Heat affect range?

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Martha

Martha

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I have had my MINI SE for over 6 months now. I live in Texas and we have had a temps between 95 to 105 degrees. This is my first electric. Can excessive heat affect range like extreme cold? I charged overnight to 100% and the range on the dash said 94 mile range. Should I be worried?
 
Martha said:
Can excessive heat affect range like extreme cold?
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Cold doesn't actually technically affect range all that much, it's using the heater that drains the batteries more (see my arctic drive with no heat). Heat is the enemy of batteries, but it's unlikely you need to worry about environmental heat affecting the SE. It has a cooling system for the batteries, and even on hot days the batteries are well-enclosed underneath the car and shielded from direct sunlight. Some who've driven hard on the track run into battery heat conditions, but the SE reduces power to protect the batteries.

I also posted performance info on a trip during 100 ºF weather, no problems!

(That's right, I live in an area with yearly temperature changes over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.)
 
I’m in Tucson, big surprise, it was 106F yesterday and supposed to be 110F Friday. I’ve had Minime for a year now and I can attest to very little variation due to heat, which I contribute to the A/C use.

I do think the battery charges up a bit slower when the non-cooled garage gets good and hot. I do aim a powerful fan at the front of the car when charging and it’s over 100F. Also, Mrs. Jim in Tucson has a plug-in Prius Prime, which probably adds a wee bit to the overheated garage.


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Cold weather kills the range because it takes a lot of energy to generate heat to keep the cabin warm. Batteries also don’t work well in cold weather, getting energy out of them is harder as it were which means the two things combined cause your range to drop.

Batteries are fine in hot weather in cars that liquid cool them. However that liquid cooling does use some energy as does the AC. But it is a much lower loss than cold weather.
In perfect weather I get over 130 miles of range on the freeway, but in the heatwave here in Texas I get more like 115-120
 
Andy, are referring to actual used range? Or GOM numbers? Or some calculation that you use?

I’ve never seen 130, and only seen 120 a couple of times on the GOM. I’m usually seeing 100-110 on the GOM each morning.
I have never tried to see how far I can actually go, however.


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Jim In Tucson said:
Andy, are referring to actual used range? Or GOM numbers? Or some calculation that you use?

I’ve never seen 130, and only seen 120 a couple of times on the GOM. I’m usually seeing 100-110 on the GOM each morning.
I have never tried to see how far I can actually go, however.
Click to expand...

The GOM is total nonsense in my experience, don't even look at it, I go by percentage.

Leaving with 100% I drove from Plano to Waco on the freeway, 114.5 miles, arriving with 15% battery remaining. So my math says I can go 134.7 miles on 100% to 0%. That was in Green mode with AC on but cooler outside temps than the heat wave right now.
I had more traffic and work zones on that trip so speed limits varied, but I previously tested the car doing a round trip (to cancel out elevation and wind) on the freeway at 70mph, driving 82.5 miles with 38% battery remaining. Math says 133 miles on 100-0%. That was in green plus mode (no AC) as it was 70 degrees outside.

When driving slower, 40-60mph roads, I get close to 170 miles out of it (again that was in Green+ mode so no AC, I haven't had the chance to redo it in summer heat).

You can see the uncut (sped up) range tests here so you can see what speeds and traffic were like the whole way, no cheating:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIEJmlo9osgbDDvNgoKmhdN-qkae8YacC
 
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