2009 Mini E: Cold-Weather Testing

Not just the added heater/ defroster use, I'm also curious to see what really cold temperatures do to the amount of charge on the battery.

If you start with a charged battery, how much will you have left after a night of minus 20 or 30 degrees?

Lead acid batteries really take a beating in the deep freeze, losing at least half their capacity. That's why block heaters and battery blankets are common in extreme cold but at least once the engine starts you're fine.

Will owners of electric cars (in areas other the balmy California) wake to find they no longer have enough power to get to work?

Tough to find much good information on the effect of real cold on the new batteries common in todays electric cars and hybrids.

Any MiniE owners live in the north?

"That's while I'll take diesels everyday. They have a much more promising future. Range of 600 miles per tank, lower cost, and much better long term durability, oh and you can drive one when it's cold out..."

Once it finally starts and if the fuel doesn't gell up. In extreme cold, gasoline is much better then diesel.

@firstwagon- True about diesel gelling up, but for a huge percentage of Americans, that wouldn't be an issue. The same can't be said about the batteries.

Donna, Saturday was the first snow here in NJ. About 2 inches on the grass, none on the road.

Donna,
I'm driving MINI-E #250 in Northern NJ. We had between 2 & 3 inches where I live (Chester Township) on the roads, enough for the town to plow the streets. I was concerned about how the regenerative braking would fare in the snow and I'm happy to report that the car performed well. I even took it into a big parking lot and tossed it around a bit, trying to get the regen to cause slippage but it didn't happen. When the front wheels begin to slip, the regenerative braking releases so the wheels stop slipping. Now you have to be ready for it because the car will seem to "speed up" because the regen is disengaged. It inclement weather, especially snow and ice you need to drive any car more carefully and the MINI-E isn't any different. That being said, I still am curious how good it will perform on ice. It was snowing here, but not cold enough to get those patched of black ice we get around here and they are more dangerous than driving in the snow so I'll have to report back once I've experienced that.
Now, the reduced range is another topic altogether. I have kept detailed data on every trip I've taken with the car, recording the range, temperature, charge %, amp hours/100 miles, etc. I have 16,500 miles on the car since June 12th and this is what I have found out about range and temperature:
The first three months of summer driving with ambient temps averaging 75-85 degrees, I averaged about 110 miles per charge.
The next two months of fall driving with temps averaging 50-65 degrees, I averaged about 90 miles per charge
The past 6 weeks or so with temps averaging 40-50 degrees, I averaged about 85 miles per charge.
The past week I have recorded temperatures of 28, 29, 31, 33 & 37 degrees and I am getting about 78 miles per charge.
One thing to consider is that I am using the heat & defroster most of the time now so that is probably as much as a draw as the cold temperature is on the batteries, but regardless, it is what it is and the range is down considerably.
I have a second wall charger at my work so the reduced range really means little to me. I still am able to drive it the 30 miles from my home, and then some, and then plug in and charge up and leave for home with 100% charge. I am routinely driving it 120 - 130 miles a day and really love the car. I'm on pace to put well over 30,000 miles on it this year and I use it for virtually everything I need. I don't have kids and I drive a lot, but not more than 40 miles or so from my home or office so for me it works perfectly. I'm not saying it would work for everyone because I know it wouldn't. Until there are convenient public charging stations with quick chargers or a network of battery swapping stations are established (like Better Place) electric vehicles will only work for a certain segment of the population. How big that segment is, is the million dollar question.
Tom M #250
http://minie250.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the information, Tom. I'm so impressed that you've been able to put that many miles on the car. Love your vanity plates, by the way. -- Donna

Donna,

You wouldn't believe how many people stop and take a picture of them ; )

Tom

One thing I'm thinking that may become a big issue is snow and ice performance with full torque availible right off the line you could very and i am a girl and my favorite color is pink. will someone e my boyfriend?

I AM HARDCORE FEEL MY WRATH.

I would like to say how sorry about the last two posts as my coworkers had hijacked my orginal posts.

not really. i hate you all. you can all eat a fat one .QUEER

^Again sorry logging off.

Oops. Bad coworkers. Very bad. -- Donna

Hybris:

The torque is dialed down quite a bit so there isn't any wheelspin on dry pavement. It's not until you are going about 10mph when you get 100% torque. Plus, just like the regen sensing slippage, if there is wheelspin under acceleration, the power is reduced until there is traction. I had the car in an unplowed parking lot Saturday night in the snow and really pounded on it for a while with hard acceleration, deceleration and everything else a teenager would do the first time they drive in the snow. Nothing really surprised me. The car acted pretty much like an ICE Mini would.

Tom

"I know it doesn't get as cold as the East coast."

As far as I'm concerned, it doesn't get all that cold on the East Coast. Don't you guys have offices in Detroit? Ship this thing there for the winter.

"I was able to build some power back up by driving slowly and taking advantage of the regenerative braking"

I still enjoy these comments. It's written as though regenerative breaking manages to violate the laws of thermodynamics. Regenerative breaking provides a huge advantage over normal breaking. Not breaking at all provides a huge advantage over regenerative breaking.

As big an EV supporter as I am, I must admit I'm a bit skeptical about using them in extreme cold environments. I have a garage at home that's well insulated and never get below 40 or so degrees, even when it's under 10 degrees outside. I don't think the MINI-E would fair well if it were parked outside overnight in 5 or 10 degree temperatures, let along 10 below. I do plan on testing it out at home once it gets really cold (under 10 degrees). I'm going to charge it to 100% and them pull it outside overnight and see the state of charge in the morning. I really don't know if it will even start, but I'll find out and post it on my blog.

Tom

Since the heater is electric and doesn't rely on engine heat, does it warm the car right when you start it up or does it take five minutes to begin heating like on a gasoline car?