[wilsonguide]

i have had the 2019 Bolt EV for less than a month. i live a little north of vancouver BC, temperatures have been in the -3 to 8 Celsius range since purchasing. i've been plugging the car in with the supplied 120V charger when the tempreature has been dipping below 0C. I've charged the car to about 90% capacity on a couple of occasions at a 240V charging stations.

i still haven't seen anywhere close to the stated range of 380kms. is this due to the use of cabin heaters in the car at this time of year or the general cooler temperature of the battery? or both? it's worrying me that this vehicle came from the interior of BC where just prior to purchase they had a week long spell of -20C. is it possible the battery is damaged?

any insight is much appreciated.

 

[Fivedoor]

Your battery is fine, it protects itself from cold damage.

The range meter is commonly referred to as the GOM "Guess O Meter" It shows what the car thinks you will have for range based on outside weather conditions, battery state of charge, your driving style, use of cabin heating or cabin cooling, etc.

Enjoy your car, you have nothing to worry about!

Keith

 

[ga2500ev]

Battery is not damaged. Range depends on conditions. Both ambient temperature and usage of the heater can significantly impact available range. It's the nature of all EVs.

It's a management problem, not a fault. As long as your Bolt gets you to where you need to go, all is well. You'll see the turnaround in the summer when the range will likely exceed your expectations.

Enjoy your Bolt. Congratulations!

ga2500ev

 

[pointedstick]

Both, for sure.

 

[Sean Nelson]

i have had the 2019 Bolt EV for less than a month. i live a little north of vancouver BC, temperatures have been in the -3 to 8 Celsius range since purchasing.

Welcome to the club! I live in Vancouver and have had my 2017 Bolt since, well, 2017.

Don't be concerned about the range, as the others have posted the range will be lower in cold weather and most especially if you're using the heater. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how much improvement you'll see as spring arrives and the weather warms up. I typically get around 250 km of range indicated on the display in the winter, and well north of 400km in the summer.

I just got back from a trip to Seattle on the long weekend. To minimize recharging time I dressed warmly with a nice fur hat and a lap blanket so that I could make the trip without using the heater. I traveled over 500km with just one fast charging stop in Seattle where I filled the battery up from 34% to 83%. My average efficiency over the whole trip was 14.2 kWh/100km, better than the EPA rating. To contrast, my efficiency is usually in the 20 to 25 kWh/100km range when I toodle around town with the heater on.

 

[wilsonguide]

thanks very much for all the replies, very reassuring. so i guess the only way to damage the battery due to cold is if it gets parked in low temps with not enough battery power to allow it to condition itself? what is the optimal outdoor temperature for these batteries? is there a system of warnings built into the vehicle's software for this.... or some kind of guideline in the event an owner wants to park the vehicle for several days in sub freezing conditions? thanks again, i really appreciate the knowledge and support here.

 

[Sean Nelson]

I think it's just about impossible to kill the battery with cold weather, but it can get cold enough so that it won't start. In that case you need to plug it in so that it can warm itself up to a temperature where it can operate.

If you're planning to have the car parked in subfreezing conditions for several days, I'd leave it plugged in if possible. If not, I don't think it would come to any harm. The worst case is that it might run its heater and run down the state of charge a bit - but it's smart enough not to completely drain itself.

 

[Marspilgrim]

FYI, I believe, but not 100%, that it needs to be plugged into 240V or on DC for the car to actually do the active battery management, otherwise it's using its own power to do it assuming it has enough charge and is in operating temp range. But yes, once it gets really bloody cold or the battery cold soaks it may not operate. It doesn't get damaged but the friendly little electrons won't move until it warms up.

 

[Fivedoor]

Up north keeping an EV plugged in is the same as keeping the block / fuel tank heater on a Diesel plugged in (Up in Canada, a diesel should have a fuel tank heater) it keeps the "fuel" in usable condition

Keith

 

[fdr8cer]

The Bolt's "Guess O Meter" estimate bases its calculation on the Km/Kwh of you recent driving history, the battery's current state of charge, and the "Guess O Meter's" best estimate of the battery's total capacity. I believe it also downgrades the estimate a bit when the temperature is very cold (i.e. below freezing).

Based on my own experience, when the car is new, it makes a VERY conservative estimate about the battery's total capacity, which it revises after it has observed a relatively deep discharge cycle. So if you've never discharged your battery down to 25% or so, the car's battery capacity estimate, and thus its range estimate, will most likely be very conservative. In my case, I drove my car for more than a month without discharging the battery below 80%, and was, like you, concerned about the low range estimates I was seeing. Then my wife took a much longer trip that discharged the battery down to 20%, and after recharging, the GOM's estimated range increased by a whopping 50 miles from what had been showing previously when the battery was fully charged.

Running the heater will significantly reduce the Km/Kwh of your recent driving history, which will also cause the GOM to reduce it's mileage estimate. Given your location, and time of year, that is probably also a factor in the low estimates that your GOM is estimating.