RobbW said:
All this talk about insulating our i-MiEVs or supplementing the winter heating. Is this because you all are just very gung-ho about making things "mo bettah"? Or do our i-MiEVs actually really, REALLY suck in cold weather? I'm asking because I'm trying to determine if I should hurry up and try to do something to insulate my Meepster before the cold weather sets in. Or is all of this just nice to have, but not REALLY necessary?
After about 16 months, I can honestly say that I love the car and consider it's purchase one of the better automotive decisions I've made . . . . and I paid a lot more for it than many of those who bought later on . . . . about $10K more, to be exact :lol:
. . . . and, I don't live where it gets really cold,
*but* the performance of the heater/defroster is probably the biggest negative with this car I can think of. It appears Mitsu made a conscious decision to keep the heater core from the gas engine version and then went looking for some way to produce
warm water (I don't think it ever gets HOT) to run through the heater core so the defroster would function. They weren't all that successful, IMO
Since it never really gets that cold here on the Gulf Coast, our problem is more just keeping the fog off the glass, especially when we have 4 adults in the car . . . . breathing. Where it gets really cold, the humidity isn't a big problem, but here it is - Just keeping the glass clear is a problem. I kinda wish every piece of glass in the car had a defroster grid built into it, like the back window does - That would make it more economical to keep the glass clear and I'd just drive with my parka on :lol: You
*can* keep the car comfortable and fog-free, but the amount of energy this requires is just amazing. If your regular summer commute is long enough to use most of your range, winter commuting is going to be an experience. Preheating the car before you leave home will be an absolute necessity and if you can't plug in at work so you can preheat there before you leave, your ride home is going to be . . . . different - As in a bit chilly. If you drive alone, there won't be as much fog to deal with and the seat heater will keep you thawed out . . . . but if you have passengers, it's a whole different ball game - Tell them to bundle up . . . . and STOP breathing!
There are tips and tricks for how to set the climate controls to maximize comfort and minimize battery drain scattered through several threads here - Hopefully one of our Canadian or New York owners can start a new thread focused on how to get the most from heating/defrosting now that fall is here
The car is just as useful in the winter as it is in the summer, but the difference in energy usage between heating/defrosting and air conditioning is dramatic - You can cool it in a hot climate without greatly affecting your range, but keeping the inside anywhere near as fog-free and toasty as you've been used to in your previous ICE cars is going to cost you significant range . . . . and in the end, you're still not going to be 'toasty' unless your commute is really short
As to insulating the doors and hoses and the heater box under car - No doubt those measures will make the car a bit more efficient and that will result in longer range when running the heater/defroster. You'll get through this winter if you don't do any of that (maybe by driving with extra layers of clothing and only running the heat enough to keep the glass clear) and then you can decide what you want to do next year . . . . but, if I lived where it snows and I planned to drive this car for 8 or 10 years, I'd do
something about the heating system - Likely I'd buy some sort of fuel burning heater if I had a long commute and wanted to stay comfortable
On the positive side of this discussion - You'll soon realize how much waste heat an ICE generates. They all have a big radiator to disperse many thousands of btu's of waste heat generated by burning fossil fuels and they still have enough of it left to run you our of the car
AND melt the snow off the roof at the same time - Driving an EV, those days are GONE. We have almost zero waste heat . . . . even when we wish we had some :mrgreen:
Don
