kailifish]

Do you guys set recup "On" or "Automatic"?
I tried with Automatic...and it looks that it has some algorithm, not works every time when you release a pedal.
Haven't tried "On" yet... will do on my next drive.

Also, is it possible to save recup settings permanently (I noticed that's always off)?

To my knowledge, the "Auto" functions a bit like ACC, meaning it only recups when it senses a car or object in front of the car. If the car slows down/stops before you then the recup happens normally (or even more aggresively than on). But if nothing is in front of you, it just coats for max efficiency.

I find "on" better. With "auto" on, sometimes the car recups harder and sudden if a car merges ahead. While "on" is really linear and consistent.

Recup is always "off" when in range and normal, and the car always defaults to normal when you start it. I believe i read the new software update that Porsche updated so the setting remains when you switch between drive modes. (turned to "on" in normal, stay "on" when you switch to range etc). Dont think theres a way so far to keep the setting permanent.

 

[B61]

Thx, @kailifish , I'll use ON now... I'm also wondering if there's a setting that would keep ON permanently?

 

[ciaranob]

Thx, @kailifish , I'll use ON now... I'm also wondering if there's a setting that would keep ON permanently?

It would be great if the "Individual" mode actually allowed the user/driver to chose all functions independently of defaults but I guess the individualization is rather limited?

 

[tomdfw1]

To my knowledge, the "Auto" functions a bit like ACC, meaning it only recups when it senses a car or object in front of the car. If the car slows down/stops before you then the recup happens normally (or even more aggresively than on). But if nothing is in front of you, it just coats for max efficiency.

I find "on" better. With "auto" on, sometimes the car recups harder and sudden if a car merges ahead. While "on" is really linear and consistent.

Recup is always "off" when in range and normal, and the car always defaults to normal when you start it. I believe i read the new software update that Porsche updated so the setting remains when you switch between drive modes. (turned to "on" in normal, stay "on" when you switch to range etc). Dont think theres a way so far to keep the setting permanent.

With Sport Chrono (maybe without) I get an individual drive mode. I believe all drive modes can be individualized to a degree such as turning on regen, sport chassis, ACC, etc. I believe by law these must be off when car starts, but just by one button changing to your drive mode (that has been customized before) you can have these features turned on automatically.

 

[Gwaihir]

As I understand it, recup works upto a certain point (it is the primary method of slowing the vehicle, up to 250+ kW [or something close, someone can jump in with the exact number]), then the physical brakes will assist for hard braking. For normal driving, this will rarely happen except in emergencies or when driving hard for fun, hence the benefit of EVs of likely never needing a brake job. My totally unscientific estimate is that at about 0.3 g's of deceleration or greater, the brakes will start to assist.

I know if you see the green (recuperation) bar still increasing then it’s not using the friction brake. When it stops going up it‘s time for the brake pads to take over.

 

[Z06socool]

Hi,

Very new to EV and just took delivery of my Taycan CT Turbo S on 23. December 21. Now on holidays but I drove about 700 kms before leaving it in my garage.
For info, I live in Switzerland and the temperatures were between minus 5 to plus 5 degrees centigrade during those 700 kms.
I drove the car and my wife drove it as well. Each one of us with no real intention to be "careful" with range achieved.
As the car sat now for 5 days in a cold garage with battery charged at 85%, it lost only 1%.
Indicated range at 84% is 300 kms. Or about 360 kms if charged to its max. I heard that range could be affected by as much as 20% in cold weather so, in my case, it looks more like a 10% impact.
As for regen, I asked my wife to put the car setting to on as she was going downhill for a bit and she observed the estimated range going up and actually was higher at the bottom of the hill by a few kms. I do not have exact figures as I was driving in another car at the time.
Really happy to share on this forum as it really helped me a lot already on multiple topics.
One last piece of info, it looks like my average e-cons. is around 27 to 30 kWh/ 100 km (observed during or immediately after the multiple trips). Not sure what to make of that as it does not "fit" with the actual indicated range of 300 kms with 84% charge...
Hope this help people curious about real data....

 

[ciaranob]

I have done over 9000 miles now, mostly in summer conditions, including many long distance driving all over Western Europe. The car seem to be very reliable in predicting range, which is based on the owner's previous driving habits.

I have developed my own driving style when I drive the Taycan, as opposed to when say I drive my much older Audi A8. I tend to drive the Audi more aggressively and I am ashamed to admit can speed a little. With the Taycan I am more conscious of the range so I don't just accelerate for the heck of it. I tend to drive steadily between 75 and 80 and this seem to produce 260 miles of mostly motorway range consistently. From my observations while driving in Europe, the car was able to do 320 miles range when I had to observe 65 miles speed limit for all of Holland. Also when I observed 70 miles the range was 280 miles roughly. I trust these figures now.

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Hey meant to ask but not sure if you purchased this car 2nd hand and cannot answer as such - can you recall on starting out what predicted ranges you were seeing at 85%-100% SoC?

The numbers you are reporting for diff conditions of 250-260-280-300+ are all well higher than my CT 4S right now but I only have 700 miles on the clock - trying to get a sense of when people are seeing meaningful 'break-in or learning' miles on these batteries to where it settles on reliable predictable ranges.

I typically get no more that 204 miles range at 85% charge right now which in reality (unfortunately) is higher than actual consumptive range - this 204 range would at best result in a predicted (ideal) range of 240-250 mi at 100% SoC.

Did you car have the higher numbers off the bat or only after a few thousand learning miles under the car's 'belt'?

 

[jasperp]

But there is also braking recup. When you press the brakes, it will recup up to 265kW (175kW on the front motor and 90kW for the rear motor).

Where did you find these numbers ?
I am curious what this would be for a Taycan RWD. Will the breaking of the rear motor be higher ?

 

[W1NGE]

Hey meant to ask but not sure if you purchased this car 2nd hand and cannot answer as such - can you recall on starting out what predicted ranges you were seeing at 85%-100% SoC?

The numbers you are reporting for diff conditions of 250-260-280-300+ are all well higher than my CT 4S right now but I only have 700 miles on the clock - trying to get a sense of when people are seeing meaningful 'break-in or learning' miles on these batteries to where it settles on reliable predictable ranges.

I typically get no more that 204 miles range at 85% charge right now which in reality (unfortunately) is higher than actual consumptive range - this 204 range would at best result in a predicted (ideal) range of 240-250 mi at 100% SoC.

Did you car have the higher numbers off the bat or only after a few thousand learning miles under the car's 'belt'?

I get your numbers (with PB+) and I have almost 10K miles on the clock. Never had anything near 300 miles and once had 280 miles but more generally the best is 265 miles when ambient is 20C+. I stick to the speed limits, never launched and never achieved high range numbers even with Range enabled (which has changed in behaviour since I originally got the car following the recent major software updates).

Winter - ambient 2C - 12C - displayed range @ 85% SOC - 185 miles - @ 100% SOC - 215 / 220 miles
Summer - ambient 19C - 23C = display range @ 85% SOC - 220 miles - @ 100% SOC - 252 (on average)

Range definitely increased after the first 500 miles or so as did the regen.

I think the quoted range is 'reliable' until you actually drive the car (sounds dumb I know) and then depending on conditions, use of AC and set cabin temp and driving style this will change for better or worse (generally worse). What is typically more reliable is the use of the Nav and estimated range at end of journey - at most I've seen 1% decrease / increase on predicted SOC at journey's end.

Seems almost impossible to get a good reliable benchmark even per region as no two cars are the same and all are used in different ways.

Time (for me) to get over the range anxiety (never had it with an ICE car) and just plan ahead as others have mentioned until significant strides are made in battery tech. Looks like Mercedes, Lucid, others have this either now or from 2024 where 500 - 600 miles are being quoted and I can't imagine Porsche will be sitting idle between now and then.

 

[ciaranob]

I get your numbers (with PB+) and I have almost 10K miles on the clock. Never had anything near 300 miles and once had 280 miles but more generally the best is 265 miles when ambient is 20C+. I stick to the speed limits, never launched and never achieved high range numbers even with Range enabled (which has changed in behaviour since I originally got the car following the recent major software updates).

Winter - ambient 2C - 12C - displayed range @ 85% SOC - 185 miles - @ 100% SOC - 215 / 220 miles
Summer - ambient 19C - 23C = display range @ 85% SOC - 220 miles - @ 100% SOC - 252 (on average)

Range definitely increased after the first 500 miles or so as did the regen.

I think the quoted range is 'reliable' until you actually drive the car (sounds dumb I know) and then depending on conditions, use of AC and set cabin temp and driving style this will change for better or worse (generally worse). What is typically more reliable is the use of the Nav and estimated range at end of journey - at most I've seen 1% decrease / increase on predicted SOC at journey's end.

Seems almost impossible to get a good reliable benchmark even per region as no two cars are the same and all are used in different ways.

Time (for me) to get over the range anxiety (never had it with an ICE car) and just plan ahead as others have mentioned until significant strides are made in battery tech. Looks like Mercedes, Lucid, others have this either now or from 2024 where 500 - 600 miles are being quoted and I can't imagine Porsche will be sitting idle between now and then.

Thx for sharing. Honestly not worried about range anxiety - I can live fine with what I have re range but just trying to understand where I see a driver that reports not dissimilar stats in respect car setup, driving style, climate zone etc yet still is getting 20-50 Millie’s more max range than I. There are more than a few folk on this forum that match this profile now and that I find just annoying . But early days of course and no doubt on a learning curve!

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