What Does Range Mean On A Car? - Vehicle Freak

• Vehicle Freak

Updated on March 9, 2022

A car’s range can be calculated by the approximate distance a car can travel with residual fuel in the fuel tank. Most cars have a dashboard meter that calculates this range or the range may be documented and supplied when a car is purchased. When choosing a car, whether it’s an electric vehicle or gasoline, it’s important to know the fuel range.

It’s important to know a car’s distance capabilities. Prior to purchasing a car, it’s important to do all necessary research, including verifying the car’s mileage before any purchase transaction takes place.

Determining Fuel Usage

A car has the ability to determine its range based on a few essential elements. These essential factors are fuel level, uphill, breaks, throttle, downhill, and cruise control. The fuel level is determined by the fuel gauge on the dashboard, which verifies the amount of gas in the fuel tank.

A few components affect the fuel levels and this includes but not limited to car acceleration (speed), when/how the brakes are being applied and even the temperature of the engine. A great example of how these are applied is uphill, downhill, and level plains.

Uphill, the car will have to exert more fuel power at a slower speed, and the brake application here will be harder on the car. Depending on the hill’s incline, this will require more power from the car when stopping and starting or continuous uphill power. Downhill will require less fuel power and more brake application or resistance.

Level plains like straight paths on a freeway, highway, or public streets will need less fuel or brake application since there’ll be less interference with hills and slopes. On a highway or freeway, cruise control can be applied. This will increase the driving range as long as there are no stops.

How It’s Used

The fuel range can be determined by car type and size. This will be personalized for each model. For example, a sedan and an SUV have completely different fuel ranges though they have a similar car shape and size. The fuel range essentially determines the fuel mileage limits per tank. It’ll determine how many miles a car can travel before it runs out of fuel.

Each car has its own predetermined miles per gallon (MPG) listed on the car’s manual. MPG on each car is heavily reliant on the fuel range and vice versa. For example, if a car is at 310 fuel range then the estimated miles left before the fuel tank is empty is 310 miles. The majority of cars made in the year 2000 or newer have a fuel gauge alarm that notifies the driver if the tank is getting low.

This fuel gauge alarm goes off about 30 miles before the tank is empty or 30 on the fuel range

Ways to Increase the Range

There are few simple ways to increase the car’s driving range like driving smoothly, using cruise control, or monitoring the engine temperature. Driving smoothly or driving at a consistent speed without exerting force on the brakes or revving the engine too much, will increase the driving range.

The usage of the temperature controls in the car like the A/C and heat will affect the driving range because it’s also affecting the engine temperature. As we have discussed before, the engine temperature can decrease the driving range if it’s too high. If A/C is turned on too high during the summer, the temperature of the engine will rapidly increase.

This is similar to heater usage as well. If the range is decreasing rapidly or more often than usual, try turning down the A/C or heater in the car. If needed, rolling down the windows in the summer can assist with cooling down the car before the A/C is used, this will allow the A/C to be used at a lower rate.

Regular car maintenance will increase the range over time. Flat tires will make the engine work harder (this goes for both gasoline and electric vehicles). Topping off the air in the tires every couple thousand miles will increase the range as well as the driving quality (tire pressure checks go hand and hand with rotating the tires as needed as well).

Planning out a route with traveling plans will allow drivers to find local gas stations or electric charging stations. This lets the driver map how long their car will last before they reach the next fill-up station. This will also allow drivers to know the road terrain which will determine the drive quality.

Avoiding busy traffic or roads with several streets where there are a lot of stops will increase the fuel range. Highway miles are always the best type of mileage for a car since streets have a lot of stops that can wear on the car over time.

These useful tips will help prolong the fuel range and driving quality. This will extend the car’s use of gas or electric power and also decrease the wear and tear on the car. Keep an eye on it on your next car trip!

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