Optimal Portion of Battery to Use for Longest Battery Life?

[JeremyW]

Is there any way to activate these battery heaters to achieve the battery performance I experience when it's above ~50°F? When I've got 3 bars or less battery temperature, it's really tough to reach routine appointments with a 50 mile round trip. We had 50 days below zero this year in MN and it was a struggle for months to manage my normal driving routine. It would be ideal to have a battery pre-heating option to trick the car into a warmer season.

I thought this would be an eventual option... There's a heater test in the Consult tool that could presumably bring the heaters on manually that could be recreated with Leafspy. However after seeing the heaters inside an open pack, they are very small. About 4in by 6in. There's 4 of them but they look very small in comparison to the pack. They are simply there to prevent the pack from freezing. (keeping the pack above -15c I think?) Even if we could turn on the heaters manually I don't think you would see more than a few degree increase in temperature, and since they don't cover the entire pack you might see hot spots as well like dgp mentioned.

 

[JPWhite]

Is there any way to activate these battery heaters to achieve the battery performance I experience when it's above ~50°F? When I've got 3 bars or less battery temperature, it's really tough to reach routine appointments with a 50 mile round trip. We had 50 days below zero this year in MN and it was a struggle for months to manage my normal driving routine. It would be ideal to have a battery pre-heating option to trick the car into a warmer season.

I thought this would be an eventual option... There's a heater test in the Consult tool that could presumably bring the heaters on manually that could be recreated with Leafspy. However after seeing the heaters inside an open pack, they are very small. About 4in by 6in. There's 4 of them but they look very small in comparison to the pack. They are simply there to prevent the pack from freezing. (keeping the pack above -15c I think?) Even if we could turn on the heaters manually I don't think you would see more than a few degree increase in temperature, and since they don't cover the entire pack you might see hot spots as well like dgp mentioned.

Thanks for that insight. Doesn't look good for LEAF in frigid climates. Been in Minnesota since Saturday. I haven't seen a single EV of any type or brand here. An EV desert.

 

[Rauv]

Ahem?

 

[BrockWI]

We are up here, just thawing out, last weekend up in the UP (upper Michigan) they still had ice on some of the small lakes...

 

[dgpcolorado]

We are up here, just thawing out, last weekend up in the UP (upper Michigan) they still had ice on some of the small lakes...

Not quite that cold here but the wild critter water dish on my lanai was frozen this morning (25ºF). And this is what my solar panels looked like on Monday:

I had to scrape the snow off of them for two mornings in a row. May showers bring June flowers?

Quite a contrast from temperatures in the sixties and low seventies a week ago.

 

[JeremyW]

Meanwhile in California it's 100 degrees and San Diego is on fire! :shock:

 

[abasile]

Meanwhile in California it's 100 degrees and San Diego is on fire! :shock:

Down in the "flatlands", yes. Up here in the mountains, my LEAF has been at four and five temperature bars all week. No warmer than the 70s during the day.

 

[gschettl]

Ok, good to know the heaters aren't really big enough & don't cover enough area to be really effective as a pre-heater. I might experiment some with an electric blanket under the car before I do something more serious. I hate to do any of that battery pre-heating though as it's using energy that doesn't provide transporation.