[Rmancini]

Hi, this week I purchased my first EV, the Ionic 2020 preferred model, living in Montreal, Canada
we experience some of the coldest winter months, I just hope that the Ionic will be able to handle the extreme brutal weather, it would be much appreciated if anyone can share their experience driving their EV in similar conditions.

 

[Ou Boet]

Hi Rmancini

To best answer your question, members will need to know a bit more about your specific situation. Things like:

• do you park in a garage over night
• if so, is it heated or not
• do you charge at home or rely on public chargers
• will you regularly be driving long distances (>150 km)
• Will you be doing lots of short drives
• is there a descent fast charge (L3) network in your area.

However, in general the only consequence of cold winter weather is a range drop compared with warmer weather. For the very coldest of days (<30 deg C), for a vehicle that lives outside, perhaps only 60% of the nominal range will be available. And that is if you do lots of spaced out shorter drives which will require you to warm the cabin each time you drive. Otherwise, most people find that range is probably 20% to 30% of the rated range in the cold and snow.

One huge bonus, is that unlike an ICE vehicle, your car can start warming the cabin before you even get in while parked in the garage. No waiting for the engine to warm!!!!

 

[jneron]

We went thru our first Winnipeg winter last year, and we found that the range dropped from 220+ to something like 120. Then when you turn on the heat, it dropped again to under 100. This is in the dead of winter, when it’s -25C or colder for days on end (seat heater and steering wheel heater don’t cut it when it’s that cold). Other than that, it handled the cold and snow well. For some reason, the windows would always frost up on the inside when parking after driving somewhere, unless I remembered to open a window slightly. My previous car had a feature where it would use the residual engine heat to keep the cabin warm after you parked (if you remembered to press the button to activate it) and the windows never frosted up. The Ioniq could do this with a software change, just keep running the heat for a minute after shutting the car off, maybe based on a preference setting. That would be, umm, cool...😀

FWIW: We take a lot of short trips, under 6k usually.

 

[jneron]

Oh, also meant to mention the scheduled charging and climate control is very nice. Set the temperature you want and the time you want it, then plug the car in & forget it.

 

[Ger Maing]

Hi Rmancini

I do not drive an Ioniq Ev but a Focus EV (looking for a IONIQ PHEV for a better range but I am not sure yet). BTW the IONIQ EV is a very nice car. The winter range could be as low as 110 km for my Focus during winter - living in Montreal area. Do not forget, if you have to do a long trip during winter, after the quick charge station has charged your car battery at 80%, it will start slowing down. It means more time and more money to recharge. On a trip of 350 km during winter, I have to recharge four times of 20-30 minutes each.

 

[mralex1986]

Agree with all above, but one crucial point: put good winter tires on (which is mandatory in Quebec if I’m not mistaken). The stock all season low rolling resistance tires are absolutely terrible on snow and ice. Blizzaks make a world of difference for us Canucks!

 

[IoniqElectricPlus]

North America = Canada so far, it seems. 🇨🇦

I have no worries about EV range since I have the Plug-in model, but my friend has the electric and it can be alarming to go from a full charge to an estimated 100 km range as someone mentioned. Once things get rolling, though, dial back the climate control/temps slightly, and one will get back up to 70-80% of the range that is left.

Using the seat warmer and heated steering wheel is good enough for me. I only use the climate control to defog. The leftover moisture in the car is most likely from one's boots. It gets into the carpet or floor mats, and freezes/thaws. You just have to give it a shake outside the car.

 

[Grey County EV]

I basically only go to work and back (35km each way) or to get groceries in the city (45km each way). Never was one for travelling even pre-pandemic. Had a bit of an issue when the power was out at my house for 31 hours Sunday/Monday and someone took my spot next to the only outdoor power outlet at my work and the level 3 charger in the next town over from work wasn't working no matter what the Charge Point rep tried remotely... The biggest difference is that I have to drive a less efficient route for my commute in the snow. Haven't noticed a big range difference in the cold/snow yet but there's lots more winter to come so we will see. I got the Nokian Haakapellita tires put on for winter and I have been really satisfied with them. Programming the climate control to defrost the car before I leave has been very helpful as well because it's not running down the battery and I also don't have to scrape it off and then it's already warm and doesn't take as much to keep the inside comfortable for my drive. I keep mucking with the different settings to see what runs down the battery the least and also keeps me comfortable.

 

[Metallideth]

Oh, also meant to mention the scheduled charging and climate control is very nice. Set the temperature you want and the time you want it, then plug the car in & forget it.

Hey Jneron,
Newbie here, just got the 2019 in August. Quick question, how do you set the scheduled climate control?
thnx
Jay

 

[jneron]

Hey Jneron,
Newbie here, just got the 2019 in August. Quick question, how do you set the scheduled climate control?
thnx
Jay

It’s the same screen where you set the scheduled charging. On mine, I can set scheduled charging, temperature or both. At least, that’s what I remember, let me know if that doesn’t help and I’ll get more details.

Just curious: Where are you located?