Zero emission road vehicles.

[Neal]

I think it’s fine if you have an overnight power source to plug into, leaving an EV in freezing conditions at an airport for a few weeks with a low battery is going to be more of an issue.

[Greg]

I think it’s fine if you have an overnight power source to plug into, leaving an EV in freezing conditions at an airport for a few weeks with a low battery is going to be more of an issue.

Oh, well that’s just another example of poor user practice. The user manual clearly states that in such circumstances, always leave the car with a full charge.

[Nick]

I think it’s fine if you have an overnight power source to plug into, leaving an EV in freezing conditions at an airport for a few weeks with a low battery is going to be more of an issue.

Oh, well that’s just another example of poor user practice. The user manual clearly states that in such circumstances, always leave the car with a full charge.

Yep, maybe, but its still a issue that has no direct analogue in a ICE car. I wonder how many folk read user manuals.

Also, how do you leave a car at a airport with a full charge? You have to drive to the airport after all.

[Greg]

I think it’s fine if you have an overnight power source to plug into, leaving an EV in freezing conditions at an airport for a few weeks with a low battery is going to be more of an issue.

Oh, well that’s just another example of poor user practice. The user manual clearly states that in such circumstances, always leave the car with a full charge.

Yep, maybe, but its still a issue that has no direct analogue in a ICE car. I wonder how many folk read user manuals.

Also, how do you leave a car at a airport with a full charge? You have to drive to the airport after all.

I agree although poor planning and maintenance can also result in a dead ICE car in an airport carpark. All U.K. airports have Tesla Chargers (other brands are available) close by. As for not educating from the user manual, those who don’t are the fools who need to

[The Stratmangler]

I thought that a good number of EVs used a lead acid battery for low voltage applications, such as starting the car.
Lead acid batteries are can be buggers in cold weather.

[jack]

It's not like it hasn't been known for decades that pretty much every battery technology has issues with low temperatures as most rely on some form of chemical reaction and we all know, or at least those of us who did A Level chemistry do, that as the temperature falls, the kinetic energy of the molecules falls, thus collision rates fall as does the energy in those collisions, ergo reaction rates also fall.

Back in the early '80s when I was living in St John's, Newfoundland, in the winter (as low as -30C before wind-chill) we kept our camera batteries inside our jackets for exactly this reason.

Oh, and you plugged your car in overnight, not because they were electric cars, but the blocks had heater plugs in them and it stopped the car freezing solid. My brother had the oil and water in his car freeze solid once when driving in a blizzard on his way to London (Ontario) - car just ground to a halt.

We also parked on planks so the wheels didn't freeze into the road and then get destroyed when you tried to pull away in the morning... One student with a Mini (stupid car to have there) always parked it with an upright 10ft red pole next to it so he could find it in the morning...

Great part of the world!

[Nick]

ergo reaction rates also fall.

And it makes far more sense if you remember the temperature is actually in a value like kelvin where 0C is not "zero" temperature (for those who haven't done A Level Physics or Chem).

[vinylnvalves]

It makes me feel warmer if I think it’s 273 degrees outside.

From my time with GM in London, Ontario, my first day was a trial by fire, got a skyliner as a hire car, horrible American thing, was confused why there was a yard brush in the boot, until next morning the 2ft of snow on the car - answered the question.

There was a study into electric cars commissioned in the 1970’s by ford ( era of free electric- prior to 3 mile island). The main thrust of the report was that they would need to fit a kerosene burner for most cars sold in the states, for cabin heat. Which I think was the killer for Ford back them. Has global warming negated that need ?

I had a patent for a what is a rechargeable giant hand warmer ( super saturated solution technology) that was to be swapped at service stations to heat the cabin of an electric car for a few hours. Sun-amp thermal stores, took the idea to the next level.

[Daniel Quinn]

If you leave your ev at Manchester airport with 65 % charge for 2 weeks in August , when you come home it will still register 65 % charge .

I can confirm empirically this is the case.

In the middle of January when your wife insists in keeping the car warm , I haven’t a clue

[pre65]

This is for EV construction machinery that works off grid.

Volvo CE and Rolls-Royce bring Wood-Burning Off-Grid EV Chargers.

https://energytheory.com/volvo-ce-and-r ... -chargers/

[Neal]

Spoken to a friend who lives in Norway and the low temperatures do cause EV owners issues there as temps drop well below -30c at times. Obviously journey planning is key as is keeping the cars, even petrol and diesel in a heated garage. He did say they have a good charging network though so it’s really down to being away of the issues and planning around them.

[Greg]

Spoken to a friend who lives in Norway and the low temperatures do cause EV owners issues there as temps drop well below -30c at times. Obviously journey planning is key as is keeping the cars, even petrol and diesel in a heated garage. He did say they have a good charging network though so it’s really down to being away of the issues and planning around them.

Yes, I agree with that. Using an EV is very different from an ICE one. I’ve been using a Tesla for nearly 3.5 years and I’m still learning a lot of stuff and still looking things up in the manual, not to mention new features etc that come with software updates. Thinking back to when I started motoring, it must have been several years before I really understood and knew how to properly look after a car or motorcycle, by which time I could confidently strip, repair and rebuild an engine and manage most other maintenance requirements. An example of what I’ve learnt with this cold weather is, tonight I need to charge the car and it’s forecast to be -5C, so I’ll schedule it to precondition the battery prior to charging. This feature can also be applied during a journey.

[Neal]

He also mentioned that the have ‘heating’ posts for ICE cars in car parks as the temperatures can get really low, plug your car in to pre warm the engine.

[jack]

He also mentioned that the have ‘heating’ posts for ICE cars in car parks as the temperatures can get really low, plug your car in to pre warm the engine.

That's essentially what we were doing in Newfoundland back in the day. ICE vehicles need fluids to be fluids to operate.

[Greg]

More on cold EV batteries.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... ing-winter