serious answers to a snowy question.

My sincere apologies to all those that have lost loved ones and are suffering in these winter storms. But I must seriously enquire to anybody in these regions, question:- How have your electric vehicles been standing up to this weather?

They do just great if kept in a heated garage!a reply to: crayzeed

a reply to: crayzeed

You might be interested in this video.



He has other videos of cold testing and performance in cold weather on his channel.

It doesn't seem to be as much a problem with the vehicles but some chargers just don't work in the cold.

a reply to: crayzeed
I'd like to know how the cold impacted the heating/defrost system.

Was there plentiful heat?
Did it affect the charge?

originally posted by: beyondknowledge
a reply to: crayzeed

It doesn't seem to be as much a problem with the vehicles but some chargers just don't work in the cold.

This seems like such an easy fix - why it wasn't implemented from the start I don't know.
How hard would it be to add a thermostatically-controlled heater/warmer near the affected components?

originally posted by: MuddyPaws14
They do just great if kept in a heated garage!a reply to: crayzeed

That's funny. I wonder how much more electricity is being used for the benefit of using an EV and how much more often an EV needs to be charged in such cold environments. So much for saving the planet.

a reply to: underpass61

I have seen that done in cave telephone systems but without the thermostat. They just kept a 100 W incondessant bulb on in the box with the phone.

Someone just fell flat on the engineering. They need to be designed to be waterproof, not rain proof, and heated/cooled as needed. Probably would just need a few hundred watts of heat per day in the coldest weather.

It is like the LED traffic light bulbs. They have killed a few hundred people by not melting the snow off by the heat of the bulbs.

Edit: I wonder why they don't put a roof over the chargers like they do gas pumps. It would help a lot in cold and hot weather.

a reply to: StoutBroux

I have heard the range drops to between 70 to 75% when using the heat and the cold battery.

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: crayzeed
Was there plentiful heat?
Did it affect the charge?

I understand the heat and defrost works better and faster but uses up some of the range to do it. You don't have to wait for the engine to worm up. You do have to wait for the battery to warm up before it can be charged though. This is ether by driving or the car can warm up the battery with the battery heating system.

If you take a long trip, you are supposed to quick charge it when you stop and not wait overnight before you charge it. It takes less time and energy that way.

a reply to: beyondknowledge

Well, not such a big deal on the car warming up quickly.
I have a 2020 GM right now that may not be instantaneous, but I have heat and defrost close to that.....and warm seats in a block or two. Heat shortly thereafter.

As for long trips....uuummmmmm....topping off the battery may not be possible at the road side motel.
And not cheap.

Somebody needs to invent a small gasoline lawn mower type engine that has a generator mounted inside the trunk 😎

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe
It seems to me that heat would be very battery intensive, and be a major power draw.

originally posted by: StoutBroux

originally posted by: MuddyPaws14
They do just great if kept in a heated garage!a reply to: crayzeed

That's funny. I wonder how much more electricity is being used for the benefit of using an EV and how much more often an EV needs to be charged in such cold environments. So much for saving the planet.

Consumer reports conducted an experiment on this a few years ago at temperatures of about 5 degrees, F. Here's what they discovered:

"It's important to note that EV batteries lose range not because of how the cold weather affects the physical battery but because of the added power demands that come from operating the car in cold weather.

"When it comes to range reductions, this is largely a factor of increased electrical loads on the battery," says Navigant's Abuelsamid. In a typical gas-powered car, the engine generates a lot of heat, which is then used to warm the cabin. An EV doesn't have an engine, and so must rely on other devices to produce that hot air—"and those are a direct drain on the battery," he says. The colder it is, the more energy is needed to keep the cabin at a comfortable temperature."

www.consumerreports.org...

The Tesla 3 that they used in their experiment is rated at 130 miles per gallon equivalent under normal conditions. The cold weather cut that approximately in half which would put its energy consumption at about 65 miles per gallon equivalent. That's still about twice as good as an equivalent sized internal combustion car (a BMW 3 series, for example).

a reply to: darkwingduck
Yeah, I would too.
Like the Chevette I had, briefly.
You could not run the heat, wipers, lights, radio and defroster at the same time.
Many 70s cars sucked.
Tooke them decades to really get it right.

Same with EV.
Let's come back in 25-40 years, when they figure it out.
And those EVs are efficient replacements for the the internal combustion engine cars we drive today.

How much more because it's cold, how much more to heat your garage. How much are you saving, and saving the world? This is green?a reply to: StoutBroux

originally posted by: [post=26825722]1947boomer
The Tesla 3 that they used in their experiment is rated at 130 miles per gallon equivalent under normal conditions. The cold weather cut that approximately in half which would put its energy consumption at about 65 miles per gallon equivalent. That's still about twice as good as an equivalent sized internal combustion car (a BMW 3 series, for example).

Apples to Apples, how many miles will that EV in cold weather go,

Vs a Fully gassed 11.2 gallons @ 58Mpg Prius that will go over 600 miles on a tank?
And Full on heat blasting like my wife has it I have to roll the window down.

a reply to: crayzeed

I have a 2011 hybrid Chevrolet electric Volt. It works great in the weather. No problems. Of course if someone needs to travel very far, the 2011 Volt is not a great solution on electricity, but it will automatically switch to gas when the electrical power runs out.

I only need to drive short distances, and I have solar, so I pretty much drive for free.

originally posted by: darkwingduck
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe
It seems to me that heat would be very battery intensive, and be a major power draw.

Of course it is. Guess how much it cost to replace tesla batteries.


www.way.com...

I recently drove a tesla and it was fast and fun to drive with that exceptional acceleration but imo they're junk and ugly.

a reply to: xuenchen

A dude did that with his Tesla. Congrats, dude, you just reinvented a hybrid (and a rather inefficient one at that).



Youtube Link

Cold weather doesn't seem to be the only problem affecting Tesla's.

It’s better to leave your electric car under a shade always. It is because hot temperatures might adversely impact the battery life of your electric car. Like what would happen to your phone battery if you left it out in the sun for too long, high temperatures can cause the lithium-ion batteries in EVs to lose charge.

[www.way.com...]