Winter range?

I'm becoming a bit concerned about winter use of my `16 EV. When new three months ago, I usually saw 74 miles est. range on the GoM, due to my hilly location and driving style.

Now that local temps are in the 50s, I'm using the seat heater and cabin heat set at 74F on auto, and my est. range is down to 64 miles after a charge. I'm wondering how bad it will be with temps in the 20s and 30s?

What's the Spark EV experience with range been in cold climates?

Two things will lower range in the winter :
- cold batteries don't work as well
- running the heater sucks electricity that then is no longer available to move the car

To get better range from your Spark in the winter :
- park in a garage (generally higher temp than parking outside)
- make sure your car is plugged in overnight (that will maintain battery temp using electricity from the house, not the battery)
- set the interior temp (heater) just before you turn off the vehicle for the night, with a fairly high fan speed
- with car plugged in, use "remote start" on the keyfob about 10-15 minutes before you want to leave, which will run the heater and heat up the cabin using house electricity instead of using the car's battery
- don't run your car heater at 74 degrees when driving around (wear a long-sleeved shirt or light sweater)

I'm doing all of the above, except for the part about "don't set the temp to 74". I'm wearing a jacket in the car already and using the seat heater.

If I can't keep it comfortable in the car, I might as well take the bus.

How far do you need to drive?

My commute is 38 miles and I will have level 2 at both ends, so I hadn't given range any thought.
Now I'm beginning to think it might take more than 3 1/2 hours to charge at work and I can't unplug at noon. I don't want to hog the public EVSE all day, but I also don't want to skip charging in the morning and find it unavailable at noon. I can't just leave work and unplug the car when chargepoint tells me it's finished. Suddenly a 6.6kW Leaf is starting to look like an option.

Another factor to consider is snow. If you're driving in snow, it's not hard to turn a 24mpg cold weather car into a 19mpg snowy weather car, and that's for a full tank, not the worst day of the tank.

So, it's agreed. We all hate winter. It's hard on a human body and hard on vehicles.
So what are you going to do? Adapt, or die trying, just like always !

Look at that Motorcyclist passing you ! He's a tough guy! But he may be wearing heated gloves, vest, and who knows what else.... Maybe he's only suffering a little bit for his chosen vehicle !

You too can be a tough guy in your comfortable, quiet, efficient, little EV.
Wear gloves. Use the seat heat. Don't crank up the climate control if you are concerned about the cost of electrons, or time spent at a public charger.
(Being concerned about your time spent at a public charger is Good EV Etiquette !)

Using the Onstar 'precondition' and the key fob 'Remote Start' may not be the same. I don't know.
What happens if you leave the car with climate control off?
I'm pretty sure the Onstar will make the car comfortable, whether Cooling the car in the summer or Warming in the winter.
With the fob does in only power up the climate control the way you left it at shut down?
It would be nice if it did work these two separate ways. I'd like to leave it with Defrost on and driver's seat heat just to make the windshield clear.

Taxman said:

How far do you need to drive?

My commute is 38 miles and I will have level 2 at both ends, so I hadn't given range any thought.
Now I'm beginning to think it might take more than 3 1/2 hours to charge at work and I can't unplug at noon. I don't want to hog the public EVSE all day, but I also don't want to skip charging in the morning and find it unavailable at noon. I can't just leave work and unplug the car when chargepoint tells me it's finished. Suddenly a 6.6kW Leaf is starting to look like an option.

Another factor to consider is snow. If you're driving in snow, it's not hard to turn a 24mpg cold weather car into a 19mpg snowy weather car, and that's for a full tank, not the worst day of the tank.

Click to expand...

Here in SoCal, we don't worry as much about the cold weather, but we do have plenty of elevation changes.
From my experience, elevation change and driving style are the two most important factors. Since I live near the top of a major hill, I need to plan for a lower number of miles per kwh on my return trip (as low as 2.5). So far, no problem. Driving style is more important for me. I try to keep it under 60 mph (even on the freeway), and try to maintain a steady speed if not in stop and go traffic.

With a 38 mile commute, I wouldn't be too concerned. You should be able to make it to work easily, and with a level two charger, you should be able to recharge the battery sufficiently within the 3.5 hour window to make the return trip to your home.

Leafless said:

With a 38 mile commute, I wouldn't be too concerned. You should be able to make it to work easily, and with a level two charger, you should be able to recharge the battery sufficiently within the 3.5 hour window to make the return trip to your home.

Click to expand...

Yes, I realized after posting that 'not fully charged /= can't make it home in a snowstorm', but it might be going deeper into the discharge than I want to make a habit of.
Now I feel bad about hijacking EldRitch's thread.
What I've seen on a Leaf forum (no battery heating) shows range dropping to about 60% of normal when the temps get into negative Fahrenheit territory.
Hopefully you'll be OK this winter, and will have an idea how much cushion you have by spring.
Just remember you'll have fewer kWh to play with each year, but be glad your capacity isn't deteriorating at 2011 Leaf rates.

50 mile range will be a bit limiting, to say the least.

You can't compare SparkEV to Leaf. If you kept SparkEV plugged in, TMS should keep the battery warm until ready to drive. (not sure if it will, though). Combined with heat capacity of liquid and "loss" from normal driving heating the battery, range lost to battery issues would be much less than with Leaf. Cabin heating is a different story; Leaf has heat pump that's more efficient, though they'll supplement with resistive if it gets too cold.

But if you find the winter range to be intolerable, just move to CA in winter.