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Battery freeze up
- Thread starter richard dinter
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sub
Well-Known Member
Thank you for this. I felt like I was making stuff up when I blamed my motor failure messages on the cold weather and no one reported having similar problems. It feels good to not be alone.
https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/does-anyone-park-outside-in-the-cold.38546
Dark-Fx
Well-Known Member
Something wrong with your vehicle then. No extra warnings for me with a 5 F pack besides the one about performance and Regen being reduced due to the cold battery this morning. And it wasn't lying, slower than conserve mode would be under normal situations, but no speed limit I noticed. Too much slow traffic and slick roads to get much above 60 at any point, though I don't recall any abnormal limitations above 51 mph.
Taz355
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If the OP has a 50 amp charger and 4 motor will only take about 2.5 hrs to warm up and charge normally in my experience
if inside about 1.5 hrs
have not tried with the portable charger
if inside about 1.5 hrs
have not tried with the portable charger
d15b7
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My ‘22 R1T seems to do fine in the cold too (right now as I write this it’s 6F outside, and truck lives outside; see previous posts I’ve made about cold efficiency recently). But where I live it never really gets much colder than low single digits F and it rarely does that even. But -33F where the OP is? Holy shnikes!!!?!? I gotta say, as a long time ICE user (and many vehicles; I’m a certified ‘car nut’ and can’t help myself from buying/owning WAY too many cars all the time!!), I can say that at -33F there’s a real good chance that most of my ICE wouldn’t start if left outside (with no block heater running). And if ICE does start up at that temp, it’s not very healthy for it either (you’d have a bunch of seconds ticking by with very poor oil lubrication happening snd thats a LOT of wear). -33F isn’t good for any vehicle and honestly I’m not too surprised that any R1 would be struggling in that condition
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DuoRivian
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Sounds like the OP needs to keep the vehicle in a garage overnight rather than just letting it sit in arctic conditions for prolonged periods outside.
Budman
Well-Known Member
Here is a post I remember from a couple years ago on the Mach-e forum. A Mach-e left outside in Fairbanks at -35F. All was fine except the expected range loss and weak cabin heating
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...-mach-e-range-test-what-could-go-wrong.11669/
Text from post below;
There have been a lot of questions about the effect of winter temps on the Mach E's range. (I had been told by owners of other EVs to expect a 50% range reduction in extreme cold.) I know Ford tested the Mach E here in Alaska (I saw one here about a month before the Nov 19 reveal), but the actual test results are likely buried in a Detroit filing cabinet somewhere.
First, let me save some of you the time of writing about what I should have done to get better results. This was a deliberate, worse case test to determine:
1) What is the maximum, nonstop, highway range one can safely plan for on a very cold, interior Alaska day with an outside, cold-soaked, not plugged in, but fully charged Mach E
2) Is the Mach E mechanically reliable in extreme cold,
3) What is the most accurate way to compute expected winter range when planning an out-of-town road trip, Specifically, is the GOM a tool you can use to make accurate and safe decisions?
This is a long post. If you are planning to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner outside on the patio, wearing shorts, sunglasses and a Panama hat, keep your snarky comments to yourself, and go back to drinking your Pina Colada with the little, pink paper umbrella while shopping the internet for designer parkas in preparation for that forecasted upcoming +50F cold snap
. Other barely interested parties can go directly to the end and read the executive summary. The rest of you (many of whom are secretly rooting FOR global warming) read on. Apart from some Canadian and Scandinavian members, the rest of you can take comfort in the fact that your cold weather performance will be better (likely much better) than what is described below.
The test specifics:
Route (as planned) – Distance 188 miles (303km), (3hr 12m), Planned for battery - 83kw Avail (5kw Reserve). Except for few miles the route is very flat.
Speed - Speed limit +4 mph (69mph (111kph) outbound, 59mph (95kph) inbound)
Mach E - Jan 21 Build AWD\Ext Battery, First Edition. All FDRS modules updated (as of 2 Nov 21). Continental WinterContact 860S stud less winter tires, Tire Pressure 42psix4, Drive mode: Whisper, One Pedal OFF. Intelligent Cruise ON. Approx. 120lbs survival gear. Winter average efficiency to date (from trip summary page reset on 20 Oct): 1.7 mi\kWh. Start Odometer 4311.9 mi. Steering Wheel Heat On. Seat Heat Auto. Climate Control AUTO. Fan LO. Temp Set 70F
Standard Survival Kit
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Survival Gear
20 Nov Weather - Clear with no wind. All temperatures are ambient temps. No wind chill nonsense.
Just before Departure
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Nice Day 0900
Outside Air Temps: Departure Point -24F (-31C), Mid Enroute -35F (-37C), Journey Restart after hotel charge -31F (-35C)
The Adventure – Test day is cold and clear. Visibility 100 miles+. The car was left outside overnight and not plugged in. There was no pre-starting nor was a departure time scheduled. The car was very cold: Car Metal -25F (-32C), Glass Top Outside -29F (-34C), Car Seat -21F (-29C), Glass Top Inside -21F (-29C). Nevertheless, Mike-E started without issue. 1st Observation: The displays booted immediately, and they were almost immediately responsive to the touch - despite the -25F temp inside.
Prior to moving the car outside, the driving history had been reset, since I wanted to see if the GOM will readjust, based only upon temperature change, even though not moving. 2nd Observation: The GOM did readjust while parked outside in the cold overnight. Before the driving history was reset the GOM range was 181 mi at 100%. After history reset was performed the GOM showed 249 mi at 100%. After sitting overnight GOM at -25F the range had automatically readjusted to 193 mi. I know not to trust the range calculations, but the GOM range is conservative, right?
Departure 0845: Only 2 Nav points loaded – the turnaround point at 94 miles and the home return destination. Ford nav screen shows 188 miles total – the same as Google maps. I’ve calculated that I need to average no less than 2.27 mi\kWh to make the entire 188 mile journey and return with a 5 kW reserve. My winter average to this point has been a consistent 1.7 mi\kWh so, if that average is correct, I won’t make it the whole way and back. Based upon that 1.7 mi\kWh winter average to date, the cars range at these temps should be only ~150 miles max.
First 15 minutes: The seats and steering wheel heat began to be felt within 5 minutes and were at full heat within 10 minutes. (If parked in the heated garage I feel the seat heat within a minute). The climate heat is still blowing cold after 15 minutes. This was unexpected as I usually I find the interior too warm within 5 minutes. An additional eyebrow raiser – the battery is still showing 100% charge after 12 miles. Although I’ve only traveled 12 miles, the GOM range has dropped by 23 miles. I don’t find this surprising as I had reset the trip display and the GOM was relearning for the new conditions. The new GOM it is telling me I will be 5 miles short on range. Only 48% of the battery is going to the journey and 47% is being used to heat the cabin and battery. Again, not a big surprise at -25F, with a cold soaked battery.
40 minutes: The outside temp has dropped to -35F, the coldest of the journey. 3rd Observation: Ford actually installed a temperature sensor that senses lower -20F. Every other device I've bought here (with rare exception) doesn't go below -20. +1 for Ford.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Trip at -34F
The seats are plenty hot and the steering wheel comfortable. (I do wish Ford had kept the 3 temp settings for the steering wheel heat, though). The battery charge is finally going down - 2% after 20 miles (I wish!). Now, 59% of the battery is going to the journey and the cabin and battery heat usage has dropped to a combined 37%. The GOM is telling me I will be 11 miles short if I keep the same turn around point so I realize I will need to go with my fallback plan - turnaround early, once the GOM range and the distance traveled from the start\end point are the same. The climate control is still not putting out warm air, so I crank the Temp up to Hi. The net result – the climate control is still blowing cold air except now it is at higher velocity (I do discover the Auto Seat heat is connected to the temp setting control and my butt is burning). Yes, I tried cycling the ‘Defog’ button by the drivers left knee. The defroster also just blew the cold air faster. Something isn’t right, so I dig into climate menu and select cabin air recirculation ‘On’. Within a minute or so warm(ish) air begins to flow. The car keeps automatically turning recirculation ‘Off’, so I am having to reselect it every 10 minutes. I also try various manual climate control settings, but on the entire journey, I am never able to find the Equatorial Heat mode that constantly annoys and overheats me when I’m driving around town.
Turn around Point: 1hr 26 min into the trip and cabin and battery heat energy usage has dropped to 32% total energy usage. (It remains at about that level for the rest of the trip.) The GOM says I have 78 miles of range and it is 73 miles back to home, so I turn around. By now, the battery indicator is consistent with the other range indicators – 54% remaining. Within a few miles the GOM shows 71 miles of range, but Nav shows it is 74 miles back to the house. Backup plan 2: Get a short Level 1 charge at the Air Force Base (26 miles from home) or in the town of North Pole (13 miles from home).
When I reach the Air Force Base I have enough GOM range to reach North Pole with 8 miles to spare, so I carry on. Five miles from North Pole I get the low battery alert on the driver’s display. “Low Battery. Reduce Climate Use for More Range”. A minute later, while I’m watching the display, the battery instantly drops from 10% to 5% and the GOM range drops from 20 to 10 miles. (I don’t believe this is a real mileage reduction. I think it is a deliberate Ford adjustment to keep drivers from pressing too far.) The turtle icon appears on the driver’s display and throttle responsiveness decreases. The climate control is blowing cool air again. After 3 more miles, I turn into North Pole’s shopping area and look for a 120v plug in. Most RV parks here are closed in the winter, so there is no easy 240v source. Nearest EV faster charger (50kw) is in Fairbanks but that is a mile further than the distance to my house and both are outside of the GOM and battery remaining range.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? 20211120_111617
My plan was to plug into one of the hundreds of car outlets in every parking lot around here. The 120v outlets are used by ICE vehicles in the far north to keep the 12v battery warm and to keep the oil from turning to sludge. Many cars also have a radiator recirculator that keep the radiator water warm, so it doesn’t take as long to warm the interior. When I plugin I see the outlets are on a rotating schedule and cycle on and off constantly. I see a big portable generator running across the parking lot, so I drive over to check it for a 240v outlet. Nope, but it does have a 120v continuously powered outlet. It is behind the best Chinese restaurant in the area, so win-win – both the car and I get fed. When I plugged in, I had 2% battery charge3 miles on the GOM. It’s ony 13 miles to home.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Generator Plugin
I figure it will take 3-4 hours to add the few miles I need to get home, so I drag lunch out, then walk over to Safeway for a shelf check. When I finally get back to car, I see it has only added 2 miles GOM range after 2 hours charging (Is most power going to heat the battery?). There is a laundromat in North Pole so I unplug and drive over to see if they have an accessible 240v outlet. Their dryers are all hardwired so, after driving around for 2 miles (all the miles I had added at the generator) looking for a 240v outlet, I ended up at the Hotel North Pole to see if they have a laundry with a compatible 240v outlet. They do, but it is too far from the car to use. They do have a 120v exterior outlet providing power to their Christmas lights. Bah Humbug - off go the Christmas lights, on goes the charger (with permission, of course.)
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Plugged in at hotel
No one is home and I’m not about to give my friends the satisfaction of having to listen to them gloat while they drive me home, so I settle into the warm hotel and wait. After 5 hours I get an unexpected FordPass message “You have enough charge to continue your journey”. The battery says 9% but GOM says 7 miles, so I don’t fall for the FordPass message.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? FordPass sufficient charge notification
To be safe, I keep the car plugged in for 7 more hours and when the battery shows 20% and the GOM shows 13 miles, I decide to head the final 13 miles home. (I do have an EGO battery generator in the back of the car that I know from my garage test can provide an additional ~ 3 miles of range, if needed.
GOM and battery at journey restart:
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? GOM at journey restart
The car is still in turtle mode and tire pressure after sitting in the cold has dropped from 42psi to 32-33 psi. I decide to keep the climate off and rely on the seat and steering wheel heat. It is 2AM and -31F. Once again, the car starts without problem and the displays boot immediately and are very responsive. (Hilariously, the spare cell phone says it has shut down to conserve battery due to excessive cold. +2 for Ford. ) I accelerate slowly to give time for the tires to even out the flat spots from sitting in the cold (Standard procedure here for all cars in extreme cold). After about a mile the tires are happy, and the ride is smooth. Performance is sluggish due to turtle mode, but I expected that. At the halfway point it seems clear I have sufficient range to make it home, so my only remaining concern are turtle mode and the shallow hills I will encounter the last 3 miles on the main road. The final ¼ mile to the house is up a very steep hill. On the main road, the speed drops to 30 mph going up the hills then accelerates back to 50 mph on the way down. The final steep hill up to the house was a near thing. At the steepest point, Mike-E was only going 4 mph. However, when the road leveled out I could accelerate back to 20 mph for the final 100 yds to the driveway. I think it helps that it is warmer in the hills. I pulled into the garage with 9% on the battery and 8 miles range on the GOM. So, if I had tried to make it home when FordPass said I could continue my journey with 9% battery, I would have, apparently, been 2% short of the charge needed (optimistic to the bad side). On the other hand, at actual journey restart, the GOM had indicated I would arrive home with 0 miles remaining. I arrived with 8 miles remaining (pessimistic to the good side).
Trip summary just before shutting down:
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Whole trip summary
Charging Summary:
I left with 100% charge and charged 3 times – on the generator for 3%, at the hotel for 19%, and 91% back at home to get back to 100% (Typically, I charge to 90%). So, discounting any difference due to rounding up or down .5%, and considering my 88.8kw available battery, I used close to 100.34 kw to travel the total 150.7 mile journey - for an average 1.5 mi\kWh at temps ranging from -20 to -35. In other words, my Mach Es range in arctic conditions is almost exactly 1\2 its summer range. And that was worst case – outdoors and not plugged in.
The bad news for you advocates of using mi\kWh to determine your range (and I was one) - in cold temps at least, it seems even less accurate (to the bad side) than GOM. In fact, the final end trip summary page showed a 150.6 mile journey at an average of 1.8mi\ kWh. The calculated, actual average was 1.5mi\kWh. Even if the 1.8 mi\kWh was a one-off reading just before parking, I never saw less than 1.5 mi\kWh at any time on the trip 0 summary page. Most of the time the journey page showed 1.6 to 1.7 mi\kWh. My winter average up to the trip reset before the trip was 1.7 mi\kWh.
I suspect there was enough hidden range that I could have made it all the way home without stopping in North Pole, but -31F is not the time to be stuck in a car with no heat. So, good judgement ruled the day. We occasionally see -40F to -50F for a few days, every few years, so I will likely do some more in-town testing. At those temps, I will likely plan on plugging in the car and using departure times.
Executive Summary: Surprise, the Mach E’s range is significantly reduced in cold weather. (OK, not a surprise to anyone of us who took the time to learn about EVs before purchase.) In extreme low temperatures (-35F in this case), plan for a worse case 50% reduction in available range. That is exactly what owners of other EVs had told me to expect here in Alaska. Most of you will experience a much smaller range loss.
Mechanically, the Mach E didn’t care a hoot about the extreme cold temps. The doors and trunk pop opened immediately and operate smoothly. The ride comfort was similar to summer’s comfort level. It took a while for the battery to warm up and start providing accurate readings, but normal car performance was not affected by the extreme cold. It was only when the turtle light illuminated, due to the low range alert, that performance decreased.
Climate Comfort was a major problem. The interior never got truly warm in 3 hours. Frost stayed on the roof glass (inside!) for the whole journey. This one made no sense because my biggest complaint with the Mach E’s climate comfort up to this test was that the car got way too hot, even when it was below zero outside. Normally, I keep climate in ‘Auto’ ‘Lo Fan’ wit the temp set at 68F. On this trip, I had to manually manipulate the Recirc Air to get the climate system to start outputting warm air. Was this problem related to parking outside overnight? I’ll be doing more research on the climate system in extreme cold during the coming days.
None of the range tools in the Mach E (GOM, Battery Charge State, or mi\kWh) are the “one answer” to the actual range question. For me, worst case, on the highway, at -35F, I now know I need to plan for a recharge every 2 hours (25% battery remaining). Currently, the nearest\only, highway fast charger is 2.5 hours away. In other words, for now, I won’t be doing long distance winter travel here in Alaska.
Final Point. I have zero concerns driving the Mach E locally in the same brutal temperatures ICE cars experience. However, I'll drive an ICE if I need to drive any long distances in Winter. In the future, I'll have more extreme cold observations, to include sub-zero fast charging and even colder temps, maybe. Like most of you, I am constantly bombarded with questions. Here, the first question is usually, "How does it handle the cold?". I intend to show them by being seen all over town, all winter long.
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...-mach-e-range-test-what-could-go-wrong.11669/
Text from post below;
There have been a lot of questions about the effect of winter temps on the Mach E's range. (I had been told by owners of other EVs to expect a 50% range reduction in extreme cold.) I know Ford tested the Mach E here in Alaska (I saw one here about a month before the Nov 19 reveal), but the actual test results are likely buried in a Detroit filing cabinet somewhere.
First, let me save some of you the time of writing about what I should have done to get better results. This was a deliberate, worse case test to determine:
1) What is the maximum, nonstop, highway range one can safely plan for on a very cold, interior Alaska day with an outside, cold-soaked, not plugged in, but fully charged Mach E
2) Is the Mach E mechanically reliable in extreme cold,
3) What is the most accurate way to compute expected winter range when planning an out-of-town road trip, Specifically, is the GOM a tool you can use to make accurate and safe decisions?
This is a long post. If you are planning to enjoy your Thanksgiving dinner outside on the patio, wearing shorts, sunglasses and a Panama hat, keep your snarky comments to yourself, and go back to drinking your Pina Colada with the little, pink paper umbrella while shopping the internet for designer parkas in preparation for that forecasted upcoming +50F cold snap
. Other barely interested parties can go directly to the end and read the executive summary. The rest of you (many of whom are secretly rooting FOR global warming) read on. Apart from some Canadian and Scandinavian members, the rest of you can take comfort in the fact that your cold weather performance will be better (likely much better) than what is described below.The test specifics:
Route (as planned) – Distance 188 miles (303km), (3hr 12m), Planned for battery - 83kw Avail (5kw Reserve). Except for few miles the route is very flat.
Speed - Speed limit +4 mph (69mph (111kph) outbound, 59mph (95kph) inbound)
Mach E - Jan 21 Build AWD\Ext Battery, First Edition. All FDRS modules updated (as of 2 Nov 21). Continental WinterContact 860S stud less winter tires, Tire Pressure 42psix4, Drive mode: Whisper, One Pedal OFF. Intelligent Cruise ON. Approx. 120lbs survival gear. Winter average efficiency to date (from trip summary page reset on 20 Oct): 1.7 mi\kWh. Start Odometer 4311.9 mi. Steering Wheel Heat On. Seat Heat Auto. Climate Control AUTO. Fan LO. Temp Set 70F
Standard Survival Kit
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Survival Gear
20 Nov Weather - Clear with no wind. All temperatures are ambient temps. No wind chill nonsense.
Just before Departure
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Nice Day 0900
Outside Air Temps: Departure Point -24F (-31C), Mid Enroute -35F (-37C), Journey Restart after hotel charge -31F (-35C)
The Adventure – Test day is cold and clear. Visibility 100 miles+. The car was left outside overnight and not plugged in. There was no pre-starting nor was a departure time scheduled. The car was very cold: Car Metal -25F (-32C), Glass Top Outside -29F (-34C), Car Seat -21F (-29C), Glass Top Inside -21F (-29C). Nevertheless, Mike-E started without issue. 1st Observation: The displays booted immediately, and they were almost immediately responsive to the touch - despite the -25F temp inside.
Prior to moving the car outside, the driving history had been reset, since I wanted to see if the GOM will readjust, based only upon temperature change, even though not moving. 2nd Observation: The GOM did readjust while parked outside in the cold overnight. Before the driving history was reset the GOM range was 181 mi at 100%. After history reset was performed the GOM showed 249 mi at 100%. After sitting overnight GOM at -25F the range had automatically readjusted to 193 mi. I know not to trust the range calculations, but the GOM range is conservative, right?
Departure 0845: Only 2 Nav points loaded – the turnaround point at 94 miles and the home return destination. Ford nav screen shows 188 miles total – the same as Google maps. I’ve calculated that I need to average no less than 2.27 mi\kWh to make the entire 188 mile journey and return with a 5 kW reserve. My winter average to this point has been a consistent 1.7 mi\kWh so, if that average is correct, I won’t make it the whole way and back. Based upon that 1.7 mi\kWh winter average to date, the cars range at these temps should be only ~150 miles max.
First 15 minutes: The seats and steering wheel heat began to be felt within 5 minutes and were at full heat within 10 minutes. (If parked in the heated garage I feel the seat heat within a minute). The climate heat is still blowing cold after 15 minutes. This was unexpected as I usually I find the interior too warm within 5 minutes. An additional eyebrow raiser – the battery is still showing 100% charge after 12 miles. Although I’ve only traveled 12 miles, the GOM range has dropped by 23 miles. I don’t find this surprising as I had reset the trip display and the GOM was relearning for the new conditions. The new GOM it is telling me I will be 5 miles short on range. Only 48% of the battery is going to the journey and 47% is being used to heat the cabin and battery. Again, not a big surprise at -25F, with a cold soaked battery.
40 minutes: The outside temp has dropped to -35F, the coldest of the journey. 3rd Observation: Ford actually installed a temperature sensor that senses lower -20F. Every other device I've bought here (with rare exception) doesn't go below -20. +1 for Ford.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Trip at -34F
The seats are plenty hot and the steering wheel comfortable. (I do wish Ford had kept the 3 temp settings for the steering wheel heat, though). The battery charge is finally going down - 2% after 20 miles (I wish!). Now, 59% of the battery is going to the journey and the cabin and battery heat usage has dropped to a combined 37%. The GOM is telling me I will be 11 miles short if I keep the same turn around point so I realize I will need to go with my fallback plan - turnaround early, once the GOM range and the distance traveled from the start\end point are the same. The climate control is still not putting out warm air, so I crank the Temp up to Hi. The net result – the climate control is still blowing cold air except now it is at higher velocity (I do discover the Auto Seat heat is connected to the temp setting control and my butt is burning). Yes, I tried cycling the ‘Defog’ button by the drivers left knee. The defroster also just blew the cold air faster. Something isn’t right, so I dig into climate menu and select cabin air recirculation ‘On’. Within a minute or so warm(ish) air begins to flow. The car keeps automatically turning recirculation ‘Off’, so I am having to reselect it every 10 minutes. I also try various manual climate control settings, but on the entire journey, I am never able to find the Equatorial Heat mode that constantly annoys and overheats me when I’m driving around town.
Turn around Point: 1hr 26 min into the trip and cabin and battery heat energy usage has dropped to 32% total energy usage. (It remains at about that level for the rest of the trip.) The GOM says I have 78 miles of range and it is 73 miles back to home, so I turn around. By now, the battery indicator is consistent with the other range indicators – 54% remaining. Within a few miles the GOM shows 71 miles of range, but Nav shows it is 74 miles back to the house. Backup plan 2: Get a short Level 1 charge at the Air Force Base (26 miles from home) or in the town of North Pole (13 miles from home).
When I reach the Air Force Base I have enough GOM range to reach North Pole with 8 miles to spare, so I carry on. Five miles from North Pole I get the low battery alert on the driver’s display. “Low Battery. Reduce Climate Use for More Range”. A minute later, while I’m watching the display, the battery instantly drops from 10% to 5% and the GOM range drops from 20 to 10 miles. (I don’t believe this is a real mileage reduction. I think it is a deliberate Ford adjustment to keep drivers from pressing too far.) The turtle icon appears on the driver’s display and throttle responsiveness decreases. The climate control is blowing cool air again. After 3 more miles, I turn into North Pole’s shopping area and look for a 120v plug in. Most RV parks here are closed in the winter, so there is no easy 240v source. Nearest EV faster charger (50kw) is in Fairbanks but that is a mile further than the distance to my house and both are outside of the GOM and battery remaining range.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? 20211120_111617
My plan was to plug into one of the hundreds of car outlets in every parking lot around here. The 120v outlets are used by ICE vehicles in the far north to keep the 12v battery warm and to keep the oil from turning to sludge. Many cars also have a radiator recirculator that keep the radiator water warm, so it doesn’t take as long to warm the interior. When I plugin I see the outlets are on a rotating schedule and cycle on and off constantly. I see a big portable generator running across the parking lot, so I drive over to check it for a 240v outlet. Nope, but it does have a 120v continuously powered outlet. It is behind the best Chinese restaurant in the area, so win-win – both the car and I get fed. When I plugged in, I had 2% battery charge3 miles on the GOM. It’s ony 13 miles to home.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Generator Plugin
I figure it will take 3-4 hours to add the few miles I need to get home, so I drag lunch out, then walk over to Safeway for a shelf check. When I finally get back to car, I see it has only added 2 miles GOM range after 2 hours charging (Is most power going to heat the battery?). There is a laundromat in North Pole so I unplug and drive over to see if they have an accessible 240v outlet. Their dryers are all hardwired so, after driving around for 2 miles (all the miles I had added at the generator) looking for a 240v outlet, I ended up at the Hotel North Pole to see if they have a laundry with a compatible 240v outlet. They do, but it is too far from the car to use. They do have a 120v exterior outlet providing power to their Christmas lights. Bah Humbug - off go the Christmas lights, on goes the charger (with permission, of course.)
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Plugged in at hotel
No one is home and I’m not about to give my friends the satisfaction of having to listen to them gloat while they drive me home, so I settle into the warm hotel and wait. After 5 hours I get an unexpected FordPass message “You have enough charge to continue your journey”. The battery says 9% but GOM says 7 miles, so I don’t fall for the FordPass message.
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? FordPass sufficient charge notification
To be safe, I keep the car plugged in for 7 more hours and when the battery shows 20% and the GOM shows 13 miles, I decide to head the final 13 miles home. (I do have an EGO battery generator in the back of the car that I know from my garage test can provide an additional ~ 3 miles of range, if needed.
GOM and battery at journey restart:
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? GOM at journey restart
The car is still in turtle mode and tire pressure after sitting in the cold has dropped from 42psi to 32-33 psi. I decide to keep the climate off and rely on the seat and steering wheel heat. It is 2AM and -31F. Once again, the car starts without problem and the displays boot immediately and are very responsive. (Hilariously, the spare cell phone says it has shut down to conserve battery due to excessive cold. +2 for Ford. ) I accelerate slowly to give time for the tires to even out the flat spots from sitting in the cold (Standard procedure here for all cars in extreme cold). After about a mile the tires are happy, and the ride is smooth. Performance is sluggish due to turtle mode, but I expected that. At the halfway point it seems clear I have sufficient range to make it home, so my only remaining concern are turtle mode and the shallow hills I will encounter the last 3 miles on the main road. The final ¼ mile to the house is up a very steep hill. On the main road, the speed drops to 30 mph going up the hills then accelerates back to 50 mph on the way down. The final steep hill up to the house was a near thing. At the steepest point, Mike-E was only going 4 mph. However, when the road leveled out I could accelerate back to 20 mph for the final 100 yds to the driveway. I think it helps that it is warmer in the hills. I pulled into the garage with 9% on the battery and 8 miles range on the GOM. So, if I had tried to make it home when FordPass said I could continue my journey with 9% battery, I would have, apparently, been 2% short of the charge needed (optimistic to the bad side). On the other hand, at actual journey restart, the GOM had indicated I would arrive home with 0 miles remaining. I arrived with 8 miles remaining (pessimistic to the good side).
Trip summary just before shutting down:
Ford Mustang Mach-E -35F\-37C Real World Mach-E Range Test. What could go wrong? Whole trip summary
Charging Summary:
I left with 100% charge and charged 3 times – on the generator for 3%, at the hotel for 19%, and 91% back at home to get back to 100% (Typically, I charge to 90%). So, discounting any difference due to rounding up or down .5%, and considering my 88.8kw available battery, I used close to 100.34 kw to travel the total 150.7 mile journey - for an average 1.5 mi\kWh at temps ranging from -20 to -35. In other words, my Mach Es range in arctic conditions is almost exactly 1\2 its summer range. And that was worst case – outdoors and not plugged in.
The bad news for you advocates of using mi\kWh to determine your range (and I was one) - in cold temps at least, it seems even less accurate (to the bad side) than GOM. In fact, the final end trip summary page showed a 150.6 mile journey at an average of 1.8mi\ kWh. The calculated, actual average was 1.5mi\kWh. Even if the 1.8 mi\kWh was a one-off reading just before parking, I never saw less than 1.5 mi\kWh at any time on the trip 0 summary page. Most of the time the journey page showed 1.6 to 1.7 mi\kWh. My winter average up to the trip reset before the trip was 1.7 mi\kWh.
I suspect there was enough hidden range that I could have made it all the way home without stopping in North Pole, but -31F is not the time to be stuck in a car with no heat. So, good judgement ruled the day. We occasionally see -40F to -50F for a few days, every few years, so I will likely do some more in-town testing. At those temps, I will likely plan on plugging in the car and using departure times.
Executive Summary: Surprise, the Mach E’s range is significantly reduced in cold weather. (OK, not a surprise to anyone of us who took the time to learn about EVs before purchase.) In extreme low temperatures (-35F in this case), plan for a worse case 50% reduction in available range. That is exactly what owners of other EVs had told me to expect here in Alaska. Most of you will experience a much smaller range loss.
Mechanically, the Mach E didn’t care a hoot about the extreme cold temps. The doors and trunk pop opened immediately and operate smoothly. The ride comfort was similar to summer’s comfort level. It took a while for the battery to warm up and start providing accurate readings, but normal car performance was not affected by the extreme cold. It was only when the turtle light illuminated, due to the low range alert, that performance decreased.
Climate Comfort was a major problem. The interior never got truly warm in 3 hours. Frost stayed on the roof glass (inside!) for the whole journey. This one made no sense because my biggest complaint with the Mach E’s climate comfort up to this test was that the car got way too hot, even when it was below zero outside. Normally, I keep climate in ‘Auto’ ‘Lo Fan’ wit the temp set at 68F. On this trip, I had to manually manipulate the Recirc Air to get the climate system to start outputting warm air. Was this problem related to parking outside overnight? I’ll be doing more research on the climate system in extreme cold during the coming days.
None of the range tools in the Mach E (GOM, Battery Charge State, or mi\kWh) are the “one answer” to the actual range question. For me, worst case, on the highway, at -35F, I now know I need to plan for a recharge every 2 hours (25% battery remaining). Currently, the nearest\only, highway fast charger is 2.5 hours away. In other words, for now, I won’t be doing long distance winter travel here in Alaska.
Final Point. I have zero concerns driving the Mach E locally in the same brutal temperatures ICE cars experience. However, I'll drive an ICE if I need to drive any long distances in Winter. In the future, I'll have more extreme cold observations, to include sub-zero fast charging and even colder temps, maybe. Like most of you, I am constantly bombarded with questions. Here, the first question is usually, "How does it handle the cold?". I intend to show them by being seen all over town, all winter long.
Alanparkcity
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Heat pumps have problems with extreme cold. A gen 1 would do better!
Budman
Well-Known Member
I don’t agree. I drove my Gen 2 this week at -13 deg F and I got full heat in less than 1 minute. I set the cabin temp at 66 deg and was very comfortable.
If a heat pump had to extract heat from cold air they do struggle. But the Rivian gets excess heat from the warm motors so they work well even in extreme cold.
I also had a Gen 1 prior to this. While the Gen 2 system is noisier, it puts out more heat and does so quickly.
GoBlueR1T
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I'm having this issue too. I posted the details in a different thread last evening: https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/motor-failure-message.38637/page-2#post-709262
Rivian roadside assistance assured me it's not because of the cold weather, but I highly doubt that. Because it's happened twice now on consecutive days, they are going to service the truck. Very frustrating to be dealing with this.
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RivianRiverRat
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people venturing out along the Gulf Coast
Rural1T
Well-Known Member
OP,
I had a failure to charge earlier this week at -16°F.
My L2 home charger (a Grizzl-E rated to -22°F) was operable, but the vehicle wouldn't accept power).
Turned out the Rivian computer that controls charging was cold. Blasting the cabin heat on HI for about 5 minutes fixed the problem and the vehicle started charging normally.
Hope this helps!
I had a failure to charge earlier this week at -16°F.
My L2 home charger (a Grizzl-E rated to -22°F) was operable, but the vehicle wouldn't accept power).
Turned out the Rivian computer that controls charging was cold. Blasting the cabin heat on HI for about 5 minutes fixed the problem and the vehicle started charging normally.
Hope this helps!
SamDoe1
Well-Known Member
I'm in MN too and haven't had any issues at all. My truck sits outside all day while I'm at work and, even in the -20F weather we've had the past few days, it does just fine and doesn't throw any weird faults or issues.
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