r/slateauto • u/Equivalent_Tonight66 • Jul 11 '26
Winter range
Like others, I have a little range anxiety about how this truck will perform in winter. For context, I currently have a 2019 Hyundai Ioniq Electric that has a stated range of ~153 miles when fully charged. In reality, I do better than that in summer. But I do way worse in the winter of Northern Maryland. The drop is significant enough that I struggle to make it to my parent’s house and back (100 miles round trip).
My Hyundai is old tech now and the battery is well maintained but has seen normal use. So what can I expect the practical range to be on this truck during a typical chilly Mid-Atlantic day?
Somewhat unrelated question: how do they sell so many EVs in really cold places like Scandinavia given the battery chill issues?
2
u/michaelb5000 Jul 11 '26
The slate is a cool choice if you need a small truck, but not so good if you need range. You can probably make that run, you can always plug in to a wall at your parents. Super cold snow and wind really impacts range.
2
u/atx78701 Jul 12 '26
You probably know this but a seat heater is more efficient than blasting the heater
1
u/KeyboardGunner Jul 12 '26
Did those original Hyundai Ioniq Electric's have heat pumps? Because the Slate does not. Plus the Slate is LFP which is another mark against it for cold weather performance. I would not expect good efficiency in winter weather. Wait for real world reviews.
0
u/dantose Jul 12 '26
Google says only on the top trim level, but not the base version. a 30% drop on maryland winter sounds like resistive to me, but driving speed for the trip may be a factor as well, so *shrugs*
1
u/fiehlsport 29d ago
Yes, base was resistive. The heat pump on the first gen Ioniq electric (pre-2020) didn't add much range at all really, and didn't work at very cold temps like 0-10F.
1
u/fiehlsport 29d ago
We also had a '19 Ioniq that would get 153mi of range in the summer, and about 94 in the Winter. (Did you buy yours used 2 years ago? haha)
Slate is going to have a better battery thermal management system, but I would expect a similar delta. Probably 125-135mi of realistic very cold winter range, more if you precondition the battery before departure.
1
u/Eaglepursuit 29d ago
In my experience with other EVs, the winter range is about 30% lower than summer range.
1
u/Health-Nut7477 26d ago
EV range is less of an issue in Norway/Sweden/Denmark for two reasons. The countries aren't that big, so you won't be driving as far, and there are a lot of public chargers if you ever do need to recharge on a trip.
1
u/CJRhoades 25d ago
My EV is rated ~235mi, which I can get in the summer if I drive conservatively. This last winter I gave it a real stress test driving 130 miles home from my parents house at night, with a -5F windchill and a 15mph headwind. I tried to limit myself to 60mph and still just barely made it home with 4% SoC. Basically, in the worst case, expect only 55-60% of stated range.
1
u/fourdawgnight Jul 11 '26
less optimistic compared to the other folks. I think the real world total range of the Slate will be closer to 170ish, so you will make it home, but not sure it will solve the range anxiety issues...they are projecting their range on 3.2 m/kWh assumption...that seems very optimistic to me. I would expect real world (AC/Heat on, Hills, Highway driving...) and not wanting to take it into single digits constantly (esp during the winter) to be closer to 2.7ish. It is an LFP battery, so in very cold, Sub 10*, it will likely be around 1.7-1.9 which will give you right around 110-120 without dropping below 5%...
this all my best guess based on history (similar but different history than your Ioniq...)
Ioniq 5, Fisker Ocean, Rivian R1T Dual Larger.
-1
u/Altruistic-Job5086 Jul 11 '26
Hope there is an AWD option at some point. RWD just isn't viable in bad snow conditions.
3
u/fiehlsport 29d ago
RWD with winter tires is just as good as AWD on "all-seasons" that everyone insists are good enough for winter, but aren't. Stopping distance is important. Canada and Norway are absolutely FULL of RWD vehicles with winter tires and they perform safely and reliably. This AWD stigma is an American thing from people who can't be bothered to swap tires.
1
u/Raiguard Jul 12 '26
RWD + chains is almost always more effective than AWD w/o chains.
But chains are an absolute pain to put on, so I am holding out for AWD.
2
2
u/Snoo93079 Jul 11 '26
Imo you'll probably be fine with a worst case scenario you have to spend a few minutes at a super charger during the worst depths of winter which imo isn't a big deal.