Range in very cold weather

LeftieBiker said:

I ran some errands this evening, using full heat at first and then Eco mode heat. I traveled 29 miles in mostly lower speed driving (no 55MPH at all) and taking minimal range extending precautions - mainly partial recirculate. I added about 10% charge at a Kohl's (the charging station cable felt like solid copper, and didn't want to bend), and got home with 17% SOC. I estimate my range under those conditions, in this +5 to 0F weather, is 35 whole miles. This with 12 bars showing, but one near dropping.

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Check your tire pressures. I can drive 45 miles easily in those conditions with heat cranked to max and I use the highway >65mph.

The tires were inflated to 42psi when the snows were mounted, about 10 days ago.

LeftieBiker said:

the snows

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There's your sign.

I'm not an idiot. This is my 5th Winter with these snows. They only drop range about 5%.

Just heads up from Ukraine, Eastern Europe.

Here and in Russia Leafs are mostly brought used from US and from Japan due to huge difference in pricing therefore they don't have warranty, and there are two "mods" for cold weather, Webasto and Eberspacher, both made in Germany, that are autonomous gasoline and diesel heaters, both with 5 liter tank, they can be plugged into normal heating systems, and even during very cold times, they immediately make "tropics in your car", without draining precious available mileage. And in case you plan shorter runs or it's warmer outside, you can still use normal heater/heat pump, in order to save gasoline/diesel.

I know most of cars in US are on warranty, and of course it's not applicable in that case. This is for older ones already not on warranty.

I thought about the Eberspacher as we had one on an old diesel growing up, but I believe the 13+ Leaf are hot air heated. I even thought about making a box in the back with an exhaust somehow.

If someone has done something like this let us know, with pictures

LeftieBiker said:

I'm not an idiot. This is my 5th Winter with these snows. They only drop range about 5%.

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You only get 29 miles and that's only 5% worse than with eco tires? Your car is not very efficient for some reason.

BrockWI said:

I thought about the Eberspacher as we had one on an old diesel growing up, but I believe the 13+ Leaf are hot air heated. I even thought about making a box in the back with an exhaust somehow.

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This has got to be sacrilege on a BEV, right?

For us the range seems proportional to the outside and pack temp. When it's -10F we are lucky to get 45 miles to low battery warning (8%), we are running snows mostly on dry pavement. The heat is the same set to 75F and lowest fan speed and either floor (if it is just me) or floor / windshield with one or two other people. At 0F we get about 50 miles and at 10F we get about 55. These are all the same trips just at different outside temps. Throw in snow and take another 1/3 off all that, driving in a snowstorm cuts that in half.

In summer, with summer tires on I can go 90-95 miles running the same trips.

Stanton said:

This has got to be sacrilege on a BEV, right?

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For sure, but when it's -10F sometimes you want to light things on fire for heat

That's the thing though, I can just be cold a couple of days a year, my wife and kids though. My wife will just crank the heat and run 30 miles, run the car to LBW and switch cars....

Maybe a 60 kwh battery will cure this problem

I had forgotten to install my primitive grille blocker, so I did that last night, as the first Arctic winds arrived. It's just a rectangular piece of cardboard covered with a plastic bag, and I don't know how much '13+ Leafs benefit from having the grille blocked, but I figure it's worth a try.

LeftieBiker said:

I had forgotten to install my primitive grille blocker, so I did that last night, as the first Arctic winds arrived. It's just a rectangular piece of cardboard covered with a plastic bag, and I don't know how much '13+ Leafs benefit from having the grille blocked, but I figure it's worth a try.

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It's worth about an extra .2 mi/kwh in 50F weather if you do the wheel dams too

http://mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=19181&start=190#p486194

The idea behind the grille blocker is not improved aerodynamics, but reduced heater losses.