Electric Vehicles

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What happens to very cold but unused batteries? (lemmy.sdf.org)

submitted 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

18 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I'm considering buying an EV to replace my aging diesel. I live in a very cold country where temperatures regularly dip below -30C in the winter.

I understand that EVs lose range in cold temperatures and that they need heating to use and charge without damage.

My question is this: if I plan on not using my car for several weeks, can I leave it unplugged and/or tell it to stop managing the batteries' temperature to save energy and not damage the batteries?

I'm okay with spending half a day preheating it when I plan on using it again regularly, but I don't want it to draw current all the time for nothing when I'm away on long missions.

For some reason, I can't seem to find out if it's safe to keep a fully unpowered EV in the cold for a long time...

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Thank you so much for the link! I'll read all that when I'm back home.

As an ex-diesel mech, at those temps, the fuel gets thick!

Yeah that's a problem for my old diesel, because it's a car I imported from a warmer country I lived in previously, and it's just not equipped properly for winter conditions. I had one of those coolant warmer / pump combos installed because the block can't even take a block warmer, I have special cold runny oil in it and I feed it diesel with additives that go down to -23F. But more and more often, while it will turn over just fine, it just won't catch. The glow plugs are new, there's enough compression, but... I guess it's getting old and annoying enough that I'm thinking of buying a new car.

Although if I'm honest, if it was an option, I'd rather have it converted: I'm reliably told that it's just about impossible to find a nice new car that isn't connected to the internet and spying on you constantly, so I'd really rather keep my old, simple, privacy-respecting car. But it's not feasible - at least not economically.

I'll have to see what my options are for a nice, simple, small and lightweight EV.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I’m reliably told that it’s just about impossible to find a nice new car that isn’t connected to the internet and spying on you constantly, so I’d really rather keep my old, simple, privacy-respecting car.

That's what I've heard also. (MAYBE you could find someone to disconnect that ... But you'd still have to BUY it along with the car!)

I know people who are keeping their older vehicles going a LONG time by replacing ANYTHING that breaks. Cheaper, if you've got a model you can easily get parts for. I live in a city and take the bus ... when it's warm out!