Featured Cold saps up to 40% of EV battery life, CAA test finds

Been there, done that, shared here Jan 4, 2010: 42.2 mpg @ 21f (-6c) | PriusChat

In fact, a number of Gen 1 cold weather experiences shared.

Bob Wilson

 

This is probably correct.
But then ICE cars lose 15% to 25% in the cold as well and no one advertises this. They all use the EPA test which is run at about 75F. They also run tests at 20F and 95F but who sees those numbers?

Mike

 

There is an error on the top entry.

"Chevrolet Silverado EV: 456 km of 724 range (-14%)"

The correct number is more like -37%. That's why EV does not work for us. Lose 40% of range, I can't make our regular trips without charging en route, which is a real problem due to availability of a charger and time it takes to charge it.

 

Numbers of chargers are increasing. It is now possible to do well planned trip out of the town on a longish range EV. But winter driving is totally different. I don't want rely on a single charge station en route. What if that charger is out due to snow pile or other reason. Plus even the fastest chargers are still not fast enough for me. I want to complete the trip as quick as possible without pit-in. Any gas hybrid with 400+ miles range can complete the trip without refueling. Can't do that with an EV even with an advertised 400+ miles range.

I put an advanced order with money down when Silverado EV was coming out. They originally had starting price at $40k. It never materialized. It is now starting $58,995 and goes up to $97,895. I would have bought one if $40k fullsize EV truck existed, even with less than 200k miles range. It will be driven as a second car for strictly for hauling around town only. And with GM Ultium, I could use it as V2H battery storage.

Then, I thought about buying $40k Equinox EV for that poupose. But, I missed the opportunity. Besides hauling with a compact SUV is not what I want. I can do that with our current Escape PHEV.

 

Well, I'm not sure why they don't advertise it, but I do see why it's not as important to most people. An ICEV has much more range. Losing 20% range on a car that can go 500 miles means it can now only go 400 miles. There are very few places in the USA with gasoline stations more than 400 miles apart.

That, and it's mainly the start up that hurts fuel mileage in an ICEV. If you're cruising along a highway the range loss is substantially lower. Unless you're trudging through deep slush. But then again, how would trudging through deep slush affect an EV?

 

40% seems high, at least for our bZ4X - it only loses about 23% in extreme cold.

 

What is "extreme cold" where you live? I lost about 50% of the range on my 2013 Nissan Leaf in -15 °F / -26 °C weather. It got down to -34 °F / -36 °F here just a couple weeks ago.

 

Below 0.F

 

It was below -20 °F for three whole weeks this winter here. I've seen -52 °F here and -40 °F is not uncommon.

 

from the article:
Charging speeds were also tested during the experiment. Each vehicle in CAA’s test was connected to a DC fast charger. The test measured how many kilometers of range were added in a 15-minute session.

“When we started off, we had the cars in an underground garage in Ottawa. Everybody was charged in the same conditions… However, once we got to Mont Tremblant, and we were experiencing -20 type temperatures, we found that the charge in cold weather was significantly lower,” said Beun. “This is also an important factor for EV owners and a message to government and municipalities about creating public infrastructure for fast charging, so people are not just relying on charging at home.”

CAA found significant variations in how much charge an EV could gain in 15 minutes, highlighting the importance of considering charging rates for those who frequently drive long distances.

Here is CAA’s list of which vehicles charged the fasted in 15 minutes:

my comment:
thinking of fast charging - a good next study would be the effects of fast charging on below freezing packs.
Not that packs would ( normally ) be cold if the pack has had enough
time to warm up before getting hooked up to a fast charger.

But how many owners in a hurry to charge would *think* of checking the batteries temperature.

Or maybe they believe the car should be programmed to do that for them and properly throttle the charge *speed* when the pack cold soaked.

I found the Prime pack showing 25 F a couple mornings ago after being plugged in overnight. I scratched my head a bit and dug into the cars setting to find the pack heater was turned off.
I'd seen the charge plug indicator light come on after full charge for a few minutes a week or two ago, so I know it was heating then. I was surprised to see the pack at 25 F just a little ...

 

My 2017 BMW i3-REx goes about 60 days between a "maintenance" operation for about 15 minutes. The only notes gotten from the local BMW dealer are about 'oil changes.'

I bought a second BMW i3-REx as backup for my Tesla and 'going for groceries.' But it really is an EV with a range extender engine. Other PHEVs are ICE/hybrids with very modest EV capabilities. I understand the current Prius Prime are improved to 40 miles EV but my older, 2017 BMW i3-REx has 106 mile EV.

I've long speculated that if all of the ICE parts of a Prius were replaced with batteries and better control laws in the transaxle, it would be a serious BEV. But "hydrogen is the future" and as Dr. Demming once said, "Survival is not guaranteed."

Bob Wilson

 

Perhaps more appropriate for Canada and other colder climates?

range loss is a function of temperature, battery climate control engineering and hvac usage, along with the usual cold weather suspects on all vehicles.
In Boston, it’s about 20% on average for us.

 

By using ‘preconditioning’ while plugged in, most of the cold is mitigated. But then I live in Dixie.

Bob Wilson

 

Pretty sure most of us have found a good ⅓ or more energy sap from extreme freezing/combo snow temperatures in an EV, just like pullning a hill. The extra 10% or so loss from an EV is mostly because there is no other source for warming the passenger/driver &/or keeping your windshield from frosting over in an EV .... whereas ICE simply scavenges lost heat efficiency. But then comes spring summer & - fall, right? Looking at it in a light most favorable, that's ¼ of all seasons (winter is 1 of 4). Thinking, does that make it fair to say that we can take that 10% to 12% greater hit from an EV & divide it four ways to look at it as only losing 3% ... when calculated over the entire year? And since an EV is so much more efficient over ¾ of the year, it's still way way ahead of an ice.

.

 

It's not about efficiency. It doesn't matter how efficient EVs are over conventional gas engines. We all know EVs are efficient. It's the usability issue. In a dead of winter when temp is well below freezing, if the car can't make to the next charg station, that is a deal breaker for me.

Note from the article, during the drive test, the temp varied between -7 C and -15 C. That could be mild condition for more severe cold regions. The day time high was -13 C in my area yesterday. The morning travel would have been around -22 C.

 

Coldest I have had the bolt out in was 15f.
It handled it fine, and that’s with a conventional heating system.
But I could see how getting down near zero and a winter storm could make people nervous

 

As long as my trip for the day is less than 50% of the normal EV range, I will have no problem with a BEV. For that reason, a BEV as a second car for trips around town would work fine for us. But as a single car family (two drivers) and needing to drive well over 300 miles on a single leg of a trip occasionally (about 8 times a year), I can't make the switch from current PHEV to a BEV. It's that simple.