Cold weather and electric miles
- Thread starter rwsimon
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I rarely saw 15-16... 12 was normal... then 11.... then 10...... and now barely 9!!!!! I am in IA and it gets down to teens, but I am parked in a agrage, so u can add 5-10 degs...
Anyone else with their feedback?
Not sure if it is all cold weather... My 11 miles range was observed in Aug/Sep, when temps were in 70s
Anyone else with their feedback?
Not sure if it is all cold weather... My 11 miles range was observed in Aug/Sep, when temps were in 70s
Couple of us rebels in PA. 
I'm seeing 12 to 18, the 12's are now that it's colder as well. Those 9's seem pretty low, not sure what's going on there. Although I have noticed that the initial usage is a lot higher than the estimate. So if it says 12 mile range, I burn 4 miles of it in the first mile or 2. Then depending on what kind of driving I do after that, I might get close to 11 miles before the gas engine starts up.
I'm seeing 12 to 18, the 12's are now that it's colder as well. Those 9's seem pretty low, not sure what's going on there. Although I have noticed that the initial usage is a lot higher than the estimate. So if it says 12 mile range, I burn 4 miles of it in the first mile or 2. Then depending on what kind of driving I do after that, I might get close to 11 miles before the gas engine starts up.I also noticed that when it kicks into the gas only mode (70+ mph), the remaining EV mles keep depleting upto 0.5 miles... That should not happen...one would think logically..... I have had no luck talking to the local Honda dealer as he is not familiar with the car... Does anyone know how to address this with Honda Directly... The owners number people are clueless on tech support.
It seems like this electic range drop is happening to lots of us. I got a solid 14-16 miles all through the summer. Now it is about 10-11 and still dropping, and it isn't even all that cold yet (30s-40's). My Prius lost 10% of its gas mileage in the winter! but this is much worse. I wonder if it is just a fact of life with this battery system or whether there is a problem that can be fixed.
accordman":1fj64nxs said:
Assuming you're not in HV mode...there is minimal recharging of the battery, so...if you're using the heating/ac, that's where your battery is being consumed. If you switch to HV mode, it will try to average the battery consumption and re-charging over time, so that might help prevent excess battery consumption.
The little vehicle energy picture does not display all energy transfers (nor does the dash power/charge display). For example, when only the gas engine is running and you are in charge-mode, nothing will indicate charging is occuring, but the battery is often being charged.
RE: Addressing with Honda directly..phoning them is about all you can do...
I've not been very impressed myself...---
More issues being discovered now - I got a call from Honda regarding a recall. They needed me to take it to a dealer for a software update. It was regarding some guage not indicating - unrelated to all the battery issues I have seen... I did take it to the local dealer, but was skeptical since this dealership had never seen a car like this (yes, he is a honda dealer)... Got the update... Now I notice that when I drive and then stop, say for getting a coffee.... 100% of the time when i return (within 5 minutes), and start the car, I loose a whopping 1.0 mile... They just disappear. That is > 10% of the original EV miles (pathetic 9) that I get....
I called the dealer today and he is not a keen guy to work on my car to even check out the state of the battery. keeps telling me that he will "try" but I need to leave the car for a whole day. He will test it like they test the Honda Fit... I am not comfortable and I am not sure who to call... Perhaps my lawyer?
Any one else seeing range disappearance like above?
Guys/gals... you all drive one (that is why u are on this forum), so chime in and lets get some stats... maybe this is normal.. maybe not....
PS: Oh forgot to inform that my NAV display now freezes randomly... has done it 3 times in the past week....
I called the dealer today and he is not a keen guy to work on my car to even check out the state of the battery. keeps telling me that he will "try" but I need to leave the car for a whole day. He will test it like they test the Honda Fit... I am not comfortable and I am not sure who to call... Perhaps my lawyer?
Any one else seeing range disappearance like above?
Guys/gals... you all drive one (that is why u are on this forum), so chime in and lets get some stats... maybe this is normal.. maybe not....
PS: Oh forgot to inform that my NAV display now freezes randomly... has done it 3 times in the past week....
I didn't do the software update yet, but everytime I stopped and came back within 10 minutes, I lost about .6 mile on the EV. My fully charge battery is alway shows between 14.5 to 15.6 miles. I got 1 freezed screen just 1 time, then it went back to normal when I restarted the car.
I've been experimenting this week. It's been a lot colder here, and I charge overnight. In the morning the car shows EV range of about 10 miles. On Monday it was 60 degrees, so I drove it, in Econ mode, with no heat turned on, to work. I was able to drive 15.9 miles before the gas engine started.
I'm doing a few tests this week to see how much the heat and outside temperature change the actual range you can drive before the battery runs down.
Anyway, the test from Monday showed that the estimate range seems to be based on prior usage somehow. Temperature? Heater/driving conditions? Don't really know yet.
It also showed I could still get 16 miles of EV driving out of the battery, even though the car has been saying range was 10 miles for a week or two.
I'm doing a few tests this week to see how much the heat and outside temperature change the actual range you can drive before the battery runs down.
Anyway, the test from Monday showed that the estimate range seems to be based on prior usage somehow. Temperature? Heater/driving conditions? Don't really know yet.
It also showed I could still get 16 miles of EV driving out of the battery, even though the car has been saying range was 10 miles for a week or two.
Cobra, based on your experience, it seems as though the real issue is use of the heater. That certainly makes sense. But in our part of the country (the northeast), not using heat in the dead of winter is not really an option. It will be interesting to see how much lower the displayed full charge range goes when we get into really cold weather.
The heater just uses a lot of battery energy.
Last April when the car was new, we had some nasty freezing rain and lots of defogging. Electric range was about 5 miles that day, but was 14-15 in the summer.
Lately it's been as low as 7 miles with the preconditioning broken (Honda server broken over Thanksgiving weekend, not that the car/server connection is more than 30% reliable otherwise) and lots of heater use -- it was 6 F one morning.
(GM's EV1 uses a heat pump for heating instead of a resistance heater. I suspect it didn't work well when it was really cold, but it sounds good for modest heating needs.)
Last April when the car was new, we had some nasty freezing rain and lots of defogging. Electric range was about 5 miles that day, but was 14-15 in the summer.
Lately it's been as low as 7 miles with the preconditioning broken (Honda server broken over Thanksgiving weekend, not that the car/server connection is more than 30% reliable otherwise) and lots of heater use -- it was 6 F one morning.
(GM's EV1 uses a heat pump for heating instead of a resistance heater. I suspect it didn't work well when it was really cold, but it sounds good for modest heating needs.)
rinthos":35nduwy3 said:
Sorry, i didn't get a bulletin/recall number.... I did get a call from Honda asking me to take it to the nearest Honda dealer (they even made the appt for me). The dealer did confirm that there was something out about a guage not turning on or something for which this update was done.. BTW the dealer I took the car to, is not trained on the PHEVs.. I had no choice, as the nearest dealer that is PHEV trained is 1100 miles away!!!
Update - now with temps down to single digits, I get a full charge of about 8. Also noticed that when temps were higher (summer) and as soon as I plugged the charger (L1 or L2), I could hear a fan or something in the trunk go on - kinda like blowing air... Now I don't hear anything.... perhaps it is a air cooling mechanism used when the battery is charging....
Can anyone confirm the same finding?
ty
Can anyone confirm the same finding?
ty
accordman":1g5zfkeo said:
Can't comment on single-digit temps, don't have them here...
Regarding the sound you hear, it is indeed the cooling fan that is adjacent to the battery pack. It will kick in when the battery gets hot (charging makes batteries hot
) to help cool the battery packs.I am a little disappointed to hear that the electric range dropping in half in cold weather is "normal" for the car. I was hoping that my car has a problem that needs to be fixed. Cold weather is always worse for hybrids and electrics, but it seems to me that this car is particularly bad in this regard. I guess I should expect to use a lot more gas until spring.
Hi all,
I've owned my plug-in since Sept. My Honda provided charger didn't work. I brought it to the dealer and diagnostics called for a replacement charging module in the car. A week later, the part came in, looked like a small silver suitcase. They swapped it out and VOILA- the same charger started to work. The most ev miles available it ever showed was 11. Now, I am in Maine and temps have dropped to the 30's. After a overnight charge, my ev mileage in between 6.1-6.7 ! Every day I get the same ev range in the 6's. Is that right? Why would anyone pay the extra money and bother to plug in for a measly 6 miles ?
Anyone have any ideas or similar experience?
Thanks, meccord
I've owned my plug-in since Sept. My Honda provided charger didn't work. I brought it to the dealer and diagnostics called for a replacement charging module in the car. A week later, the part came in, looked like a small silver suitcase. They swapped it out and VOILA- the same charger started to work. The most ev miles available it ever showed was 11. Now, I am in Maine and temps have dropped to the 30's. After a overnight charge, my ev mileage in between 6.1-6.7 ! Every day I get the same ev range in the 6's. Is that right? Why would anyone pay the extra money and bother to plug in for a measly 6 miles ?
Anyone have any ideas or similar experience?
Thanks, meccord