[ad_1]
Electric vehicle owners are discovering the harsh reality of driving a battery-powered vehicle through sub-zero temperatures, such as those crossing the Midwest.
Most motorists know in theory that the cold negatively affects the car's and battery's capabilities, but see its autonomy collapse on the dashboard, next to the icy temperature and the indoor temperature. In this type of conditions, vehicles have trouble warming up. Even the load is slowed down. So, on Wednesday, electric vehicle drivers had much lower battery life than they were used to – and some Tesla owners could not even board their frozen cars.
Ella Musk, CEO of Tesla, promised ambiguous last week improvements in cold weather to come in an upcoming computer update, but these did not arrive in time for this cold wave similar to Siberia.
Tesla sent winter driving advice that his cars would suffer from "increased consumption of their autonomy" in cold weather. Drivers have certainly noticed the limited range of negative temperatures. The Model X 100D normally has about 290 km of juice. In negative conditions, one driver indicated that his range was 120 miles.
It's certainly not all winter happiness that a video model 3 presented by Tesla after Christmas, it seems. Tesla has a cold weather testing site in Alaska. The cars have therefore proved that they can withstand harsh weather conditions. But Wednesday's weather is extreme. Even after heating the car's interior since the application, some have reported difficulties in getting into the vehicles.
The Chevrolet Bolt is another 100% electric car that has reached its limits in the extreme cold. A Chevrolet engineer has provided tips to help reduce battery life as the battery heats up the rest of the car. Tip: warm up the car when it's plugged before you start driving. Another solution is to use the heated seats instead of the car seat, because it requires a lot of battery.
For some drivers, it's just about getting in their vehicle. Tesla's elegant doorknobs do not seem prepared for the National Weather Service to call "wind chills".
Cars have retractable door handles that usually open automatically when you approach the vehicle or push it. But all the ice keeps the handles locked – although traditional car handles with a lever also struggle in icy conditions.
.@Elon Musk .@You're here I love you but can you hire a designer / engineer in places where the weather is bad so we do not have to deal with bad design like this anymore ?? It's after 30 minutes of preheating the car to 80 degrees. Wipers and mirrors were also frozen pic.twitter.com/HO8igw131x
– his ra (@sarahthanif) January 30, 2019
So much forgetfulness of @You're here in the design of model 3 with regard to cold weather. I should not have to plant my feet and push a broomstick into the door handle to open it at 28 degrees. Not everyone lives in California.
– Daniel Wilkinson (@D_Wilky) January 30, 2019
In case you're wondering what it's like to climb from the back to the south to get into snow boots (the driver's door is frozen). In the photo, Lucky jeans are also about to turn blue white seats. It was after preheating at 74 ° C for 20 minutes. ?❄️ pic.twitter.com/oTkjYxpSnl
– Tesla Model 3 Fan (@ teslamodel3fan) January 30, 2019
Other electric vehicle owners accept reduced mileage in cold weather, a known problem of electric vehicles (and other lithium-ion products), and pursue it.
Now it's really cold. It's no better than a good -7-degree morning in central Indiana. Fortunately, my Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle continues to work well and the heat is on! pic.twitter.com/pwwfjk072d
– Marvin Blade (@blade_marvin) January 30, 2019
It's an interesting question with a complicated answer.
The Bolt EV manual warns you not to let the battery go below -40 ° C, as this may freeze the battery and "stop the vehicle".
However, it does not say at what temperature the battery heater can not compensate.– Technological Connections (@TechConnectify) January 30, 2019
It seems that autopilot, Tesla's semi-autonomous driving mode, handles snow conditions without too much trouble, as has shown the video posted this weekend. Although the car had trouble understanding where she was sometimes on the road, she went through the blizzard in one piece.
Now, if only drivers could open these frozen doors …
[ad_2]
Source link
