Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
How do you think a Volt would handle our winters? I have no experience with EVs in severe cold, but I understand lithium doesn't play well with it. For 3 months it doesn't get above freezing, and usually for at least 3-4 weeks the highs are sub-zero.
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Just went through the first winter with my Volt. Our temps were a little higher than what you get, generally 20s-30s for the high with low only occasionally getting in the single digits. I was planning on driving the Prius more because it has a set of snow tires, but its HV battery decided to kick the bucket the day after I put them on, so it was down for ~6 weeks while I figured that out.
The nice thing about the Volt compared to most other PHEVs is that you can still drive it as an EV in the cold (provided it's not cold enough for ERDTT or you bypass it). My wife likes to be warm, so there was plenty of heater usage. The range estimate dropped to the high 20s due to this, but that was still enough range for day to day driving. The traction control actually works quite well in snow/slush with all season tires (of course snow tires would have been much better). I removed the air dam to keep it from turning into a plow.