Cold Weather Fuel Efficiency : EV vs ICE Showdown

[psquare]

Thought this is an interesting analysis.

http://www.fleetcarma.com/cold-weather-fuel-efficiency/

 

[PluviaPlumbum]

That is a very interesting link there Psquared, all the posters bemoaning the loss of range in the colder months would do well to read the conclusion !!

 

[MikeS]

Does not change the fact that many of us feel misled by BMW about the range we could expect.

 

[czarmar]

While the conclusion is that BEV savings is greater in cold weather over a ICE, it also shows costs increase by 24% for ICE vs. 46% for BEV. I think it makes sense that cabin heating is probably the greatest contributor to BEV range loss, as BEV is closer to 100% efficient at converting the energy in the battery to force to move you down the road, where ICE is maybe 25% efficient at converting gasoline to force to move you down the road, the rest being used as heat, which we can readily use in the cabin on a cold day.

I'd like to see if a preconditioned, insulated battery would suffer any significant range loss in cold weather if no cabin heat was used, tires were at correct pressures, etc; all other things being equal. Given that you could keep the battery at a nice 70 degrees or so, and the insulation kept heat loss to a minimum, what's stopping a BEV from getting the same range in the cold? Perhaps air density would increase drag.

I also wonder if better insulated cabins in BEVs would help maintain comfortable interiors while using less battery. Double glazing and insulation would add weight. All I know is a 80 mile range BEV losing half its range in the cold really limits BEV adoption for northern states.

 

[Anonymous]

Does not change the fact that many of us feel misled by BMW about the range we could expect.

The BMW i3 only has a few more kW of storage than my tiny Smart ED. While it has greater motor efficiency and fewer drive train losses, the BMW still needs to heat the cabin, and both of these cars have multi-kW cabin heaters that burn energy in a big way.

I always quote people that my Smart ED is 60km in the winter, and 120km in the summer. However, it is entirely possible to get better than 100km of range in the winter if the car is pre-heated (a built in feature) and no cabin heat, just the seat heaters. After 10 minutes in -15C, it's not possible to go without heat, so I simply say 60km because you need heat...

 

[Leadville]

Living in upstate New York we've learned a lot about range in the week or so we've had the i3.

Net is range is about 55 miles even in Ecopro, a bit better in +. Learning about preconditioning and using plugshare; PShare is far better at finding charging stations than the onboard nav.

The performance in snowy and slick conditions is excellent with snow tires. Got them from tirerack; we have a very long hilly driveway and have never had a problem.

Overall the very limited range makes the i3 very much a first gen car with very limited utility in cold climes. Without at least 100 miles in the winter I'm going to have a rough time getting the bride to agree to get another when this lease expires.