I Caved, Bought Electric...

Rruuff Day said:
Agreed. battery tools don't like the cold either. Went out west and cut a load of tamarack yesterday. It was - 20 and even my gas chainsaw complained. Had to put it on the front floor of my truck with the heat on before it would consider starting. A balmy -29 here this morning. Starting to warm up now with the sun out.
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We feel your chill ! Only -14 this morning but calling for -31 tomorrow night. Thankfully the government has backed off on their " only ev's " mandate madness
 
Murray20c8 said:
I guess we aren't as cold. I have an 18" electric chainsaw and a 8" pole saw and used them all winter when needed. No issues. I'm thinking we are about -5 during the day on normal average. We get some cold nights but rarely -35.
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-5 really is pretty mild for sure and not a big deal for a battery operated device. Now , -35 or -40 is a different kettle of fish. At -40 I have seen fully charged battery operated drills not even turn . If they have been stored inside then brought out into those temps they work fine for half an hour or so till they approach ambient temp then they just stop . I guess it's the same idea with an EV , if it's kept in a heated garage you can drive away easily when fully charged but only a small percentage of the population have that luxury.
 
1st Vette said:
-5 really is pretty mild for sure and not a big deal for a battery operated device. Now , -35 or -40 is a different kettle of fish. At -40 I have seen fully charged battery operated drills not even turn . If they have been stored inside then brought out into those temps they work fine for half an hour or so till they approach ambient temp then they just stop . I guess it's the same idea with an EV , if it's kept in a heated garage you can drive away easily when fully charged but only a small percentage of the population have that luxury.
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And at -35 or -40 not many will be driving without their heaters running flat out all the time. That has to cut into how far you can drive as well. I expect that anyone taking an EV on a longer trip would plot out their route and available charging stops along the way. Pity the ones that don't recalculate those stops in the winter.
 
Rruuff Day said:
And at -35 or -40 not many will be driving without their heaters running flat out all the time. That has to cut into how far you can drive as well. I expect that anyone taking an EV on a longer trip would plot out their route and available charging stops along the way. Pity the ones that don't recalculate those stops in the winter.
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I find what works well for winter driving is to pull out the cabin filter as there is no dust to consider and then start up the 5.7 litre engine in my truck and turn the heater all the way up , lol.
As for stopping to charge your EV at -40 for half an hour how many of the charging locations can you get inside and stay warm while waiting......
 
1st Vette said:
I find what works well for winter driving is to pull out the cabin filter as there is no dust to consider and then start up the 5.7 litre engine in my truck and turn the heater all the way up , lol.
As for stopping to charge your EV at -40 for half an hour how many of the charging locations can you get inside and stay warm while waiting......
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Not that even if I owned one, I would never take one on a long trip, but I'd be staying in my vehicle if it was in the winter if there was no place to go for a coffee or 6. That's the one of the main bitches I hear from EV owners. They can't relax on a trip. Are looking continuously at how much charge they have left, how far they can get and are wondering where they will find a charging station when they do need a charge and how many hours they have to wait in line to get a charge. Granted, I expect in Ontario and Quebec there are likely charging stations on every street corner, at least in the bigger cities, but when I drive across Canada, the last thing I want is to divert into Toronto or Montreal to charge my vehicle. I wince at having to drive on the 401 or the portion of the trans Canada through Quebec, let alone get off the highway into a city.
 
DavidWG said:
Once we get a bit of snow I'll be very interested to hear your review. I currently have a 20 year old 28 inch Craftsman and it works OK although the steering set up is very poorly designed and no longer works. My double wide drive is 80 feet long but the snow never gets very deep and the windrow from the snow pow is never too bad as I live on a court and they plow the snow to the center rather than the side of the road. I have looked at this unit and always wonder if I would need an extra pair of batteries?
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Lol... My driveway is 1400 feet long plus another acre of yard to plow. Electric is definitely not an option. I have a chained up old Yukon with a plow that works fine and in a pinch a chained up skid steer when we get a big wind and 5 foot drifts.

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Rruuff Day said:
Not that even if I owned one, I would never take one on a long trip, but I'd be staying in my vehicle if it was in the winter if there was no place to go for a coffee or 6. That's the one of the main bitches I hear from EV owners. They can't relax on a trip. Are looking continuously at how much charge they have left, how far they can get and are wondering where they will find a charging station when they do need a charge and how many hours they have to wait in line to get a charge. Granted, I expect in Ontario and Quebec there are likely charging stations on every street corner, at least in the bigger cities, but when I drive across Canada, the last thing I want is to divert into Toronto or Montreal to charge my vehicle. I wince at having to drive on the 401 or the portion of the trans Canada through Quebec, let alone get off the highway into a city.
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Once the taxpayer funded rebates that were going to EV buyers ended so did the demand to a great degree. Ford can barely give the Lightning away and are stopping production. Other manufacturers are doing the same with some models. Once solid state batteries show up at a reasonable cost though things will change quickly I suspect. If you can stop and get an 80% charge almost as fast as filling a tank then in warmer areas sales will take off .
 
MKC8 said:
Lithium works well during cold weather(-4F / -20C) discharge/use, but needs to be warmed up(32F, 0C or better) to charge effectively. Many LiFePO4 batteries can be bought with internal warmers, that use some of the charge current, to heat them.

Using Lithium Batteries in Cold Weather | RELiON

Using Lithium Batteries in Cold Weather
www.relionbattery.com www.relionbattery.com
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Bear in mind that this is from a company that sells them . And it also depends on the application and type of LiFe . There are few tools I'm aware of personally that utilize internal warmers . And yes, they won't charge when cold .
 
Rruuff Day said:
Lol... My driveway is 1400 feet long plus another acre of yard to plow. Electric is definitely not an option. I have a chained up old Yukon with a plow that works fine and in a pinch a chained up skid steer when we get a big wind and 5 foot drifts.

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Its been said that he who dies with the most toys wins, I think yer in the lead(LOL)
 
Dave91TM said:
Its been said that he who dies with the most toys wins, I think yer in the lead(LOL)
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Not positive if being in the lead is a good thing or not... Especially in the winter when something breaks down and needs to be fixed.... Which brings up the other saying.... if it has t*ts or tires you're going to have trouble with it.... ;)
 
Rruuff Day said:
Not positive if being in the lead is a good thing or not... Especially in the winter when something breaks down and needs to be fixed.... Which brings up the other saying.... if it has t*ts or tires you're going to have trouble with it.... ;)
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I'm with ya, snowblowers never break unless its -30C and the air around the missus can get pretty chilly at times.
 
1st Vette said:
Bear in mind that this is from a company that sells them . And it also depends on the application and type of LiFe . There are few tools I'm aware of personally that utilize internal warmers . And yes, they won't charge when cold .
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Bear this in mind grasshopper, I have 2 Relion RB100-LT (low temp charge capable) 100Ah batteries in my motorhome, and they're still going strong after 6 years. FYI, I was doing "off grid" RVing before it was a thing.
 
Indeed, the Relion RB-100 LT is a great battery (should be at over $1800.00 each) but Relion admits they will only take a charge down to minus 20 C. So from late November until late March here in Alberta our charge days would be limited. And where "grasshopper" is in Yellowknife they are considerably more limited.
 
MKC8 said:
Bear this in mind grasshopper, I have 2 Relion RB100-LT (low temp charge capable) 100Ah batteries in my motorhome, and they're still going strong after 6 years. FYI, I was doing "off grid" RVing before it was a thing.
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-35c ambient here this morning. -44 wind chill . Good luck with that .
 

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