I’m considering buying an EV to replace my aging diesel. I live in a very cold country where temperatures regularly dip below -30C in the winter.
I understand that EVs lose range in cold temperatures and that they need heating to use and charge without damage.
My question is this: if I plan on not using my car for several weeks, can I leave it unplugged and/or tell it to stop managing the batteries’ temperature to save energy and not damage the batteries?
I’m okay with spending half a day preheating it when I plan on using it again regularly, but I don’t want it to draw current all the time for nothing when I’m away on long missions.
For some reason, I can’t seem to find out if it’s safe to keep a fully unpowered EV in the cold for a long time…
I don’t know about starting difficulties, because I was in a warmer climate, but there are other complications for the cold.
I used to have a 2018 Nissan Leaf (I bought it used, but the battery was still testing at 100%), which ostensibly had about ~240km range. It didn’t get to -30C, but at about-5C if you use zero climate control (also different from an ICE car, it stays colder because the engine isn’t hot), you could get about 210 km. With low climate control, it’s more like 160 km (I don’t think I ever used high heat, but I imagine that’s more difficult in -30). Depending on your lifestyle, that’s not a big deal, but I had to charge in inconvenient places anytime I wanted to do more than a commute to work or local errands in the winter.
Today’s EVs are generally higher range, so factor that in as well. If it’s possible to do an extended test drive, I’d suggest trying one in winter.
Actually I’m not that concerned about the range. I need something that will do 15 miles to work (charge at work on the free charger provided by my company) and 15 miles back home (no charge, or slow charge on a regular outlet). I think just about any EV or plug-in hybrid can achieve that in any conditions.
Ideally, I’d like to find the lightest, smallest, simplest compact EV possible.
That should be good! My commute was 18 miles with free charging at work and I never had to stop to charge on a direct ride home.
I did once nearly get fucked by stopped traffic in the winter- I had the heat on normally until the jam, and then turned it on for 5 minutes every fifteen minutes while standing still. After about 90 minutes, the traffic cleared, but I was very cold and had about 20% battery by the time I got home. That’s a good amount, but I’d started less than 20 miles away with a full battery. ICEs are also less efficient in traffic, but they heat the car with excess engine warmth, so it’s not an additional drain on mileage.
I’d advise people to keep a space blanket and hand warmers in any car, but especially an EV. If you’re in an area prone to heavy traffic, maybe keep them close enough to reach from the driver’s seat.
Not mine 🙂 My car has a very small turbo-diesel (1.3L), I tend to hypermile so I drive slowly and in higher gear, and in the winter, below -15C, the temp needle only gets close to normal operating temperature and starts warming up the car on the highway.
That’s also something I learned when I moved here in northern Scandinavia: bigger engines are better because they reach normal operating temperatures in almost all conditions. My little underutilized engine just plain can’t get warm enough to heat the cabin significantly.