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My family and I got stranded Friday night waiting 5 hours for my new Ariya to charge.
I’m writing this on Sunday after a failed ski trip. A year after I reserved it, my Ariya finally arrived on Friday of last week. A month ago, we booked a ski trip to Stowe, VT for this weekend. We left for our trip on Friday - 2 days ago and 1 week after getting my new Ariya. This coincided with an arctic blast that hit the Northeastern U.S. this weekend.
We left from Fairfield County, CT around 4:30 PM. I had charged the Ariya in my garage so it had a full charge and showed a range of 223 miles (359 km). The car had shown a range of 289 miles (465 km) when I rolled off the dealer’s lot exactly 1 week earlier. After driving the battery down and recharging it during the week, the range dropped to 223 miles (359 km), which is what it was showing when we left.
I researched charging stations for the trip and identified a charger in Greenfield, MA, near the VT border, that was 131 miles (211 km) from our starting point and 159 miles (256 km) from our destination. It's also located next to an Applebees we frequently stop at on our ski trips. There is a charger at the hotel we had booked, so this one charger should have been all we needed.
We arrived at the charger around 7:00 PM. The car should have had about 92 miles (148 km) remaining. In fact, the battery was down to less than 20 miles (32 km) / 9% remaining. We did have the heat set to 72F (22C) for the ride. The seat heaters were off. I dropped my family off at Applebees and went to charge the car.
The CCS fast charger was occupied when I arrived, so I plugged into a level 2 charger. According to the thermometer on the Ariya’s dash, the outside temperature was 1F (-17C).
After about 15 minutes the CCS fast charger became available and I moved my car to that charger. This is a 120 kw charger. The Ariya initially estimated 1 hour and 46 minutes to fully charge.
I returned to the Applebees and informed my ex-wife about the charge time. She has one of the first Tesla Model 3s and told me that charge time was comparable to her experience in cold weather. We were prepared to sit in the Applebees for the full time.
After a few minutes, the estimated charge time increased to 5 hours 6 minutes! Now we had a problem.
My ex-wife asked if I pre-conditioned the battery. “Pre-what!?!” I didn’t know to do that.
At first we hoped this was just a blip and that at the time would come down to something more reasonable. When that didn’t happen, I called Nissan for advice/help, but that wasn’t useful.
After finishing dinner and having no better solutions, we got a room at a hotel nearby. At this point, the car had charged for about 90 minutes. I got my family settled into our room at the hotel, put on ski clothes and drove the car back to the charger and plugged in again. It now showed about 3 hours and 30 minutes remaining. I walked back to the Days Inn. It was now around 9:45 PM.
Around 12:30 AM, charging finally completed and I walked back to the car. The stated range was now 170 miles (274 km) - a significant drop! The outside temperature as reported on the car dash was -8F (-22C).
Back at the hotel, while I was waiting for the car to charge, I researched Ariya charging in cold weather. I didn’t see any tests done in this extreme cold, only a few reviews done at a few degrees below freezing. I found only a couple of references to heating the battery and none that recommended how much time before charging the heater should be activated. I wish I had known about this before we left. I also found these references in the operator manual:
The outside temperature came within 5 degrees of the freezing point for the Li-ion battery!
The next morning, the car still showed fully charged with a range of 170 miles (274 km). We decided not to push on to Stowe and returned home instead. The car operated as expected except for the reduced range. We arrived with 9% charge remaining. The outside temperature was 1F (-17C) when we left, and was around 12F (-11C) when we arrived home.
I charged from the garage to 31 miles (50 km) / 18% with the battery heater on. I then drove with the battery heater on to an EVGO charger that was about 30 minutes away and recharged there. The arctic blast was letting up at this point and the outside temperature had risen to 17F (-8C). There was 9% battery and 21 miles remaining when I plugged in. This was a 50 kw station. The car estimated 2 hours exactly to reach full charge. This estimate remained consistent through out the charging session.
After an hour, EVGO ended the session, I guess, to keep me from hogging the charger. I had the information I needed, so I returned home and charged the car in my garage overnight. This morning, the car showed fully charged and 171 miles (275 km) of range. The outside temperature was around 35F (2C) when I checked this morning and is in the mid-40s (~4-5C) now.
A couple of observations:
1. The need to heat the battery should be made obvious to every driver! The switch for the battery heater is buried in the UI. Even when you get to the right page, it’s the last setting in the list - and the only setting you have to scroll to see.
Burying an option that can keep your driver and passengers from getting stranded in dangerously cold weather is negligent.
The onboard computer knows the outside temperature. I’m sure it knows the actual battery temperature too. An alert should come up advising the driver to heat the battery 30 minutes before charging due to cold weather - and the switch to do so should be easy to get to while driving.
2. Roadside Assistance should be better trained on the kinds of issues facing EV drivers. Granted this was my first time calling Roadside Assistance, so maybe I misunderstand its purpose.
A couple of questions:
1. Will the range on my car’s battery return? I ordered the Evolve+ trim specifically for the larger range.
2. Could the cold have damaged the battery? Should I bring the car in for service?
3. What else can I do, if anything, to improve charging time in cold weather?
4. Is there a chart on charge times to expect in different temperatures? I'm an avid skier, so I frequently take my car on long trips in winter conditions, often with my children (8 and 10). Granted this arctic blast was colder than usual. But I often go skiing in very cold weather.
5. What can I do to extend the range while driving?
I’m writing this on Sunday after a failed ski trip. A year after I reserved it, my Ariya finally arrived on Friday of last week. A month ago, we booked a ski trip to Stowe, VT for this weekend. We left for our trip on Friday - 2 days ago and 1 week after getting my new Ariya. This coincided with an arctic blast that hit the Northeastern U.S. this weekend.
We left from Fairfield County, CT around 4:30 PM. I had charged the Ariya in my garage so it had a full charge and showed a range of 223 miles (359 km). The car had shown a range of 289 miles (465 km) when I rolled off the dealer’s lot exactly 1 week earlier. After driving the battery down and recharging it during the week, the range dropped to 223 miles (359 km), which is what it was showing when we left.
I researched charging stations for the trip and identified a charger in Greenfield, MA, near the VT border, that was 131 miles (211 km) from our starting point and 159 miles (256 km) from our destination. It's also located next to an Applebees we frequently stop at on our ski trips. There is a charger at the hotel we had booked, so this one charger should have been all we needed.
We arrived at the charger around 7:00 PM. The car should have had about 92 miles (148 km) remaining. In fact, the battery was down to less than 20 miles (32 km) / 9% remaining. We did have the heat set to 72F (22C) for the ride. The seat heaters were off. I dropped my family off at Applebees and went to charge the car.
The CCS fast charger was occupied when I arrived, so I plugged into a level 2 charger. According to the thermometer on the Ariya’s dash, the outside temperature was 1F (-17C).
After about 15 minutes the CCS fast charger became available and I moved my car to that charger. This is a 120 kw charger. The Ariya initially estimated 1 hour and 46 minutes to fully charge.
I returned to the Applebees and informed my ex-wife about the charge time. She has one of the first Tesla Model 3s and told me that charge time was comparable to her experience in cold weather. We were prepared to sit in the Applebees for the full time.
After a few minutes, the estimated charge time increased to 5 hours 6 minutes! Now we had a problem.
My ex-wife asked if I pre-conditioned the battery. “Pre-what!?!” I didn’t know to do that.
At first we hoped this was just a blip and that at the time would come down to something more reasonable. When that didn’t happen, I called Nissan for advice/help, but that wasn’t useful.
After finishing dinner and having no better solutions, we got a room at a hotel nearby. At this point, the car had charged for about 90 minutes. I got my family settled into our room at the hotel, put on ski clothes and drove the car back to the charger and plugged in again. It now showed about 3 hours and 30 minutes remaining. I walked back to the Days Inn. It was now around 9:45 PM.
Around 12:30 AM, charging finally completed and I walked back to the car. The stated range was now 170 miles (274 km) - a significant drop! The outside temperature as reported on the car dash was -8F (-22C).
Back at the hotel, while I was waiting for the car to charge, I researched Ariya charging in cold weather. I didn’t see any tests done in this extreme cold, only a few reviews done at a few degrees below freezing. I found only a couple of references to heating the battery and none that recommended how much time before charging the heater should be activated. I wish I had known about this before we left. I also found these references in the operator manual:
Page EV-2
Do not store the vehicle in temperatures below −13°F (−25°C) for over seven days.
Page EV-3
If the outside temperature is −13°F (−25°C) or less, the Li-ion battery may freeze and it cannot be charged or provide power to drive the vehicle. Move the vehicle to a warm location.
The outside temperature came within 5 degrees of the freezing point for the Li-ion battery!
The next morning, the car still showed fully charged with a range of 170 miles (274 km). We decided not to push on to Stowe and returned home instead. The car operated as expected except for the reduced range. We arrived with 9% charge remaining. The outside temperature was 1F (-17C) when we left, and was around 12F (-11C) when we arrived home.
I charged from the garage to 31 miles (50 km) / 18% with the battery heater on. I then drove with the battery heater on to an EVGO charger that was about 30 minutes away and recharged there. The arctic blast was letting up at this point and the outside temperature had risen to 17F (-8C). There was 9% battery and 21 miles remaining when I plugged in. This was a 50 kw station. The car estimated 2 hours exactly to reach full charge. This estimate remained consistent through out the charging session.
After an hour, EVGO ended the session, I guess, to keep me from hogging the charger. I had the information I needed, so I returned home and charged the car in my garage overnight. This morning, the car showed fully charged and 171 miles (275 km) of range. The outside temperature was around 35F (2C) when I checked this morning and is in the mid-40s (~4-5C) now.
A couple of observations:
1. The need to heat the battery should be made obvious to every driver! The switch for the battery heater is buried in the UI. Even when you get to the right page, it’s the last setting in the list - and the only setting you have to scroll to see.
Burying an option that can keep your driver and passengers from getting stranded in dangerously cold weather is negligent.
The onboard computer knows the outside temperature. I’m sure it knows the actual battery temperature too. An alert should come up advising the driver to heat the battery 30 minutes before charging due to cold weather - and the switch to do so should be easy to get to while driving.
2. Roadside Assistance should be better trained on the kinds of issues facing EV drivers. Granted this was my first time calling Roadside Assistance, so maybe I misunderstand its purpose.
A couple of questions:
1. Will the range on my car’s battery return? I ordered the Evolve+ trim specifically for the larger range.
2. Could the cold have damaged the battery? Should I bring the car in for service?
3. What else can I do, if anything, to improve charging time in cold weather?
4. Is there a chart on charge times to expect in different temperatures? I'm an avid skier, so I frequently take my car on long trips in winter conditions, often with my children (8 and 10). Granted this arctic blast was colder than usual. But I often go skiing in very cold weather.
5. What can I do to extend the range while driving?
