Temperatures and range winter 2022/2023

G

George Davidson

Active Member
I will be posting screenshot from Bluelink to record how low and very low temperatures affect range.

The starting point for this thread is -19 C (wind chill -32C), calculated range 299 km at 91% as seen at the screenshot taken a moment ago. No heating was used.

-19 -32 299 km at 91%.webp
 
Just did a full range trip in mild cold (23°F/-5°C) yesterday
Fully charged battery showed 291 miles down from 311 (in the garage at 50°) without the heat on dropping to 244 with driver only at 62°F (17°C) and recirculation air.
Round trip was around 224 miles but a small amount of driving at the destination put me at about 235 so I needed to stop for a quick charge for safety.
ABRP put it as a 9 minute charge which is simply a waste of time so I splurged and treated myself to 65° temps and just grabbed a bite to eat during a 30 minute charge.
Unfortunately the vendor I was visiting only has one or two 120V outlets in the parking that can be used to charge and none are reserved so I couldn't grab a slow charge for the 9 hours I was there
 
Early morning -33°C / wind chill -39°C. Keeps dropping. The calculated range, no heating on, is 319 km (198 miles) at 100% SOC (no heated garage), as seen in the first screenshot. After starting the pre-heating, the calculated range dropped to 262 km (162 miles) at 100% SOC, as seen in the second screenshot. The results are similar to the previous three winters.

Scheduling roundtrip 200 - 250 km (124 - 155 miles). Rarely using 100% SOC, but heating can be life-saving if stuck at these temperatures. Sleeping bags in the trunk.

2) -33 -39 319 km 100%.webp 3) - 33 -39 262 km 100% preheating.webp
 
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George Davidson said:
Early morning -33°C / wind chill -39°C. Keeps dropping. The calculated range, no heating on, is 319 km (198 miles) at 100% SOC (no heated garage), as seen in the first screenshot. After starting the pre-heating, the calculated range dropped to 262 km (162 miles) at 100% SOC, as seen in the second screenshot. The results are similar to the previous three winters.

Scheduling roundtrip 200 - 250 km (124 - 155 miles). Rarely using 100% SOC, but heating can be life-saving if stuck at these temperatures. Sleeping bags in the trunk.

View attachment 19191 View attachment 19192
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That doesn't surprise me given those temps. I think most EVs would be similar. What are your ranges in summer at 20-30C temps?
 
R P said:
That doesn't surprise me given those temps. I think most EVs would be similar. What are your ranges in summer at 20-30C temps?
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In summer, the ranges are around 350 - 360 km as we drive mainly on Hwys. The heat pump works less in summer, dealing with a difference of 10 - 15°C. The consumption could be 17-20 kWh/100km. In winter, with these temperatures, between -30°C and -40°C, the consumption is about 30 kWh/100km and more. Once getting close to -40°C, at a highway speed, we find the +27°C with the dedicated "Front" airflow not powerful enough - it is either keeping the front windshield from building up frost or us. We prefer "keeping us freezing a little" to see what is in front of us.:-)
 
That's not the best summer range. I was getting much higher than that, at times 500 kms. But my driving was mostly city. Do you get a new battery for yours, and are you uptodate on all the recalls?
 
R P said:
That's not the best summer range. I was getting much higher than that, at times 500 kms. But my driving was mostly city. Do you get a new battery for yours, and are you uptodate on all the recalls?
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Our driving is mainly highway with little to no regeneration. Once in the city, the regen kicks in. At highway speeds, achieving the advertised consumption of 15 kWh/100 km is difficult.

The battery was replaced in Sep 2021. It died in Apr 2021 at some 134,000, and the car was bricked for half a year. The new battery has some 55,000 km on and hopefully holds some time.
 
George Davidson said:
Our driving is mainly highway with little to no regeneration. Once in the city, the regen kicks in. At highway speeds, achieving the advertised consumption of 15 kWh/100 km is difficult.

The battery was replaced in Sep 2021. It died in Apr 2021 at some 134,000, and the car was bricked for half a year. The new battery has some 55,000 km on and hopefully holds some time.
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How fast to do you travel on the hwy?
 
Before setting for the trip, preheating was done twice, in two different ways in the garage with temp -29°C:

- preheating when connected to L2 charger and taking power from the grid, the calculated range was 240 km at 100% SOC
- preheating at utility mode when NOT connected to L2 charger and taking power from the battery, the calculated range was 191 km at 100% SOC

4) -29 garage 240 km 100% preheating when connected to L2.webp 5) -29 garage 192 km 100% preheating at utility mode when NOT connected to L2.webp
 
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R P said:
How fast to do you travel on the hwy?
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It depends. I adjust to other cars to limit any overtaking. It seems to be the way everybody keeps on "our" highway for safety reasons. Nothing is pleasant about a semi with two trailers trying to overtake your car. When everybody keeps the same speed with safe distances with the car in front and behind, that is the safest way, IMO. And the police seem happy with 115 - 120 km/hr when everybody does the same.

It is usually around 115 - 120 km/hr when the conditions are good.

Everybody seems to like the red lights of the car in front of them at a safe distance but still visible, as it helps with knowing where to go when it is dark. I would say several hundred meters.

The same for the headlights of the car behind. Several hundred meters.

Most of us are moving in a sort of synced and organized way.
 
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OK, that's pretty fast, and you will definitely get lower range at that speed, esp in winter. Cold air is much more dense, so your drag goes up, esp at higher speeds. I go that fast, too, at times, on our local freeways, but usually for short periods. On a trip I usually set my cruise for about 10 kph above speed limits, to avoid tickets. And if I am cutting it close to my next charge station, I may slow down a bit. I know there is a big diff in efficiency from 100 kph to 120 kph, so I keep that in mind.

You seem to be putting a lot of kms on you Kona. So at least you are getting good use out of it. What is your total odometer kms now? And have you ever had to replace your motor and gearbox?
 
R P said:
OK, that's pretty fast, and you will definitely get lower range at that speed, esp in winter. Cold air is much more dense, so your drag goes up, esp at higher speeds. I go that fast, too, at times, on our local freeways, but usually for short periods. On a trip I usually set my cruise for about 10 kph above speed limits, to avoid tickets. And if I am cutting it close to my next charge station, I may slow down a bit. I know there is a big diff in efficiency from 100 kph to 120 kph, so I keep that in mind.

You seem to be putting a lot of kms on you Kona. So at least you are getting good use out of it. What is your total odometer kms now? And have you ever had to replace your motor and gearbox?
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Getting close to 190,000 km in total. Likely breaking the 200,000 km barrier sometime in Jan / Feb 2023. We drive 4,000 - 6,000 km a month. It depends on work shifts and various trips to the city.

We have been lucky with the motor so far. But a friend already had his replaced. I guess it just depends on the given component and car.

Our main worry is the battery, as the replacement did not get a new 160,000 km warranty (which would be logical IMO) but a remainder of the original old battery, which was only some 25,000 km.

Hyundai's warranty policy for replacement batteries in Canada is weird - 20,000 km or 12 months, whichever comes first. Not surprising customers do not like it. Fortunately, Hyundai gets competition from Vinfast. I hope the Vietnamese teach the Koreans a lesson.
 
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Wow, that's the highest mileage Kona that I am aware of. And in fairly harsh conditions for an EV. Yeah, for some reason some never have the motor/gearbox issue. I had to have both replaced at about 20K kms. And if you have followed @KiwiME on the Repairs, Issues and Fixes thread, many have also experienced very black gear oil and he advocates having it changed (I did). I am sure he would like to know what yours looks like now if you never changed it.

My son has over 190K kms on his 2018 Tesla M3. He does a lot of driving, too. His 2009 Forester is also approaching 300k kms and he drives the crap out of that one, too, a lot of rough off-road.
 
George Davidson said:
It depends. I adjust to other cars to limit any overtaking. It seems to be the way everybody keeps on "our" highway for safety reasons. Nothing is pleasant about a semi with two trailers trying to overtake your car. When everybody keeps the same speed with safe distances with the car in front and behind, that is the safest way, IMO. And the police seem happy with 115 - 120 km/hr when everybody does the same.

It is usually around 115 - 120 km/hr when the conditions are good.

Everybody seems to like the red lights of the car in front of them at a safe distance but still visible, as it helps with knowing where to go when it is dark. I would say several hundred meters.

The same for the headlights of the car behind. Several hundred meters.

Most of us are moving in a sort of synced and organized way.
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I have driven the Canadian prairies (Red Deer to Saskatchewan and Manitoba) in winter and summer, as well as city and suburban Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer and the two other Provincial capitals.

How I wish drivers here in Oz were taught the way Canadians are taught. A distinct lack of skills, roadcraft and courtesy prevails here, I'm afraid - quite the opposite to what you have described and I have experienced in Canada. But the trucks are the same:(
 
Currently -33 C in our county. Windchill -46 C. Range loss some 50%. Even with preheating and the car on L2 constantly. Consumption is about 30 kWh/100 km. Temp still dropping, tonight forecast -39 C, windchill -50 C. I tested towing a small utility trailer at these temps two years ago, the range loss was around 75%.

 
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-38 in Red Deer this morning. My 130km highway drive from Calgary took 50% battery at 100km/h and no wind. Trickle charging here at L1, will be stopping to top up at a L3 charger on my way home methinks!
 
ansonchappell said:
-38 in Red Deer this morning. My 130km highway drive from Calgary took 50% battery at 100km/h and no wind. Trickle charging here at L1, will be stopping to top up at a L3 charger on my way home methinks!
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Your experience corresponds to yesterday's one-way trip to Edmonton of 130 km - from 80% to 10%. Seeing -35 C on the dashboard, the windchill was close to -50 C, windy. In the end, when nearing the DC charger at the Londonderry Mall, we experienced the "turtle" mode.

70% of the battery for 130 km is sad.

We charged back to 80% at the Londonderry fast charger, some 54 kWh in 90 minutes. Very slow "fast charging" even with the "Winter Mode" on.

At these temperatures, it would be a risky business to take a trip longer than 200 km, even with 100% SOC. I would say 150 km should be safe, keeping the remaining range for those less predictable situations when stuck and heating is needed. The wait times for getting the car towed away is tens of hours these days.
 
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