Bronze user
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89 Messages
Home Charging in Cold Weather
After a -1C frosty night on Sunday-Monday with heavy overcast/low cloud initially enveloping the house in the morning, and eventually clearing with the temperature breaking through 5C after 11am, the battery in our LDV eDeliver 7 (88kWh battery) was very cold when I started charging after midday. After a couple of hours I noticed the State of Charge had only increased by 4%, whereas I would have normally expected an increase of about 10%, since I was charging at 4.3kW.
It appears the remainder of the energy delivered by the charger was used by the car to heat the battery. At public fast chargers battery heating is noticeable in very cold weather, but doesn't make a huge difference to charging time, since the process of charging at a high rate also heats the battery, so extra heating is only required initially, if the battery is not still warm from driving.
However, for typical home charging rates, the heating can use a significant portion of the power being delivered in very cold weather, resulting in much longer charging times being required.
Battery heating energy use is an important factor to take into account when home charging in very cold weather.
samkarke
3 Messages
3 months ago
I've definitely noticed the same thing with my BYD in cold weather. It seems like the battery heating system kicks in pretty hard, especially when the battery is really cold. I've even noticed a slight decrease in range after a long cold-weather trip.
I've started preheating the cabin before charging, which seems to help a little bit with battery temperature. Have you tried that, or do you have any other tips for maximizing charging efficiency in cold weather?
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BridieEV
New user
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17 Messages
3 months ago
Great observation - esp if charging in peak tariff times
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