Winter Range - Do You Actually Suffer Or Is It Psychological?

[Maquis]

The update didn’t change your range, only the number displayed. If you can make 2 round trips this winter, you could have last year, too.

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[CompilerBreak]

Day to day I agree with folks here, doesn't change things. But long distance trips with the family in the cold, the Mach E stays at home and we take the ICE. Shorter range + longer charging time makes it too much of a pain, still possible but more challenging than I expected from my initial EV research.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I don’t have a charger at home, only at work. So yes it takes more coordination to charge in winter. I spend more energy heating the vehicle than driving — multiple short trips a day in traffic and most of driving done on the weekend.

 

[AKgrampy]

They may have given you the smaller battery by mistake...check

Now that I think about it more I do not lose range in the winter - I gain range in the summer! Just a matter of perspective.

 

[kdonnel]

It has no impact on me unless I'm going on a trip.

Same

 

[Benny’66]

The update didn’t change your range, only the number displayed. If you can make 2 round trips this winter, you could have last year, too.

Yes, so it makes me feel like I was getting shorted last year now. All that (range) anxiety for nothin’. Hard to believe the original calculations were off 50%! That is crazy.

Also, it seems that pre-conditioning has more of an impact on the initial range estimate now. My starting range after full charge yesterday was 225 (95%), but when I got in the car to drive home after pre-conditioning the GOM said 240. This didn’t happen previous to the update (for me at least).

 

[Benny’66]

Now that I think about it more I do not lose range in the winter - I gain range in the summer! Just a matter of perspective.

Depends which side of the EPA estimate your looking from.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Cold (down to about 10-F) weather range adjustment doesn't materially impact us and we make a 1000 mile round trip almost every month.

The spring and summer winds are harder on our long range capabilities than the cold.

 

[Maquis]

Yes, so it makes me feel like I was getting shorted last year now. All that (range) anxiety for nothin’. Hard to believe the original calculations were off 50%! That is crazy.

Also, it seems that pre-conditioning has more of an impact on the initial range estimate now. My starting range after full charge yesterday was 225 (95%), but when I got in the car to drive home after pre-conditioning the GOM said 240. This didn’t happen previous to the update (for me at least).

IMO, the old calculation was overly pessimistic, the new one overly optimistic. Anymore, I just keep an eye on battery % and MPK.

 

[JRT]

No daily impact, normally. However trips are impacted because of standard range routinely. I end up just taking my 2014 RAM 1500 Crew Cab because I just don't feel like dealing with charger issues.

I'm actually not happy with this latest sw update that is way off on range in winter because my MME is garage kept, I show 245 miles each morning. But in less the 2 miles the GOM starts to realize oh it is 40 degrees and I'm down to 225 miles while it adjusts. This isn't a big deal to me because I expect it, my wife is annoyed as she can't believe Ford made it like this. At least in the old software it would keep the poor range prediction and improve if weather helped.

 

[JRT]

Follow up, 100% SOC this morning prior to a 111 mile trip from Huntsville to Birmingham. Temps started at 42 degrees, 10 miles in the range dropped 23 miles. 50 miles in dropped 71 miles. End of 111 mile trip was a total range estimate reduction of 148 miles. Honestly I knew it would be like this after the 2 years and 2 winters under my belt, but the SW update is just bad for customers new to EV. I'm at 19k miles now, and had good charging at EA, but failed at Mercedes of Birmingham, who had 2 charge point charges, but only 1 space not blocked by ICE. The 1 charger also has e a fault and would not charge, so an additional 5.5 mile drive to Buc'ee was successful

 

[JSeis]

I get really excellent “mileage” in the winter if I don’t turn on the heat. It’s a physical thing. I vaguely recall that winter heating cost me maybe 25-35 cents a day more ($.0634/KWh) as I burn up to another 5-6 KWh per day heating the car. It’s be a steal at $.50/day. Charge to 80% nightly.

 

[Fremont Kid]

Most, but not all, replies describe how owners have adapted not whether cold weather battery performance has actually affected their experience.
YES it has affected our experience. And YES we have learned how to adapt to the performance reduction - as have all of you. I think as fairly early adopters we have all learned:
1. How to understand the impact weather conditions have on EV performance.
2. How to adjust our driving needs and preferences to the weather impact.
3. How to plan vehicle charging so we aren't either inconvenienced or up s(&&%$ creek.
4. That transitioning from ICEVs to EVs is a longer-tail experience with many dependencies, e.g. charging stations, and that charging takes much longer than filling a tank with gas/diesel.

Congratulations to all - seriously! You are on the front lines gaining experience transitioning from a 150+ year fossil fuel infrastructure to a totally new infrastructure. Does not happen overnight nor in isolation.

 

[nashbrydges]

I'm constantly reminded of my multiplication tables where I calculate distance remaining based on efficiency (km/kwh) multiplied by 9 (to estimate the 91kwh battery when full) times the % battery remaining.

Short answer is, now that I've gotten used to it (my first winter with an EV) I would say that range anxiety isn't a thing. I don't feel cheated since I expected this behavior.

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