Winter is Coming!

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JejuSoul

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Just a reminder for those who have their car for a year already. Maybe something new for those with their first EV.
Range goes down in winter.
The graphic is for the 24kWh Nissan Leaf. The Soul EV has ~20% better range but the shape of the graph is the same.

Leaf_Range_Cold_Weather_FleetCarma.png


There is detailed testing info for the Chevrolet Volt PHEV here -
Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity - Cold Weather On-road Testing of a 2012 Chevrolet Volt

And for the Nissan Leaf -
Cold Weather On-Road Testing of a 2015 Nissan Leaf
 
Winter is exactly why I leased a Soul EV. I've been driving my 2012 Mitsubishi iMIEV on my 40+ mile freeway commute and in the winter I was afraid to use my heater because I would rather be cold and make it home as apposed to warm but stranded at a charging station.
Now I can use the HEATER and make it home!
One more thing. This Soul is a nice car.
 
Even besides temps and heater, the wind is having a huge effect on my commute. So far heater is running below 1 kW on average just for morning drive. However wind can easily add several kW to motor consumption. I guess it is not too much of a surprise since Soul is rather boxy, but still .... darn.
 
slobodanc said:
Even besides temps and heater, the wind is having a huge effect on my commute. So far heater is running below 1 kW on average just for morning drive. However wind can easily add several kW to motor consumption. I guess it is not too much of a surprise since Soul is rather boxy, but still .... darn.
You are right. Last week was very windy in my area. Consumption went up to 18.5kWh/100km from 16.5kWh/100km. Similar outside temperature, same commute, but rain and wind :(
 
Well from summer I see my average move up to the 15-17 kWh/100km range from summer 13-15 kWh/100 km
Also projected range dropped from 160 to 130 km

In particular cold mornings seem to be worse even with light climate use. The air resistance in general seems to be higher and any attempt to drive over 100 km/h speed is punished with 20+ kW motor power. Sigh
 
same for me :

- 18 kWh/100km in 10°C (with heat)
- 14,8 kWh/100km at 34°C (with A/C)
- at 90km/h with the regulator.

dry condition for both.
 
quebecguy63 said:
, but rain and wind :(
Rain probably has more to do with the extra consumption, Vancouver has fairly wet winter and I've noticed the energy consumption was actually higher on a rainy day than a dry colder day (but non freezing). I believe the moisture sensor on windshield turned on A/C and made the heater work double hard, plus water on road surface induced more friction.
 
SoulEV2016,
Same for me. In fact just yesterday I had an interesting reminder.
Temp jumped to around +17, no rain or wind. I actually used alternate route avoiding highway and suddenly got 12-13 kWh/100km numbers which I didn't see since summer.

This morning rain, temp down to +8, only using about 1 Kw for heating/AC and got around 15 kWh/100km but due to rain at lower speed than usual.

This compared to 15-18 kWh/100km numbers when temps are close to freezing.

I also wonder about colder air reducing tire pressure and thus increasing tire resistance?
So what is going to happen when I switch to winter tires? :O

My range estimate is down to depressing 120-130 km at full so .....

Well I do have some charging stations close to office so not worried too much.
 
Vancouver has set a record for October, rained on 28 out of 31 days.

Last week on a dry day, i reset the energy meter and drove 4 trips totaling 40km and got 13.5Kwh/100km.
Outside temp 11c
Cabin temp on automatic set to 21c
When i observed the energy usage the climate control was drawing around 0.35Kwh

The next day, rain, i got 16.5Kwh/100km
12c
cabin 21c
climate control was drawing anywhere between 0.5 to 1Kwh
 
Sigh
This morning -4, no rain or wind, I am back to 17-18 kWh/100 km
Tonight I am going to inflate tires more, see if it makes any difference.
The dealer had them very high near the limit around 40 psi and I let some air out in the summer.
Maybe now with the colder air I need to bring back up the pressure.
 
Quick question,
The consumption display and eco history showing xx kWh/100km consumption data; does this number include total consumption, including HVAC and other electronics? Or is it motor alone?

thanks
 
slobodanc said:
Sigh
This morning -4, no rain or wind, I am back to 17-18 kWh/100 km
i wonder how much energy was used to heat up the cabin, have you tried preheating the cabin while the car still plugged in?
 
slobodanc said:
Quick question,
The consumption display and eco history showing xx kWh/100km consumption data; does this number include total consumption, including HVAC and other electronics? Or is it motor alone?

thanks
i'm pretty sure that's total consumption.
it is accumulative though after each reset.
 
mysoulev said:
slobodanc said:
Sigh
This morning -4, no rain or wind, I am back to 17-18 kWh/100 km
i wonder how much energy was used to heat up the cabin, have you tried preheating the cabin while the car still plugged in?

Well that is another issue I have. My climate schedule refuses to activate for some reason.
Anyway my combined HVAC and other electronics was always around 1 kW or less.
I have the heat pump model so motor generates some heat.
 
Well I inflated tires last night to about 39 PSI (max is 44) from about 35 PSI.
This morning +2 C no wind or rain, activated HVAC 3-4 times to remove humidity and clear the windows, so minimal.
Did have heated driver seat but didn't seem to use much power.
Got 14.2 kWh :)

I am guessing that the lower tire pressure would have a significant effect below freezing as the tires probably wouldn't warm up much leaving lower tire pressure and more road resistance. Anyway for now I am happy :)

That brings up the questions for winter driving.
Once I switch to winter tires I know we are supposed to use lower tire pressure for better road surface traction.
According to this experience it will increase power use a lot. So ......?

What tire pressure do you intend to use in winter?
 
it would be nice to eliminate the energy used to heat up the cabin for your energy usage comparison, especially for sub zero condition.
wonder why scheduling doesn't work?
try pushing the Start button twice and let the cabin heat up before you disconnect the AC plug.
 
mysoulev said:
it would be nice to eliminate the energy used to heat up the cabin for your energy usage comparison, especially for sub zero condition.
wonder why scheduling doesn't work?
try pushing the Start button twice and let the cabin heat up before you disconnect the AC plug.

Well I will try driving without heat for the next couple of cold mornings, usually around freezing, to compare to summer.
I still have to turn it on few times to clear windows but that is minimal.

I know in summer my tires from dealer were 40-41 PSI and I was getting around 13 kWh/100km for my 50/50 mix of city/hghwy driving.

For reserved climate I tried using 2 chargers, trickle and fast, no dice. Oddly when car started my 25C temp setting was in fact set, higher than from previous drive. Also fan speed was higher, etc. So the car changed HVAC setting to heat up to 25 yet didn't actually activate any HVAC components.

However I forgot about the Power double tap. Nice that will work :):)
I have to check the manual to refresh my memory for the power modes.

Anyway what I learned is that 5 PSI tire pressure difference can have a significant effect at lower temps. Good to know.
 
First snow : pretty much the worst conditions combining snow and wind, -3C
Also switch to the winter tires.
Although I used minimal HVAC, the usual wheel and seat plus occasional defrost for windows.

Got to work with 63% remaining, 52km, around 18 kWh/100 showing

So not too bad, still plenty for the round trip commute.

The next test is cold days at -20C
 
One thing to watch is the defrost. That runs the heat pump in AC mode and the resistive elements to heat the air. I've seen it peak at 5kW :eek:
Use the defrost - it's very important to see where you are going, but don't just leave it on. My wife did on one short trip and went through a surprising amount of battery.
 
Yes I use defrost. experimenting both on all time and part time.
I keep watching the energy numbers on big display.
So far my HVAC peaked at only 1 kW, most of the time is spent around 0.5 kW.
Still even with lower speeds I am reading around 18 kWh/100km so arrived to work this morning with 57% left which is cutting it bit close for comfort.

Seems I will have to ration my HVAC to avoid returning home below 10% :(

... and/or topup at the library.
However with more and move cars and only 2 ports I am afraid I will start finding full more often.
 
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