Winter Driving/Charging Tips

[hikernbackpacker]

Over on the ram1500revolutionforum.com in one of the sub-forums, I made a post a bit ago about an article that I had found and thought I would also post it here for those that are not members over there.

I came across this Green Cars article titled Tips for Driving Your EV in the Winter and thought I would share it here. I hope it is alright to post this type of link, especially this early in the process of the release of the Rev. I understand how the knowledgebase may grow/change with time but thought this would help folks begin to think in terms of how to handle the EV over ICE vehicles.

 

[haleme]

This article is missing some key information on winter EV driving, specifically the charging side.

Avoid parking overnight without connecting the charger. Batteries get too cold.
Charging indoors as opposed to outside. Batteries get too cold.
Keeping the garage warm while the EV is inside and connected to the charger. Batteries get too cold.

 

[gofishn]

This article is missing some key information on winter EV driving, specifically the charging side.

Avoid parking overnight without connecting the charger. Batteries get too cold.
Charging indoors as opposed to outside. Batteries get too cold.
Keeping the garage warm while the EV is inside and connected to the charger. Batteries get too cold.

You're B.S.'ing about the batteries, right?
I leave everything in the Cold.
Charge up, every month or two, to keep from a total drain.
but, otherwise, they better not die or when they get tossed, so too will the poorly made tool it goes with.

 

[haleme]

You're B.S.'ing about the batteries, right?
I leave everything in the Cold.
Charge up, every month or two, to keep from a total drain.
but, otherwise, they better not die or when they get tossed, so too will the poorly made tool it goes with.

Nope. Our Mini Plug In Hybrid does not get full range in Winter. During January and February, it got below freezing a few times overnight. The next morning, instead of having 12 miles of EV range, it had 10 or 11. Another time, we left it out overnight with a full charge and the temps got below 32F. The next morning, the car switched to gas and refused to go into EV mode until the batteries warmed up. I thought the batteries were gone. Looked up in the manual that this is normal if the battery bank gets too cold.

Now that the weather has been warmer, we are sometimes getting 13-14 miles of EV range. I don't fully understand how the car calculates range, but the outside temps play a bigger role than the battery and car makers are telling us.

And, on our travel trailer with 2 100 AMP LifePO4 Renogy batteries powering the house, the BCM will not charge the batteries if the temp falls below 32F. Furthermore, they stop discharging around 0F.

Welcome to the future.

 

[RamDiver]

https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-410-charging-at-high-and-low-temperatures

 

[RamDiver]

The next morning, instead of having 12 miles of EV range, it had 10 or 11.

Now that the weather has been warmer, we are sometimes getting 13-14 miles of EV range.

Does your hybrid EV only have a range of 10-14 miles during the winter?

That sounds like something is wrong with either your battery or charging system. I know several users up here with full EVs that get more than 100 miles per charge.

I knew only 1 person with an EV hybrid, not sure if it performed any differently than the full EVs.
.

 

[haleme]

Does your hybrid EV only have a range of 10-14 miles during the winter?

That sounds like something is wrong with either your battery or charging system. I know several users up here with full EVs that get more than 100 miles per charge.

I knew only 1 person with an EV hybrid, not sure if it performed any differently than the full EVs.
.

No, the Mini Plugin Hybrid is rated for up to 13 miles of EV range, period. Nothing wrong with the batteries on the Mini. It also has a 1.5 I3 Turbo ICE on board. In February, we got 725 miles from 120kw and 6.5 gal of gas.

 

[haleme]

No, the Mini Plugin Hybrid is rated for up to 13 miles of EV range, period. Nothing wrong with the batteries on the Mini. It also has a 1.5 I3 Turbo ICE on board. In February, we got 725 miles from 120kw and 6.5 gal of gas.

My bad, it is rated for 12 miles of EV range, not 13, from the 7.6 kwh batteries. So we are overachieving in the warmer weather.

 

[hikernbackpacker]

Been away from the forums for a bit, great to see all the replies posted here with all the information about this new technology.

From the volume of various articles I have been reading, apparently there is an ideal range of temps that the batteries charge best at. One article discussed how for the quickest charge time you input your route into the onboard navigation system, selecting the charging station to use so that the batteries can begin in advance to condition themselves so they are in that ideal temp range by the time you reach the charging station. This strategy is to help reduce the amount of time connected to the charging station and thus reduce the out of pocket cost of the charge-up at the station since it doesn't have to spend time connected to the charger conditioning the batteries.

In winter the suggestion of keeping the fully electric EV indoors in a garage, or even better a heated garage, I believe is an effort to help preserve the charge remaining in the batteries as they are not expending energy keeping themselves at the min temp they need to operate. The same thought applies to the heat of summer by trying to park the fully electric EV in the shade so the batteries don't expend more energy than necessary to keep themselves cool, as a way to preserve their charge as much as possible so you have as much range as possible.

While it does seem possible to treat a fully electric EV similar to an ICE counterpart, from what I have learned so far doing so would seem to reduce the range that I could expect a charge to take me. It seems that an EV will need some thoughtful care and changes in thinking and behavior to get the most range out of a charge.

I myself am not saying one way is better than the other when it comes to ICE or EV. I am just sharing information that I learn as I attempt to educate myself on this new technology so that I can make the best decision possible for myself on the next vehicle purchase.

I appreciate all the informative replies that everyone is making in this thread and hope to learn more if additional posts are made.

 

[haleme]

Little more evidence of how much the temps influence range on EV batteries.

The below is from a few weeks ago when we had a cold front come through. Only got 11 miles on a full charge.


Now that the weather is warmer, we are estimated at 15 miles on a full charge.

 

[BossHogg]

Battery chemistry is the Achilles' heel of EVs, now and way back in the early 1900s. Back in the early 2000s, I worked on a team in GM Powertrain on EV solutions. The program was eventually shelved because of battery chemistry.

Every few months I catch a headline that reads something like "New battery discovery will solve the EV problem" but that is the last I ever hear. EV range and performance for the masses isn't there until they come up with the chemistry.

They do find solutions that allow fast charging, and cold weather performance, and hot weather performance, longevity, but never together, and that is what they need to find. One day they will but it isn't today or tomorrow. There isn't yet a solution on the horizon.

 

[haleme]

Battery chemistry is the Achilles' heel of EVs, now and way back in the early 1900s. Back in the early 2000s, I worked on a team in GM Powertrain on EV solutions. The program was eventually shelved because of battery chemistry.

Every few months I catch a headline that reads something like "New battery discovery will solve the EV problem" but that is the last I ever hear. EV range and performance for the masses isn't there until they come up with the chemistry.

They do find solutions that allow fast charging, and cold weather performance, and hot weather performance, longevity, but never together, and that is what they need to find. One day they will but it isn't today or tomorrow. There isn't yet a solution on the horizon.

^^^ THIS ^^^

We knew this full well going into the EV game. Which is why our EV also has an ICE to power it along.

 

[GTyankee]

The whole EV thing is for the granny that goes from the home to church & the grocery store & never goes to see family in the next town, except when they have Electric Public Transportation.

She has to have her own Home Charging unit, because her town only has 10 Charging units & the town is just off the Freeway, so with 30,000 residents waiting in line to Hook up, the travelers on the highway are also in line & impatient enough with the townies to pull out weapons.

EV owners have to stop to charge up every 300 miles, so to travel 1,000 miles ....
that is 2 1/2 charge time & 10 hours of drive time
that does not include the amount of time that they are waiting in line to get plugged into a charger

EV owners are going to be like puppets on a string

Then every now and then, there will be hurricane .....
Did you see the reports about all of the EVs out of juice on the shoulders of the roads. That is with only something like 6 % of Florida's population having EVs

OH JOY !!