Pure EV in cold climate (-10C/14F) with climate control on

Here are som tips for driving pure EV in cold climate with climate control active.
This is how I do it after testing different methods.

Presets:
Disable automatic AC button activation (Snowflake).
Always put climate control in OFF before shutting down the car.
Make sure the temperature setting is below 20C.

When cold (down to -10C/14F) I do like this.

1. Activate remote preheating before starting, 10 minutes is often enough and preheats the passenger compartment and also more importantly the batterypack.
2. Start the car, since the climate control is OFF the car will not start the ICE.
3. Hit ECO button and then start climate control system.

This startup procedure allows me to do my daily commute which is 34 km (21 miles) in EV mode (no ICE) and with a nice and comfy passenger compartment with heat and no foggy windows, despite the cold temperature.


Further explanation:
There are three parameters that need to be checked in order to tell the PHEV to heat the compartment using only electric heater even when it is very cold.
See link http://mitsubishimotors.se/kopa-aga/faq#faq-outlander-plug-in-hybrid

1. AC button (snowflake) needs to be deactivated.
2. Car must be running in ECO mode.
3. The climate control setting can not be set higher than 20C.

Disable automatic AC button activation - this can be done by using remote control app.
The reason for disabling this feature is so you can put the climate control in AUTO without the car activating the AC function (Snowflake symbol).

Always put climate control in OFF before shutting down the car - As we all know, the PHEV always starts in NORMAL mode. If the climate control is ON during start up in cold weather, the ICE will start.

I am sure there are other ways of driving in cold weather in EV mode and heating on, but this is my contribution to the forum.
It works for me

Thanks a lot.

I did most of the moves suggested by you,
but haven't noticed the ECO button influence.

I will try to test your method immediately, but
climate is changing, +2C today in Poland, so I will
probably have to wait few days for -15C.

Interesting, I will start to use your method and I hope there will be a noticeable difference. On Monday it was -18C and ICE was on almost all the time even though I preheated for 30 mins.

Today -14´C, preheated for app. 15 min, climate Control set to 16´C, ECO pressed, ICE started and runned for about 5 min, then shut down but started started again during the trip, with battery capasity left.
With 0´C or higher, i do my Daily trip of 33km with 0 fuel consumtion with the above settings, with about -5´c i get about 1 liter/100km, and today i got 2.5 liter/100km.
We expect -20´C tomorrow, I will reply with my figures.

MartinH said:

Today -14´C, preheated for app. 15 min, climate Control set to 16´C, ECO pressed, ICE started and runned for about 5 min, then shut down but started started again during the trip, with battery capasity left.
With 0´C or higher, i do my Daily trip of 33km with 0 fuel consumtion with the above settings, with about -5´c i get about 1 liter/100km, and today i got 2.5 liter/100km.
We expect -20´C tomorrow, I will reply with my figures.

Click to expand...

Did it start immediately? Or some time after take-off? I can see two causes for the engine to start after preheating:

- 15 minutes preheating was not enough (there must be a reason for the "30 minutes" option). This would cause the engine to start immediately on power-up.
- Setting the AC to 16 degrees after preheating is too low, as it gives the electric heater time to cool off. By the time the interior temperature drops far enough and the heater is needed again, the heater was cooled down to a level that the car decided it was better to start the engine. This would cause the engine to start a bit later.

At -15 deg C, I cannot imagine it was the second, after only 15 minutes of preheating. But in general, I think it is wise not to set the AC to low after preheating. Anybody recognises this?

It starts directs, when i press the button, i feel the Engine starts after 1.-2 sec.
I Think the 15 min was not enough, as it works fine EV when Little hotter outside with about 15 min pre heat.
The compartment was not 16 degree inside, i Think it was just obowe 0´C, as the snow on the windscreen just started to melt, and the snow from the shoes yesterday still alive and kicking!
I will start using the method of shutting the AC of when leaving.

Not sure how cold it was this morning but definitely below zero. Tried the routine detailed above and managed to get away without ICE starting. It's a first for me as usually if I have the heater on the ICE starts but today had it set at 19 without any problems.

We had - 20* C this morning. Tried the procedure.
Preheated för 15 minutes
The AC was turned off
Temperature set to 18 deg. before I shut it down
Started the car. No ICE,
Pressed ECO, No ICE.
Started the ventilation and heating system and the ICE started.
Shut the ventilation and heating system off and the ICE stopped.

Guess I have to preheat more

Earlier I had problems even though I preheated the car for 30 min and the temperature was -20* C
See this post: http://www.myoutlanderphev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=2169

Today -20´C, preheated for app. 25min. AC off, ECO pressed, the ICE started, and runned for the whole trip(33km), only stops when i am reducing speed, then starts direct again.
No difference with AC of or on, tested everything, could not get the ICE to stop.
I noticed that the EV range was "- - - ", the battery was fully charged, and the bar was full, so my guess is that the battery was to cold to give out enough energy to run EV.

Today, and yesterday it was - 20*C. I preheated the car for 25 minutes.
The ventialtion and AC was turned off before I stopped the car.
Started the car and the ventilation and AC was still off. Did not start the ventilation. EV range ---. Battery full.
I drove on EV only for 20 minutes, ICE did not start, then it was too cold and I had to start the ventilation, and the ICE started.
Could not get the ICE to stop until I stopped the car at home.
Don´t know when but after a while the EV range meter started to show numbers insted of ---

So I guess the problem is not that the batteries can´t drive the electric motors when its cold but its the ICE that wont stop once you have started it.
So the trick is to have the ventilation of from the beginning, that way the ICE won´t start.

MartinH said:

Today -20´C, preheated for app. 25min. AC off, ECO pressed, the ICE started, and runned for the whole trip(33km), only stops when i am reducing speed, then starts direct again.
No difference with AC of or on, tested everything, could not get the ICE to stop.
I noticed that the EV range was "- - - ", the battery was fully charged, and the bar was full, so my guess is that the battery was to cold to give out enough energy to run EV.

Click to expand...

Was the ventilation and AC turned off when you started the car?
My car did not start the ICE at temperatures of -20*C, perhaps becuse the AC and ventilation was turned off.
I believe that once the ICE is started it won´t stop when the temperatures are so low.
I guess it will stop once you get the heat up in the cabin and the set temperature are not too high.

MartinH said:

Today -20´C, preheated for app. 25min. AC off, ECO pressed, the ICE started, and runned for the whole trip(33km), only stops when i am reducing speed, then starts direct again.
No difference with AC of or on, tested everything, could not get the ICE to stop.
I noticed that the EV range was "- - - ", the battery was fully charged, and the bar was full, so my guess is that the battery was to cold to give out enough energy to run EV.

Click to expand...

I had a similar experience today with EV range "---". The problem was that the preheating was aborted so my car was -20C all over. I also believe that given -20C or lower the batteries will be aborted given no preheating. Earlier in the week I noticed that EV would work at -18C so I believe there is a limit triggered at -20C.

ClasseClas said:

MartinH said:

Today -20´C, preheated for app. 25min. AC off, ECO pressed, the ICE started, and runned for the whole trip(33km), only stops when i am reducing speed, then starts direct again.
No difference with AC of or on, tested everything, could not get the ICE to stop.
I noticed that the EV range was "- - - ", the battery was fully charged, and the bar was full, so my guess is that the battery was to cold to give out enough energy to run EV.

Click to expand...

I had a similar experience today with EV range "---". The problem was that the preheating was aborted so my car was -20C all over. I also believe that given -20C or lower the batteries will be aborted given no preheating. Earlier in the week I noticed that EV would work at -18C so I believe there is a limit triggered at -20C.

Click to expand...

My car also had --- on the EV meter but it could still run on EV only when it was -20C. Maybe it just can´t calculate the range?
The car was preheated though. But still shows --- on EV meter.

My ventilation and AC was turned off when i left the car yesterday, The ICE started direct, and did run for the complete trip, i actually switched on the AC, increased to 24.5´C in cabin, and when it got hot turned the AC and ventilation of, but still the ICE run.
I see the temp is now about -15´C, and i will test today with pre heating for 25min.

Grafikstudion said:

ClasseClas said:

MartinH said:

Today -20´C, preheated for app. 25min. AC off, ECO pressed, the ICE started, and runned for the whole trip(33km), only stops when i am reducing speed, then starts direct again.
No difference with AC of or on, tested everything, could not get the ICE to stop.
I noticed that the EV range was "- - - ", the battery was fully charged, and the bar was full, so my guess is that the battery was to cold to give out enough energy to run EV.

Click to expand...

I had a similar experience today with EV range "---". The problem was that the preheating was aborted so my car was -20C all over. I also believe that given -20C or lower the batteries will be aborted given no preheating. Earlier in the week I noticed that EV would work at -18C so I believe there is a limit triggered at -20C.

Click to expand...

My car also had --- on the EV meter but it could still run on EV only when it was -20C. Maybe it just can´t calculate the range?
The car was preheated though. But still shows --- on EV meter.

Click to expand...

With preheating EV may work below -20C, without preheating maybe not at all as I experienced today.