40 miles is good for my 2016 ELR, and recently I've been averaging 39 as the displayed range. But I also have the Performance package, which sacrifices range for performance, mainly because of its sticky summer-only tires. I also drive it like a sports car much of the time, so I'm quite far from a hypermiling style. They say the performance package makes a 10% difference in lower efficiency, so I suppose I'd be getting 44 for range if I had the normal setup. It's SO worth the sacrifice, though. On gas only, I get 31.5 on average (EPA is 31), which usually involves cruising around 80mph. This week I purposely kept my speed mostly at 70 and sometimes 75 on a 150 mile trip, and I got 34.5.

My 2014 Volt rarely even achieved the EV miles I get from the ELR. I don't know why (my 2011 was better), and it displayed a normal Kwh capacity on the energy display when depleted, but it was just a clunker in terms of efficiency (and it was 100% stock). I realize my ELR has more Kwh's available, with a 0.5 Kwh larger battery and programming that lets it use more of its capacity, but still it's been very pleasing to me in what it gives me in range, even in cold weather, whereas the Volt was quite disappointing.

 

We get these kind of posts almost daily on the Volt forum.

 

It's the hottest time of the year. It's to be expected....

 

What is the EPA rating for the ELR?

 

AFAIK it's the same pack size. Lots of things affect the range estimate, and lots of times the range estimate isn't that accurate. In answer to your question about the displayed range, normally it's 41 or 42 but I've seen it be 40. No idea if this is accurate. For reference I believe the EPA rated range is 35.

 

The 2014's electric range was 37 miles on its spec sheet from GM. I don't believe that figure appears on the Monroney (edit: my mistake, it does appear there); I saw it on the "2014 ELR Spec Sheet", which is a product of GM's press department.

The 2016's electric range was estimated at 39 miles, probably due to the increased battery size (17.1 kWh vs. 16.5 kWh in the 2014). That electric range is probably *without* the Sport Package, with its more sensitive throttle mapping and stickier summer-only tires.

I usually get a range of 44-48 miles on the guess-o-meter, which usually gets me 42-46 real miles driving like a grandpa.

--Chris

 

For what it's worth, I don't think you're seeing a loss of capacity. It's far too soon with only 6,000 miles, and not a single Volt has been shown to have its battery capacity reduced to the point where it affects the range. (Yes, you're talking about an ELR, which dips deeper into the battery's capacity, but the drivetrains and batteries are otherwise nearly identical.)

We don't know enough about your situation to be able to tell you why you're only seeing 40. How you drive, what your climate control settings are, where you drive, what traffic is like, etc. All of these things will affect your real-world range. Without knowing anything about these, we can't say whether 40 is reasonable or not.

--Chris

 

Summer heat? Heavy a/c use?

 

The last two weeks @ >100F I was getting 38 to 39 actual (not guess-o-meter). This week @ 20F less, I'm getting 42 to 44. The way I drive, ~38 is 'normal'. We don't really have winter here in North TX. I have seen 46 on the GOM, but, I never got that in actual driving.

A/C set to auto-74F and comfort year round.

 

Try using ECO on the A/C and check your tire pressure. It isn't unheard of to lose about 0.5 psi a month. Many over-inflate past mfg recommended to increase EV miles.

 

How many kW are you drawing from the wall versus before?

Remember range estimates are pretty much meaningless

 

The V-estimate doesn't mean much. Just drive it.

If you start to see you don't get as much out of a full charge under similar conditions, that may be something to take a closer look at.

 

Key words: "my Wife's ELR" "summer", "warm"

Point to a woman willing to sweat her butt off to maximize range and I will show you an ELR getting 45 miles of range in summer. In the real world people who like comfortable temperatures only get maximum range in spring and fall.

Keith

 

No problem here getting 46 miles consistently in 90 degree + heat over the last three weeks. I'd check the tire pressure, and maybe slow down a little bit. lol

 

There are a few things that go into the range estimate for your car. Yes this car has the same battery capacity as the original volt. It is however more aerodynamic and should get slightly better range. The calculation for most distance on full charge is calculated by total stored energy and divided by recent fuel economy (equivalent).
So the big reason people see fluctuations here is because fuel economy estimate changes constantly. On a side these particular batteries prefer to be around 70 degrees F. So if the outside temperature is drastically above for below this, not only does the car need to climate control cabin it also needs to climate control the batteries eating into your charge. As already stated your tire pressure can have a big impact here. And the other large contributer is your driving style. Fortunately the ELR itself encourages efficient driving. If you find that recent drivers are doing hard accelerations and hard breaking, this will change the estimate and lower the total miles on a single charge. personally when it's around 70 out I can get the estimate around 52 miles on a full charge on my ELR. Tons of factors contribute to this estimate though.
- Outside Temperature
- Tire Pressure
- luggage weight
- driving style
- inclement weather
- average speed (this car is happiest around 45-55mph)
etct etc...

Like another reviewer said, if you find that in your daily drive all things constant - if you find you are getting less and less out of a single charge then you might want to do some digging.

 

I've been getting 47-48 miles for the last 3 months. I use A/C on the lowest fan speed possible with the climate setting on comfort. 85% of my drive is on the freeway going 65-70 mph. Tire pressure at 34-35 psi

 

My wife's ELR with just 6,000 miles on the clock (2014 we picked up a year ago after 16 months on the dealership lot brand new), show a full charge range of 40 miles

Ignore the GOM (guess-o-meter). What matters is the actual EV mileage you get, not what the car estimates you're going to get.

You should be thrilled to get 40 EV miles on a 2014 ELR since it's actually rated at 35 miles.

 

You should be thrilled to get 40 EV miles on a 2014 ELR since it's actually rated at 35 miles.

37 for the 2014, upped to 39 for the 2016. You've been out of the loop too long, Blast! Come back!

--Chris

 

Crap! I confused it with my 2012 Volt. You're right - 37 for 2014 and 39 for 2016.

 

I can go 40 EV miles pretty much no matter where I am going and what I am doing. Only exception is winter, where the range can drop down to more like 35 miles.

On the highway going 70-75mph, 40 miles is about as much as I can realistically hope for. Speed kills EV range way more than the A/C.

Typical commute mixing highway and city, with normal A/C use = 43-46 miles of EV range.

Spring/Fall ideal conditions, same commute, no A/C = 45-48 miles of EV range

48 EV is about the best I've ever done. Poky but steady traffic and no A/C use while sitting in traffic is super efficient, and utterly miserable.

 

No regen after full charge and downhill drive, EV range jumped to 60 miles.

60 indicated miles last Friday - Southern California, driving solo, no HVAC, low 70s outside temperature, tire pressures at 42 psi. Photo shows 59 miles range.

Odd event, car showed 55 miles after a full charge, started downhill drive, noticed no regen at all (not in L, not with regen paddles), and range jumped to 60 miles.

Also noticed 0.2 miles driven with gasoline (not registered in Voltstats) which somewhat explains the 5 mile jump in EV range.

 

Odd event, car showed 55 miles after a full charge, started downhill drive, noticed no regen at all (not in L, not with regen paddles), and range jumped to 60 miles.

When the traction battery is fully charged, you're very close to the top of the State Of Charge (SOC) window. Once you reach the top of that window (with a small amount of downhill driving), the car will not regen any more in order to not go outside of that SOC window.

If the car didn't use the engine at all and showed 0.2 miles of gasoline driving, that may be an artifact of reaching the top of the SOC window and not being programmed to display that correctly.

--Chris