Range decrease due to cold weather [merged thread]

[CarbonEV]

Ah ok, seems like I’m on the average for this time of year.

Just felt 100-120 miles was a little low for 0 to -3°C as it’s cold, but not THAT cold ?.

Looking forward to summer!

 

[Themist0]

I am getting about a 30% reduction in range , but I’m doing quite a few journeys over 15 miles, so the battery is warmed up. Just means I charge 3 times a week at home rather than 2.

 

[Headgas1]

It seems to be one of the biggest things people have to get to grips with who are new to Ev driving when they advertise 271miles to a full charge it really is false advertising we believe it because it’s true in a new ICE car. How they get to that figure must be when the car is driven @30mph beautiful day no stopping starting putting the AC on but that’s never going to be the case when we drive the car and if you get your new EV in winter it’s a real shock cos they just preform at there worst. And typically the faster you go in an ICE car I.e motorway driving the more efficient it is and it’s the complete opposite in your EV .

 

[siteguru]

But it's not true in a new ICE car ... the advertised MPG figures are also derived from standardised tests and people rarely get the advertised figures, especially in winter. (And MPG falls in winter too - it's just that the larger fuel tank - and the fact the most of the efficiency loss is a factor of how an ICE works - means that the drop isn't as noticeable).

 

[Headgas1]

But it's not true in a new ICE car ... the advertised MPG figures are also derived from standardised tests and people rarely get the advertised figures, especially in winter. (And MPG falls in winter too - it's just that the larger fuel tank - and the fact the most of the efficiency loss is a factor of how an ICE works - means that the drop isn't as noticeable).

Ok I was just offering my opinion

 

[MuzGB1970]

But it's not true in a new ICE car ... the advertised MPG figures are also derived from standardised tests and people rarely get the advertised figures, especially in winter. (And MPG falls in winter too - it's just that the larger fuel tank - and the fact the most of the efficiency loss is a factor of how an ICE works - means that the drop isn't as noticeable).

This is the absolute truth. My previous car, an Ioniq Hybrid, was advertised as a 600 mile car. The very best I got from it in the summer was 65mpg (so about 585 miles) but more often around 60-62 mpg. That dropped to around 50mpg in the winter but because the tank was 9 gallons I could still drive 450 miles.

EV's are the same summer to winter as ICE cars, it's just the drop in range is more noticeable as you can only use about 70% of the battery (10-80% range) regularly. The Trophy should be more like 190 miles (70% of useable battery) in the best of conditions, or 244 miles if you push it from 10% to 100%. Take off 30% or more for winter efficiency.

 

[Rolfe]

I think the LFP batteries fall off by more in the cold, but since the only MG4 that has one of these is the SE SR then it's only a minority of drivers.

 

[MoDolph]

I'm currently driving a Skoda Fabia courtesy car with a wltp mpg of ~50mpg but getting <25mpg due to lots of short journeys.

This morning was particularly bad on the nursery run:

I make that 74 miles of range from it's 45l tank ?

 

[Coulomb]

courtesy car with a wltp mpg of ~50mpg

Those MPG figures are a bit optimistic, I think. It's probably true under laboratory conditions, when new, with none of the usual junk stored in them.

I assume that's miles per British gallon too, not the woosy American gallons. Aren't imperial units awful?

 

[Archev]

Ah ok, seems like I’m on the average for this time of year.

Just felt 100-120 miles was a little low for 0 to -3°C as it’s cold, but not THAT cold ?.

Looking forward to summer!

I still miss my £40 that I paid to fill my Daughter’s Hyundai with diesel on a run a few weeks ago ?. So much nicer and cheaper to get back to the EV at any time of the year ?

 

[MoDolph]

Those MPG figures are a bit optimistic, I think. It's probably true under laboratory conditions, when new, with none of the usual junk stored in them.

It does actually do around 50 mpg on long motorway journeys at 70mph. The problem is with my daily short journeys where it doesn't get a chance to warm up. The 7 cold starts per day can't be doing the engine much good either.

 

[tsedge]

It does actually do around 50 mpg on long motorway journeys at 70mph. The problem is with my daily short journeys where it doesn't get a chance to warm up. The 7 cold starts per day can't be doing the engine much good either.

We should bear in mind that if an ICE car does not have a calibrated speedo, it will over-read MPG by typically 5-7%.

 

[MSvirus]

We should bear in mind that if an ICE car does not have a calibrated speedo, it will over-read MPG by typically 5-7%.

Not every ICE car is like this. It is easy to check with an OBD reader to see the car's actual speed, and the displayed speed is just actual + either a set additional speed or a percentage addition locally.

 

[tsedge]

Not every ICE car is like this. It is easy to check with an OBD reader to see the car's actual speed, and the displayed speed is just actual + either a set additional speed or a percentage addition locally.

Exactly.

 

[K15DNS]

So car is back, Stoneacre have said not alot about the battery apart from its the cool weather.
they have applied the update that was a recall but not sure what they have done apart from break my car, not getting low power low speed and tortoise in the bottom right hand corner of the display.
I have had to ring them but waiting on another call back to see what they could do.
When i collected the car it was on charge and soon got to 100% but only showed 120 mile range.
Not happy again

 

[Deleted member 11291]

https://www.smarthomecharge.co.uk/features/our-tips-for-charging-and-maintaining-your-electric-car-in-the-winter-months/

Lots of information out there, but this may help new EV converts to understand the reasons for range reduction.
Of course may be issues with individual cars.

 

[Jomarkh]

So car is back, Stoneacre have said not alot about the battery apart from its the cool weather.
they have applied the update that was a recall but not sure what they have done apart from break my car, not getting low power low speed and tortoise in the bottom right hand corner of the display.
I have had to ring them but waiting on another call back to see what they could do.
When i collected the car it was on charge and soon got to 100% but only showed 120 mile range.
Not happy again

Have you reset the trips counters and turned it on in eco with fan and heater all off?

 

[Kithmo]

Well I managed to get 1.2m/kWh over this last two weeks, 67 miles travelled and 55.5kWh put in.
Pre heated every morning on high, heater on at 27C and short 2.5 mile each way journeys once a day.
I'm beginning to wonder why I traded in my ZS for this, it's costing me more per mile than my old Prius was and that's charging at home on a 20p/kWh EV tariff.

 

[CarbonEV]

Well I managed to get 1.2m/kWh over this last two weeks, 67 miles travelled and 55.5kWh put in.
Pre heated every morning on high, heater on at 27C and short 2.5 mile each way journeys once a day.
I'm beginning to wonder why I traded in my ZS for this, it's costing me more per mile than my old Prius was and that's charging at home on a 20p/kWh EV tariff.

20p EV tariff?

Mine is 9p with Octopus, I know British Gas do one for around 8.9 and there’s cheaper ones too?

 

[lsb777]

Well I managed to get 1.2m/kWh over this last two weeks, 67 miles travelled and 55.5kWh put in.
Pre heated every morning on high, heater on at 27C and short 2.5 mile each way journeys once a day.
I'm beginning to wonder why I traded in my ZS for this, it's costing me more per mile than my old Prius was and that's charging at home on a 20p/kWh EV tariff.

With respect, is it worth wasting all that energy for such a short journey? I appreciate if the car windscreen is iced up then it's a great way to defrost, but then 27c as well. The consumption chart must be heavily swayed towards HVAC compared to driving. I find the seats & steering wheel warm up really quick and don't have the same battery drain so I'd put up with it for 2.5 miles personally.