Sunday 27 November 2022, 10.20pm
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The number of electric car owners has increased in Romania. Many have bought them following the increases in petrol and diesel prices. Enthusiasm died down a bit as electricity prices also started to rise and many stations where DRIVER they could charge for missing cars for free.
The arrival of the cold season increases the consumption of electric cars and winter has just begun. It is the discovery of a Romanian who has Dacha Spring. She reported that her car has nearly doubled in size since temperatures dropped in one post Facebook.
“Oh my God, you’re late railway station when the mother-in-law arrives.
This morning the alarm didn’t go off at 5:30, luckily my wife called me at 6 and within 2 minutes I was in the car.
When, what to see? Ice on the windows!
I start the engine, turn the AC to full blast on the defroster, and begin diligently scraping the windows.
The on-board computer says it’s -3°C.
By the time I’m done with the windows and mirrors, the ice on the windshield has already melted thanks to the air conditioning. And battery it lost 2 percent to the heat given to full throttle.
I have about 20-21 km from the station, the battery is at 80%, I estimate that I have to go a little faster, without ECO.
I went fast, but at the time the traffic was almost non-existent and there were no speed cameras along the way.
Half extra-urban route at 90-100 km/h, about 2-3 km Freeway with 110-120 km/h, the rest in the city, heavy starts at traffic lights, more sudden slowdowns at traffic lights.”
What does the on-board computer indicate?
“I arrive at the station and I have 5 seconds left for the on-board computer:
- average consumption: 21.7 kWh/100 km (or almost double the normal consumption when it’s not cold)
- speed average: 57.4 kmh (we had an emergency, of course?!)
- distance travelled: 21.1 km
- AC at maximum temperature, gear 4 for the first 2-3 km, then gear 2
- It must be said that I have Continental all season tires, 1 year old and covered about 11k km, exemplary behavior in cold conditions, on a dry road.
I arrived at the tzanc to pick up my mother-in-law, everything is ok”.
“What are we doing brothers???”
“You understand that winter has arrived, that the cold season is bad for your autonomy electric car?
“What are we doing brothers???”
Well, let’s face it: higher consumption is possible when it’s very cold (like below -10°C) and you’re stuck in traffic jams in the city.
Last winter I even saw 25kWh/100km on the on-board computer.
This means that the range can be even less than 100 km in these extreme conditions.
AND? Is that a problem?
Not for me.
Because I use the car on short trips of 40-50km a day.
I rarely – maybe once every 2 months – do I ride more than 100km a day. And then there are enough charging stations in the city if absolutely necessary.”
Driver conclusions
“After a year of using the car, I strongly recommend that you IGNORE the estimated range value of computer on board. (the one permanently displayed under the battery percentage)
I do it differently: I correlate the drop in battery percentages with the kilometers I travel.
That is, I reset the A and see how many battery percentages go down after x km travelled.
If after about 2 km the battery drops by 1%, it means that a autonomy estimate of about 200 km.
If after about 1 km you drive, the battery drops by 1 percent, which means an estimated range of about 100 km,” wrote the driver on the group Dacia Spring Romania.
