90 mile round trip commute

[rav4buyer]

Saw an intriguing deal on the Rav4 EV today. My commute is about 45 miles each way (as shown on Google Maps) going up 280 from Cupertino to San Francisco. Wondering if it is worth considering the Rav4 or is the distance too far such that I will eventually hit bad conditions and run out of battery or drive so concerned it will take any fun of driving it away? I'd be driving it almost every day.

Thanks!
Doug

 

[geo]

It's doable. The range on a normal charge is 100-110, if you did extended charges, you'd easily get 130-140. I just did a 140 mile round trip and had miles left.

That much driving, however, would wear down the battery faster. If you did the 3 year lease with unlimited miles, it might make the most sense.

 

[rav4buyer]

Thanks for the info Geo -

How long does it take to charge for extended charge? I'm looking at about a 13 hour turnaround time I'd need the car fully charged again. Does Toyota offer roadside support in case I run out of battery? I am definitely interested in the 3 year lease. If I can charge extend every day, it would definitely be worth it.

 

[Wintsnowride]

You should be fine. I am on normal charge with commute of almost 40 miles each way and still have plenty when I get home. If you use the extended charge, it will take about 5-6 hours with the 40 amp charger (fully charged but in your case will be faster because you only drive 90 miles). Even a level 2 20 amp can get it done in less than 13 hours with your commute mileage.

 

[EVBill]

My commute is 40 miles each way and I have about 30 miles left at the end of the day (110 range) with a normal charge. This is driving like I normally did with my ICE vehicle, with no heavy acceleration most of the time but I do keep up with the flow of traffic in the carpool lane. I've found that when I got stuck in traffic the EV does very well, not much range eaten up even with the air conditioner on. The main concern would be what is the battery degradation after 2-3 years. If it is >20% a lease may be the way to go.

I would also check into what public chargers are available near your work location. Chargepoint installed one a few months ago that is just a few blocks from where I work.

 

[eschatfische]

Some real-world info:

My wife does a ~72 mile commute on 280 each day from SF to Palo Alto and back. She drives at standard 280 highway speeds (ie, fast), occasionally using AC or the seat warmers - but it's not yet "winter" so we haven't had to run the heater, which is a power suck. We do a standard charge (ie, 80%) every night. She generally returns after the full commute with 5 or 6 of the 16 bars on the energy meter remaining, with the car displaying between 30-36 miles of additional range.

With a 90 mile commute from/to Cupertino without the heater at highway speeds, if you used a standard charge, I would expect you would be returning with 2-3 bars on the meter, and 12-18 miles of effective range left over. With an extended charge, these numbers would be substantially increased, likely to 6-7 bars and 35-40 miles of range left over. The range of the EV can also be increased by not using HVAC or by strictly following the speed limit, but as I'm sure you know, traffic tends to move fast on 280.

So, the answers:

1) You can very easily do this commute in a normal fashion and have lots of power left over with the RAV4 EV if you use the extended charge and bring the battery to a 100% charge each night. However, bringing the battery pack to a full charge every night will ultimately shorten the life of the battery pack. If you lease for three years, this probably won't concern you. If you owned, however, I would be wary doing extended charges every night.

2) You can technically do this commute with a standard charge - and, if you obey the speed limit, you can do it fairly easily. However, if you're speeding or using the heater - or both - the amount left over when you return will be pretty tight, giving you little power left over for side trips or unexpected situations.

3) You will need to install a Level 2 charger to do the nightly charge - plugging into a standard wall outlet won't charge the car fast enough. If you purchase a 240V/40A charger, it will only take around three and a half hours to "top up" after your commute. When the car's battery is almost depleted and needs a full charge, it takes 4 hours to do a standard charge and five hours to do an extended charge with a 240V/40A charger. A less expensive 240V/30A charger will increase those times to ~6 hours for a full extended charge.

4) The 3 years of roadside assistance included with the car does explicitly cover "out of charge" situations.

 

[Kohler Controller]

So far my individual cell testing has shown only about a 1% difference between standard and extended charges over 25k simulated miles of use. I expected more of a degrade but I'm not really seeing it. Depth of discharge seems to make no difference in degradation. Use your EV as much as possible!

My commute is 70 miles per day, so I feel very confident telling you this car can do it, even with A/C and traffic, with many miles to spare.

 

[n3ckf]

I was very worried about indicated range when i bought my Rav4EV. I remember the first time i took it to the mountains, i charged it *3 times* along the way.

However i also kept a paper log in the little center console of every time i turned the car on or off, recording actual location, odometer & what the "car" thought the range was (aka the "GOM").

Turns out i was almost always getting > 1 mile of "actual" range for 1 mile of "GOM" range unless i was driving very fast (ie. > 70mph). At 70-75mph, they just about match for me. I assume that i'd get < 1 mile per "GOM" mile if i went > 75, but i've only ever done that for a few miles here and there so i dont know.

I've learned that if i think something is a bit "marginal", i actually always get there with range to spare.

The only thing you have to be careful of is driving up mountains. They use a surprising amount of range. However you get it back when you go over the other side... Coming down the west slope of the sierras, i've gone 17-18 miles from my house in the mountains to Jackson (down at 1500') and used about 2 miles to go 17. Thats really cool...

 

[rav4buyer]

This is all great info - I have an additional question. Since I live in Santa Clara and have PG&E, what would my cost per mile be in electricity costs. I'm not all caught up on the different PG&E plans, but what would the cost be given the best plan that I could join? Let's say 450 miles per week about 2000 miles per month. Assuming I am at the lowest tier for using electricity in my house.

 

[Brandy]

An extra data point. In winter my GOM mileage indicated 92 miles on standard charge. Do you have a charger at work? How about an outlet?

 

[user 340]

This is all great info - I have an additional question. Since I live in Santa Clara and have PG&E, what would my cost per mile be in electricity costs. I'm not all caught up on the different PG&E plans, but what would the cost be given the best plan that I could join? Let's say 450 miles per week about 2000 miles per month. Assuming I am at the lowest tier for using electricity in my house.

The new EV-A plan is about $0.10 per kWh off-peak with no tiers. 2000 mi a month at 3.3 mi/kWh in the car at 85% charging efficiency is 713 kWh per month. That's $71 per month, about 1/2 the cost that my old Honda Insight would use in gas (averaging about 57 mpg).

 

[rav4buyer]

An extra data point. In winter my GOM mileage indicated 92 miles. Do you have a charger at work? How about an outlet?

Is that off a standard charge? I would doing the extra charge every day. From what I've read the GOM is very conservative as well.

 

[cossie1600]

It's better than the piece of crap the leaf has. You can thrash the car around and not lose more than 5 miles. You do that to a leaf, prepare to lose 20.

 

[miimura]

This is all great info - I have an additional question. Since I live in Santa Clara and have PG&E, what would my cost per mile be in electricity costs. I'm not all caught up on the different PG&E plans, but what would the cost be given the best plan that I could join? Let's say 450 miles per week about 2000 miles per month. Assuming I am at the lowest tier for using electricity in my house.

Almost nobody stays in the first tier unless they live in a small apartment. However, with the new Schedule EV, there are no tiers. So, if you charge between 11pm and 7am you will always pay 9.79cents/kWh. At 3 miles/kWh driving efficiency, that is about 3.3cents/mile. Adding charger (in)efficiency brings you up to about 3.8 cents/kWh.

 

[dipper]

This is all great info - I have an additional question. Since I live in Santa Clara and have PG&E, what would my cost per mile be in electricity costs. I'm not all caught up on the different PG&E plans, but what would the cost be given the best plan that I could join? Let's say 450 miles per week about 2000 miles per month. Assuming I am at the lowest tier for using electricity in my house.

Dang, I am jealous. You need to move to Santa Clara's Silicon Valley Power instead of PG&E. They have CHEAP electric rate. You need to stop thinking and start buying.

 

[rav4buyer]

This is all great info - I have an additional question. Since I live in Santa Clara and have PG&E, what would my cost per mile be in electricity costs. I'm not all caught up on the different PG&E plans, but what would the cost be given the best plan that I could join? Let's say 450 miles per week about 2000 miles per month. Assuming I am at the lowest tier for using electricity in my house.

Dang, I am jealous. You need to move to Santa Clara's Silicon Valley Power instead of PG&E. They have CHEAP electric rate. You need to stop thinking and start buying.

No I live in Cupertino actually, which I think is outside of Silicon Valley Power's coverage area.

 

[Brandy]

An extra data point. In winter my GOM mileage indicated 92 miles. Do you have a charger at work? How about an outlet?

Is that off a standard charge? I would doing the extra charge every day. From what I've read the GOM is very conservative as well.

That is a standard charge.

 

[Dsinned]

Provided you plan to install at least a 32A L2 EVSE charger at home, I would not hesitate to get a RAV4 EV for a 90 mile round trip commute. Unless you drive aggressively, the range you'll get on a "standard" charge should be adequate. 90 miles of range should be the minimum you get, but I must again emphasis that your driving style is key to getting more than adequate range for your particular commute.

 

[Daenfa]

Doug, it is indeed possible. I have owned my RAV 4 EV since March of This year. It is 2012 model. My trip to work is 46 miles. I travel from Pasadena CA. To Fontana five days a week total round trip is 92 miles. I have traveled in both cool weather and hot weather. I will usually end up with 17 miles to 23 miles left on the GOM when I return home. Recently I have added another few miles to my daily trip by taking my wife to work then heading to work my self. In the end the entire trip is 113 miles which we are doing on a single standard. When I drive this trip I do drive conservatively. For me this mean 60-65.

Frederick

 

[ufojoe]

Did an 91 mile round trip this morning from Corona del Mar to Oceanside, 1/2 on Coast Highway with stop and go & 1/2 on the I-5 with the cruise control set at 72. Also, Climate control off on the way down & Eco Hi on the way back. 23 miles left on the GOM on an extended charge.