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CBC Story - EVs working great in SK's extreme cold conditions

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This is great. Some people act like EV range loss in cold weather is a huge deal breaker, but they overlook all of the problems gas cars have in cold weather too. If you plug in overnight, EVs come out way ahead of gas cars for regular commuting, despite range loss.
 
As usual, the comments section there is a cesspool. How do people become so clueless and bitter? Sad lives.

We have 3 vehicles: 2018 Model 3 (second winter!), 2012 Chev Volt and 2018 Toyota Highlander Ltd. The Highlander mostly sits there parked but does get pressed into trailer hauling duties during the summer. Can't wait to replace it with the Cybertruck.

Anyway, I needed to head into the city (Edmonton) today to pick up a lot of stuff at IKEA for an apartment I'm renovating. I had to take the Highlander to fit everything in. It was -28C and it was a good reminder of how much nicer my Model 3 is. The Highlander Ltd is no cheap vehicle, it's the top trim Highlander, but it was nowhere near as nice to drive in winter as my Model 3. Firstly, I had to plug in the block heater the night before to be sure it would start in the morning. Then in the morning I had to run outside and start the vehicle and let it "warm up" while I ran back in to finish breakfast and brush my teeth. My Model 3 is toasty warm within a few blocks of driving even when I don't preheat it. Not the Highlander. It took almost 30 km of highway driving--after the 10 minute "warm up"--before it was finally warm. I could only ever turn the fan down one notch from high. The seat warmer set to high felt like my Model 3's seat warmer set to one. It does have a heated steering wheel though. Not as nice as the one in our former SUV (VW Touareg TDI - yes, a diesel cheat, as least VW reimbursed us handsomely) where the whole steering wheel was heated. The Highlander only heats a small bit at 3 and 9 o'clock, just big enough for my hand. Want to hold your hands anywhere else? Wear some gloves.

When I got to Edmonton, I only had 51 km of "range" left according to the pathetic excuse for a display. Time to find a gas station. The cover for where the fuel is added wouldn't open. I had to open the rear lift, pop off some trim, and pull a lever. That also didn't work. I had to stretch like Gumby to pry the cover open with a credit card in one hand while pulling the lever with the other - success. Then, I had to fumble with my credit card and the pump; unscrew the gas cap and start filling the tank. I had to stand there in -28C temps with a stiff breeze freezing while the tank slowly filled. Finally this chore was done and I jumped back in the vehicle only to realize that my glove stunk of gasoline. Ack!

Did I really suffer through 35 winters doing this before finally going electric? Wow!
 
I don’t have a Tesla yet. What happens if I don’t have a place to plug in at work and it’s out in -30 for 8 hours unplugged? This isn’t ideal obviously. Is it problematic though?

This is stupid but my commute is literally only 4 minutes so are short drives in the cold bad? Do I need to let it get completely warm?
 
I don’t have a Tesla yet. What happens if I don’t have a place to plug in at work and it’s out in -30 for 8 hours unplugged? This isn’t ideal obviously. Is it problematic though?

This is stupid but my commute is literally only 4 minutes so are short drives in the cold bad? Do I need to let it get completely warm?

Short answer: this is not a problem. It’s what I do every day.

You will be happier if 5-10 minutes before you leave you remember to use the app to warm the cabin and turn on the required seat heaters.

You will find the short commute in winter to be vastly superior than in any ICE vehicle.
 
Thanks, does it burn much juice just sitting there keeping itself warm when it’s that cold out? I’m assuming the battery does something to keep itself from getting too cold. That could be wrong though.

Some. Not even close to being an issue so I haven’t really paid attention. Looking at the data in my Stats app it looks like last winter I had about 1-2 km/hr of “phantom drain” while my car was parked outside at work.
 
Question. So most longer term parking areas that experience -30C provide 110V plugs in order to make ICE block heaters happy, does that provide enough amps to keep your Tesla battery warm and happy? Not expecting to charge much in this situation btw.
 
Question. So most longer term parking areas that experience -30C provide 110V plugs in order to make ICE block heaters happy, does that provide enough amps to keep your Tesla battery warm and happy? Not expecting to charge much in this situation btw.
Yes they do. Just. If it’s super cold, don’t count on gaining any significant amount of charge, but you will maintain your battery and current state of charge.
 
Don't many of those block heater plugs cycle the power on and off?

Some do. I’ve had this cause my Volt’s charger refuse to charge, but the same parking spots haven’t given me any grief with my Tesla. Obviously the amount of charge gained (or offset for battery maintenance) would be dependent on how much time they spend off rather than on. For simplicity’s sake I chose to ignore this phenomenon in my answers above. The union of both bone chilling cold AND having to depend on outlets that cycle has not arisen for me. I have left my car plugged in to cycling outlets at Edmonton International Airport few times while away for winter vacation. My Volt refused to charge. The Tesla had enough juice to get me home after. As that’s all I cared about, I didn’t commit the numbers to memory. FWIW, last time I parked at EIA they now have a section reserved for EVs where they don’t cycle the power.

When I’m concerned about charging overnight on a road trip, winter or not, I plan my trip to stay at hotels with L2 charging. I make sure to call beforehand to ensure their charger is working and to let them know that it’s the reason I’m choosing their establishment. I also reiterate this fact at both check-in and check-out (assuming different staff) so they get the point that installing L2 chargers is a good business decision.