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Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

recurrentauto.com

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Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#231

Post by gwbas1c »

zackkitzmiller wrote: post #137
Reason077 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of people drive EVs in the arctic far north of Norway (Troms & Finnmark). Not quite as cold as Canada, maybe, but close. Of course EVs will have less range in cold conditions, but they also have some advantages in the cold: pre-heating from an app so the car is warm when you set out, for example. They may be more reliable than petrol and diesel vehicles in extreme cold conditions, and no need for engine block…

Nearly every modern gas vehicle has remote start, and has for years. This isn't an EV feature.

You can't do remote start in a garage. I remote start my Tesla in my garage all the time on super-cold days.

If I did that with a gas car, I'd get carbon monoxide poisoning.

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#232

Post by darknavi »

saltcured wrote: post #167

Forget driving range... how do EVs cope with long term parking, and how much does the winter affect that? I have become acutely aware that some car designers have not really considered "must work after parking" as a feature of a car. I had not thought much about it, but some ICE or HEV cars cannot maintain their basic (non-traction) battery unless driven several times per week at minimum. I had not thought about this…

Not sure about others but I parked our Tesla Model Y at the airport for ~18 days this spring and came back with only a few percent of the battery missing.

This might be abnormal for Tesla owners though because many leave the dash cam/Sentry mode on which drains something like 7% a day.

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#233

Post by Gordonjcp »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #2

Do EV's keep their batteries warm electrically? I know some RV LiPo batteries have integrated heaters to keep the batteries from going below freezing. I suspect that's an acceptable tradeoff in cold climates. Ideally you would keep the battery warm while charging since it's more or less free power when tethered, and thermally insulate the battery enclosure to try to retain that heat as long as possible.

As an aside, many former-Soviet-bloc vehicle manuals mention switching the headlights on for a couple of minutes before attempting to start the car in extremely cold weather.

The reason is that pulling ~10A or so causes enough resistive heating that the battery voltage will go *up* over that time, and allow the lead-acid battery chemistry to work better when you throw a couple of hundred amps of starter motor across it.

Edit: typo

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#234

Post by SoftTalker »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #195
nightski wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's called a block heater and they have been in use for many decades in cold climates.

Block heaters don't heat the cab, so it's still uncomfortable

Not directly, but the warm water in the block will mean that at least some heat is immediately available once you start the car. The main benefit of block heaters is not in heating the cab, but heating the engine itself so that it's actually possible to start it.

That aside, never understood the value of "pre heating" the car interior. If it's that cold, you're wearing a coat and gloves (or should be). Start the car, drive off, and you'll have heat within a few minutes.

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#235

Post by Johnny555 »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #153
zackkitzmiller wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nearly every modern gas vehicle has remote start, and has for years. This isn't an EV feature.

A big difference is that while an EV is sitting plugged in, it can heat itself from wall power, rather than burning gas to do it.

And another difference is that I can preheat my EV while it’s inside the garage. While I’d never warm my gas engine car inside the garage, not even with the garage door open.

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#236

Post by topspin »

AtlasBarfed wrote: post #26

Keep in mind ICEs lose range in winter as well. I used to hypermile on occasion and I could get 500 miles on a tank in summer but 350-400 in winter. The air is more dense, the tires are probably less efficient, the wind is stronger, and cold start efficiency is reduced.

> Keep in mind ICEs lose range in winter as well.

Yes, this talking point has been made enough times. What isn't said is the ICE range loss is trivially simple to overcome: buy fuel more frequently.

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#237

Post by za3faran »

speedgoose wrote: post #205
ok123456 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ICE will not be "going obsolete." There's no real replacement and there won't be just because of the underlying physics. There are too may drawbacks with EVs that they'll never be for everyone and everywhere. If your 150k mile car is a reliable brand (i.e., Honda or Toyota), you probably have another 150k miles on it.

They are already obsolete for most usages in Norway.

What percentage of cars on the road are EV in Norway?

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#239

Post by rvba »

rosnd wrote: post #179
wil421 wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lots of people park in garages where it’s not an option.

My gas powered Mercedes heats up just fine without starting the engine. This has been a common feature for like ... idk, 20 years? I think even the 80s W214 had this option, although that used a separate burner system instead of batteries.

You are getting downvoted, while you write the truth.

High end cars had that feature for years. Lower end ones used various block heaters / car heater boxes / webastos.

Re: Winter & Cold Weather EV Range Loss in 7,000 Cars

#240

Post by eMSF »

zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #195
nightski wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's called a block heater and they have been in use for many decades in cold climates.

Block heaters don't heat the cab, so it's still uncomfortable

Fuel-type block heaters heat the cabin as well (they turn on ventilation once the coolant has warmed enough). Electric heaters are meant to be used with a cabin heater that uses the same external power source.
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