Climate and EV's

[sam]

What about humidity so hot or cold extremes will affect the battery longevity but does a climate that has chronic humidity effect the battery?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Exactly - ICE cars lose a lot of efficiency in cold weather - longer warm up time, more friction. My ICE would drop about 27-28% from summer to winter. If you drive without needing the cabin heater or air defroster, an EV only drops ~15%. As the temperature drops into the single numbers, it drops a bit more because the battery has stay warm.

All cars have higher aerodynamic drag in cold air, and snow and ice increases rolling resistance and slippage.

Just to clarify here, I am not denying this. It is absolutely true that the amount of energy used to propel the car forward increases at lower temperatures.

My only point is that if you look at the whole system, by utilizing the otherwise wasted heat, you are increasing the amount of work done by burning the gasoline. So the driving efficiency decreases, but the vehicle's efficiency increases. If you don't heat your car in the winter, this would not be the case. My assumption here is that most (all?) people use heat extensively during the winter.

So thanks for the clarification. And please resist the urge to put up a strawman argument against me.

I think you are using a strawman argument, not me. A gasoline car loses more efficiency in cold weather vs warm weather, than an EV. An ICE uses more energy in warm weather vs an EV, and it uses a lot more in cold weather.

This is proven by the fact that an EV doesn't make very much waste heat, and so it needs to gather heat and/or create heat in cold weather.

An ICE makes so much waste heat, that you are still throwing away at least 60% of the energy in gasoline as heat even if you were roasting in the car in cold weather.

 

[GetOffYourGas]

No strawman, Neil. I was just cautioning against going that route. Please look up thread and re read what I said. When our differing definitions of efficiency are explained, maybe you can understand my point. If not, here is really no need to continue this discussion unless you are simply dead set on being absolutely right. In which case, have at it. I have no such need.

 

[Diggle]

Does anyone have information on whether the climate is a concern for an electric vehicle for instance does it make any difference if you live in Alaska or Mexico and drive an EV
Does the climate contribute to any good or bad technicalities the car my face because of extreme weather?

Well, it should have an effect since a lot of the charge will be spent in keeping the car warm for you.

 

[michael]

In cold climates the battery has a long life, but performance suffers. This can be mitigated somewhat by providing a heat-pump climate control rather than an energy-wasting resistive unit.

In hot climates the battery performs well but deteriorates more quickly. This can be mitigated by aggressive thermal management and choice of battery chemistry. Also by limiting the maximum charge level.

Moderate climates are best.

 

[Tcdn]

I don't know anything about fuel cell vehicles but I can see in many articles that technology will be around soon at this point do we know how climate affects a fuel cell vehicle?

 

[Anonymous]

Hi
Speaking of climate an EVs
Does any one have details about the heating system? Does it use heat from the motor/electronics and battery pack to aid heating the cabin? Does the Bolt use heatpump?

Br
Svein Erik

 

[DucRider]

Hi
Speaking of climate an EVs
Does any one have details about the heating system? Does it use heat from the motor/electronics and battery pack to aid heating the cabin? Does the Bolt use heatpump?

Br
Svein Erik

If any are the above are implemented on the Bolt, Chevy has not said so.
The general consensus is if they were features, Chevy would have been talking about them and the benefits they provide. By far the most disappointing is the failure to utilize a heat pump for cabin heating.

 

[WetEV]

Does it use heat from the motor/electronics and battery pack to aid heating the cabin?

There is very little net usable heat from the drivetrain of any electric.

Battery almost always wants warming when the cabin wants warming.
When there is lots of excess heat from the drivetrain, that is when the cabin wants cooling.

Does the Bolt use heatpump?

A much larger source of savings.

 

[NeilBlanchard]

I was recently assured that the Bolt EV uses a heat pump, and yes it does draw on available heat from the drivetrain, and also on outside air.

 

[SeanNelson]

I was recently assured that the Bolt EV uses a heat pump, and yes it does draw on available heat from the drivetrain, and also on outside air.

Assured by.... ?

 

[NeilBlanchard]

Someone at GRC, who got it from someone at GM.