Holding up well in the snow

I’ve been driving my plug-in hybrid in Minnesota winters for 7 years now. They’re really good cars in the snow especially with good winter tires.

Roan said:
I’ve been driving my plug-in hybrid in Minnesota winters for 7 years now. They’re really good cars in the snow especially with good winter tires.

Bought mine in October and had my doubts, starts right up in -20 weather, it’s a winter warrior!

Roan said:
I’ve been driving my plug-in hybrid in Minnesota winters for 7 years now. They’re really good cars in the snow especially with good winter tires.

Any winter tips for the plug-in? Specifically around charging and battery use?

I can charge at work, 30 miles commute. So I charge at home and use EV halfway to work and then switch to gas, by then I’ve depleted the battery. Then I charge up at work and do the same on the way home. I know this puts more cycles on the battery so would love to hear other people’s experience. It’s a 2017 and my first plug-in.

@Rio
Honestly, I just stop plugging in during the winter. The 2014 plug-in still has good range in the spring and fall, but it’s like 10 miles in winter.

Engines are only ~20% efficient at turning gasoline into movement. This means they’re ~80% efficient at turning gasoline into waste heat.

I’m a wimp who wants to be warm. I love my waste heat. I run the engine exclusively from Nov - Apr.

@Roan
Oh gotcha! I’m good with range I think, I get about 17-20 range on EV with regen still! Definitely agree about the heat though, I still blast it to stay warm.

My 2017 titanium wouldn’t even move out the driveway smh.

Vann said:
My 2017 titanium wouldn’t even move out the driveway smh.

That stinks :joy:

Holy that looks so clean.

ayo my 2016 2.5 won’t go nowhere in the snow it’s ass.

I’m really missing driving my 14 SE right now. It’s currently sitting in my driveway with a broken power steering motor. The part is on order and a friend’s brother is going to fix it for me in his heated shop in the next week or two. I replaced my Cat and two front control arms last week and broke my power steering in the process of replacing my right control arm.

My 08 SEL is pretty good in the snow, first winter with it havn’t lost traction or gotten stuck and I’m on bald summer tires.