So Cal folks please chime in on your winter EV Range

your first sentance says you don't want to talk about estimated range. your second says you want to talk about estimated range in the morning?

 

Mine is staying about the same, ICE coming on at the same spot. 11.9 was my last guess-o-meter reading. What PSI do you run on your tires?

 

i'm not in socal, but my experience may apply to your temps. when we were above 70 degrees, i was getting 16.5 estimated and actual. when it started dipping into the 60's, it dropped like a rock to 13.5, so around 20% reduction.

 

You should be good there then. Even if it fell a bit. Its just that when people say "I run factory psi" they usually mean, I don't monitor my tire pressure actively. In which case it can fall to 29-31without tripping TPMS.

What about the loss of 0.9 miles makes you uncomfortable? You expect to get more EV miles, or you are not confident that the range will come back when the weather changes?

 

Same for me!

 

That could explain why my trip odo EV topped out at only 15.4 last summer (my tires were at 32 psi, now at 40 psi)

 

When I got my car a few weeks ago, it would always read 12.4 with a full charge. This morning the full charge read 11.8. My drive from Irvine to Fountain Valley is about 10.8 miles and there's usually about 2.2-2.4 left of EV when I arrive at work. Even though my full EV range reading have fluctuated, I haven't really notice any decrease in actual EV range. This is with no AC/fan/defroster/heater in ECO mode.

 

I drive from Tustin to Fountain Valley (13.2 miles). Last time I filled up my tires (about a month ago), they were 42/40. I used to arrive at work with about 2.0 to maybe 2.5 miles of EV left, sometimes more. Now, it seems I usually get to work with around 1.6 to 1.8 miles of EV left. My estimated EV has also dropped from around 12.8-12.9 to 11.9-12.1 (11.9 EV showing when I leave in the morning, 12.1 EV range showing when I leave work). From what I recall, it started dropping right around the time we went from 70+ degree mornings to 50+ degree mornings.

However, on my drive home, I still seem to be running out of EV at around the same area, give or take 0.5 miles (pretty much the same as its always been for the past 9 months). So it leads me to believe that the morning temperatures (or at least having the car sit outside in much cooler temperatures) affects my range (or estimated range). But after the car sits outside at work for a day in moderate temperatures (65-70F), the range seems to be about the same.

Also, I always charge the car right before I leave, in the morning and afternoon.

 

I'm in Northern Cal.
My summer estimate was 14.7 - 14.9, typically. My actual miles traveled was sometimes as high as 16. Now I am seeing 13.8 - 14.1 estimate and actual is very close to the estimate, sometimes a tenth or two lower. This is on my regular commute, not other non-calibrated routes. My commute is 13 miles round trip on some days and 14 on other days.

Mike

 

Weather hurts efficiency on EVs just as it does on ICEs. Tire Rolling resistance increases with lower temps regardless of the power turning them. If the ground is wet this will further decrease efficiency. It takes energy to push water through the tire tread and throw it in the air.

 

does colder air create more or less wind resistance? i know a golf ball doesn't fly as far.

 

More

 

think baseball season and home runs, ball travels further in warm weather

 

Yes, it's completely normal for colder weather to result in lower battery range. The chemical reactions in batteries just don't work as well at cooler temperatures so the total energy that can be stored and extracted is reduced.