[antnee]

As the others have said the range is based on recent usage. If it just showed 44 miles every time, its just a complicated way of showing battery percentage Then people would complain that it shows 44 but they drove for 25 miles and the petrol engine kicked in.
All EV and PHEVs have the same issue with cold temps. Heating is basically a free by-product of an ICE but it takes power in an EV - but braking/slowing down is wasted in an ICE but recuperated in an EV.

 

[kenster]

Here's something of my experience. My first drive, I got 40 miles mainly A roads and M Way. I almost did the trip to work and back, and if I hadn't made a short diversion to a shop, I probably would have, the ICE came on a few hundreds of yards from home. Since then it's dropped to around 30. Part of that is the falling temperatures and use of pre-heating, I got mine mid December when it was still quite mild, another part of it is my driving has got less conservative as I've got used to the car, especially the automatic transmission.

As an example of the power used by preheating. Yesterday, the car was iced up and I needed to go out unexpectedly. I turned the preheating on to warm it up and de-ice the windows. 5 or 10 minutes later, the windscreen was starting to thaw but it'd lost 7% of charge so I decided to scrape the ice off manually. The trip was quite short around town, and with stop/start traffic and the cold temperatures, I came home with 49%.The car is showing 31.1 miles for 100% charge.

With a theoretical range of 44 miles, losing 5 or 10 percent of charge due to preheating, and the same due to stop/start traffic and the impact it has becomes significantly range limiting.

I agree the way range is shown its a bit confusing. I don't know how the "average" range it appears to show is calculated, it could be overall average since the car was new, 100 mile rolling average, or based on the journey since the last charge as suggested, or one of a number of methods, and they all have their disadvantages, notably with different drivers with different styles, or when very different journeys are made. In those instances sometimes the range won't accurately refect the drive being made, causing the ICE to be used.

On the other hand, if it showed 44 miles range every time I got in the car, and then a mile down the road it dropped to 36, and after another mile it showed 30, (based on the reality of the journey and driving style) that wouldn't be very useful either.

Overall, the way it displays range gives you a good idea of real, achievable performance. If it shows 31 miles, and my journey is 25, then there's a good chance I'll make it on battery power as the range showed uses real consumption including heating, and driving style. If it shows 31 miles and my journey is 35 miles, I know there is a chance of doing it on battery if I drive carefully but I'll probably do some of it on petrol.

Personally I think the way it's done is useful but what I would like to see is instantaneous range or consumption for each driver or each style of journey with the average being calculated accordingly, ie my wife's average is kept separate from mine (the car does profile's, so why not?), and my M Way average is kept separate from my around town average. It would be way more useful to know I'll get 40 miles on the MWay, and 25 around town and my wife will get 38 on the M Way and 23 around town, rather than being shown an overall average for all journeys made by both of us of say 31 miles. If the satnav was used to plan the journey there's no reason why a prediction of charge consumption couldn't be made at the same time.

The current range display is only a guide, and as such is not totally reliable. There's been a few journeys when the satnav has shown 10 miles to go, the range has shown 8 but I've completed the journey on battery power.

Overall though, I'm disappointed with the real world battery range, after all, 31 miles range really isn't much, I think much of the disappointment expressed above would be avoided by a bigger battery range more suited to real world UK driving conditions.

 

[Chris Walters]

Here's something of my experience. My first drive, I got 40 miles mainly A roads and M Way. I almost did the trip to work and back, and if I hadn't made a short diversion to a shop, I probably would have, the ICE came on a few hundreds of yards from home. Since then it's dropped to around 30. Part of that is the falling temperatures and use of pre-heating, I got mine mid December when it was still quite mild, another part of it is my driving has got less conservative as I've got used to the car, especially the automatic transmission.

As an example of the power used by preheating. Yesterday, the car was iced up and I needed to go out unexpectedly. I turned the preheating on to warm it up and de-ice the windows. 5 or 10 minutes later, the windscreen was starting to thaw but it'd lost 7% of charge so I decided to scrape the ice off manually. The trip was quite short around town, and with stop/start traffic and the cold temperatures, I came home with 49%.The car is showing 31.1 miles for 100% charge.

With a theoretical range of 44 miles, losing 5 or 10 percent of charge due to preheating, and the same due to stop/start traffic and the impact it has becomes significantly range limiting.

I agree the way range is shown its a bit confusing. I don't know how the "average" range it appears to show is calculated, it could be overall average since the car was new, 100 mile rolling average, or based on the journey since the last charge as suggested, or one of a number of methods, and they all have their disadvantages, notably with different drivers with different styles, or when very different journeys are made. In those instances sometimes the range won't accurately refect the drive being made, causing the ICE to be used.

On the other hand, if it showed 44 miles range every time I got in the car, and then a mile down the road it dropped to 36, and after another mile it showed 30, (based on the reality of the journey and driving style) that wouldn't be very useful either.

Overall, the way it displays range gives you a good idea of real, achievable performance. If it shows 31 miles, and my journey is 25, then there's a good chance I'll make it on battery power as the range showed uses real consumption including heating, and driving style. If it shows 31 miles and my journey is 35 miles, I know there is a chance of doing it on battery if I drive carefully but I'll probably do some of it on petrol.

Personally I think the way it's done is useful but what I would like to see is instantaneous range or consumption for each driver or each style of journey with the average being calculated accordingly, ie my wife's average is kept separate from mine (the car does profile's, so why not?), and my M Way average is kept separate from my around town average. It would be way more useful to know I'll get 40 miles on the MWay, and 25 around town and my wife will get 38 on the M Way and 23 around town, rather than being shown an overall average for all journeys made by both of us of say 31 miles. If the satnav was used to plan the journey there's no reason why a prediction of charge consumption couldn't be made at the same time.

The current range display is only a guide, and as such is not totally reliable. There's been a few journeys when the satnav has shown 10 miles to go, the range has shown 8 but I've completed the journey on battery power.

Overall though, I'm disappointed with the real world battery range, after all, 31 miles range really isn't much, I think much of the disappointment expressed above would be avoided by a bigger battery range more suited to real world UK driving conditions.

I am quite a novice to all of this as I only got my vehicle last Thursday, what does ICE stand for please. Also what totally confuses me is if after a 100% charge it gives me a range of say 30 based on my current driving pattern and I then drive at a constant non stop 50 mph will it still only last for 30 miles?

 

[BigJim]

I am quite a novice to all of this as I only got my vehicle last Thursday, what does ICE stand for please. Also what totally confuses me is if after a 100% charge it gives me a range of say 30 based on my current driving pattern and I then drive at a constant non stop 50 mph will it still only last for 30 miles?

Internal Combustion Engine

 

[Ruston]

Also what totally confuses me is if after a 100% charge it gives me a range of say 30 based on my current driving pattern and I then drive at a constant non stop 50 mph will it still only last for 30 miles?

The battery will loose it’s charge at whatever rate you are consuming electricity and will keep going until it reaches 0%. I recon a constant 50mph is about optimum for consumption and you could be doing something like 5 miles per kWh (which will vary depending on lots of things). The battery has a usable capacity of 10.6kWh so you could get over 50 miles of electric range, as I have managed under those conditions (well almost, 48 miles in reality).

 

[kenster]

I am quite a novice to all of this as I only got my vehicle last Thursday, what does ICE stand for please. Also what totally confuses me is if after a 100% charge it gives me a range of say 30 based on my current driving pattern and I then drive at a constant non stop 50 mph will it still only last for 30 miles?

Internal Combustion Engine, ie, petrol as already said.

The range you're being shown is an estimate based on your past consumption. At any time, your actual consumption may be different from that average, and so the actual range you'll get will be different. As I said, there has been a few journeys where I've done more miles than the displayed range because my consumption on that journey was better than my average, so in your case, driving economically at say 50mph, you could also exceed the 30 mile range.

 

[kenster]

Also, you can, if you want, switch the display so it shows the present consumption and look at the consumption at different speeds or styles to see how they differ. You could also reset the Eco meter so you can see after every trip how economical your driving is.

 

[kenster]

As an example of how temperature affects things, earlier today when I posted, my range was 31 miles, I've just put it on charge to top up, and it's saying my range is 27.1 miles. The car hasn't moved all day, so my driving couldn't have affected the way the range is calculated, the only thing that's changed today is the temperature.

 

[Chris Walters]

As an example of how temperature affects things, earlier today when I posted, my range was 31 miles, I've just put it on charge to top up, and it's saying my range is 27.1 miles. The car hasn't moved all day, so my driving couldn't have affected the way the range is calculated, the only thing that's changed today is the temperature.

I am not convinced at all that what range you get is purely based on how you drove after the last charge, yesterday on a full charge I drove a slow non stop 50 miles with the heater on low then gave it a full charge over night, this morning it has still only given me a 27 mile range, it is freezing outside so I am sure it is all about the weather only and nothing else. Very disappointing since I only bought this car to drive on electric most of the time.

 

[veeeight]

I am not convinced at all that what range you get is purely based on how you drove after the last charge, yesterday on a full charge I drove a slow non stop 50 miles with the heater on low then gave it a full charge over night, this morning it has still only given me a 27 mile range, it is freezing outside so I am sure it is all about the weather only and nothing else. Very disappointing since I only bought this car to drive on electric most of the time.

You are correct, it isn’t purely based on how you drove after the last charge.

The information you seek is contained within this thread, suggest you read every post from start to finish and you’ll find the answers. A major influencing factor on battery performance is ambient temperature. You can also go onto countless EV forums as see how owners of all brands are similarly pessimistic about their EV range in cold temperatures.

If you are disappointed - hand the car back before it eats away at you, life is too short to be driving something you are disappointed with.

 

[antnee]

I am not convinced at all that what range you get is purely based on how you drove after the last charge, yesterday on a full charge I drove a slow non stop 50 miles with the heater on low then gave it a full charge over night, this morning it has still only given me a 27 mile range, it is freezing outside so I am sure it is all about the weather only and nothing else. Very disappointing since I only bought this car to drive on electric most of the time.

The figure is only an indication, not a limitation. If you want to monitor efficiency, put the instant reading onto the drivers screen.

 

[Chris Walters]

You are correct, it isn’t purely based on how you drove after the last charge.

The information you seek is contained within this thread, suggest you read every post from start to finish and you’ll find the answers. A major influencing factor on battery performance is ambient temperature. You can also go onto countless EV forums as see how owners of all brands are similarly pessimistic about their EV range in cold temperatures.

If you are disappointed - hand the car back before it eats away at you, life is too short to be driving something you are disappointed with.

Thanks for the feedback, I love the car so will just use on comfort mode which should return an average of 70mph which is good enough. Not sure that charging all night long for a measly 27 miles is particularly economical though.

 

[kenster]

As an example of how temperature affects things, earlier today when I posted, my range was 31 miles, I've just put it on charge to top up, and it's saying my range is 27.1 miles. The car hasn't moved all day, so my driving couldn't have affected the way the range is calculated, the only thing that's changed today is the temperature.

I am not convinced at all that what range you get is purely based on how you drove after the last charge

I didn't say that. What I said is :

Since then it's dropped (my range) to around 30. Part of that is the falling temperatures and use of pre-heating, I got mine mid December when it was still quite mild, another part of it is my driving has got less conservative as I've got used to the car, especially the automatic transmission.

No where have I mentioned how the car is driven since the last charge. What I discuss is the one factor that impacts fuel consumption in all cars however they are fueled - driving style, and another factor that affects EVs more than ICEs - temperature.

yesterday on a full charge I drove a slow non stop 50 miles with the heater on low then gave it a full charge over night, this morning it has still only given me a 27 mile range, it is freezing outside so I am sure it is all about the weather

Driving slow is not necessarily the same as driving economically. Hard acceleration, tearing away from the lights, late braking all guzzle fuel in all cars regardless of fuel. You might not achieve a high speed but you can still achieve a high fuel consumption.

Here's a suggestion that will benefit everybody on the forum - get in the car, fully charged or not, it doesn't matter. Switch on the heating so you'll be comfortable, and hit the Me button on the overhead panel. When Mercedes customer service answers, ask for a detailed answer about how range is calculated. Tell them we're all interested. Wait a few days for a reply from the technical department, and then post the answer here. Then we can discuss it.

As I said, and antnee also said, change the display so you can see your consumption, and as veeeight said, visit other EV fora and look at the comments made by EV drivers of all marques.

If you or anyone else wants to do an experiment and had the facilities, put þ car in a heated garage. Charge the car and see if the predicted range increases. Of course, if it does, as soon as you go out in the cold, the prediction will fall.

 

[Ruston]

Thanks for the feedback, I love the car so will just use on comfort mode which should return an average of 70mph which is good enough. Not sure that charging all night long for a measly 27 miles is particularly economical though.

I’m sorry but your logic is flawed. You won’t get 70mpg in comfort mode without charging the battery (I assume you mean mpg rather than mph?).
If you get 27 miles EV range from a full charge, that still likely works out cheaper than using the petrol engine assuming average electricity and petrol prices. If you pay around 15p per kWh charging at home on a typical standard tariff, then the charge will cost around £1.60. Petrol is currently around £1.15 a litre or £5.20 a gallon so £1.60 would buy about 0.3 of a gallon of petrol. To cover 27 miles with 0.3 gallons of petrol the car would need to do 90mpg, which it won’t.

 

[Chris Walters]

I’m sorry but your logic is flawed. You won’t get 70mpg in comfort mode without charging the battery (I assume you mean mpg rather than mph?).
If you get 27 miles EV range from a full charge, that still likely works out cheaper than using the petrol engine assuming average electricity and petrol prices. If you pay around 15p per kWh charging at home on a typical standard tariff, then the charge will cost around £1.60. Petrol is currently around £1.15 a litre or £5.20 a gallon so £1.60 would buy about 0.3 of a gallon of petrol. To cover 27 miles with 0.3 gallons of petrol the car would need to do 90mpg, which it won’t.

Thank you for the reply, yes I did mean 70mpg and I will continue to charge the batteries. My estimated range has now gone up from 27 from 08:00 this morning to 30 at 14:00 and I never went anywhere purely because of the increase in temperature.

 

[Ruston]

This is what the manual says about the range calculation and actual range achieved:

 

[Chris Walters]

This is what the manual says about the range calculation and actual range achieved: View attachment 7307

That's helpful thanks for that, I must admit I gave up on the manual and went back to the Bible instead since it was a lot shorter !!

 

[AdamStan]

I've just noticed after messing with the updated app (1.6.4), if you alter the heating zones and heated seats to either entire vehicle or driver only, it now updates the battery miles range depending on if its using more or less power at start up.

I assume it never did this before as I could never save any changes previously.

 

[Chris Walters]

This is what the manual says about the range calculation and actual range achieved: View attachment 7307

Sorry for picking on you here but you seem very knowledgeable on the A250E and having only had mine for a week now I am still a novice. Can you please briefly explain the comfort setting for me, I have just driven at a constant 50 mph for around 20 miles on the comfort mode and the entire journey seemed to be totally on electric with the range depleting accordingly, I thought this setting was a mixture of the ICE and Electric?

 

[Cranmasterflash]

Comfort essentially is the default mode and uses electric first then ice once depleted or you need a bit of a boost it kicks the ice in.

Sport is the opposite way round.

Electric mode EL uses batteries and u have more control over regen etc

Battery level maintains the current battery %level by using ice and I've seen it trickle charge on runs and breaking.

Eco is full eco.mode and assists you in getting the most economical drive.

Individual is however u want steering drive and especially set up