Do you have to warm them up?

[ooo000ooo]

In an EV, these cold mornings, do you have to be gentle until eveything is up to temp like those old fashioned ICE cars or can you drive flat out from the off

[oop north]

I think you are supposed to be gentle to start with

When I have my act together I tell the car when I am leaving and (assuming plugged in and I give it 3 hours notice) it preconditions itself to make the cabin warm and also warms the batteries so that they are are the correct operating temperature before I set off

[Gallen]

Probably - and on a nice car I would be a tad gentle and service meticulously

However if I'm honest, on my old commuting sheds, these seem to last on everlasting oil/filters for 10's of 000's of miles and beaten to the verge from cold, hot everywhere in between.

In the passed this ethos has included beauties such as 270k + mile Lagunas running on pure veg oil with a splash of unleaded... and the only things that have been replaced on these stesters has been the dead flies on the front end (annual Kosovan wash), the fuel (weekly), the water (but only after it leaks out) and the occasional tyre or pads at MOT time... and they've never missed a beat considering!

Edited by Gallen on Friday 15th January 15:47

[ooo000ooo]

oop north said:

I think you are supposed to be gentle to start with

When I have my act together I tell the car when I am leaving and (assuming plugged in and I give it 3 hours notice) it preconditions itself to make the cabin warm and also warms the batteries so that they are are the correct operating temperature before I set off

Forgot to plug mine in last night and couldn't persuade the preheat to work at short notice this morning. The heat pump thing works well though to get the windows defrosted quickly.

[toys]

Flat out from the off for me with the i3!

Of course I pre-condition where possible for my own comfort, but electric motors don't need warming up - I can't see how any additional wear would occur from giving full beans from cold...

[missingman]

No need at all.

Just enjoy the fact that your car is nicely defrosted and the cabin warm. get in and go.

After a couple of winters you'll absolutely hate the archaic nature of an ICE vehicle.

[Farlig]

missingman said:

After a couple of winters you'll absolutely hate the archaic nature of an ICE vehicle.

Why?
My car (petrol) is fitted with a 240v Defa motor & cabin warmer system & I get into a defrosted, toasty car every morning.
The wife's car is fitted with an Eberspacher diesel fired motor & cabin warmer system, she gets into a defrosted, toasty car every morning, and evening on the way home...

[TransverseTight]

toys said:

Flat out from the off for me with the i3!

Of course I pre-condition where possible for my own comfort, but electric motors don't need warming up - I can't see how any additional wear would occur from giving full beans from cold...

Bad news for ya!

Can't remeber where it is but there's a link to BMW tech training somewhere on SpeakEV forums. Says in there using max power on a battery at less than 20 degrees can shorten battery life. Doesn't give any specifics like loses 0.2, 2 cycles or 20 but it means make sure your precon has worked before hitting the quiet pedal

If you've not precon I don't know how you are supposed to know battery temp unless you pull over and do about 2 dozen flicks and presses to get to the service menu.

[Modiman46]

TransverseTight said:

Bad news for ya!
Can't remember where it is but there's a link to BMW tech training somewhere on SpeakEV forums. Says in there using max power on a battery at less than 20 degrees can shorten battery life. Doesn't give any specifics like loses 0.2, 2 cycles or 20 but it means make sure your precon has worked before hitting the quiet pedal

If you've not precon I don't know how you are supposed to know battery temp unless you pull over and do about 2 dozen flicks and presses to get to the service menu.

My EV has a battery temp gauge, the precondition not only warms the cabin & demists windows. It also warms the battery or (cools in summer ) the Battery pack system to the optimal required temperature range in order to maximize efficiency & life of the pack. So the answer is, to know what your car is fitted with, as whether you should blast it from cold or not. You risk the battery life by not allowing precond or watching your battery temp gauge .

[squirejo]

not bothered....I don't own the battery, Renault does.

[callmedave]

A convo between me and a few mates:

How do electric cars heat the cabin? I can understand having an electric heater when you are charging, but when driving, how much does the heater affect the range of the car?

Is there a better way to heat the cabin? - recover heat from the motor/batteries??

[pherlopolus]

Leaf is a 1kw(?) heat pump, takes bout 3-5 miles off the range. basically you could sit on the drive with the heat on full and it would take 24 hours to flatten battery

[LordFlathead]

missingman said:

No need at all.

Just enjoy the fact that your car is nicely defrosted and the cabin warm. get in and go.

After a couple of winters you'll absolutely hate the archaic nature of an ICE vehicle.

^ This.

There is absolutely no need to warm up the car. It is a traction motor. The sooner you gun it the warmer the motor and the batteries become which in cold weather is a bonus.

Speaking of ICE, I had to start my Jaguar for the first time in 3 weeks after buying the Zoe, my thoughts were:

• It's really cold in here! (It's never cold in a pre-warm Zoe)
• I can smell diesel (Can only smell new car in the Zoe)
• Engines been running for 5 minutes and now I'm cold (whereas I was warm when I left the house)
• Car only just started. Turned over really slowly. (nothing to turn over in the EV, just press start and off you go).

Previous decision was to send the car into storage.. might sell it now as it's a fossil!