cold weather and distance question

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JimBeamer

New member
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Messages
2
Hi. I am a fairly new owner of a 2014 i3. My company has decided to move, and now I am looking at a 50-mile round trip to work, with winter approaching. I only have the standard charger at home, so the car does not have time to get a full charge daily. What can I do to insure that I will be able to get to work every day without making a large investment? I know absolutely no 'tricks of the trade', so to speak.
 
If I'm interpreting your question correctly, you're searching for the cheapest way out?

Do you charge at work?

The most minimal investment would be a 16A charger that would plug in to an existing 20A receptacle at your home (Clipper Creek or Duosida).

This would modestly increase your rate of charge to 1.3 kW per hour, or 0 to 100% in 17 hours (for your car's 22kWh battery)

If you're commuting 50 miles and allowing 4.0 miles per kWh, you're using something shy of 60% of your battery's capacity. With the 16A 120V charger, you could replenish that in under 10 hours.
 
You didn't say where you are located or what you expect your winter temps to be, but if similar to where I live, I'm guessing that 50 miles will be right at the limit of your range, depending upon how comfortable you want to be in the car. I'm just going into my first winter with my 2014 i3/Rex. Temps have dropped into the 20's and 30's and I am finding that the 65-70 miles of electric range that I had this summer has dropped to about 50 miles. Full disclaimer: We enjoy our comfort, so we are running the heater at 72-74 degrees and we use the heated seats for the first few minutes to take the chill off of the seats. I'm sure we could extend the range by a few miles by bundling up more and cutting down on the heating, but we (well, mostly my wife) aren't willing to do so.

I would suggest that you see if there is a place at work where you can plug it in during the day. Many employers now days look kindly upon allowing this. If not, use the PlugShare app on your phone to see if there are any charging stations located near your work.

All in all, I am amazed at how much range I am losing in the colder weather, and it's not likely to get any batter around here, as we tend to hit the high teens and low 20's before winter is over. The worst is yet to come...
 
We have already hit teens here, and I can't believe the reduction in range, either! I have asked about charging at work, and am awaiting an answer. There are no public charging stations nearby... well, there is one for Tesla, lol!
 
You'll probably be fine if your employer allows you to plug in. Otherwise I'd say bundle up and keep heating to just what is necessary to keep your windows defogged/deiced. You're going to be right on the limit.

I've seen Tesla-to-J1772 adapters on Ebay for around $100. Not sure about the quality, but should let you plug into a Tesla L2 charging station.
 
This probably seems obvious, but I would also recommend that you remotely execute the "climatize" feature about 10-15 minutes before you leave so that the cabin can come up to temp (and windows defrost) while the car is still on the charger. Since you only have an L1 charger it may not keep up with the demand, but is still better than doing it unplugged.
 
To pick this nit, if JimBeamer's i3 is maxing out the OUC to charge the battery during the 20 minutes before leaving even without preconditioning, I'm not sure preconditioning would be a net positive on range. Yes, preconditioning is happening while electrons are still flowing into the battery to potentially replace the ones going to the heater, but with the heater off, every single one of those electrons would otherwise have gone into the battery and then been available for the heater once the car is disconnected. It might even be possible to consume more energy because you're running the heater an extra 20 minutes with no gain in charging time. There are a decent amount of assumptions I'm making here and it's probably a negligible difference either way but just something to consider.

Agree with all the other statements though, you'll be on the edge of your range limit depending on the actual temp, your desire for comfort, driving style and the age/ state of your battery. I usually drive in Comfort mode and will say Eco Pro makes it a lot easier to coast which is the most efficient driving possible. The Eco Pro tips can help you tailor your driving style to efficiency too.

Definitely try to charge at work if possible. Offer to bring in donuts once a month or something if needed to sell it. With chargers (even L1) bookend-ing your journey, you should be able to precondition both ways and drive in comfort without any range anxiety!
 
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