Kona EV range at cold temperatures (100% SOC range 228 km at -22°C)

I have documented my experiences here:

 

I've never had range drop below 330km, even at -30°C.

 

Did you activate the «Winter Mode»

 

the only piece of missing info is what speed were you driving?

 

Yup pretty much what I am getting, ambient in AM has be around -20C recently and GOM is showing 240km range at 100% SOC urban cycle which is consistent with reported consumption of 3.9 km/kW, based on past experience when its -30C consumption gets into low 3 km/kW range. Winter sucks

 

Wow. That's lower than I realized things could get! Here on the coast the lowest we get in winter is about 200 miles at 100%. Cold spells are generally low temps between 0-10F, occasionally lower.

 

I'm at 80% and my GOM says 329km. It's -10°C. I drive secondary roads and intracity 90% of the time, cruise set at 90kph. My GOM reflects those averages. However, when I charge to 100% and drive 110kph on the highway at sub zero temps I have had a range of around 300+km. That's with (now) three winters and cold shoulder-seasons behind me. Summer is routinely between 400-480km with the same driving style.

 

Part of the problem for me is my car is parked outdoors and the batteries can becomes quite cold soaked if the car is not plugged into a 240V EVSE overnight or does not have winter mode engaged (stupid thing turns itself off every once in a while) while plugged into a 240V EVSE. The 120V EVSE is useless for battery cold mitigation. Under those circumstance with -20C overnight lows the pack can get to -17C or colder and you can pretty much forget about any significant regeneration(if any) activity for the following day as the BMS will severely shut that down until the battery heater turns(again winter mode needs to be on, plus the set point is somewhere way below -10C). Consequently with minimal regen and modest cabin heating taking a third of your power you will see absolutely terrible consumption figures no matter how nicely you drive.

 

My car is outside 100% of the time but is always plugged in. I suppose you could be correct that it makes a difference in performance as compared to a car that is "on its own" and dealing with the cold. Which brings up a question: does the Kona do anything "on its own" to mitigate the effects of cold weather?

 

Between 65 and 75 mph. Those are the speed limits on the major parts of the drive.

 

In my experience urban range takes bigger hit than that long driving distance range in extreme cold. Worst is driving 10km, taking an hour off, than driving anther 10km back. The cabin gets cold at every stop and has to be reheated... A week of driving like that in -20c and the GoM will give a range estimate of 250km (220km with the max 90% charge we have to stick with until a new HV battery arrives..). But then you can still drive almost 300km with a stable 80-100km/h driving on a highway. (270km from 90%...).