EV's Must Be Preconditioned To Take A Charge In Winter Temps

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Due to the cold snap this week, some are having difficulty in starting ICEs due to a weak battery. Today I saw some weird advice in TV I never heard of before. It was that if your battery has a little charge but is too weak to turn your engine over, turn on your headlights then go back and forth from dim to bright several times.That somehow re-energizes your battery and you can then start the engine. Has anyone ever tried that trick and does it work?
 
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Not sure about cars, but if your batteries are low on
your boat, flashing the Nav lights with three short
ons, three long ons and then three short ons, will
attract the Coast Guard, and they'll call a battery company
that will bring over some fully charged batteries.
It could happen. :D

The hybrid vehicles are interesting.
Rented a hybrid Honda Accord and a trip to
the house in the Keys used very little gas.
Making decisions about a vehicle for many trips
from South Florida to the Rockies.
Would never own an all electric vehicle or boat.
Hybrid boats had issues when switching over trashed
the electronics and caused problems with the HF radios/Pactor.
Forgot all the details at the moment.
 
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Having run diesel engines in some really really cold conditions, I found (OK, my employer found, I went with what works) what's now CRC Fuel Therapy to be the best diesel treatment. Takes care of gelling, condensation in the fuel and injector cleaning.

During a near Arctic condition, I took the battery inside to keep it warm. Dropped it in place in the AM and the car started right up. In a related item, military vehicle specs for the European far north/mountain regions had (once upon a time) the batteries not only in what amounts to the interior of the vehicle but they had heating pads. I guess the draw for the heaters was less than the drop in efficiency from cold. A hundred watt light bulb in the engine compartment and/or a block heater helps. Not sure if a LED bulb puts out the same heat.
 
biku324 said:
Anti-Gel Cold Weather Diesel Treatment – Lucas Oil Products, Inc. – Keep That Engine Alive!
Click to expand...
I use Stanadyne Performance Formula additive, which is similar. It only gets down into the single digits here but I want to make sure the tractor, excavator and diesel genny will run if I need 'em. I also have oil pan and battery warmers and a trickle charger on them.

llowry61: Thanks for posting that. I was looking for that article for a discussion on a different thread and couldn't remember where I'd seen it. I guess EV manufacturers will have to add a heating element to the battery box which turns on below a certain temperature when charging.
 
On the other hand, there is this:

 The first-ever drive from North to South pole is complete – and it was all-electric

southpoleariya-e1702858654479.jpg


However... "the devil is in the details":

The original plan had been to use a trailer with a small windmill to charge the car while parked while in polar regions, but the trailer didn’t work out on Arctic roads. But for the Antarctic portion, the Ramseys have been using solar panels to help charge the car at “night” (which can be any time of day – the polar region is in constant sunlight at this time of year), in addition to using generators when the weather isn’t in their favor, highlighting the ability of EVs to be fueled by several different energy sources instead of just one.

The trip through North America was relatively simple on big highways with plenty of chargers (and a quick stop to meet up with us, and the OC Tesla Club, in Long Beach), except that the Ariya was significantly less efficient after modifications. Between the huge off-road tires, fenders, and roof rack with rooftop tent, range was cut significantly...
 
Talked to a guy at work yesterday who has a Tesla. After a couple of days in this cold trying to get his car going he's had it. Said it took him 20 minutes to get it moving the other day. He's done with it, and with more than a few choice words to say on the matter...
 
WR Moore said:
A hundred watt light bulb in the engine compartment and/or a block heater helps. Not sure if a LED bulb puts out the same heat.
Click to expand...


Our benevolent overlords dropped a deuce in the punch bowl to save us from ourselves by decreeing incandescent bulbs to be verboten. I readily admit that for the great bulk of applications LED's are a boon, but . . . my first ride as a young pup was a VW "bug" and when the WV winters got down in the single digits it was a 'bear' to start since I had no garage. I found the only way I was going to make it to work on time was to fashion a canvas 'skirt' from an old tarp that hooked to each of the rear wheels and blocked the wind by extending it around the rear of the car, and running a "trouble light" (hanging shop/garage single bulb fixture on a long cable) with a 100 watt bulb into the bottom of the engine compartment.
Also, we always used a ceramic fixture and at least a 60-75 watt bulb to heat the outside dog houses. A plywood dog house with Styrofoam sheets covering the walls and roof for insulation, and a flap door with a single bulb would keep the interior at up to at least 50 degrees or more unless temps dropped to below zero. Our dogs thrived in such with old moving quilts and body heat.
A lot of folks who kept livestock, chickens and such did much the same in different uses. Now, it's becoming impossible to find incandescent bulbs and there are no cheap and easy expedients to replace them for many of the uses listed above.
I'll be long in my dirt nap by the time these do-gooder geniuses solve all the problems (or scrap the current electro tech for something better) and make electric vehicles reliable, efficient, and affordable. But the prevailing political philosophy seems to be 'damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead'. Phased change that solves current problems before rushing blindly ahead seems to not be an option with these folks.
 
My 60w porch light has been burning out bulbs after very short times this cold snap. I would caution against burning out expensive headlight filliments in these conditions.

Sorry, jumping thru multiple hoops has strangled my spell check. Please bring back the old forum.
 
NFrameFred said:
Our benevolent overlords dropped a deuce in the punch bowl to save us from ourselves by decreeing incandescent bulbs to be verboten. I readily admit that for the great bulk of applications LED's are a boon, but . . . my first ride as a young pup was a VW "bug" and when the WV winters got down in the single digits it was a 'bear' to start since I had no garage. I found the only way I was going to make it to work on time was to fashion a canvas 'skirt' from an old tarp that hooked to each of the rear wheels and blocked the wind by extending it around the rear of the car, and running a "trouble light" (hanging shop/garage single bulb fixture on a long cable) with a 100 watt bulb into the bottom of the engine compartment.
Also, we always used a ceramic fixture and at least a 60-75 watt bulb to heat the outside dog houses. A plywood dog house with Styrofoam sheets covering the walls and roof for insulation, and a flap door with a single bulb would keep the interior at up to at least 50 degrees or more unless temps dropped to below zero. Our dogs thrived in such with old moving quilts and body heat.
A lot of folks who kept livestock, chickens and such did much the same in different uses. Now, it's becoming impossible to find incandescent bulbs and there are no cheap and easy expedients to replace them for many of the uses listed above.
I'll be long in my dirt nap by the time these do-gooder geniuses solve all the problems (or scrap the current electro tech for something better) and make electric vehicles reliable, efficient, and affordable. But the prevailing political philosophy seems to be 'damn the torpedoes and full speed ahead'. Phased change that solves current problems before rushing blindly ahead seems to not be an option with these folks.
Click to expand...
And it ruined my Easy Bake Oven too.
 
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