Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[smithy]

Hi All,
I've been using my Experia essentially as a work commuter since I picked it up mid Feb this year, I do the odd weekend ride to my local motorcycle meeting place...not too far away as there aren't any charge points in the area, so I need to manage my weekend rides so I can make it there and back with a suitable reserve SOC remaining.

My work commute is ~52km each way and 95% of that is 100kmh motorway...during the first month or two before the weather started to cool down, the average temps were in the mid-high 20's C...(bearing in mind I'm downunder). I was able to get to work and back twice and then back to work on the third day....so in excess of 256km with a few % SOC left for insurance......slowly over the last couple of months when the cooler weather has brought ambient temps down well under 20C and morning temps dipping down into single figures.....I rode to work and back yesterday and back to work again this morning to find my Experia only had ~17% SOC remaining....unfortunately not enough to get back home...so I have to charge whilst at work....Luckily I have a nanny cable here at my work as "insurance".

Does the ambient temp have that much of an effect on the battery SOC/Range.?? Forgive my ignorance..

Smithy.

[Richard230]

It does with my Zero. It really hates cold weather. 

[MVetter]

All EVs are impacted by cold. Batteries are just chemical reactions. When they're colder they have more internal resistance which translates to them not working as well. It's the same reason we keep food in the refrigerator; it slows down the aging process. Hot batteries work really really well but start degrading quicker.

[DonTom]

Hi All,
I've been using my Experia essentially as a work commuter since I picked it up mid Feb this year, I do the odd weekend ride to my local motorcycle meeting place...not too far away as there aren't any charge points in the area, so I need to manage my weekend rides so I can make it there and back with a suitable reserve SOC remaining.

My work commute is ~52km each way and 95% of that is 100kmh motorway...during the first month or two before the weather started to cool down, the average temps were in the mid-high 20's C...(bearing in mind I'm downunder). I was able to get to work and back twice and then back to work on the third day....so in excess of 256km with a few % SOC left for insurance......slowly over the last couple of months when the cooler weather has brought ambient temps down well under 20C and morning temps dipping down into single figures.....I rode to work and back yesterday and back to work again this morning to find my Experia only had ~17% SOC remaining....unfortunately not enough to get back home...so I have to charge whilst at work....Luckily I have a nanny cable here at my work as "insurance".

Does the ambient temp have that much of an effect on the battery SOC/Range.?? Forgive my ignorance..

Smithy.

When extra cold, expect to lose 20% of your range and have other issues. Such as not being able to charge.


I have had the opposite issue last year. I took my Zero SR out on a day that was 107°F/42°C.  On the way back, I needed a charge in Carson City. It would not start to charge. I got home many hours later, well after dark. I almost decided to call a tow truck.


EV batts like around the same temps we do for riding. But I can tolerate the extremes better than my M/C EV batteries.


Cars have better ways to deal with such. My Tesla has battery coolant and battery heaters, etc. Not so easy to add to a motorcycle.


-Don-   Auburn, CA

[DonTom]

What temperature is considered cold there in Brisbane for the coldest months? I guess winter is just starting there, just starting to get nice and warm here.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

[smithy]

What temperature is considered cold there in Brisbane for the coldest months? I guess winter is just starting there, just starting to get nice and warm here.


-Don-  Auburn, CA

Hi Don,

Where I am we rarely see single digits even in the middle of winter....I might get the occasional 7C or 8C but not too often. This morning it was one of those 7C mornings....but going home it will be in the mid 20's C.

Thanks to all for responding...I don't feel too bad now knowing it's quite normal....this is my first electric motor vehicle.

Smithy.

[DonTom]

Hi Don,

Where I am we rarely see single digits even in the middle of winter....I might get the occasional 7C or 8C but not too often. This morning it was one of those 7C mornings....but going home it will be in the mid 20's C.

Thanks to all for responding...I don't feel too bad now knowing it's quite normal....this is my first electric motor vehicle.

Smithy.

At 7°C/45°F., you will notice the reduction of range. May even slow down the charge rate a bit, but it all should still work.


There is a battery temp thingy on the screen, I assume you know about that. Only expect the best performance (includes charge times) when it is green. Blue means your battery is extra cold. Yellow means a bit on the warm side. Red means too hot. See your owner's manual--the battery temp indication on the Experia is just to the left of the "TC" on your display. Getting a yellow is fairly normal after a fast charge on a very warm day after some riding. At least on my Esse Esse 9.




-Don-  Auburn, CA

[Specter]

For all practical purposes.  Consider Freezing to be the point of fornication for a Lithium Battery.  That'd be 32F 0C.
Once you get close to that or below the battery really starts to fall off fast AND HARD.
If you get into the 20's might as well just consider the thing a doorstop at that point.
THAT IS THE CHEMISTRY... DEAL WITH IT !!!

Heaters, might be doable in a bike, have the little elements between the plates of cells but that does consume some power.  Or, here's something that'd  be an interesting concept for energica, or anyone.  Have an very well insulated reservoir of water.  Say a quart of it.  Throw a peltier into it so you could either heat OR cool.  Maybe run 100 watts, or shit, even 300 watts, that's more realistic, heat the water up, and use the pump to recirc it thru the batteries.  Even if the pump turned on and off with temperature that'd be better.  I don't know if Energica uses cooling for their batteries or just lets them run au naturale, but if there is a loop, THIS could keep it very useable during even the shittiest of conditions.  When the weather gets too hot, and the radiator may not be able to handle it as good anymore, run it thru here with the peltiers working the opposite direction to drag 300 wattish of heat OUT of the water, then push it thru to help cool them.  With a 21kw battery, dragging 1k off it every 3 hours in even the worse conditions, and lets say you can keep them at 70 F or so, just the added range you'd get out of their being warm, would make up for what they'd drag, over, drawing off them at say 35 degrees.

Food for thought.
Aaron

[smithy]

Hi Don,

Where I am we rarely see single digits even in the middle of winter....I might get the occasional 7C or 8C but not too often. This morning it was one of those 7C mornings....but going home it will be in the mid 20's C.

Thanks to all for responding...I don't feel too bad now knowing it's quite normal....this is my first electric motor vehicle.

Smithy.

At 7°C/45°F., you will notice the reduction of range. May even slow down the charge rate a bit, but it all should still work.


There is a battery temp thingy on the screen, I assume you know about that. Only expect the best performance (includes charge times) when it is green. Blue means your battery is extra cold. Yellow means a bit on the warm side. Red means too hot. See your owner's manual--the battery temp indication on the Experia is just to the left of the "TC" on your display. Getting a yellow is fairly normal after a fast charge on a very warm day after some riding. At least on my Esse Esse 9.
-Don-  Auburn, CA

I'm aware of the battery temp symbol.....Truth be known Don, I've not see anything other than a "Green" battery temp indication, no blue or yellow and definitely not red. I rarely do a fast charge simply because there just aren't many about in my area....and the ones that are there just don't work on the Experia, or they're "out of service" or vandalised.

Smithy.

[Sklith]

At 8c ambient temperature, your battery will be cold but not cold enough to restrict its capacity. At that temperature, you'll have a reduced power output or DC fast charging rate until it heats up but it has to get close to freezing to protect itself and lock range out.

What's more at play with your range reduction is simply colder days are more dense than warmer ones. You and your bike have to fight against the thicker air.

[Specter]

If the battery temp goes into the Yellow, does that restrict anything?

Did some hard AC charging, followed by a stint of running, followed by another charge, another stint and another charge.. a few hours of charges each, the ride maybe an hour.  this 'event' took most the day.  finally by the last run I had my batteries in the yellow.

While I didn't stomp on it, I didn't notice any differences.  does yellow curtail any or is it just a notification that hey, you are heating up a bit?

Aaron

[DonTom]

If the battery temp goes into the Yellow, does that restrict anything?

I had my 2020 SS9 in the yellow countless times last year. I think all it does is takes a little longer to recharge when it is in the yellow. I never noticed any difference in the performance.


I often get yellow after a fast charge on a hot day. But most often, it gets back to green by the time I need the next charge. But it is probably back to yellow temps  a few minutes after I connect it up to recharge anyway.



-Don-  Reno, NV

[jotjotde]

If the battery temp goes into the Yellow, does that restrict anything?

Did some hard AC charging, followed by a stint of running, followed by another charge, another stint and another charge.. a few hours of charges each, the ride maybe an hour.  this 'event' took most the day.  finally by the last run I had my batteries in the yellow.

While I didn't stomp on it, I didn't notice any differences.  does yellow curtail any or is it just a notification that hey, you are heating up a bit?

Aaron

From my 1000 km trip experience I cannot say that a battery in the yellow restricts performance, at least I did not notice any.
What battery temp definitely restricts is the DC charge power. Only with green battery at approx. 30 % SOC you get the max of 22 kW, which is then stepwise reduced during the charge.
Of the 13 charge stops (all DC) during that trip at least 10 were with yellow battery and the charge power was about 12 kW. Last one was even 8 kW only.

[Specter]

so what you are saying is at 30 percent soc, you get 22 kw but lets say the battery was nice and cool and I started out at 50 percent soc, id NOT get the 22 kw?  Eww,  Id like to see close to the max all the way up to say 80 percent or so, as the heat can take it and not ladder step the whole way.  Still even at 8 kw it's a hell of a lot faster than 3.6 kw off the J plug

Aaron

[jotjotde]

This is what you get with a cold battery. From approx. 50 % SOC the amps are reduced stepwise, but in the end you still get an average of 19 kW.

Unfortunately I have no such graph of charging a warm battery.