Just bought a 2015 I3

So I just bought a used 2015 with 15k miles. I charged it for the first time and at 100% charge it gave me a range of 53 miles on the dash. I was expecting around 80. What am I not understanding?

Thanks for any input.

Roger

The estimated range is similar to what you'd get from an ICE...check it after a run down the interstate at a steady speed without stops or major changes of speed, and it may say you'll go a long ways on the tank before empty. Won't be true if you were then to be in the city with lots of stop and go and idling. Conversely, if you'd just spent all that time in traffic, stop and go, and very inefficient operation, and it would say you'll not go all that far to empty. Then, go and change your operation to the opposite, and the estimated range would be all wrong.

The i3 is the same thing...the shown estimate is based on what was done in the last 18-miles or so and the current operation - it takes awhile for it to readjust if your driving conditions change.

Throw in the cold weather affect that is basic to batteries (they have less capacity when cold than when warmer), and your range to empty may be lower. Lithium ion batteries aren't as affected as say lead acid ones, but it's still there. Throw in that any heat for your comfort comes from the batteries versus a waste product from an ICE, and that becomes a factor when it's really cold out.

IOW, the guesstimate is just that. Once you learn your car, you'll be better at estimating what's real based on what you just did verses what you plan to do next. For example, I've had instances when I've driven over 10-miles and the estimated range to empty increased because my driving style and weather conditions differed considerably. I've also noted it drop after taking it out of a heated garage, parking it outside, and then leaving it overnight and noticed the estimated range dropped more than 10-miles when I got back into it.

Cold weather drops the max range. High speed travel drops your max range. Accelerating fast doesn't necessarily, but wasting energy by using the brakes versus regeneration slowing you does. A steady speed is best, and drag goes up as a cubed factor, so a little makes a big difference.

As jada said - that meter is often called the "guess-o-meter" because it can vary wildly.

It uses the recent driving history to estimate average "miles per kilowatt-hour", then uses that to estimate range. Perhaps the prior owner was *TERRIBLE*... You don't say where you are, cold weather can severely impact range. During Summer when it wasn't too hot that I had AC on high, I would see it say 80 miles every so often (my wife has a lead foot, so not TOO often,) but now I'm lucky if I see 50 when I get in in the morning.

For comparison, the car it replaced was a 2004 Prius. Toyota advertised it as getting 500 miles of range per tank. I only beat 400 miles in a tank twice, and by the time we got rid of the car, 300 was rare. (Between lower mileage than claimed and the tank holding less than it supposedly could.)

Put it in EcoPro and EcoPro+ modes and see how many miles the range shows compared to Comfort mode.