Planning for Winter

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Preconditioning is always good, but for longer distances, you need to manage your climate control. Precondition will not do anything unless you have a 48 amp or higher charger. At 32 amps, with the heater on, you may still not be able to satisfy all the power needed for charging and for heating the truck.

Use heated seats. don’t take your jacket off. And if you use climate control, set it to the lowest setting you feel comfortable with. (67 or 68 degrees in auto)

Nevertheless, plan for at least a 30% in range loss. With climate and spirited driving it could come close to 45%-50%

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[sotek2345]

So are saying if it is 0 outside I'll only get 180 miles of range on an ER battery?

That depends how fast you drive on the highway. If you drive around 80, yeah that would be right. Keep it to 70 or below and you will get more.

Exact winter range reduction on the Lighting remains to be seen, however a Pre-conditioned Mach-e sees about 25%. Given the ER Lightning has about a 260 mile range at 70 (from range tests), that would be 195-200 miles in the cold.

 

[wvlightning]

Oh wow. Yeah I have a 190 mile trip and in this state there are no DC Fast chargers this should be fun.

 

[Pioneer74]

Oh wow. Yeah I have a 190 mile trip and in this state there are no DC Fast chargers this should be fun.

Charge to 100% before you leave.

 

[Beaux]

At what temperature does it really start affecting the range? I'm in Georgia so we don't get a lot of very cold weather.

 

[RickLightning]

Ok cool. Next question, if the truck is plugged up to the charger, can I go out and turn on the heat to heat up the cab and turn on the seat heaters and it won't pull from the battery?

Why are you "going out" instead of remote starting?

 

[RickLightning]

At what temperature does it really start affecting the range? I'm in Georgia so we don't get a lot of very cold weather.

Any point below low 70s. Noticeable below 50, very noticeable below 30.

And if you turn on the heat, wow...

 

[RickLightning]

Oh wow. Yeah I have a 190 mile trip and in this state there are no DC Fast chargers this should be fun.

Yes, owning an EV in WV, and a handful of other states, and doing trips, is not going to be fun for a while. There isn't a single EA charger in the entire state of WV. The fastest charger in the state is like 24kW!

 

[wvlightning]

@RickLightning The reason I would still go out is because my remote start on my app works maybe 10% of the time. I'm not sure if its the truck or the cellular network. I have it connected to my home wifi. So I don't know. Can you remote start the truck with it still plugged in? I didn't know that, cool!

 

[sotek2345]

@RickLightning The reason I would still go out is because my remote start on my app works maybe 10% of the time. I'm not sure if its the truck or the cellular network. I have it connected to my home wifi. So I don't know. Can you remote start the truck with it still plugged in? I didn't know that, cool!

Yes, no issues remote starting the truck when it is plugged in.

 

[RickLightning]

@RickLightning The reason I would still go out is because my remote start on my app works maybe 10% of the time. I'm not sure if its the truck or the cellular network. I have it connected to my home wifi. So I don't know. Can you remote start the truck with it still plugged in? I didn't know that, cool!

Truck uses AT&T cell network. It will not start via WiFi connection.

Try locking truck with app, then remote start. This will wake truck up if asleep.

 

[wvlightning]

Ahh that makes sense, at my house AT&T network (which is what I have), is spotty. What is weird it is just spotty at my house, not 10 feet from my house. Its almost like I live in a faraday cage.

 

[metroshot]

Yes, owning an EV in WV, and a handful of other states, and doing trips, is not going to be fun for a while. There isn't a single EA charger in the entire state of WV. The fastest charger in the state is like 24kW!

WOW!

As @Pioneer74 said, charge to 100% during the cold months.

Once you leave the house to avoid battery drain, don't use the cabin heating - use seat heaters and steering wheel, bundle up and keep your speeds down to maximize efficiency.

 

[wvlightning]

Yeah there are NO DC fast chargers in this state other than the two Charge Points at Harley Dealers at 24kW. Yeah I plan to charge to 100% before my 190 mile trips. But I just need to make sure I can make it. It shouldn't be 0 but it will probably be in the 30s. So I'll set my departure time and precondition and warm the cabin, before departure. After that it'll be seat heaters and just tell the kids to bundle up its gonna be a cold ride.

 

[sotek2345]

Yeah there are NO DC fast chargers in this state other than the two Charge Points at Harley Dealers at 24kW. Yeah I plan to charge to 100% before my 190 mile trips. But I just need to make sure I can make it. It shouldn't be 0 but it will probably be in the 30s. So I'll set my departure time and precondition and warm the cabin, before departure. After that it'll be seat heaters and just tell the kids to bundle up its gonna be a cold ride.

Thankfully it should be a temporary thing. WV's NEVI plan was approved and they will be building an actual fast charging network in the state.

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