OT: Driving electric cars in winter

[T i m]

Possibly ... but I'm not sure it would have been anything like 18V at the Rover end and with those thinish jumpleads and the Rover battery that flat?

I had just driven round to him (maybe 3 miles and this moke had a ~20 mile range) and the Moke itself was also kept outside (so it's batteries would have been less than 'sparkling' in those conditions).

So, given that I'm unlikely to actually put that much charge in his battery in a couple of minutes but did leave the (thinish / longish / homemade) jumpleads on when he started it, maybe the two things were enough to make a noticeable difference?

It's funny with cars. The 2L Sierra Estate always span over reasonably well but typically took a few turns of the engine before it fired up. The Rover 218SD didn't spin over as fast but would *always* fire up at what felt like just half a turn. Diesel and injection probably making the difference there?

Cheers, T i m

[Davey]

..should be: "should have said".

You're welcome.

[Davey]

And very good it was too. One of the best investments I made.

[John Rumm]

It varies with the car... in my mate's 2013 (IIRC) Nissan Leaf it still has a resistive electric heater (later models used heat pump air con). The heater heats a tank of water and that is pumped round with a traditional style heater matrix.

So yes it does take a big lump out of the range. To mitigate it a bit you can start the heater running while its still plugged in to get it warm without draining the battery too much (it still does a bit since the heater draws more power than you can put in with a 13A charger (although less than with the 6kW one if you have that option). (he also can fire up the heater remotely via an app on his phone).

The other day he was visiting me (probably about 25 miles), started on a full charge and got held up for an hour and a half in traffic on a cold morning. By the time he was close to our road the car was saying 10 miles left. Then he got redirected round the block to the other end of our road due to resurfacing work. By the time he was on my drive it was reporting 4 miles left.

[T i m]

Aren't there suppose to be *three* dots in an ellipsis?

You're welcome. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Peter Parry]

They don't.

It does, significantly.

It doesn't, not even slightly.

Yes, a bit like the 1960's when a heater was an optional extra and even when fitted simply recirculated the stale air around the cab.

I was given a lift to Ally Pally a few weeks back on an icy morning. I didn't realise it was going to be in a Nissan Leaf. The exhortation to wear therma vest and long john's as well as several pullovers and an Arctic Parka should have been a clue. Having driven about 15 miles (with heater off) It became obvious if we tried to make it up the hiill to get to Ally Pally we would be walking home (the rate at which the "range" indicator ramps downwards when faced with a gentle incline, never mind a steep hill, is somewhat disconcerting). This mean abandining the" car" at the bottom of the hill and walking the rest of the way - at which point all the insulation needed in the Leaf became somewhat excessive. Coming home (sans heater of course) we had a head breeze (it didn't qualify as a headwind) so the headlights lights had to go (no matter that it was dark) and we had to go very slowly. It then failed to make the hill up to home.

Many many years ago someone appeared on Tomorrows World with a bright idea - have a battery car but also a small V Twin diesel from a dumper truck running at a fixed (most efficient) throttle setting permanently charging the battery. Never seemed to come to anything but seemed like a good idea. Can't be any worse than the Leaf.

[Davey]

Generally, yes, but it's optional. The use of only two is valid.

[harry]

e in winter. How do you heat the car up and demist windows, I should imagin e it reduces your mileage considerably if it has to done electrically? I be lieve the batteries give off some heat and perhaps some heat from the motor /s can be harvested but I cannot see it compares to using the coolant syste m in a petrol or diesel car. Heat as opposed to sound insulation might help . Is it a case of wrap up well and stick your flying helmet on?

One of my cars is electric. Why don't you just research? Most electric car motors are water cooled and have a radiator. It all runs at very low temperature. So not suitable for cab heating. Heating comes from the battery via a resistance heater.

Range is considerably reduced. If you are going on a journey at extreme range, you can't use the heater. However this is only a problem in Winter. I use my other car then.

Some electric cars have a heat pump which is also used for cooling which re duces power needs..

As a second car, electric is a no brainer, running cost are very low. As an only car it's a no brainer for some people who only use it locally.

[harry]

Been done years ago. Called a Plug in Hybrid.

[Brian Gaff]

You would need to be careful in designing such a device due to the fact that you may need it to operate on the move, and the fuel slosh and the naked flame might be an issue. I did wonder if something might be done using the same system as in those gass heated rollers etc, which use some form of catalyst to use methane without a flame. brian

[The Natural Philosopher]

My car already has a fuel burning heater that heats the cooling water in winter to reduce warm up times. It seems that the fuel saved by getting the engine warm quickly is about the same as the fuel burnt to get it that way ...

Fun when they dont work...properly

[T i m]

Can you show me anything official to corroborate the optional use of two please?

WiKi says this:

"Some believe that the use of four or more dots or simply two dots, which is often referred to as being more "informal" instead of the well established three dots, is acceptable as an ellipsis."

So the use of the word 'believe' there is similar to the use of the word when people say they 'believe in ' where there is no proof such exists. ;-)

As is any spelling, grammar or punctuation as long as people understand the meaning as this is a d-i-y group, AFAIC. [1] ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. I'm sure you mean well with your correction of my grammar but at my age and with my word / spelling blindness, the chances of me remembering (or caring to be honest) are tending towards nill.

[1] And luckily that seems to be the case for the vast majority here or there would be more corrections than posts (especially on the subject of d-i-y). ;-)

[T i m]

Not true if that second car is still required to go over the range available. It could be 'mostly suitable' and that's assuming you have the 'off road' facilities to charge it at home.

The day to day cost can be but the batteries don't last for ever so have to be factored into the running cost. This is why with many electric cars nowdays you lease the batteries, even though you buy the car.

Still not quite ... 'some people' yes and who 'only use it locally' yes but they also need the ability to take it off road to charge (I'm not sure if the Councils are allowing people to fit their own kerbside electricity feeds now) and be happy with the features and restrictions any electric car might have (like load capacity and the ability to fit a towbar to say tow a small trailer to the local dump).

And then there is the initial cost, especially if looking for something second hand.

And all the above is coming from someone who has owned a plug-in electric car for over 25 years, still owns a C5 and thinks they are still ahead of their time and designed, built and raced an electric motorbike.

Cheers, T i m

[News]

In message , T i m writes

Nil. HTH :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

ROFL!

[John Rumm]

You do understand what asking questions is all about don't you harry?

[Tricky Dicky]

I remember as a kid reading In my Eagle comic that by now we would all be driving round in nuclear cars. I should think generating heat would be no problem. Re-fuelling might be a bit of an issue not to mention a few of the other downsides.

Richard

[Dave Plowman (News)]

And not driving on roads as such, but hovering above them.

[bert]

In article , Tricky Dicky writes

You wouldn't need to refuel it - just drive it to Sellafield and buy a new one.

[Davey]

.. the chances of me

That echoes my feeling.