Tips for driving in cold weather

[CyberNewbie]

The temperatures have plummeted in the U.K. and I drove last night with an outside temperature of 0 C. Car was fine but I noticed the Forward Collision Assist System indicator light was on, not sure why, disappeared this morning (parked in a garage).

Would be interesting to hear about your experiences of driving in the cold e.g. impact on range, how you manage battery heating (app seems a little flaky), and any tips to maximise range.

I have a GT and will probably switch to AWD (Sports mode) when there is ice and snow on the road.

One issue I encountered last night was the front windscreen was misting. I had the air conditioning on ECO (not sure what this actually means, assume low energy usage?) and air recirculation on Auto with a fan speed of 3. Not experienced misting on previous cars with aircon. On the way home I increased the fan speed to 7 and that seemed to resolve the issue. Anyone else had a good play with the aircon and knows why I might have been getting misting?

 

[Pete G]

Having to turn the fan up high to clear the windscreen may mean the cabin filter is blocked. It will depend on how old the car is and how dirty the air is where it has been driven.
I have read that forward collision and things like adaptive cruise control use the forward facing cameras for feedback. So if the camera is frosted or has rain on it then the system may not work well.
Where we live, the winter temperatures are around 0 to 5 degrees C, our range is usually shown as 20 kilometres lower than in summer when the temperatures are hovering around 20 degrees C.
Our car is a gen 1ZS EV, as far as I know it does not have battery heating settings. At least none that I have seen. It doesn't connect with an app, which I am happy about. I always drive on Eco mode and when the windscreen fogs up, it takes around 30 seconds of heating to clear it. We don't drive with the heater on at all, only use it to clear the windscreen.
pete

 

[CybersterWatcher]

Another UK person here.

The safety systems rely on the cameras. In the wet, ice and dark they are extremely unhappy. Expect to see the lights for those go on and off a lot in the upcoming months, mine are always on.

My windscreen mists a lot. I found cleaning the window helps.

I get roughly 2 miles/kWj on short-medium journeys as the heating takes up a large chunk of the battery.

To maximise battery:
Use just the seat warmers to keep warm, and put the front demister on occasionally to be able to see. Use only comfort mode for driving.

Otherwise, I’m just chalking the car up to only doing 150 miles in the winter and driving it normally and charging more often.

 

[Vader]

I saw a video on youtube by Bjorn Nyland about efficiency in the cold. He tried with, and without the heating as well as roof up or down. I think also, if you use the heated seats it keeps you warm and is much more efficient than the car heater. For reference, here is the link: