YellowstoneLightning
Active member
- Thread starter
- #1
Hi Everyone,
I thought my experience might be useful to others on here, so I will share some info from a day trip I did to Showdown Ski Area this weekend.
I left my home in Livingston, MT early Saturday morning with 100% SOC. The weather was quite cold, single digits, and there was a bit of crosswind and some snow on the road. I made it to the resort, which google says is 105 miles from my house with 54% SOC. Effeciency was 1.5 m/kWh. Given the base of the resort is >2000' higher than home, I was feeling pretty good about that.
I left the truck cold soaking all day long in single digits as we enjoyed a day of skiing/snowboarding. When I returned to the truck, it still read a SOC of 54%, but now a range of 89 miles on the GOM, which would have me coming up short by 16 miles.
I didn't panic for two reasons: 1) I know that the GOM gets pessimistic when the battery is cold and tends to calibrate once the battery warms with driving/discharge. 2) We were planning to stop at a hot spring that has level 1 plugs (and a NEMA TT30) where I could at least get a kWh or two while we soaked, and more if things weren't looking good. However, to my dismay, I had left all my charging equipment in my garage (long story, not pertinent) and did not have any means to charge while we were at the hot springs. So, while we soaked in hot mineral water, the truck cold soaked again, losing the progress it had made to return the battery to working temps.
When we returned to the truck yet again, the battery had cooled further and the GOM suggested we would come up a few miles short of our destination. I decided to drive slowly home, about 55 mph, and tucked in my mirrors as I often do, probably with more placebo effect than anything else.
As we drove home through the cold night, the numbers looked better and better with each mile, and we made it home with 11% SOC and 18 miles on the GOM. Efficiency was 2.0 m/kWh, not including the 25 mile stretch coming down the mountains @ 2.8 m/kWh.
TLDR: 210 miles round trip in single digits; pessimistic GOM after cold soaking; made it home safely with 11% SOC remaining; GOM is a useful tool, but don't let it freak you out, especially when the battery is cold.
I thought my experience might be useful to others on here, so I will share some info from a day trip I did to Showdown Ski Area this weekend.
I left my home in Livingston, MT early Saturday morning with 100% SOC. The weather was quite cold, single digits, and there was a bit of crosswind and some snow on the road. I made it to the resort, which google says is 105 miles from my house with 54% SOC. Effeciency was 1.5 m/kWh. Given the base of the resort is >2000' higher than home, I was feeling pretty good about that.
I left the truck cold soaking all day long in single digits as we enjoyed a day of skiing/snowboarding. When I returned to the truck, it still read a SOC of 54%, but now a range of 89 miles on the GOM, which would have me coming up short by 16 miles.
I didn't panic for two reasons: 1) I know that the GOM gets pessimistic when the battery is cold and tends to calibrate once the battery warms with driving/discharge. 2) We were planning to stop at a hot spring that has level 1 plugs (and a NEMA TT30) where I could at least get a kWh or two while we soaked, and more if things weren't looking good. However, to my dismay, I had left all my charging equipment in my garage (long story, not pertinent) and did not have any means to charge while we were at the hot springs. So, while we soaked in hot mineral water, the truck cold soaked again, losing the progress it had made to return the battery to working temps.
When we returned to the truck yet again, the battery had cooled further and the GOM suggested we would come up a few miles short of our destination. I decided to drive slowly home, about 55 mph, and tucked in my mirrors as I often do, probably with more placebo effect than anything else.
As we drove home through the cold night, the numbers looked better and better with each mile, and we made it home with 11% SOC and 18 miles on the GOM. Efficiency was 2.0 m/kWh, not including the 25 mile stretch coming down the mountains @ 2.8 m/kWh.
TLDR: 210 miles round trip in single digits; pessimistic GOM after cold soaking; made it home safely with 11% SOC remaining; GOM is a useful tool, but don't let it freak you out, especially when the battery is cold.
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