Damage battery if parked in the cold for 8 days?

[Earnmyturns]

Hello. The manual for the Bolt says in multiple places to plug the car in during extremes of temperatures, either very hot or very cold to condition the battery, even if the car does not need a charge. I took it to mean this has something to do with protecting the battery from degradation, has nothing to do with range. Most posts on this forums re winter battery conditioning mention range. I am not range obsessed, but rather worried about doing damage to my battery in the following scenario: one thing quite popular here in British Columbia is to go skiing in a back country lodge. You'll drive to some staging area part way up a forestry road. From there a helicopter will lift you to the remote lodge, you stay there a week, longer if weather interferes. At that point the Bolt will have sat at least a week in Canadian winter temperatures. No way to warm it plug it. Will I do damage to the battery starting it and driving it then?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

It warms the battery, as needed, even if it is not plugged in.

How cold are you taking about?

 

[Earnmyturns]

What is "it"? (what warms the battery even if not plugged in?) Winter T of -25C are common (-13F) could go to -30C and even lower at night (-13).

 

[GetOffYourGas]

Also of consideration - how far is this staging area from your home? What is your expected SoC (state of charge) when you arrive? The Bolt will condition the battery, keeping it warm enough to prevent damage. But it will stop when the battery reaches 30% to prevent over-discharging. I would at least do my best to leave it with as fully charged of a battery as possible, giving the car enough energy to protect itself.

 

[EldRick]

If you had an ICE car in -20F for a week, you would want a block heater to improve the chances of starting it.
Same idea on the Bolt - keep it plugged in to a slow EVSE if possible, or at least start with a full charge.
The car will warm the battery to protect it, but it will drain some kWH, it will be sluggish until the battery warms when you drive it, and it won't take a fast charge when really cold.

 

[Earnmyturns]

Thank you GetOffYourGas and EldRick, that was useful! I did reed the manual, methinks cover to cover, but nowhere was it mentioned that the car did callisthenics when off and unplugged to stay conditioned. It has better habits than myself, I'd be a better skier if I did the same! Thanks so much!