Oops..."DOES the computer..."

Just curious what factors, other than amount of fuel remaining, are taken into account when the computer (in this case, W211) calculates range. It's often skewed way low, so I'm gathering that's due to extrapolating from fuel consumption at that moment. Just wondering what other factors might come into play.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 160k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 179k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 145k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 79k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife