Give up charging during winter?

Eh. A very significant portion of the US population lives in areas where 6 degrees F or below isn't unheard of by any means. I'm not saying most people experience temperatures that low every day but it's not unheard of for many in the Northeast.

 

Our quotes are referred to elsewhere. Some innocently spread the misleading information. Some intentionally use it as greenwash source.

We need to be diligent by not providing feed for that. Please be explicit which generation.

 

They have just revised it. Now calling for -25 tonight with -30 to -50 below wind chills. Car will not be coming out of the garage. Have a space heater in the garage to help keep it warm. Now if the power does not go out should be OK. This is the coldest it has been in this area in 25 years and never this cold on New Year's night here. I know why the pioneers kept going.

They are warning people who drive diesel cars/trucks that the fuel could gel. Imagine poor fire fighters who might have to fight a fire in this. Frost bite in less than 5 minutes.

 

It’s probably unfair for me to comment, but, temps in the 30s are rare so before starting out I peek outside my BR window and initiate preconditioning. Before reaching 49 S, the cabins warm and I’ll have 2 miles downhill. At that moment I turn the heat on full blast on Hi. Now at the bottom of a new hill I turn all heat off using only natural flow of air. Cabin is comfortable. Once at the top again, perhaps a mile I’m free to use heat as I wish without engine coming on. Next leg to S fork of American River, the lowest point in the drive. Max charge in EV to restore original charge. Now the work leg, up a series of turns, one is more than 180 degrees. In the process Iv minimized heat and engine runs from time to time. Finally reaching the peak, Auburn, established in 1848, one year before the Gold rush, hence Highway 49. I can now cool it, the rest of the drive is all downhill at 55mph and I’ll end up with15-20 miles of charge left for the trip back. Before arriving to the two main obstacles (hills) just before Auburn upon returning I’ll put the car in charge mode and get it up close to 20 mile charge. “ My daily grind to my health club” Unfortionately, I have no real opportunity to put on my jacket or gloves, so I just go bare. Just list me as one of those weirdos from California.
Former Bostonian.

 

agreed, but i don't see a difference between prime and pip when it comes to battery efficiency in the cold. and i was asking a question, not stating a fact.

 

I still don't see a problem. Gassers are less efficient in cold. Electric is less efficient in cold. So, if you're complaining about only getting 15 miles of EV in the occasional bitter cold day, do you think you'd get more EV miles in a Corolla? Or better gas mileage, for that matter?

 

Sure gassers are less efficient in the cold, but it's not nearly as noticeable, and the cabin is MUCH warmer.

 

probably cause they don't have an mpg meter on the dash.

 

The effects of the cold seem more significant with EV vs. HV...
I'm seeing EV at about 2/3rd (or less) of what it was in the summer.
I'm seeing HV at about 3/4th of what it was in the summer.

AND, with the EV range being relatively small already, the percentage of trips I take that are now EV only have gone way down.
AND, even when I'm still within EV range, my desire for heat means the ICE is running some of the time anyhow.
But still a great car.

 

It just hit me as to why the Primes in the UK were getting better charging that the US. It’s the Imperial gallon.
That’s all calculated into the theoretical consumption calculation.

I remember a charge of 35 last summer, am now getting 26.

 

Yup sounds about right. Pretty simplified with knowing what goes into the car and how many miles you get (I admit my way was the hard way) I was so interested in it because of how little i would save in my area (ROI over standard hybrid when gas is so cheap). But yeah definitely use all your electric range then use your range extender to finish out your trip I agree.

 

Gas won't always be this cheap. In fact, it just went up 20 cents here. Neither will hybrids or PHEVs. This is the time to buy them.

 

Exactly, Bisco! Gassers don't like to brag because they have nothing to brag about. If you knew how much fuel it was wasting, yo'd be less inclined to buy another one.

As for the temperature, just run the ICE if you need more heat. You're still way way way way way ahead of anything else on the road around you. That's the beauty of a PHEV.

 

Exactly. I’ve been regretting that I have to run the ICE this week. After reading the FB post of a newbie BEV owner trying to figure out how to pay for charging at a shopping
center in this arctic weather, it’s a reminder to myself to be thankful for this wonderful vehicle where I don’t have to.

 

i suspect that my neighbor, who starts her suburban every morning a half hour before she leaves has no idea regarding mpg's or pollution.

 

I remember buying gasoline for .25/gal.

She probably has no idea of anything. But it’s her money and our air.

 

Was that when Henry Ford came out with the Model A?

 

1962

 

I prefer to break the driving cost comparison down per mile. If I did my math correctly and my assumptions are correct, based on my 10 cents per KwH cost, and assuming the Prime requires 6.7 KwH to fully charge its battery, that works out to be about 67 cents to go 30 EV miles, or about 2.2 cents per mile. Based on our average current gas price of $2.20/gallon driving 30 miles in the Prime on gas (and assuming 54 mpg) costs about 3.9 cents per mile. These costs will of course vary depending on our local KwH rates and gas prices.

Now... if 2018 brings more political unrest in the middle east (if?), all bets are off on how high gas prices may go, in which the Prime will be even more economically beneficial.