Mileage Loss in Cold Weather Driving

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Hbecks10

Hbecks10

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Hello All,

I purchased my 2019 Kia Niro in the beginning of October this year when temps in NYC are still mild and on the warmer side, compared to when winter hits. Just 2 weeks ago, my husband and I drove from NYC to Northeast Ohio, and while charging there it seemed when charging to 80-85% the miles are got was a much lower number than before. Would cold weather have that affect? We tried with both winter mode on, and off at different times and it was about the same. For example, when we first got the car and would charge to 80-85% we would show about 230-240 miles. While charging in Ohio, and PA while traveling 80-85% would only get us about 185 miles maybe 190-195 if we didnt have the heat one. A 30-40 mile is a big difference. Just wanted to see if this is normal, or if I should have them look. The car itself is brand new and has 3,000 miles on, so I would find it HARD to believe the battery is degrading already. I would also like to add that a month or so ago on 2 separate occasions when the temps were pretty low here in NYC (25-30 for the high in day time) we had a "Check Electric Vehicle Systems) Warning light come on. Once the car was turned off, that warning light went off and never came back on. Could that have something to do with it, I wonder? We called the dealer and they said since the light went off, to not worry about it. Just curious as we are missing that 240 mile range at 80% lol. Thanks!
 
I have the 2019 Niro as well. I took my first road trip with it a few months back (mild weather) and after it's first DC fast charge it said I had plenty of miles to reach my destination, but I came within a dozen miles or so of fully depleting the battery. My sin was driving too fast (75+MPH) anxious to get to my destination.

I'm really interested if anyone has seen the "Check Electric Vehicle Systems" warning? My car has been flawless, no errors thrown in the 16 months that I've owned it, until this one popped up. In my case, the temperature outside was about 28F and the windows were iced up, so I left the car "running" in the driveway and cranked up the defrosters. It had been parked outside during this long period of freezing, and although I don't remember the numbers now, the Guess-O-Meter said I had a lot fewer miles than I did when I started the car. I took off to run my errand and the light came on about 2 to 5 minutes in. My hypothesis was that the car has some algorithm and when it saw I had only traveled 2 miles, but used 20 miles worth of juice warming up the cabin, it freaked out. As in your case, the warning disappeared when I started the car again to return home.
 
Last edited:
Hbecks10 said:
Hello All,

I purchased my 2019 Kia Niro in the beginning of October this year when temps in NYC are still mild and on the warmer side, compared to when winter hits. Just 2 weeks ago, my husband and I drove from NYC to Northeast Ohio, and while charging there it seemed when charging to 80-85% the miles are got was a much lower number than before. Would cold weather have that affect? We tried with both winter mode on, and off at different times and it was about the same. For example, when we first got the car and would charge to 80-85% we would show about 230-240 miles. While charging in Ohio, and PA while traveling 80-85% would only get us about 185 miles maybe 190-195 if we didnt have the heat one. A 30-40 mile is a big difference. Just wanted to see if this is normal, or if I should have them look. The car itself is brand new and has 3,000 miles on, so I would find it HARD to believe the battery is degrading already. I would also like to add that a month or so ago on 2 separate occasions when the temps were pretty low here in NYC (25-30 for the high in day time) we had a "Check Electric Vehicle Systems) Warning light come on. Once the car was turned off, that warning light went off and never came back on. Could that have something to do with it, I wonder? We called the dealer and they said since the light went off, to not worry about it. Just curious as we are missing that 240 mile range at 80% lol. Thanks!
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I'm with you. Hopefully you have the Heat Pump in your Niro. Most of the northern states pre-order them like this. Just think about it like this...

10-15 KW required to drive the car steady. This is true for any season.
1-3 KW required for heating the car during cold weather.

When you interpolate the additional load for any period of time you will lose about 20% which relates directly to your range. Simple, right?
 
Hbecks10 said:
Hello All,

I purchased my 2019 Kia Niro in the beginning of October this year when temps in NYC are still mild and on the warmer side, compared to when winter hits. Just 2 weeks ago, my husband and I drove from NYC to Northeast Ohio, and while charging there it seemed when charging to 80-85% the miles are got was a much lower number than before. Would cold weather have that affect? We tried with both winter mode on, and off at different times and it was about the same. For example, when we first got the car and would charge to 80-85% we would show about 230-240 miles. While charging in Ohio, and PA while traveling 80-85% would only get us about 185 miles maybe 190-195 if we didnt have the heat one. A 30-40 mile is a big difference. Just wanted to see if this is normal, or if I should have them look. The car itself is brand new and has 3,000 miles on, so I would find it HARD to believe the battery is degrading already. I would also like to add that a month or so ago on 2 separate occasions when the temps were pretty low here in NYC (25-30 for the high in day time) we had a "Check Electric Vehicle Systems) Warning light come on. Once the car was turned off, that warning light went off and never came back on. Could that have something to do with it, I wonder? We called the dealer and they said since the light went off, to not worry about it. Just curious as we are missing that 240 mile range at 80% lol. Thanks!
Click to expand...
I don't know about the "Check Electric..." warning, but as for the drop in range in the cold and on the highway, you've just learned two things at once: a) the impact of cold on a battery and b) the impact of driving at high speed on your rate of consumption. Neither of these issues are of concern - it's just the way it goes, but I can imagine it might be alarming to see first-hand what highway driving costs you in consumption. In an ICE vehicle, you don't feel the effect until you get to the gas station, but in an EV, the feedback is immediate. Your Niro also presents you with a range based on how the past miles were driven, so it might take a couple of full charge cycles of "normal" driving to get you back up to what you're used to. Rest assured, your range will come back and it's extremely unlikely there's been any degradation of your battery. :-)
 
Hi I have a 2019 Niro for about 19 months. This applies to all EV. When it gets cold, the car does not perform as well as when the battery, car, and you are happy at 75°. Also applies to DC fast chargers. Your gas car does the same thing, except it does not give you very detail information on fuel consumption.

Over 22,500 miles, the niro has averaged 4.16 miles per kWh. That would be a range of 266 miles at 100%, 239 miles at 90%. My worst month was Dec 2019, the niro averaged 3.11 miles per kWh ( I live in Vermont, so cold, short trips, snow on the road, and studded snow tires. Best month was Aug, 2019, the niro averaged 4.85 miles per kWh. Best trip was in June, 20, the niro averaged 5.3 miles per kWh for 232 miles

So the range is plus or minus 10% of the average. Everyone is above average and happy in an EV
 
solarjk said:
Hi I have a 2019 Niro for about 19 months. This applies to all EV. When it gets cold, the car does not perform as well as when the battery, car, and you are happy at 75°. Also applies to DC fast chargers. Your gas car does the same thing, except it does not give you very detail information on fuel consumption.

Over 22,500 miles, the niro has averaged 4.16 miles per kWh. That would be a range of 266 miles at 100%, 239 miles at 90%. My worst month was Dec 2019, the niro averaged 3.11 miles per kWh ( I live in Vermont, so cold, short trips, snow on the road, and studded snow tires. Best month was Aug, 2019, the niro averaged 4.85 miles per kWh. Best trip was in June, 20, the niro averaged 5.3 miles per kWh for 232 miles

So the range is plus or minus 10% of the average. Everyone is above average and happy in an EV
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Those are some insane numbers. I am lucky to get 3.4-3.5 miles/kwh. I guess either you drive very slowly or you don't have long highway drives -- a lot of stop and go. I have noticed the Niro's consumption meter reads very high numbers (IE more efficiency) when you do a lot of slow (less than 35 MPH) driving with frequent stops. On the highway, at 75+ MPH, that number goes down significantly.
 
blue_door said:
Those are some insane numbers. I am lucky to get 3.4-3.5 miles/kwh. I guess either you drive very slowly or you don't have long highway drives -- a lot of stop and go. I have noticed the Niro's consumption meter reads very high numbers (IE more efficiency) when you do a lot of slow (less than 35 MPH) driving with frequent stops. On the highway, at 75+ MPH, that number goes down significantly.
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On local roads, I drive pretty close to speed limit, but in town that 30 or 40. Away from town, Vermont state speed limit is 50. On the interstate, speed limit is 65, but I mostly drive at 60 - 62. If I drive on the interstate where there is a lot of traffic, I drive at traffic flow + a little, unless it get above 70. I have a friend who has a Kona that gets 6+ miles per kWh, which I have never gotten.
 
Air resistance is the main culprit. As the air gets colder it gets more dense thus increasing air resistance. That's where the main drop in range comes from.

Run for a while without climate control on and watch your efficiency. It sinks in cold temps.
 
It's all things combined. Resistance of cold air is higher as noted above. Winter tires have higher rolling resistance. Even a heat pump let alone a resistance heater will draw down range. This even affects ICE cars. My old gasser uses about 15% more fuel in the bitter cold than the summer. Because the "range" of an ICE vehicle is so large people tend not to notice the drop as much but it's there.
 
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