[sxp]

> What's most striking to me as someone who has heard over and over again about how air resistance is a X^2 property, is the extent to which short (and presumably slow) trips punch above their weight in terms of range consumed per mile. From what I can tell, the actual cost here is the fixed cost of booting up some systems and electronics, and the variable costs of running them over fewer miles can make the MPGe drop. Starting and continuing to run the AC adds up!

Could this be due to the battery not being at the ideal temperature on short trips? I always noticed that the efficiency of my car is lower for the first 10 miles when commuting to and from work. Since it happens in both directions, it can't be due to terrain or road type so I was guessing battery temperature.

[londons_explore]

I think there's a good chance the energy used while parked is greater than the dashboard suggests (measuring power remaining in a lithium battery is hard!). Then when you start driving, the estimate gets more accurate, and the range disappears over the next 15 minutes or so.

[davidwhodge]

This would seem totally reasonable to me. It'll take more time, but I can also dig in and see the extent of the battery heater use.

My guess is it's often cold enough for the battery to need to warm up to be efficient, but not cold enough to make it worth it to turn on the battery heater. (Your point still holds in that case)

A piece of data I happen to remember, far fewer than 10% of supercharges have the battery heater on for any period of time at all.