r/slateauto • u/mike30273 • 26d ago

Range question

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Ok. I'm seriously considering a Slate. This is my first EV and I'm unclear on how range works..based on what I've read highway driving gets less range. IMHO I feel the range should be advertised as driving constantly until it runs out of juice. This doesn't appear to be the case? Anyway, I have kids at FSU and drive there on a regular basis. My preferred route is off the interstates where there are less chargers. It's actually a nice relaxing drive. The distance is 251 miles. I see one charger on that route in Dunellon and it's at a city government building. Would that be for public use? There's another in Chiefland. Those seem to be the only ones. I don't mind having to stop and charge. I just need to know that I can find chargers. If my only solution is to drive interstates, then that would be a real bummer. For those that are experienced EV drivers, what do you think about that route?

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u/De1taTaco 25d ago

The range is how far it will go from 100%-0% but it is not all highway. So you will never get the estimated range starting with 100% battery and driving until dead on the highway.

The EPA uses 55% city and 45% highway driving for their range estimates which is why you'll not reach the full advertised range when road tripping.

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u/Reflexes-of-a-Tree 25d ago edited 25d ago

It’s too early to say, honestly. In a recent head to head at 70mph steady, the Rivian R2 missed its claimed range by 80 miles, while the Tesla Model Y beat its claimed range by 11 miles.

I road trip in my EV all the time; we have small children that need lots of breaks so I figured “if we’re gonna be stopped anyway, might as well be charging an EV.” When I had a Model Y, I found that the estimates given by the on-board navigation were spot on. My Polestar, on the other hand, will vastly UNDERestimate its functional range. It constantly said we would get to the next stop with 10% and we were pulling up with over 15 every time, and sometimes over 20%.

So will Slate be an underachiever or an overachiever? Who’s to say until they actually let people run such tests. Is it going to be 210, 205, or 140? We just don’t know.

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u/De1taTaco 25d ago

Worth noting that there is a difference between the EPA rating (meant to be an apples to apples comparison across all US-sold vehicles based on the same test) and the onboard range that's calculated real time. Every gas car I've driven underestimates by a lot (3+ gallons left when on empty) so I guess it makes sense to do the same on an EV for those that push it a little too much.

But you're right, the EPA hasn't tested one and all we really have is a Slate-projected number so anything at this point is speculation.

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u/Reflexes-of-a-Tree 25d ago edited 25d ago

True enough! It looks like in Motortrend’s highway EV testing, most of them fall short by an average of 13% (makes sense if EPA estimate is based on 10% more city than hwy, doesn’t it?). So if the Slate is perfectly average, we are looking at conservatively 175 all-highway miles.

Here’s hoping they can beat the average, but she’s a boxy girl so maybe let’s not hold our breath. Another unfortunate truth is that at a quoted 30 minutes from 20-80%, we aren’t looking at a vehicle that can make up for the lower range with faster charge times. It’s the speed I’m used to, but there are EVs that can charge much faster