Help!! Past 4 days nothing but gas engine use

I cant get my batteries out of the green! I dont have short trips, my daily drive is 100 miles RT. Mostly 55MPH, and normally I would be just under green(7 blue bars) during that trip and be able to run on battery through town, but with the heat on even the lowest settings I rarely get it out of green, rarely does the engine stop, even at a light. You would think there would be better programming to keep the engine off when the batteries are at full charge. Because they are fully charged my braking has diminished, and this morning caused me to slide into a snow pile and crack my bumper. I got so used to the car being able to slow down using the regen braking that I seldom use the actual brakes to slow down, and this morning there was no regen at all. I was expecting the car to slow down like normal, and it wasn't and by the time I noticed it wasn't slowing down I hit the ice and slid while trying to pull into the driveway at work. I wasn't going very fast, maybe 15 MPH, and normally by the time I reached the driveway I am under 8MPH. Thankfully there wasn't a car parked there. I had lost all steering, and braking, lost total control. What sucks is I just had the bumper replaced last month after a raccoon decided to commit suicide. I cant wait for the weather to warm up where the engine shuts off normally. It was -15 this morning too.

 

What y'all are seeing isn't necessarily related to *engine* temp
or blocking the grille. When the big *battery* is cold, the
car refuses to pull a lot of current from it off the line so the
slightest touch on the go-pedal tends to relight the engine right
away to make you go. At the same time, the car tends to try
pushing more charge into the battery for no other reason than
to warm it up. That's why you often see seven-green in the
winter, and never get out of six-blue in warmer weather.
.
Your best bet is to bring in a little cabin heat in non-recirc
mode, and let that drift out through the battery vent to help
warm the battery up. It's a big mass, though, so it takes a
bit of time for the combined effects of charge/discharge and
your cabin heat to bring it to a more safe operating temp for
higher currents. So on a short commute, you're hosed and will
continue seeing the frequent engine restarting, less regen
braking capability, etc. The ECU knows the safety curves of
the battery and makes every effort to stay within them.
.
One of these days someone will come up with a battery warmer
that can plug in like an EBH, then you could get both your engine
block and your battery block nice and toasty before taking off.
Ever see the big foam-lined boxes that people put battery strings
for PV systems inside? Same principle.
.
_H*

 

Good point! Just as the A/C should be used in the summer to keep the battery from getting too hot, one should use the cabin heater in winter to help warm up the battery to operating temperature as quickly as possible. People who fail to use either one are not doing their MPGs any favor.

 

a lot of people trying to do the same thing with their Zenn EV's... hard part is getting insulation around them and still maintaining clearance as there is not a lot of extra room in the storage areas

what difference temps make??

on standard batteries temps at 32ºF range is about 22 miles...

same batteries, temps at 50....range = 32 miles

temps at 80....range =40 miles...