Temperature
Of the 3 main elements to affect the efficiency of a vehicle, that is the wind, water and temperature. Temperature is the one that affects an EV in different ways to that of an ICE vehicle. Thermal management of the battery is one of the biggest investments an EV manufacturer makes towards overall vehicle efficiency. Indeed, you do not need to warm up an electric motor like you do petrol or diesel but the efficiency of the battery is heavily dependent on the temperature of the cells. The ability to deliver and receive peak loads being very obvious. The I-Pace does have very sophisticated Battery Management Systems to keep the cells at optimum temperature. There is a trade-off between the energy used heating and cooling the battery and the benefits in energy efficiency. There are two areas that an I-Pace driver will notice this. Firstly, when setting off on a journey will a full battery there is reduced regen braking. You can’t add energy to an already full battery but the reduced regen remains in place until around 92% SoC. This is thermal management, the battery will not allow full regen until it is up to temperature. Secondly, when rapid charging, the temperature of the battery is one of the key influencers over what rate of charge the I-Pace will accept. Assuming connecting to a 100kW+ charger the I-Pace can accept up to 100kW of charge but only at low SoC and a warm battery.
Tip: If you leave an overnight stop on a journey where you will need to Rapid Charge en route, leave it as long as possible into the journey as you can to maximise the rate of charge, by arriving at the charger with a low SoC and a warm battery. If you charge within the first 30 miles or half an hour of driving, depending on ambient temperature, it is my experience that you will see a significantly reduced rate of charge.
Comments