Rustybkts
Member
I have been driving EV's since 2008. The problem is that batteries are used for both motion and heat when its cold. ICE's have waste heat and its not fully realised by newbies.
My last car was an Ampera and having the back up ICE you would think running the 10.2kWh available battery capacity to zero would not be a problem but many owners like myself talked about the stress of reaching their destination without the damn ICE starting up....almost worse than actually running out in a full EV.
The car has an easy 50 mile EV only range in summer. Not bad for a "hybrid" from 2012.
That 10.2kWh was rapidly drained if you like the car warm in winter and easily used 50% of capacity to heat it on wintry days.
Nevertheless, many owners like myself would hypermile and drive with minimal heating just to cover their commuting. Pre-conditioning was a must when plugged in.
The ICE wouldn't get used for months.
The modern cars with over 200 true miles range are far and away less stressful in winter but you do need to stay mindful of where that heat is actually coming from.
I leave the range meter on miles but as @pgkevet mentions above, view it as a rough guide only. The "Energy Graph" really does give good information if you need to "push the envelope".
My last car was an Ampera and having the back up ICE you would think running the 10.2kWh available battery capacity to zero would not be a problem but many owners like myself talked about the stress of reaching their destination without the damn ICE starting up....almost worse than actually running out in a full EV.
The car has an easy 50 mile EV only range in summer. Not bad for a "hybrid" from 2012.
That 10.2kWh was rapidly drained if you like the car warm in winter and easily used 50% of capacity to heat it on wintry days.
Nevertheless, many owners like myself would hypermile and drive with minimal heating just to cover their commuting. Pre-conditioning was a must when plugged in.
The ICE wouldn't get used for months.
The modern cars with over 200 true miles range are far and away less stressful in winter but you do need to stay mindful of where that heat is actually coming from.
I leave the range meter on miles but as @pgkevet mentions above, view it as a rough guide only. The "Energy Graph" really does give good information if you need to "push the envelope".