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With temperatures dropping is anyone else already noticing range losses?

PastyPilgrim

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It was 40s-50s yesterday in New England when I took a long drive out to a wedding. I only got ~290miles of range on a full charge in conserve mode with the 21" tires.

I actually almost ran out of charge because I let Rivian nav pick out a charger on my route as I was getting low and it expected to arrive with 10miles of range to spare. There weren't many other chargers in the area so I thought I'd chance it, but as I'm driving I start seeing the delta evaporate from 10 all the way down to 2mi before I decided to bail and charge at a slower charger. There was a single other charger (50kw) between me and the original charger and I got there with like 8mi to spare, charged up about 30mi, and then went to the original charger (a 150-350kw charger).

I drove as slow as possible to try and preserve range when I was getting low and still chewed through battery. It being colder than usual is the only reason I can think of for my efficiency to drop so much.

One thing Rivian navs could really use is the ability to propose several routes with a charger instead of only one option. I get that it's looking for the fastest route minimizing charge times and route deviation, but in times like that I'd rather have been able to select a different route that wouldve gotten me to a charger sooner rather than later. I ended up using plugshare and directly navigating to that midpoint charger.
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Donald Stanfield

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Yeah I haven't drove very far in mine yet but I have noticed it does drop range much quicker if the heat is running than if it isn't. There were a few chilly mornings here. Luckily for me I don't really care to road trip in the winter anyhow.
 

Animalhouse

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This will be my first winter here in north Alabama. The past couple morning have been in the middle 50s in the morning and I’ve notice a little dip in range. I think most of my range dip has been from getting the cabin area comfy.

I have a 2021 Ford MachE since I have no idea when I will get the email on my Rivian.

This is one of those topics that would be great to get feed back on, especially from the growing number of EVs across different geographical locations.
 

WSea

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My very limited and awfully unscientific observations-
If I'm actively home charging up to the minutes prior to leaving for a day trip my initial (first 30 miles or so) efficiency is better than leaving with a cold/cool battery (ambient/sitting overnight unplugged)
 

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Tomgriff

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I have two EVs (Model S and Chevy Bolt). Efficiency on both significantly (10-25%) drop as temperature drops with more drop around town. Using the heater consumes a lot of electricity. It is part of owning an EV, at least with today's battery chemistry.
 

Dark-Fx

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It's been a wee bit worse lately but I've actually had to use the heat in the morning as well.

Make sure you're checking your cold tire pressures.
 

mikehmb

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I do wonder how much of a difference the air density makes vs battery temp. Cool air = dense air = more drag.
 
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SecretService

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Interestingly, I’ve been getting significantly better mileage the past week lol. Guess that’s perks of texas “cold” weather being in the 60s-80s. Hit my peak miles/per kWh last night on the way home from the football game.

Rivian R1T R1S With temperatures dropping is anyone else already noticing range losses? 067B2897-F9CC-4190-A505-0ED4DC979134
 

tojesky

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,,,

I actually almost ran out of charge because I let Rivian nav pick out a charger on my route as I was getting low and it expected to arrive with 10miles of range to spare. There weren't many other chargers in the area so I thought I'd chance it, but as I'm driving I start seeing the delta evaporate from 10 all the way down to 2mi before I decided to bail and charge at a slower charger. There was a single other charger (50kw) between me and the original charger and I got there with like 8mi to spare, charged up about 30mi, and then went to the original charger (a 150-350kw charger).

...
Battery preconditioning may have played a role in dropping the range as well, especially if you had the charging location set as the destination in the navigation.
 

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JoulesVerne

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2nd winter in an EV. We learned a few things last winter in our Ioniq5. On road trips in the cold, dress warm (good advice for ICE also as you never know when you'll break down and need those boots, coat, and a hat). Use the seat heaters first. Dad was right, it's very expensive to heat the outdoors which is what you're doing as the car brings in fresh air.

There were a bunch of trips (-10F) where the heat never made it to the second row. This is a Ioniq5 problem, but having enough layers was key.
 

Gavinmcc

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Good topic. I know from my electric motorcycles I would get up to 30% loss of range in Winter (though we had one week above 100 in the summer where I got an increase of 20% that week, but I don't think cars will do that.)

My Bolt would lose about 20% range in the winter vs the summer.
And of course Highway vs City has a big impact, and the opposite of gas cars.

You do have to reprogram the mind a bit going from Gas to Electrons.
 

Gavinmcc

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And yes, heated seats and steering wheel really helps. In fact they are basically a must with any EV. Whole car heating is a battery drain.
 

Andystroh

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Compared to my last vehicle (ID4) I now have a smaller passenger compartment and a bigger battery… wondering how that will impact the effects of range loss. Should be less energy (as a percent of battery) used for cabin heating, but more energy to condition battery.

on the long term scale I lost 25% efficiency in ID4 with snow tires, cold weather (Colorado so cold, but not frigid) and a ski rack. Interested to see how this winter goes in the Rivian.
 

SteveInBend

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Also, consider getting a pair of these:

Rivian R1T R1S With temperatures dropping is anyone else already noticing range losses? driving_gloves


I'll probably just use my light-weight wool glove liners, though.
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