1st Cold driving here with my 'i' :(

[justidutch]

These are all good tips. Here's another one:

Dress as if you were going to spend some time outdoors on a cold day. It works wonders.

 

[DonDakin]

Before installing the diesel heater I tried many ways to stay warm in the car. I think it's a real learning curve the first winter with an EV. THere is lot's of fun reading here on the forum about heat and comfort in the car.

Bottom line is that if you are not going too far the HVAC system in the car works great. You have to accept the range loss and just use the heat to stay warm and comfortable.

If you are going far then you have to accept that you will be cold on your trip. Best bang for my buck was 12 Volt heated insoles for my boots. Got them from a motorcycle shop.

If you want to maintain any kind of summer like range and comfort then you need a fuel based heater.

Of course all of this is very personal because everyone is different in terms of expectation and tolerance to the cold. Also some people are hauling passengers that of course breath and fog up windows quickly too.

I'm not that tolerant and I live in a really cold winter climate and I hated the idea that my battery "shrunk" in winter and I like fiddling around with the car so I wound up with a hybrid electric OEM and diesel heater.

BTW all of aerowatts comments are right on regarding the green dot....

Don.....

 

[JoeS]

…BTW all of Aerowhatt's comments are right on regarding the green dot....

I agree, and this is a revelation worth repeating:

When turning the heat selector from heating to the green dot (neutral position) make sure not to go past the green dot at all.
Any movement past the green dot to the cooling selections will change the airflow away from the heater coil, or core…
whenever you move the temperature selector to the green dot it leaves the airflow going through the appropriate core that you moved the selector from, to get to green.

Dang, I never realized that!
I'll be careful not to overshoot in the future.
Here's a design situation where a significant detent in the control at the green dot would have been welcomed.

 

[PV1]

In other cars, the temperature knob controls the position of the airflow damper, which mixes air that goes through the heater core with air going through the AC coil. This is why running the AC in the winter will work while still providing heat in other cars. But in the i-MiEV, the further you turn the knob away from the green dot, the more it will run the AC or heater. The damper will not mix air between the two.

If you accidentally turn the temperature knob too far, just simply clicking it into the red and back to the green dot will move the damper back into the heating position. You will almost instantly feel the difference in the air coming through the vents.

What I do once the interior is warm, is turn the temperature knob down to the green dot, then go one click back into the red. This will turn off the heater for a few minutes until the water cools down to about 95 F, but it keeps the pump running and let's you recover heat from the whole loop.

 

[ed5000]

Yes, good tips here. I'm entering my first winter with the i-miev (bought in June) and it got into the 40's this morning and I tried the seat heater for the first time. Boy is it nice! I never tried one before. I take it the passenger seat doesn't have one. It would be nice if it did since I just started carpooling and have a passenger now.

 

[JoeS]

...The design of the HVAC system prevent air from going through both the heater core and the AC coil at the same time....

I'm afraid I'm still a bit confused - here's the scenario:

Had a decent rain today (yay!) and I had the heater on one notch above the green dot (heat) and the vents set to a mixture of dash and feet. The windshield started to fog up, so I rotated the direction selector control fully clockwise to the defrost setting, and the aircon light lit up. Presumably, this is to dehumidify the air. How does the dehumidification process work?

Anyway, I won't worry about it too much as the windshield cleared up.

 

[PV1]

This is one automatic task that I don't understand. I simply push the AC button again to turn it off, and it will remain off as long as the position selector isn't moved.

Unless we're wrong about the design of the HVAC system, the AC coil has no airflow when the heater is being used. I'll test this today and find out (also raining here and about 50 F).

 

[pbui19]

tigger....since you don't have the remote to pre-heat, you could get a 12v heater to plug in the cigarette lighter, it's powered with the key on ACC

http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-61598.html

my 50-mile commute is now marginally possible with the cooler temperature, even without using the heater, unless i really slow down.

 

[JoeS]

tigger....since you don't have the remote to pre-heat, you could get a 12v heater to plug in the cigarette lighter, it's powered with the key on ACC
http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-61598.html

NO! The accessory socket is only rated for 10A and this heater draws 13A. Even at 10A I'd be worried, as these aren't the high-current cigarette-lighter outlets of old.

my 50-mile commute is now marginally possible with the cooler temperature, even without using the heater, unless i really slow down.

Paul, you'd be ok if it wasn't for that final 2000ft(?) climb home. Still haven't come up with a charging scheme at work??

 

[Don]

tigger....since you don't have the remote to pre-heat, you could get a 12v heater to plug in the cigarette lighter, it's powered with the key on ACC
http://www.harborfreight.com/12v-auto-heater-defroster-with-light-61598.html

NO! The accessory socket is only rated for 10A and this heater draws 13A. Even at 10A I'd be worried, as these aren't the high-current cigarette-lighter outlets of old.

Even though the owners manual suggests you keep the load on the accessory outlet at 120 watts or less (10 amps) it's actually fused at 15 amps. Several of us have tried that same Harbor Freight heater/defroster and found it to be basically worthless - I bought one a couple years ago hoping it would help keep the windshield defrosted - Mounted it on a Coke can placed in the passenger cup holder as recommended by another poster who swore it worked for him. Didn't use it but once or twice because it made little difference. 13 amps @ 14 volts is only 180 watts of heat, which isn't really enough to notice

Don