Batteries in icy weather
Discussion
Most EV's also use a 12v auxiliary battery alongside the main traction batteries, so they power most the system like door locks, ignition and so on. They can fail like an ICE vehicle battery can fail and usually an extreme cold snap is what kills off an already dying battery as the loads they are subjected to in winter are far greater. EV range is reduced in cold weather, but so is my eMTB's range and my battery power tools seem less eager when they're freezing cold. As am I.
I replaced the battery on my E Class Merc (W212) two days ago as it was slowly dying and wouldn't start the car on Saturday (without it getting a 2 hour charge).
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
Just don't buy batteries at Euro Car Parts as they're a rip off!
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
Just don't buy batteries at Euro Car Parts as they're a rip off!
Geoffcapes said:
I replaced the battery on my E Class Merc (W212) two days ago as it was slowly dying and wouldn't start the car on Saturday (without it getting a 2 hour charge).
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
Just don't buy batteries at Euro Car Parts as they're a rip off!
I've found Tayna great for this historically. Wouldn't use another seller unless forced.When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
Just don't buy batteries at Euro Car Parts as they're a rip off!
Lester H said:
What is the situation with all electric cars? Are they seriously worse in these exceptional and unpleasant conditions?
It's the opposite, all electric are great in the icy conditions, batteries allows preheating / defrosting of the car before you start the journey.The range drops a little, maybe 10% and when very cold the performance may be slightly restricted.
The cars I'm not using through winter are all on a trickle charge so I know they'll start on the button.
My daily car hasn't been used for a bit over 2 weeks as I've been off work and just used my other half's car as it's the family motor. I charged the battery the other day on my car but I'll leave it charging for a day or so before I'm due to use it next week.
As for EVs I couldn't comment. Although a mate of mine was here for a night last winter and the temperature dropped down below 0 and he lost 4% charger of the battery overnight. I don't know if that varies on the age of the battery or type of car etc.
My daily car hasn't been used for a bit over 2 weeks as I've been off work and just used my other half's car as it's the family motor. I charged the battery the other day on my car but I'll leave it charging for a day or so before I'm due to use it next week.
As for EVs I couldn't comment. Although a mate of mine was here for a night last winter and the temperature dropped down below 0 and he lost 4% charger of the battery overnight. I don't know if that varies on the age of the battery or type of car etc.
[quote=Geoffcapes]I replaced the battery on my E Class Merc (W212) two days ago as it was slowly dying and wouldn't start the car on Saturday (without it getting a 2 hour charge).
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
garypotter said:
Geoffcapes said:
I replaced the battery on my E Class Merc (W212) two days ago as it was slowly dying and wouldn't start the car on Saturday (without it getting a 2 hour charge).
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
This is another modern feature of cars I hate, having to pay someone to put a battery in. What a con.When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
Lester H said:
P here. Assumed they will start, was enquiring about range.
Yeah, they start but as others pointed out, do occasionally need replacing the 12v as per ICE. I notice more than 10% (prob around 15%) drop in range. Don't know if you can warm up batteries before driving somewhere (dunno if remotely switching on the cabin heating also brings the main batteries a little up to temp in advance).Cold weather quickly roots out batteries that are past their prime. Neighbour has had no end of grief with the 12v batteries (there are 2) on his iPace since the weather got colder.
The battery on my daughter's Aygo let her down yesterday. It was fine in the morning after being stood overnight. She drove it into school, and when she went to head out with some friends at lunchtime it wouldn't crank. She is pretty clued up with cars and assures me nothing was left on, although I'm suspicious given what happened later.
The part that impressed me is that one of her classmates had a jump pack in the boot of his car, and got it started for her. Gives me hope for this generation
She drove it to Halfords where she works part time, borrowed the battery tester and it showed the battery down to 60% of new capacity (needs replacing). While she was there, she also tested the alternator and it was fine.
The car started fine to come home yesterday evening, after standing for longer than it had stood in the morning. I took the battery off the car when she got home, and put it on the Recon program on my CTEK charger on the bench overnight. Came down this morning to a green light. refitted it this morning before she left, and it seems fine.
I do need to invest in one of those little jump packs, they're fantastic.
The battery on my daughter's Aygo let her down yesterday. It was fine in the morning after being stood overnight. She drove it into school, and when she went to head out with some friends at lunchtime it wouldn't crank. She is pretty clued up with cars and assures me nothing was left on, although I'm suspicious given what happened later.
The part that impressed me is that one of her classmates had a jump pack in the boot of his car, and got it started for her. Gives me hope for this generation
She drove it to Halfords where she works part time, borrowed the battery tester and it showed the battery down to 60% of new capacity (needs replacing). While she was there, she also tested the alternator and it was fine.The car started fine to come home yesterday evening, after standing for longer than it had stood in the morning. I took the battery off the car when she got home, and put it on the Recon program on my CTEK charger on the bench overnight. Came down this morning to a green light. refitted it this morning before she left, and it seems fine.
I do need to invest in one of those little jump packs, they're fantastic.
Johnson897210 said:
Apparently the range of EVs improves in the cold if you believe the horses
t posted by some of the EVangelists on here.
Meanwhile here’s the reality:
To be fair, that was in a -23 celcius weather front so not sure how many ICE were happily running either. And I know that some EV folk will say crazy stuff, much like many ICE folk will too, but think it's well accepted that range drops in cold weather.t posted by some of the EVangelists on here.Meanwhile here’s the reality:
I got one of those starter pack thingies Limpet (a cheapo amazon one) and worked fine a couple of times for friends/neighbours but as it barely gets used and rarely charged it did find that it seemed to lose the juice available to actually start a car after a couple of years. Probably get better ones of course. I have jump started an EV before (was on a 10yr old battery) but wonder if it takes less effort from a jump start because not trying to spin over an engine.
garypotter said:
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
Tom8 said:
This is another modern feature of cars I hate, having to pay someone to put a battery in. What a con.
I have a mini which'll be due a new battery soon. This need to code the battery really annoyed me - but now I have this car - I "get it". They monitor the long term battery condition over time to make sure that, for example, it only does stop start when the battery is properly charged - and it looks at the long term view - not just how many volts right now when the engine's running.Anyway, I believe you can change battery on a like for like basis and it'll be fine - but as I do my own servicing anyway, I just bought bimmerlink that lets me reset the service indicators and battery myself. I am sure most local independent garages could do this too - certainly it's not necessary to take it back to BMW to change the battery. My battery is reported (by the car) as being about 52% charged (despite being driven regularly) - which also corresponds pretty well to the CTEK unit I have on it. So defo time for a new battery soon, in my case
Johnson897210 said:
Apparently the range of EVs improves in the cold if you believe the horsest posted by some of the EVangelists on here.
Meanwhile here’s the reality:
EV are probably not popular in cold countries then, oh wait in Norway Tesla's are the number 1 selling car. (depsite not being able to charge in the cold according to the video....)t posted by some of the EVangelists on here.Meanwhile here’s the reality:
garypotter said:
Geoffcapes said:
I replaced the battery on my E Class Merc (W212) two days ago as it was slowly dying and wouldn't start the car on Saturday (without it getting a 2 hour charge).
When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
'Apparently' I was supposed to do this for my Jaguar XF a few years ago, but as I was 300 miles from home, I went to Halford, bought some cheap spanners and fitted it myself. When I replaced it, I saw the original battery was in it. So almost 10 years in a car is not bad ( and 84,000 miles).
New battery was £190 delivered (next day delivery). So not bad.
I replaced the battery in my BMW 635 in the Summer BUT it is not just a plug and play, i had to take to a garage so they culd tell the ecu it had a new battery!! and at a cost
Never bothered getting it 'coded' or whatever the phrase the handbook used. Plug it in and away you go. Never had an issue.
Same with my Mercedes. Haven't a clue if I was supposed to get it connected to the ECU as it works perfectly.
Sounds like a big con!
Limpet said:
Cold weather quickly roots out batteries that are past their prime. Neighbour has had no end of grief with the 12v batteries (there are 2) on his iPace since the weather got colder.
The battery on my daughter's Aygo let her down yesterday. It was fine in the morning after being stood overnight. She drove it into school, and when she went to head out with some friends at lunchtime it wouldn't crank. She is pretty clued up with cars and assures me nothing was left on, although I'm suspicious given what happened later.
The part that impressed me is that one of her classmates had a jump pack in the boot of his car, and got it started for her. Gives me hope for this generation She drove it to Halfords where she works part time, borrowed the battery tester and it showed the battery down to 60% of new capacity (needs replacing). While she was there, she also tested the alternator and it was fine.
The car started fine to come home yesterday evening, after standing for longer than it had stood in the morning. I took the battery off the car when she got home, and put it on the Recon program on my CTEK charger on the bench overnight. Came down this morning to a green light. refitted it this morning before she left, and it seems fine.
I do need to invest in one of those little jump packs, they're fantastic.
Been meaning to buy one for years. Still haven't......The battery on my daughter's Aygo let her down yesterday. It was fine in the morning after being stood overnight. She drove it into school, and when she went to head out with some friends at lunchtime it wouldn't crank. She is pretty clued up with cars and assures me nothing was left on, although I'm suspicious given what happened later.
The part that impressed me is that one of her classmates had a jump pack in the boot of his car, and got it started for her. Gives me hope for this generation
She drove it to Halfords where she works part time, borrowed the battery tester and it showed the battery down to 60% of new capacity (needs replacing). While she was there, she also tested the alternator and it was fine.The car started fine to come home yesterday evening, after standing for longer than it had stood in the morning. I took the battery off the car when she got home, and put it on the Recon program on my CTEK charger on the bench overnight. Came down this morning to a green light. refitted it this morning before she left, and it seems fine.
I do need to invest in one of those little jump packs, they're fantastic.
No need now I've bought a new battery. Until I need one!
Arnold Cunningham said:
I have a mini which'll be due a new battery soon. This need to code the battery really annoyed me - but now I have this car - I "get it". They monitor the long term battery condition over time to make sure that, for example, it only does stop start when the battery is properly charged - and it looks at the long term view - not just how many volts right now when the engine's running.
)
Does the car detect when a battery is completely disconnected then? Or can you do it fairly quickly and the car will just continue monitoring the voltage over time and start to accept that stop/start is now okay again? Friend has a Skoda Rapid with stop/start that had stopped starting (excuse the pun) and we changed battery over covid times. After that stop/start began to work again so must have adjusted itself. )
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