[wanesso]

A couple friends have suggested that I will not be able to take any "long trips" in the i8 because I'll run out of both battery and fuel.....anyone worried about this? Seems as long as there is a gas station, you'd be fine.

[Epirali]

Originally Posted by wanesso

A couple friends have suggested that I will not be able to take any "long trips" in the i8 because I'll run out of both battery and fuel.....anyone worried about this? Seems as long as there is a gas station, you'd be fine.

Yeah that is confusing. And using sport mode you would be charging the battery too, so not sure what they are talking about.

Now as to how much luggage you can take...

[Aye-eight]

Originally Posted by wanesso

A couple friends have suggested that I will not be able to take any "long trips" in the i8 because I'll run out of both battery and fuel.....anyone worried about this? Seems as long as there is a gas station, you'd be fine.

They were joking, I assume. Why should refueling the i8 be any different than on "normal" cars? Even when driving sporty all day, you should get easily get 200 miles out of a tank of gas. You're very unlikely to run out of gas stations.

[MKSixer]

In purely interstate driving I've gotten nearly 400 miles on a tank of fuel. This is really not an issue.

The lowest I've gotten while on a spirited drive with an MP4-12-C, P1, F360, and F430 has been 23mpg. On the same drive in my E63 M6 I achieved 8mpg!!

Each car performed to it's expected level!!

[Louv]

I recently drove mine for a 750 mile weekend. 450 miles the first day, 300 on return. Over the whole trip I averaged 34 mpg.

I did not recharge the car at all (except via some Sport mode, or downhill driving), and mostly drove in Comfort mode (with at least a 100 miles of driving is Sport mode).

Yes, sport mode generates electricity, but at the cost of drastically reduced gasoline MPG. (16 vs 35mpg) There is no magic; you aren't getting anything for free.

Overall, it was very comfortable, and a great road trip car.

Need luggage space? Get the custom bags from Hills Alive (in England) for the trunk. And then put some bags in the back "seats". No problem. Plenty of storage for two people.

[Epirali]

Originally Posted by Louv

Yes, sport mode generates electricity, but at the cost of drastically reduced gasoline MPG. (16 vs 35mpg) There is no magic; you aren't getting anything for free.

True but you do get the electric torque ooomph back when you charge the battery back up...

[YWGT3]

Originally Posted by Louv

I recently drove mine for a 750 mile weekend. 450 miles the first day, 300 on return. Over the whole trip I averaged 34 mpg.

I did not recharge the car at all (except via some Sport mode, or downhill driving), and mostly drove in Comfort mode (with at least a 100 miles of driving is Sport mode).

Yes, sport mode generates electricity, but at the cost of drastically reduced gasoline MPG. (16 vs 35mpg) There is no magic; you aren't getting anything for free.

Overall, it was very comfortable, and a great road trip car.

Need luggage space? Get the custom bags from Hills Alive (in England) for the trunk. And then put some bags in the back "seats". No problem. Plenty of storage for two people.

I don't know about you Louv, but at 16 mpg in Sports Mode is some rather aggressive driving. I'm averaging 26-30mpg while driving in Sports Mode all the time - and I thought I was driving aggressively. Remind me not to race you at Sears Point!

[Louv]

Originally Posted by yw

I don't know about you Louv, but at 16 mpg in Sports Mode is some rather aggressive driving. I'm averaging 26-30mpg while driving in Sports Mode all the time - and I thought I was driving aggressively. Remind me not to race you at Sears Point!

It was a one-time experiment, that I'd love to see other people do.

1. With the battery below 75% (so sports mode will attempt to recharge it),
2. drive on a straight, level stretch of road in comfort mode.
3. Observe your instantaneous MPG.
4. Without changing speed, or throttle position, switch to Sport mode.
5. Observe your instantaneous MPG.

I tried it a few times one day, and the difference seemed to be 33 mpg vs. 16 mpg. (or something like that)

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by yw

I don't know about you Louv, but at 16 mpg in Sports Mode is some rather aggressive driving. I'm averaging 26-30mpg while driving in Sports Mode all the time - and I thought I was driving aggressively. Remind me not to race you at Sears Point!

This is where I tend to land, as well. I will slip to about 15-17 if I'm giving it some stick but that is as low as it gets!

[YWGT3]

Originally Posted by MKSixer

This is where I tend to land, as well. I will slip to about 15-17 if I'm giving it some stick but that is as low as it gets!

Another Mad Dog Driver besides Louv!

[jcpca356]

35mpg on a car like i8 is nothing short of STELLAR

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by jcpca356

35mpg on a car like i8 is nothing short of STELLAR

I have driven the M6 down to 6mpg on the track...it won't read any lower than that.

The i8 is as close to driving for free, as possible. Well, with the exception of the price of entry.

[MKSixer]

Originally Posted by yw

Another Mad Dog Driver besides Louv!

I resemble that remark!

[hytek]

Originally Posted by Louv

It was a one-time experiment, that I'd love to see other people do.

1. With the battery below 75% (so sports mode will attempt to recharge it),
2. drive on a straight, level stretch of road in comfort mode.
3. Observe your instantaneous MPG.
4. Without changing speed, or throttle position, switch to Sport mode.
5. Observe your instantaneous MPG.

I tried it a few times one day, and the difference seemed to be 33 mpg vs. 16 mpg. (or something like that)

If you want to get technical, I don't think it's actually 16mpg, because you're also charging the battery at this time. On one hand, it's converted energy to use later, and on the other, you're in this mode only until the battery is fully charged, which happens quite fast.
Basically, I don't think there will be much difference between sport & comfort mode on long trips. But it will still be interesting to measure this.

[Louv]

Originally Posted by hytek

If you want to get technical, I don't think it's actually 16mpg, because you're also charging the battery at this time. On one hand, it's converted energy to use later, and on the other, you're in this mode only until the battery is fully charged, which happens quite fast.
Basically, I don't think there will be much difference between sport & comfort mode on long trips. But it will still be interesting to measure this.

Yes, of course there is some "mileage" being generated into the battery.

However, there is always a loss of energy, whenever you convert one source to another.

Sport Mode: gas is burned, turns the engine, turns the generator (attached to the engine). The generator is probably only about 90% (+/- 5%) efficient in generating electricity. Then the electricity is stored in the battery. There is loss there as well. Then later, the electricity is taken from the battery, and it turns the front electric motor, and there is loss there as well.

There is also some loss in the copper cabling (very small), and loss in mechanical frictions as well.

Essentially, what I'm grossly over-simplifying is that any time you move energy around, there is loss. So, sport mode's mpg losses translated into generation of battery power will never be perfectly translated into an equal number of electric-powered miles.

Anyone care to go out and do the scientific comparison? Drive 100 miles in Sport mode, at 65 mph. Then drive 65 miles in Comfort mode. Document fuel and kWh consumed for each. (repeat 20 times for moderately good statistical data :-) )