Got my 2024 GT and the estimated range says 280 miles. But I’ve never seen it go past 230. I know the cold affects it, but even on days above 50°F, it still won’t hit 280. Has anyone actually gotten close to that number?
I’m in Ohio, and my Premium AWD gets about 220 miles this time of year. It’s just the cold. 230 miles isn’t bad for winter.
Try using the Departure Time feature to warm the battery before you leave. It helps. Also, if you’re going on a long drive, charging to 100% instead of 90% can give you that extra bit of range.
@Cassian
Is using Departure Time better than just turning on the climate control 10–15 minutes before I leave while the car is plugged in? Like remote start?
Brooklyn said:
@Cassian
Is using Departure Time better than just turning on the climate control 10–15 minutes before I leave while the car is plugged in? Like remote start?
Yeah, climate start mostly warms up the cabin, but Departure Time actually heats the battery to around 60°F.
@Cassian
Got it! Thanks!
I’m in PA too. Bought my Premium in July, and now that it’s cold, I’m seeing about a 30% drop in range. Should get better once it starts warming up.
If you had a ‘25 model, it would do better in the cold because of the heat pump. The grid heater in older models eats up a lot of power.
And if you drive over 65–70 mph, you’ll never see the rated range. The Mach E has serious drag issues because the back of the car wasn’t designed well aerodynamically.
I’m in South Florida, and I get 280–290 miles at 100% charge all year. Cold weather and driving habits make a huge difference. My wife drives it most of the time with our toddler, so the GT isn’t really being pushed like a GT. If she didn’t love the seats, we probably would’ve gone for a Premium with the extended range battery.
Think about it—unless you tell the car where you’re going, it can’t give you an accurate range estimate. When you set a destination, the estimate gets way better.
Tesla figured this out. People complained about the range being wrong, so now they just show owners what they want to see, even if it’s not accurate. Smart move to stop all the complaints.
In the summer at 80°F, driving at 25 mph around town, you could get over 400 miles. But in winter at 20°F, if you don’t precondition the battery and drive 80 mph on the highway, you’ll barely get 180 miles.
@Ashley
Tesla’s GPS-based range estimate is way better. It factors in elevation, real-time traffic speed, and even wind conditions.
Meanwhile, the Mach E almost always overestimates range, so they had to tweak it after one of the updates gave Android Auto battery info.
@Ashley
I get that, but they should do a better job with estimated range. Saying 280 miles when nobody ever sees that is misleading. If they told me 250 and I got 230, that’d be fine. But a 50-mile difference is huge. Still love the car though.
@Brooklyn
This isn’t just an EV thing. Gas and diesel cars also rarely hit the manufacturer’s MPG estimates because those numbers are tested under ideal conditions.
@Brooklyn
You should slow down and also realize that the older models struggle more in the cold.
If you check the energy usage screen and climate control is using over 7%, that’s the grid heater draining power. A good heat pump would keep usage around that level even in freezing temps, as long as you set the heat to around 70°F.
Think about it like this—those little electric heaters for your house use about 1800W. If your car’s heater is using that much power and you’re getting 3 miles per kWh, that means heating alone is eating up 12% of your energy per hour. At 2.5 miles per kWh, it’s even worse. Then add the AC running for humidity control, and climate control alone could be using 14–19% of your battery.
That’s why Ford added the heat pump in 2025 models. It saves a lot of energy. The Mach E also has bad aerodynamics, so it’ll always have worse highway efficiency compared to something like a Model Y.
@Brooklyn
The EPA range is just a benchmark so you can compare different cars under the same test. In real-world driving, it depends on how you use the car.
If I’m mostly driving in the city and avoiding highways, I get about 250 miles when charging to 90%, which lines up with 280 miles at full charge.