I'm still pretty new to this EV thing. Just got my 2015 Spark 3 weeks ago here in Minnesota (MPLS/ST Paul area) with 57k miles on it. Battery appears to have 15kWh left on it. The car was brought to MN in 2020 from CA.
I live in rural MN and commute every day to the city, about 26 miles each way. I charge on a L2 over night to between 80-90% (haven't figured out how far ahead to set the departure time yet). I can charge at work using 110V/12A and easily charge back up to 80-90% during the 9 hour period.
Right now with temps in the morning around 55-60 and evening around 80, I have been using around 40% of the battery to/from work.
I realize these cars were not made with cold climates in mind and i will probably be pushing the limits of the range during the winter. Everything i've been reading about cold weather is starting to worry me a bit.
My goal is to pre-heat/condition the car inside my barn before leaving in the morning but then it will be outside all day at work. Not sure how well pre-conditioning will work when only on a L1/12A charger. I think the car will make it depending on how much heat i need/want to use. My biggest concern is that i will be able to stay in the 20-80% battery SoC. Right now i'm on the charger 2 times per day but only putting about 35-40 back in each time.
I'm planning for maybe 1/2 range worst case, so needed around 80% each way. Will the additional discharging/charging cycles in the winter cause issues with the battery?
Anyone here with some real world experience on range and needing to use the defrost during cold weather driving? A lot of information about cold weather suggests temps in the 20-30F - which to be fair, could be cold for some but around here in January we call that a heat wave.
I live in rural MN and commute every day to the city, about 26 miles each way. I charge on a L2 over night to between 80-90% (haven't figured out how far ahead to set the departure time yet). I can charge at work using 110V/12A and easily charge back up to 80-90% during the 9 hour period.
Right now with temps in the morning around 55-60 and evening around 80, I have been using around 40% of the battery to/from work.
I realize these cars were not made with cold climates in mind and i will probably be pushing the limits of the range during the winter. Everything i've been reading about cold weather is starting to worry me a bit.
My goal is to pre-heat/condition the car inside my barn before leaving in the morning but then it will be outside all day at work. Not sure how well pre-conditioning will work when only on a L1/12A charger. I think the car will make it depending on how much heat i need/want to use. My biggest concern is that i will be able to stay in the 20-80% battery SoC. Right now i'm on the charger 2 times per day but only putting about 35-40 back in each time.
I'm planning for maybe 1/2 range worst case, so needed around 80% each way. Will the additional discharging/charging cycles in the winter cause issues with the battery?
Anyone here with some real world experience on range and needing to use the defrost during cold weather driving? A lot of information about cold weather suggests temps in the 20-30F - which to be fair, could be cold for some but around here in January we call that a heat wave.
