Battery damage in extremely cold temps

[Tozz]

Yes it's true that in eg. norway they have special heaters in their car to heat up parts of the car.

I was just referring to TS' OP where he is talking about Chicago. The cars in Chicago will not have all these fancy features and 'extra anti freeze' in their coolant. Their diesel at the pump probably isn't adjusted for these temperatures either.

But my guess is everything will be fine. Apparently the last record is from 1985 where it was -27 Fahrenheit.

 

[coleAK]

Yes it's true that in eg. norway they have special heaters in their car to heat up parts of the car.

I was just referring to TS' OP where he is talking about Chicago. The cars in Chicago will not have all these fancy features and 'extra anti freeze' in their coolant. Their diesel at the pump probably isn't adjusted for these temperatures either.

But my guess is everything will be fine. Apparently the last record is from 1985 where it was -27 Fahrenheit.

I’m in Alaska, Anchorage is farther north than Oslo and Fairbanks is up there... So talking from that perspective.

I don’t think a block heater and battery warmer would be unreasonable in Chicago or much of N central US.

 

[taraquin]

Yes it's true that in eg. norway they have special heaters in their car to heat up parts of the car.

I was just referring to TS' OP where he is talking about Chicago. The cars in Chicago will not have all these fancy features and 'extra anti freeze' in their coolant. Their diesel at the pump probably isn't adjusted for these temperatures either.

But my guess is everything will be fine. Apparently the last record is from 1985 where it was -27 Fahrenheit.

On my 2 previous cars I that was regualr petrol cars I had coolant-heater on one of them and block+cabinheater on one of them. Even at 5C or below they save a lot of fuel. There is no problem starting most petrol cars in -30C where I live, BUT on my Honda Civic it sounded like the engine was dying in very low temps (-15C or less) if I didn`t use the coolant-heater.

 

[taraquin]

I’ve had regen set to low since October. Most of the time I have full regen low when I leave after pre heat. Worst case I have it within ~5 miles driving

Okay, how much does the preheating without charging\plugged-in heat battery? Do you get some regen at regen even then at low -10C or worse?

 

[coleAK]

On my 2 previous cars I that was regualr petrol cars I had coolant-heater on one of them and block+cabinheater on one of them. Even at 5C or below they save a lot of fuel. There is no problem starting most petrol cars in -30C where I live, BUT on my Honda Civic it sounded like the engine was dying in very low temps (-15C or less) if I didn`t use the coolant-heater.

On the same lines. The the state (Alaska) runs PSA adds all winter to plug in if it’s 20F or below to decrease emissions and increase MPG.

 

[coleAK]

Okay, how much does the preheating without charging\plugged-in heat battery? Do you get some regen at regen even then at low -10C or worse?

I don’t know for sure since there is no battery temp meter. But when I pre heat for 15-20 min (not plugged in) before I leave work most days if it’s above about -15C I don’t have the “snowflake” and full low regen from the start. When it gets much colder than that I try and pre heat for 20-30 min and if I have the “snowflake” and limited low regen but it goes away within a few miles. Make sense?

I’ve been down to -35 C and had full low regen before I made it home ~8 miles.

 

[StellarRat]

Does cold actually damage the batteries? I think all it does is prevent them from holding much charge. Heat, on the other hand, is absolutely an Li battery killer. That's one reason why I didn't consider another Leaf. Their batteries don't last because they aren't "cared for" by the car.

 

[duanra]

Here is an interresting article. According to this article, heat is the ennemy : Are you killing your lithium batteries?

 

[StellarRat]

Here is an interresting article. According to this article, heat is the ennemy : Are you killing your lithium batteries?

That's just about everything you need to know about keeping Li batteries alive as long as possible. One thing the article didn't really cover is that some devices and all EVs (as far as I know) have electronics that limit the charge /discharge to keep it in the long life zone. So, when your car says it's 100% charged it's probably only 90% of true capacity. Same with discharge, when it's "empty" it's not really totally discharged. Tesla must be masters of battery life because Elon doesn't seem to think that even constant 90% charging is even a problem. In my Leaf I always limited my charge to 80% unless I knew I was going on a long trip. I figured that was around 66% of true capacity. I still lost about 30% of my capacity in six years and we don't live in a really hot climate.

 

[trailhound]

We had -30 to -35F a couple of weeks ago when I was on my way to work. High that day was -15 though. Nothing dramatic happened. Pre heated for 30 min before I went home. As others have said, i charge every night when it’s that cold.

We haven’t had < -30 for days at a time yet but Fairbanks has, I know there are at least 3 Tesla’s in Fairbanks.

Do you live in Anchorage? Last week I finally saw 2 Model 3's ( one blue and one red) . Do you have any idea what the numbers are?

 

[StellarRat]

Do you live in Anchorage? Last week I finally saw 2 Model 3's ( one blue and one red) . Do you have any idea what the numbers are?

That probably all of them. I noticed there is nary a single Supercharger in all of Alaska.

 

[coleAK]

Do you live in Anchorage? Last week I finally saw 2 Model 3's ( one blue and one red) . Do you have any idea what the numbers are?

In the valley when it was that cold. When we picked up ours at the port in sept there were five 3s and two x that day. The guy there mentiond to me in passing “we used to unload 2 or 3 Tesla’s a month now it’s at least 5 every barge three times a week for the last month or so”. I know the guy that started the Tesla club up here and he says he knows of > 200 Tesla’s in the state. There are at least four 3’s in Fairbanks. There were three red 3s at the eagle river Freddie’s the other day. There are a few 3’s in soldotona as well. A ton in wrangle and Juneau. Met a guy charging ar the talkeetna tesoro this fall with a RWD 3 that lives in Valdez. The blue one in Anchorage is most likely a buddy that got one of the first model S in the state. He sold it and got a blue 3.

Do you have one?

 

[StellarRat]

A ton in wrangle and Juneau.

I lived in Juneau! It's the perfect place for a Tesla. Gas is expensive and since farthest one way distance you can drive there is around 50 miles you'll never need a Supercharger or be in any danger of running out of power...LOL

 

[trailhound]

In the valley when it was that cold. When we picked up ours at the port in sept there were five 3s and two x that day. The guy there mentiond to me in passing “we used to unload 2 or 3 Tesla’s a month now it’s at least 5 every barge three times a week for the last month or so”. I know the guy that started the Tesla club up here and he says he knows of > 200 Tesla’s in the state. There are at least four 3’s in Fairbanks. There were three red 3s at the eagle river Freddie’s the other day. There are a few 3’s in soldotona as well. A ton in wrangle and Juneau. Met a guy charging ar the talkeetna tesoro this fall with a RWD 3 that lives in Valdez. The blue one in Anchorage is most likely a buddy that got one of the first model S in the state. He sold it and got a blue 3.

Do you have one?

no- will be my next car though
thanks for the info.

 

[coleAK]

I lived in Juneau! It's the perfect place for a Tesla. Gas is expensive and since farthest one way distance you can drive there is around 50 miles you'll never need a Supercharger or be in any danger of running out of power...LOL

Apparently they put in a bunch of free charging stations J1772 in both places as an incentive to go EV.

 

[coleAK]

no- will be my next car though
thanks for the info.

Any time. I wouldn’t have a Tesla as your only vehicle up here yet. My wife mainly drives the Tesla and the ICE.