I need a new car!

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by Taylor95

99% of those miles will be highway miles

An EV really does make sense - what I need might be out of the budget though. It needs to go like 140 miles on a single charge in all seasons. Plus insurance is more on an EV. I'll be living somewhere with solar panels though, so it is pretty tempting.

I do like the idea of a Prius. One just popped up for just over 4k. It's a 2013 in decent shape. 50 mpg is pretty good, and I might be able to get more with various aero mods.

I also spent a lot of time thinking about getting a TDI instead. The major downside of that is that gas is $0.50 cheaper per gallon here. I'm really just looking for something cheap and reliable.

My Nissan Leaf lost more than 50% of range in the winter, and that was one with a heat pump heater, on clean roads, and I was trying my hardest to squeeze as many miles as possible out of it (heater pretty much off most of the time except when I needed to defrost the windshield, very easy on the accelerator, not going at full highway speeds).

Now the Leaf isn't the greatest EV of all time. But I figure anyone wanting an EV where it's cold should get at least double the range they'd need as it will easily be cut in half in the winter.

[Ecky]

EVs make a lot of sense for a lot of people, but long-distance highway travel in extreme weather conditions is probably the least advantageous use-case for them. North America has some of the harshest weather in the world, and some of the longest average travel distances in the world.

[redpoint5]

From reading forums, the Bolt in very cold climates loses about 1/3rd range, giving it a worst case range of about 166 miles.

[ME_Andy]

A Bolt on regular 110V for 500 miles/wk would be tough. Only 4 miles charged per hour. Love Bolts, though. We have 2 of them.

I'll throw the Mitsubishi Mirage out there for your consideration.

[redpoint5]

Yeah, gonna need 240v to Bolt that many miles per day, but it can comfortably accommodate those miles.

[Taylor95]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

500+ miles per week: Highway? City? Mix?

If mainly highway, then a turbodiesel with good aero.
If city, then a lightweight hybrid would be better. Maybe electric or PHEV, if you'll be doing 2x50 every day with access to charging.

Well I ended up getting an 05 Golf TDI! It is definitely older than I was wanting but I got a deal too good to pass up!

[Logic]

Originally Posted by Taylor95

Well I ended up getting an 05 Golf TDI! It is definitely older than I was wanting but I got a deal too good to pass up!

For highway driving in a cold climate that's a good choice, assuming the engine is good.

As it's mostly highway driving yo can aero mod the hell out of it!

The other thing, as it's diesel, without a throttle valve/flap; perhaps look to the aero inside the induction system:

That would include proper Ram Air design and Bell Mouths and the elimination of sharp turns and sudden sharp edged changes in pipe diameters where all the pipes meet and are clamped together.

People also see benefit from eliminating the screens and grills in the induction system, but one needs to give this a good think:
Air flows way faster in the center of a (induction) pipe than it does at the inner surface.
A screen before a (hot wire) airflow meter averages out the airflow speed just downstream, where the meter is.
Without it the meter will register higher flow and the ECU will add more fuel...

Flow directors in sharp bends excepted; all the other screens and grills are there on the off chance the system ingests something big that may somehow have gotten into the induction system and are unnecessary fuel hogs unless you are liable to leave a nut or something loose in the intake system.

Bell Mouths:
Here the initial Ram Air bell mouth in the/a high pressure area in front of the car will not only give you a tiny bit of increased pressure in the intake but also cut the frontal area of the car slightly.
People think: "Turbo; so this is all BS, but tests have proven otherwise and there are even Bell Mouths just upstream of the turbo impellers of the most successful/efficient turbo implementations.
Both that initial Ram Intake AND the From Filter Box to the Manifold should have a a proper 'elliptical' Bell mouth as there is a dramatic decrease in air (box) volume there.

There are posts here on all the above, as well as the opposite:
Both sucking the exhaust out and filling the vacuum behind the car. (kill 2 birds with one stone)
https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...tml#post699835

[Logic]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

My Nissan Leaf lost more than 50% of range in the winter, and that was one with a heat pump heater, on clean roads, and I was trying my hardest to squeeze as many miles as possible out of it (heater pretty much off most of the time except when I needed to defrost the windshield, very easy on the accelerator, not going at full highway speeds).

Now the Leaf isn't the greatest EV of all time. But I figure anyone wanting an EV where it's cold should get at least double the range they'd need as it will easily be cut in half in the winter.

I'd seriously consider a small, water cooled, 'plug in for winter' genset.
That gives you heat (and efficiency) and some exta amps to save the cold (at startup) battery and some extra range.

There's a lot about 'efficient' small (water cooled) engines hereabouts:
https://endless-sphere.com/sphere/th....118647/page-3