Do batterys like cold or heat?

No, mine is based on 60+ years of living in a cold climate. You don't see tow trucks starting cars in the driveway in summer, you seldom see jumper cables used in the summer and if you do they're usually unsuccessful as they are working on a DEAD battery. Note, no bold letters.
Also, it seems that the difference in cold and warm climate inhabitants observations shows ignorance on both sides. How about a little science.

 

Believe what you want, but that does not make the Earth flat, nor does it remove the very simple premise that the problem in cold weather is the thickening of the oil.
Recall that during the winters in WW II, the Russians would put small quantities of gasoline in their tanks in order to thin the diesel so that they could get them started.

You do not have to lecture me on cold weather effects. I lived at 8500 feet in the Rockies for 10 years. I remember mornings of 30 below, and having to putting a pan of charcoal embers under my 1940 flatbed in order to warm the oil and get it started.

So you can bullshit these California yuppies, but I been there and I know the effects of cold weather on engine oil and I know NiMH batteries.

 

Wow Teakwood, crank down the vitriol just a tad. This thread is a battery discussion, not a fight to the death.

Cold weather plays havoc with many systems not designed specifically for extreme cold. As you have pointed out, cold engines have a lot of friction, so they are harder to crank. Likewise cold starting batteries have slower chemical reactions, so there is less power available for cranking. It's not an either/or thing.

While it is true that batteries can be designed for extremely harsh conditions, like those found in space, there is always a cost associated with accommodating extremes. The Prius is a consumer product. As such, design trade offs were made with a nod toward normal operating conditions. The Prius hybrid battery does better at normal room temperatures, so the hybrid system is less able to help in extremely cold or hot conditions.

That said, ICE heat is the biggest loss in cold weather. While there are other losses, including increased rolling resistance, higher air density, and electrical losses, the single biggest loss in the winter is heating the cabin, engine, and catalytic converter.

Tom

 

All I can say is that I know what I observe with my car and monitoring temps with a ScanGauge. This does not agree with your explanation of only the engine oil. Also, the engine oil viscosity is lower in hot weather.

EV cars are known to have reduced mileage range in cold and hot weather. Isn't the battery technology in the EV cars very similar to the battery technology in the Prius?

 

Not necessarily. The new EVs use Li-Ion or Li-polymer batteries. The Prius uses NiMH. Your standard gas-powered vehicle uses Lead-acid batteries.
They each have their own character power curves.

You are also missing the point here: the ICE in the Prius has a firsst priority that is geared toward reduced emission. When the Prius starts up in warm weather, it spends less energy warming up the cat-converter and the internal engine fluids. In cold weather (and especially on short trips), the ICE must keep these things warm in order to meet emission control priorities.

 

Thanks. I understand the differences in the Lithium and NiMH battery characteristics.

I fully understand your point about the Prius' first priority is to reduce emissions. I just choose to disagree that all of the loss of mpg is solely due to this point.

 

The Prius is designed to use the same air as you do for the batteries (Traction Battery) as there is a vent by the rear passenger seat that takes cabin air, heated during the winter, cooled by AC during the summer, and circulates it past the battery. It is a comfy as you keep your car.

 

Correct - but - the Prius air cools their battery in the Prius - highly inefficient when it comes to temperature management. I haven't seen their battery strategy - but simple common sense says if the battery gets warm (under a load during driving conditions), it will shut down until it is in what they deem a safe (meaning a mode that will allow the battery to make it 10 yrs).

 

The Tesla Roadster gets 225 Miles per charge (very impressive) BUT it is liquid cooled and gives little change from $20000 with a battery life of 5 years

 

That 225 mile range is debatable.

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