Read before you order! Expect 50% range loss in winter in Northern states.

[KniceHit]

My GF gets range around 2 mi/kwh but she has a short commute and jacks the HVAC as high as possible, she also lets it warm up while it’s unplugged pretty regularly.

...Jim Farley got the same with 2000 lbs in the bed. We'll be fine.

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[VTbuckeye]

Well, on a more positive note, i don’t get anything like 50% range loss in my Bolt in New England winters. Most of my driving is in MA/NH. EPA combined range is 3.9mi/kWh, i’ve never seen below 3 mi/kwh as long as i plan ahead a little. Pre-conditioning and using conservative HVAC settings keeps the range up fairly well. My GF gets range around 2 mi/kwh but she has a short commute and jacks the HVAC as high as possible, she also lets it warm up while it’s unplugged pretty regularly. It spends more time warming up than driving when she’s taking it. It just takes a little forethought if you’re planning on driving a longer distance in the winter.

I’m not worried about the winter range in my Lariat ER at all, i’m sure 200+ miles will be no problem for a roadtrip.

Short drives are the enemy of efficiency (both in EV and ICE). Warming the battery and the cabin initially take a lot of energy compared to keeping them at the desired temperature. My wife used to average around 2.5 miles per kWh in our bolt. I once we bought its replacement (xc40 EV) I got to drive the bolt. In the cold 3 miles per kWh was attainable, even without lots of preconditioning this winter (December through early February when it was repurchased by GM). Knowing that it wasn't going to be mine I drove it like I stole it (snow tires the previous years were great, low rolling resistance tires I'm the cold and wet were super easy to spin). Driving like that (sport mode and wide open throttle to the speed limit) I managed 1.6 to 2 miles per kWh. For long distance driving, particularly when DCFC is involved will likely allow less reduction in range than many are predicting. Once warm there is a lot of thermal mass to the big battery.

 

[LightningShow]

Short drives are the enemy of efficiency (both in EV and ICE). Warming the battery and the cabin initially take a lot of energy compared to keeping them at the desired temperature. My wife used to average around 2.5 miles per kWh in our bolt. I once we bought its replacement (xc40 EV) I got to drive the bolt. In the cold 3 miles per kWh was attainable, even without lots of preconditioning this winter (December through early February when it was repurchased by GM). Knowing that it wasn't going to be mine I drove it like I stole it (snow tires the previous years were great, low rolling resistance tires I'm the cold and wet were super easy to spin). Driving like that (sport mode and wide open throttle to the speed limit) I managed 1.6 to 2 miles per kWh. For long distance driving, particularly when DCFC is involved will likely allow less reduction in range than many are predicting. Once warm there is a lot of thermal mass to the big battery.

That’s the thing, right? You can definitely see 50% range loss if you’re commuting 5 miles each way and warming up the cabin. Of course, range loss in that situation is totally irrelevant. Range loss is only relevant when you need to drive a long distance and in those cases you can prepare so you’ll get much better efficiency. There’s no way you would plan to go for a long trip and only get 50% range just because it was cold out. Maybe if it was -10F, or something. If you live in a place where it’s consistently -10 and you need to drive more than 100miles a day, perhaps an EV isn’t for you.

 

[broncoaz]

I’m keeping a gas truck in the stable.

 

[metroshot]

Where I live, the SR F150L will have more than enough miles per charge as there are no cold climate effects on my current PHEV battery due to the warm weather all year around.

With my daily drive of 40 miles per day, I expect to charge once a week all year around...

And since my workplace has reduced cost charge stations, I expect charging at work more than at home....

 

[Amps]

They obey the laws of physics just like ICE vehicles do....

...including how internal combustion engines lose $3.00 of that $4.00/gallon of gasoline in heat, internal friction losses, etc. That would be 27 gallons of the 36 gallon tank example above.

 

[jazzmanmonty]

Cold week in Illinois. Last week of low 40s at night, truck always plugged in on over night, I was around 208 at 95% SR when leaving to work.

This week we have low 30s overnight, last night 31. Today woke up to 185 miles at 95%. So we are at 23% loss so far for approx. 50 degree temp change. In August we were at 240mi range.

Hopefully that's the worst of it and range loss won't be too crazy as we get to teens or closer to 0.

 

[Jaspernuts]

You will be 130 to 140 around zero.

 

[PrivateJoker]

You will be 130 to 140 around zero.

Is there no way to pre-condition the battery/cabin? Makes a massive difference on my Tesla.

 

[sotek2345]

Is there no way to pre-condition the battery/cabin? Makes a massive difference on my Tesla.

Yes you can, by setting a departure time, and it makes a big difference. Cut the range loss from almost 50% to ~25% in our Mach-e and I would expect the same for the Lightning.

 

[Theo1000]

While it is possible to end up with 50% of summer range this is not my experience at all the majority of the time. Maybe a couple of times in the last 20 years or so of driving EV's. Both times got caught in 50 mph headwind snow drifts. terrible weather. Last winter in -12f Mach-E ER ~ 220 miles, Etron ~ 190 miles, Volt ~ 25 miles (12 years old), I3 58 miles, etc. I imagine I can keep my Lightning well above 200 miles.

And I don't even precondition even though I do park inside my garage. Mostly.

With all my EV's, even through -10f to -15f weather, havn't seen such a drop. More like 20% to 30% if a few precautions are taken.

One thing I would do right now is go and over-inflate your tires. 45 PSI at least. That itself will get you 3%-5% extra range.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Maybe a couple of times in the last 20 years or so of driving EV's. Both times got caught in 50 mph headwind snow drifts. terrible weather.

Out of curiousity, which EV were you driving in 2002. I thought I was a pretty early adopter back in 2012 when there wasn't almost any L2 public charging in Canada, let alone Chademo.

 

[lightspeed]

Range loss might not be as bad as mach-e (and similar) because the Lightning battery is significantly larger so as a percentage of battery the initial heating might not use as much battery. The question with range is the long distance additional energy used for heating.

I believe the Lightning takes 6k watts (roughly) during preconditioning, but if that reduces to 2000 watts continuous for cabin/battery heating after the first hour on a long drive, that would only eat 10kWh over a 3 hour drive which is only 7.6% of battery (assuming that the battery heating is good enough to get it to a decent operating temp).

For short, cold, trips, it's going to take a big hit, but if you're going short trips you don't need the range.

It will be interesting to see what people get.

Here's a crazy idea, Ford should add a propane heating system option for those in very cold temps because that is one place where burning fuel is the perfect application -- to generate heat it's something like 95% efficient. A 20lb propane tank is equivalent to 120kWh of electric power!

 

[sotek2345]

Range loss might not be as bad as mach-e (and similar) because the Lightning battery is significantly larger so as a percentage of battery the initial heating might not use as much battery. The question with range is the long distance additional energy used for heating.

I believe the Lightning takes 6k watts (roughly) during preconditioning, but if that reduces to 2000 watts continuous for cabin/battery heating after the first hour on a long drive, that would only eat 10kWh over a 3 hour drive which is only 7.6% of battery (assuming that the battery heating is good enough to get it to a decent operating temp).

For short, cold, trips, it's going to take a big hit, but if you're going short trips you don't need the range.

It will be interesting to see what people get.

This is exactly right. You take a much bigger range hit on short, lower speed drives (where who really cares) than you do on longer higher speed drives because the battery and motors come up to temp and you are using less heating per mile driven.

 

[JPro]

Looks like I’ll have to wear all my ski gear when driving up to the slopes this winter

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