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Pier

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 15, 2011
Messages
52
Location
St-Aubert, Qc,
My 3 days old I-Miev had a hard time this morning. T -9°C. I went on a 36.2 km run mainly uphill to go. start at 13 bars and only 3.3 bars on arrival. Then way back mostly down 36.2km with turtle with still 17 km to go. I was sure I couldn't make it . I had to drive at 60 kmh and finally arrived safe at home.

I was a bit nervous for the first time on my experiments. Moreover I forgot my evse home so I couldn't recharge on people en route.

Not a lot of energy in the cold and uphill. Just the beginning of the cold season wich will see T° below 20C.

Pier
 
How do you measure 3.3 bars?

Sounds like you learned a couple of things. When you leave home for a cold, uphill drive, make sure the battery is fully topped off . . . . and take along youe EVSE just in case!

Don
 
3.3 bars !!! :?: easy .... no kidding .... just the time or km before losing a bar. It was at 4 bar when I stopped mid-way and lost one bar not long after restart.

Learned a couple of things this morning but also learned a lot reading your posts...thanks...

Pier from Québec.
 
Are you using the heater at all? That's a real drain on the battery. Preheat the car while plugged and and use only the seat heater once underway. And stick to secondary roads (or to 90-95kph on freeways)... You should find a big improvement. We can still routinely get >100km out of a single charge at current temperatures (-1C to +6C) by doing this.
 
oakvilleblake said:
Are you using the heater at all? That's a real drain on the battery. Preheat the car while plugged and and use only the seat heater once underway. And stick to secondary roads (or to 90-95kph on freeways)... You should find a big improvement. We can still routinely get >100km out of a single charge at current temperatures (-1C to +6C) by doing this.

+1

That is what I'm doing as well. It's a speed limit, not a minimum - going 90-95 kmh on the freeway is totally legal. I think I only tried once to go 130 kmh just to see what is was like but mostly I drive it under 100 kmh. Its not that the car can't do it, I'm finding I like the slow going. No need to rush around here and there to get any joy out of the car like I did when I drove ICEs. The electric is a pleasure to drive at any speed. Now when I ride in an ICE or drive my spouses car, I find them to be so harsh and crude compared to the electric smootheness.

I do use the heater though, but keep it on the first or second notches. At 2 to 3C I'm finding I'm only using an extra bar on my 43km commute. I did perform the heater insulation upgrade and the door panel insulation upgrade this fall, I'm thinking this is starting to pay off as I'm not using as much heat to greatly affect my range.
 
Salut Pier

I`m near St Sauveur, QC and experimenting as what is best for our clod temperatures too.

The advice here from the others, is very helpful.
In the winter best keep the battery charged full before you go out on a trip
If you have a heated garage - use it when it gets (-10c or colder)

Here are some of my experiences..

Always preheat the car while you're plugged in before you leave

down to -10C or warmer
In these temperatures - For trips less than 50km (30 miles)
I leave with a full charge and can use the main heater on low 2-4 notches into the red with medium fan speed and use the seat heater, with out any problems.
I Drive with a light foot

For longer trips Less than 70km (45miles)
Best use the seat heater - turn it off when you`re warmed up and on later when your cold, to save energy.
The main heater is a big power drain - try not to use it if you have far to go.
Always carry your portable charger with you and invest in a 12 gauge wire 50`extension cord`.
(I had my portable charger upgraded to a 120/240v 12 amp for faster charging.)

Going up hills will eat a lot of energy, - I live in the mountains.
Fast hard acceleration will use a lot of energy .

My Miev works best for energy consumption and practicality between 60-70 km ph (35- 45 mph) on flat roads.

I'm also considering getting an electric 12V heating cushion (for the passenger seat) & 12v heated car blanket to keep my knees and legs warm.
 
On my 72.4 km, I used no heat at all, just preheating before leaving. The seat heater is fine to heat what is on the seat (hic) but not of much help for my cold feet. So I had cold feet on the return leg. Longer trip would need some more heating in minus 8°C temp., even more when It will go down to minus 20 -25°C in january.

It seems to me that in addition to the cold weather effect on battery, bearings of the car, and air having more density, the fact that the car is not broken in might give less autonomy ? What do you think ? Did you see gradual improvement in the first few thousands km ?

One final note. When recharging after turtle, it took 20+ hours. What surprised me was the cruising range indicator (Gom meter) indicating 151 km to go, never that high before. It tells me that the past drive data it uses is short, I mean not taking into account the whole 72.4km but mainly the return leg that was done at low speed more down than up. The worst GOM I have seen was at the dealership. Full charge gave projected autonomy of 62 km. It sure had been driven very hard before by the company who had it on trial for his employees for 2 days.

Last friday going out of the dealership (first ride) with 15 bars out of 16, I was home (93km) just before turtle. T° +4°C, no heating, no headlight except last 25 km, and nice tail wind. I was driving conservative but following speed limits on secondary roads ( 90kmh, 50 kmh in town). It seemed to me a little short autonomy, considering the tail wind.



Note: It is a little difficult for me to translate fast all these °C to °F and km into Miles, but if you prefer I will do my best.
 
mlucas....to me 90 kmh is no problem around here and I sometimes go down to 80 except on city hyway.

Sandage... St-Sauveur must be about the same weather as here. I will follow your experiments to improve comfort in cold weather with pleasure and bring my own experiences in the right thread. For now, the only thing I did was to preheat with a 120 volt ceramic heater instead of pre-heating with the main battery ( because I recharge on 120 volt which doesn't supply enough energy to pre-heat and recharge at the same time.). I am also thinking of a small 12v heater pushing hot air to the feet while using the seat heater
 
Hi Guys,
one we are going to try for Winter here in NZ, around July, is having our spare battery pack, which is rated at 8Kw and is LiPOIron as opposed to ion, so a bit cheaper I think, is too use the spare pack and run a 12 volt inverter to 230 volts, and then use a normal house fan heater on low, these don't get too hot to touch and have overheat cutouts on them.

Plus they have thermostats so we can simple turn them on to the desired temperture. The car should be all toasty and warm and even on 1, 500 watts, the 8 Kw pack would run to about 4 hours or so.

Maybe it might be an idea to make up a smaller pack, say even a 1 Kw pack and have enough heat at 1.5 Kw for 45 minutes, which might be ok for the shorter trips.

The main purpose of our 8 Kw pack though is to add extra range if we get stuck somewhere without a powerpoint, we should get another 50 Km or more out of the pack at 100 Km/ Hr or maybe another 75 Km at 70 KM Hour.

The pack here costs around $ 9, 000 NZ $
 
Pier said:
mlucas....to me 90 kmh is no problem around here and I sometimes go down to 80 except on city hyway. By the way could you tell me what is the « heater insulation upgrade and the door panel insulation upgrade » your'e writing about ?

Forum Member Lowracer got us all thinking about how to improve the heating performance in our i MiEVs this fall. http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=694 He starts the thread with pictures of the heater modification and the door insulation. If you dig further in the thread, you'll see pictures of Sandange's take on the heater mod - it's called the 'Baked Potato'.

On this page you can see my take on the door insulation modification. http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=224&start=50
 
psyflyjohn said:
And one wonders why electrics aren't catching on ?

In San Diego you don't have to worry about cold weather but up here, its all part of the fun. :D

No one is saying we can't ride around with the heat ablaze, but that would be no different than you drag racing your i everyday and trying to get the most range out of it. Its really not as bad as it sounds, I hardly even think about it much at all these days. I'm not even using the RR gauge anymore, just leave it on the outside temp display most of the time. Just like when I drove my ICE around, I pretty much knew when I would run low on gas and basically ignored the gas gauge most days. Things are a little different now because I know how far my charge will take me in my daily travels. I know I can get back and forth to Buffalo everyday without a mid-day recharge no problem. On weekends when I do my errands and take my son swimming, I know I have plenty of range and will return soon enough to recharge if necessary. Now that I am used to driving an electric car, and I've made the necessary preparations - I don't think about it much anymore.

This is what consumers have to realize, that there will be an adjustment like anything new. But, once the honeymoon phase is over with - everything becomes second nature.
 
MLucas said:
psyflyjohn said:
And one wonders why electrics aren't catching on ?

In San Diego you don't have to worry about cold weather but up here, its all part of the fun. :D

No one is saying we can't ride around with the heat ablaze, but that would be no different than you drag racing your i everyday and trying to get the most range out of it. Its really not as bad as it sounds, I hardly even think about it much at all these days. I'm not even using the RR gauge anymore, just leave it on the outside temp display most of the time. Just like when I drove my ICE around, I pretty much knew when I would run low on gas and basically ignored the gas gauge most days. Things are a little different now because I know how far my charge will take me in my daily travels. I know I can get back and forth to Buffalo everyday without a mid-day recharge no problem. On weekends when I do my errands and take my son swimming, I know I have plenty of range and will return soon enough to recharge if necessary. Now that I am used to driving an electric car, and I've made the necessary preparations - I don't think about it much anymore.

This is what consumers have to realize, that there will be an adjustment like anything new. But, once the honeymoon phase is over with - everything becomes second nature.

I agree with you completely. Driving an electric is a different mindset. Some drive them for the ecological benefits, some drive them for 'beating the gas price'. My reason is the later, but I appreciate savIng the environment. The point I wanted to make though is driving an electric has similarities to driving a motorcycle which I also do. With a bike you're roughing it a little and every trip is an adventure. You dress appropriately, take certain precautions, and check your fuel gauge. Sound familiar?
Anyway, loving the MiEV and looking forward to another adventurous day tomorrow in the snow and the cold.
 
Applewins said:
I agree with you completely. Driving an electric is a different mindset. Some drive them for the ecological benefits, some drive them for 'beating the gas price'. My reason is the later, but I appreciate savIng the environment. The point I wanted to make though is driving an electric has similarities to driving a motorcycle which I also do. With a bike you're roughing it a little and every trip is an adventure. You dress appropriately, take certain precautions, and check your fuel gauge. Sound familiar?
Anyway, loving the MiEV and looking forward to another adventurous day tomorrow in the snow and the cold.

Exactly what I'm talking about. :)
 
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