Where are all the Bolts in MN?

[bongo2]

Hi all! I've owned a Nissan Leaf for a couple years, and I'm thinking of moving up to a vehicle with more range. All around Minneapolis I see Teslas and Leafs all the time. I see a few i3s c-maxs etrons and whatever volkwagon's electric is. I see lots and lots of Volts at the charging stations and driving around, but I don't think that I have EVER seen a Bolt. Any idea why that is?

 

[BoltEV]

Just curious, since I live in Los Angeles:

How much percentage drop on battery capacity do you see in cold weather, not factoring in the requirements for heat?

The two or three times I have driven here in our "cold" weather, I was able to use the seat warmers 100% and steering wheel warmer and cabin heat only on an "as needed" basis, to keep consumption lower.

 

[BikingManiac]

In northwest Wisconsin, I hit a low of 1.8 miles per KWH in mid February, with a high temperature of -20 F. The GOM on a full charge was 110 miles at that point. In more normal winter weather, temps are in the 20s F and the range has risen to 165.

Our gas guzzling Toyota Prius dropped from its usual 58 mpg to 32 at that same time, for short trips, so an ICE has issues in the cold as well.

Every day for 3 weeks I got a message from the car warning of the danger of not being plugged in during extreme cold. This could present a problem for us in the Midwest when everyone is driving an EV in a few years - we can all plug in at home overnight, but what to do when the temperature is 20 below for days on end, and “Sparky” is sitting in the park lot at work?

 

[BikingManiac]

Sorry, I realize I did not answer the question: When it was bitterly cold, the battery reported 27 KWH used when I got to half a “tank.” This compares with 28 KWH now with the temps back in the 20s, and 29 KWH last summer. The gauge is only a guess, I know, but battery conditioning seems to keep capacity up when it is cold. This is “Sparky’s” second full winter. With 36k miles he seems to have lost very little capacity.

 

[WetEV]

Every day for 3 weeks I got a message from the car warning of the danger of not being plugged in during extreme cold. This could present a problem for us in the Midwest when everyone is driving an EV in a few years - we can all plug in at home overnight, but what to do when the temperature is 20 below for days on end, and “Sparky” is sitting in the park lot at work?

Manual (page 205) says:

Parking the vehicle in extreme cold for several days without the charge cord connected may cause the vehicle not to start. The vehicle will need to be plugged in to allow the high voltage battery to be warmed sufficiently.

The battery takes time to cool, so I wouldn't worry about 10 hours or so. I would start to worry after a day, and wouldn't let the car go to several days if at all possible.

This is another case where having a battery temperature readout would make the Bolt a better car.

All I can suggest is Torque Pro. Read out your battery temperature after work.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sY5n8WFu52U6a4_mg3MdcGcmDk3scAP8_muSy-BlXPc/edit?usp=sharing