[c3r2z8f30i]

I live in Chicago and I want to know how good or bad is the i3 on the snow and the cold temps.

[-c-]

Originally Posted by c3r2z8f30i

I live in Chicago and I want to know how good or bad is the i3 on the snow and the cold temps.

I also live in Chicago.

As long as you don't get the 20" wheels with summer tires you'll do just fine. From what I've heard from others Theirs a few instances in super slick conditions where it's a bit Hairy with even the all seasons but I suppose that would be normal in any car.

The super narrow tires cut through the snow better.

If you do get the 20" like I did, get another set of wheels with the all seasons

Also they make winter tires

[jadnashuanh]

I'm a firm believer in dedicated winter tires when the conditions dictate. Even on clean roads, when it is colder outside, a winter tire will grip better because the rubber is more compliant, so stopping distances and turns are safer. THrow in snow, and the difference is huge. Don't even think of running the 20" summer performance tires in Chicago in the winter! The all-seasons 19" ones will work, but the winter tires are best. With the cold and snow you get around Chicago, unless you can wait for them to catch up to a storm, I'd have the winter tires as cheap insurance.

[afadeev]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

I'm a firm believer in dedicated winter tires when the conditions dictate. Even on clean roads, when it is colder outside, a winter tire will grip better because the rubber is more compliant, so stopping distances and turns are safer. THrow in snow, and the difference is huge. Don't even think of running the 20" summer performance tires in Chicago in the winter! The all-seasons 19" ones will work, but the winter tires are best. With the cold and snow you get around Chicago, unless you can wait for them to catch up to a storm, I'd have the winter tires as cheap insurance.

Agree on recommending dedicated winter tires if you want to stay on the road in the snow belt. Alas, there aren't a lot of choices available in stock i3 sizes.

Nokian Hakkapellitta R2 is the only winter tire I can find today at $152/pop:
https://www.tiresbyweb.com/tbw_tires...=0&pageindex=1

There aren't a lot of tires to choose from for i3's anyway, due to the weird size.

a

[jadnashuanh]

I had made a deal for the winter tires when I bought my car, so I have the Bridgestones. Given previous experience with the Nokian stuff, if I were going to piece a package together verses buying from the dealer, I'd probably go with the R2's, and will probably buy a set of those assuming I have the car long enough to wear out the set I have.

FWIW, Bridgestone makes two different winter tires designed specifically for the i3, but we only get one version here in the USA. In places like Finland and Norway, they have a different one.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by afadeev

Agree on recommending dedicated winter tires if you want to stay on the road in the snow belt. Alas, there aren't a lot of choices available in stock i3 sizes.

Nokian Hakkapellitta R2 is the only winter tire I can find today at $152/pop:
https://www.tiresbyweb.com/tbw_tires...=0&pageindex=1

There aren't a lot of tires to choose from for i3's anyway, due to the weird size.

a

I bought Blizzacks for my car in the correct size. They do exist.


The main issue with the i3 is a reduction in range in colder temps. The i3 loses 1/4 to 1/3 of its range when temps get below freezing.

[-c-]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

I bought Blizzacks for my car in the correct size. They do exist.


The main issue with the i3 is a reduction in range in colder temps. The i3 loses 1/4 to 1/3 of its range when temps get below freezing.

I lost half of my range when the temp went in the single digits. The guess o meter read 39 miles. CRAZY I tell you !!!!

That was when I was charging out of the 120 volt however and had the car set for a 7:30 departure with pre condition.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by -c-

I lost half of my range when the temp went in the single digits. The guess o meter read 39 miles. CRAZY I tell you !!!!

That was when I was charging out of the 120 volt however and had the car set for a 7:30 departure with pre condition.

Yeah it really sucks. My ActiveE only lost 10% of its range in the winter. I have no idea how they fucked up the cooling system on the i3 so badly when they had it working so well in the beta car.

Best practice I managed to come up with was to do a slow charge that only finished a few minutes before my departure time. The constant charging state kept the batteries "warm"

[jadnashuanh]

Originally Posted by -c-

That was when I was charging out of the 120 volt however and had the car set for a 7:30 departure with pre condition.

FWIW, I had an ammeter hooked to my EVSE, and found that when a departure time was set, when it turned on, it could draw as much as 20A...way more than your level 1 EVSE can produce. I'm not sure it will even try with a level 1 unit attached! If it does, it would take it quite a bit longer to achieve than with a full rate level 2 unit.

[-c-]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

FWIW, I had an ammeter hooked to my EVSE, and found that when a departure time was set, when it turned on, it could draw as much as 20A...way more than your level 1 EVSE can produce. I'm not sure it will even try with a level 1 unit attached! If it does, it would take it quite a bit longer to achieve than with a full rate level 2 unit.

Yea the car was all warmed up in the morning. That's all I cared about.

The level 2 BMW charger I installed this spring should keep the car from draining while warming up. The 4th bar was half drained in the morning before taking off because of the preconditioning process with the 120 volt charger can't keep up during the preconditioning.

I was able to drive just fine using the 120volt charger for all winter so it wasn't a big deal for me as I work 6 miles from home.

But seeing 39 miles on a car rated for 80 kind of sucks. It be nice if they rated it as worse case, Like 80 miles range worse case. Lol. Maybe then range anxiety won't hurt as much.

Dealer told me 10% drop in winter, saw more like 30% on average. But we get pretty chilly here.

Either way didn't bother me. If I need to go further I have other cars for that purpose.

[jadnashuanh]

Preconditioning the cabin is one thing, warming up the nearly 500# battery pack is another. The level 1 EVSE at 12A in the USA is likely to have trouble doing the later...it will not have any problems with warming or cooling the cabin. Not fully being able to warm up the batteries will be a noticeable cut on your range when it's cold out. Somewhere, I read the ideal battery temp is 77-degrees...tough when it's below freezing, sometimes way below freezing - it takes a fair amount of power. It can only try to use what's available, otherwise, you'd have even less available when you started. Something has to give. IT opts for cabin comfort if it can't do both I think while keeping the main batteries topped off..

[-c-]

Originally Posted by jadnashuanh

Preconditioning the cabin is one thing, warming up the nearly 500# battery pack is another. The level 1 EVSE at 12A in the USA is likely to have trouble doing the later...it will not have any problems with warming or cooling the cabin. Not fully being able to warm up the batteries will be a noticeable cut on your range when it's cold out. Somewhere, I read the ideal battery temp is 77-degrees...tough when it's below freezing, sometimes way below freezing - it takes a fair amount of power. It can only try to use what's available, otherwise, you'd have even less available when you started. Something has to give. IT opts for cabin comfort if it can't do both I think while keeping the main batteries topped off..

That's why I think I had such miserable range.

It will be interesting to see how with the new level 2 charger it behaves in the winter this year.

By the way is it cheaper or better to do the slow level 2 charge or just do maximum?

I just have a straight rate on my com Ed bill no Special discount for off hours usage yet till I redo my account.

[Epirali]

So have any of you actually done a full pre condition in dead of winter and have comparisons of how much range you had with the batteries warmed up? Curious because with the Leaf the trick I used is to set it to charge right before departure and the charging would warm the batteries up somewhat.

But it seems a good bit of the range loss in winter is from the much denser air and resultant drag.

[jadnashuanh]

Heating can be a big energy user, and the BEV in the USA is better than the REx because we get the heat pump as standard - it is not available on the REx at all, so heating is all resistance. The heat pump is optional in most markets on the BEV. I don't know if the Leaf has a heat pump for heating or not.

A/C isn't as energy intense as heating especially when you need to use resistance heating. Think about the amount of heat needed to be moved...if you like it 70-degrees, and it's 90 outside, twenty degrees change. Now, say it's 10-degres out, and you want it 70-degrees...that's 60-degree change. On an ICE, heat is a byproduct, on an EV, it is gold as it decreases your range along the way. So, that is one of the major differences. The other is that no battery holds as much energy as the temperature drops, or at least will let you extract it LiOn is better than say a lead acid, but it still loses energy capacity output as you cool it off. So, if you can warm it up and ensure it is fully charged while warm, it will give you the best results..