Winter prep: How do you keep range loss under control? ❄️

[schwartz83]

This man brought charts. I love folks like you. End thread (just playing, I like the discussion).

Budman always brings the deets!

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[Brookliner]

I've driven crap cars and trucks throughout my life. I hardly notice anything wrong when I am in my R1T. I just go. I don't even have a driveway; my truck is parked a block away. Some times, even in winter, I'll start a 400 mile trip with 60% SOC because that's where the battery was when I last parked it. I'm just not bothered.

 

[Meinthe303]

I just know I'm going to use a lot more energy and brace for an increase in the xcel bill, thats how I prepare, ... I am in the field 90% of my day, and during the winter, the truck basically never gets turned off. 71° ambient temp, Hot seats, warm hands and a camp fire burning in the truck is always very welcoming. All they need to do is add heated cup holders!.. I drive anywhere from 100-150 miles/day, and seriously set it to stay on every time I get out when its cold and snowy. I charge to 85% nightly and its usually down around 15%-20% every evening when I get home. Plus I keep my heated clothing batteries charging throughout the day. The energy use increase doesn't bother me, I just appreciate how fortunate I am to have a vehicle that is so capable of keeping me comfortable.

 

[R1SFamilyGuy]

The more annoying part is the range it loses just sitting there.

I like to pretend that some of the “fuel” just froze sitting there…and I need to add juice to thaw it 🫠

 

[Cycliste]

In the Bay Area of California, I don’t do anything different. I'm not trying to maximize some efficiency number. As long as I have access to charging, I'll just charge more during winter.

 

[2kwik4u]

Cold weather and EVs don’t always mix well.

Do you pre-heat before leaving? Use insulation hacks? Just pack extra layers and minimize climate control?

We’d love to hear what’s worked for your R1 in freezing conditions.

I'm in Buffalo, we get a lot of snow. Temps will spend weeks below freezing, but rarely dip below zero. We had just over 12-1/2 feet of snow last year at my place.

How do I cope with an EV? I use snow mode. That's it. I don't charge differently, I don't dress differently, I don't charge differently, I don't route differently. Truck works for me, I don't work for it.

There is plenty of energy to make the commute, even at reduced efficiency. It charges back overnight. The use of HVAC isn't going to make a meaningful difference in range, so why change. Charging infrastructure is adequate to support road trips. Takes a bit longer to charge, I use more energy, but I still follow the same premise of "Type in destination, follow instructions".

 

[bc81620]

Nothing just pretend you are driving a full size ICE truck and deal with poor efficiency. The more annoying part is the range it loses just sitting there.

Agree! Not sure why there is so much conversation about this topic. ICE vehicles MPG/Efficiency goes up/down with different temperatures, gas mixtures by season, driving styles and aerodynamics. There is so little talk about that, but so much about it with EV's.

I have a friend that just purchase a brand new F150 with a v8 engine, no turbos, lifted, huge wheels and tires...no talk about how the range of that truck is likely 40% of what it could or should be. Yes, filling with gas only takes a few minutes, but doing that everyone 100 miles gets old and expensive.

Silly if you ask me.

 

[bc81620]

I'm in Buffalo, we get a lot of snow. Temps will spend weeks below freezing, but rarely dip below zero. We had just over 12-1/2 feet of snow last year at my place.

How do I cope with an EV? I use snow mode. That's it. I don't charge differently, I don't dress differently, I don't charge differently, I don't route differently. Truck works for me, I don't work for it.

There is plenty of energy to make the commute, even at reduced efficiency. It charges back overnight. The use of HVAC isn't going to make a meaningful difference in range, so why change. Charging infrastructure is adequate to support road trips. Takes a bit longer to charge, I use more energy, but I still follow the same premise of "Type in destination, follow instructions".

Absolutely - now this is a common sense answer!

 

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Make sure tires are properly inflated. Cold affects those, as well.

Aside from that, I park in the garage when I can. Use pre-condition (but mostly for my own comfort, as others have mentioned). I complain that the steering wheel "heater" is more like a steering wheel "luke-warmer".

And I don't miss my gasoline vehicles chug-chug-chuging as they tried to warm themselves up for 15 minutes in the mornings.

 

[lefkonj]

I have a winter flannel wrap for my R1S. It does increase drag but keep it really warm.

 

[2kwik4u]

Aside from that, I park in the garage when I can.

Yea.....I forgot that change. I park in the garage from Nov-Apr.

Not because of the temperature, I just don't like cleaning snow off the windows all year.

Boat lives in the garage in the summer, truck lives in the garage in the winter.

 

[sherold]

My personal tips from 29K miles of ownership w/QM Large pack:


1.) Watch your speed! This will have the single biggest effect on your efficiency. Running above 70mph will generally start dropping your estimated range.

2.) Plan on 85-90% of your normal efficiency. This is subjective to actual wind & temps but, has generally been a good "rule of thumb" correction factor for driving in cold weather.

3.) Stage your pre-departure charging session to finish roughly .5-1hr before you leave (charge to 100%). This will help to bring the batteries up to a better starting temperature for best efficiency.

4.) Pre-condition the cabin prior to departure using charger power.

5.) Set your HVAC controls to a lower temp, still in a comfortable range for everyone, but economically minded.

6.) Double check proper cold (outside ambient temp, not garaged temp) tire pressures before leaving. You can also overfill to a degree if you know the destination's temperatures will be significantly lower.

7.) Use conserve mode on the highway (If your model supports this). You do not have to leave the suspension at the lowest setting when using this if you are uncomfortable with the ride and concerned about inner tire wear. Disengaging the rear motors when they do not need to be providing power/braking to the pavement and, using the taller gears does help a decent amount. Note that braking power from regen will be reduced when using this mode.

 

[BTOR]

I use climate scheduling to have the cabin and battery warmed up before a trip.

This may be a silly question but how do you advertently or proactively warm the battery? Does this automatically happen in parallel when preheating the cabin? I have never seen an option to just “preheat” (or cool for that matter) the battery

 

[Cascadian]

This may be a silly question but how do you advertently or proactively warm the battery? Does this automatically happen in parallel when preheating the cabin? I have never seen an option to just “preheat” (or cool for that matter) the battery

It is part of the climate scheduling only.

I am not aware of a way to do it independently from the app.

While driving you can do that to prepare for charging on the center screen.

 

[BTOR]

I have a winter flannel wrap for my R1S. It does increase drag but keep it really warm.

Very Nice . Woolrich? LLBean? C.C. Filsons? Other?

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